Oh, How I Miss You Blogfest

One of my favorite peeps of all-time, Alex J. Cavanaugh, is an instigator of yet another blogfest. This one I can handle!

Here are the bloggers I've missed lately:

Ann Parker who writes the marvelous historical mystery series set in Leadville, Colorado. The Silver Rush Mysteries blog is so... dead. Ann, where are you?

My own fault I don't visit Susan Wittig Albert's blog more. She always has interesting updates about her life in the Texas Hill Country, and what's new with her latest novels. Yes, she usually is cranking out at least three books, and the latest is a novel exploring the life of Rose Wilder Lane and her mother, Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Another fave blog I miss is Crunchy Chicken. I do stay caught up with this author on Facebook, but still... you know that good posts like the most recent one are worth it to fans, right?

Who would I miss if they disappeared? So many to choose from, but here are three:

The Little Pickle Press blog, because I helped bring it to this state of wonderfulness over the past two years. It's a blog any company can be proud of. I certainly am! If you have children who are readers, do bookmark it and visit often because they have great specials on their new releases.

I'd also miss Pat Bean's blog. Pat travels the country in her little SUV with her pal, Pepper and shares stories of her adventures. She's writing a travel memoir that I'm sure will be a bestseller some day.

Finally, a group blog because I love them. One of my faves is Jungle Red Writers because these are authors I read, they post regularly, they write really well. Oh, I'd miss them if they were gone. Please don't go away!

Okay - onward to discover more great blogs. What are your favorites - leave me a comment!

A-A-A-pril Fools!

I need another drink quick!

Anyone who has taken a Blog Book Tours class with me knows there is usually a Blog-a-Day Challenge involved. It's a great way to make your blog sizzle in a hurry, and it is especially beneficial when a group of people are linking to each other, leaving comments, and just generally adding to the support and fun. I've seen blogs go from Absolutely Awful to Ztellar. Okay, maybe that's a stretch, at least in the spelling department.

Special thanks to the pals from the BBT Cafe (our blog book tours alum and social spot) for organizing the A-Z Challenge. Alex J. Cavanaugh and Stephen Tremp, you guys are nuts! I have no idea how I'm going to interact with almost more than 1,000 bloggers over the next month, but as Steve points, at least they are allowing us to take Sundays off, unlike yours truly who had  no such mercy in any class. Paybacks are tomorrow's letter, huh?

Please click on the A-Z Challenge tab above to see all the great bloggers playing the game this month. My goal? To make this blog a little stickier with the search engines, possibly set the stage for a Google 5 ranking, and be poised to start hosting authors I like when they have their blog book tours, something I haven't done much up to know. Leave me a message if you have a new book coming out this year. And be sure to follow the blog by clicking at right, friend me on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter. The more fools, the merrier!

What makes for a successful blog book tour?

Today, several blog book tour students had a chat about all things related to virtual tours, and I thought I'd share the link with you. Diane, Marvin, and Alex did a great job over at Spunk on a Stick talking about what makes for a great blog book tour.

I would like to comment about one aspect that has been changing the past year or so. How far ahead should you contact your hosts before your scheduled tour dates? Of course, you want to find them and get to know them a good bit before your tour. Six months isn't too far ahead to start scoping out blogs and interacting with them. But I don't actually contact hosts until a month or so before the actual tour stops. Then it's easier to get their attention and hold it for a few weeks while everything, including the nature of the visits, falls into place. People are getting shorter attention spans all the time, and most don't want to tie up their blogs schedules more than 4-6 weeks ahead.

I've also noticed lately that bloggers don't answer their emails anymore, so I'm finding that I have to connect with them on Twitter and Facebook at the same time that I discover their blogs.  Often, I get an answer on those sites long before I get a return email. The added benefit is I don't feel I'm spamming them with repeated contacts. So this is something to consider. Truth is, if they don't have a Facebook and Twitter presence, their blog might no be that hot anyway. Unless, of course, they're Alex J. Cavanaugh, Mr. Popularity himself. He isn't yet on Facebook. Hard to believe, I know!

Blog Critiques Begin

The class spent most of last week learning about the elements of a good blog - their own, and the ones they will be seeking out as potential hosts for their blog book tours. Today we start with critiques of the member blogs. Alex J. Cavanaugh has agreed to let me post the review that started off his critique this morning. Go to his blog here and then compare it to the comments below. These are all tips that can help improve your own blog.

Basic Design Attractiveness?

Excellent and right in line with the book theme.

Title and URL cohesive?

Yes. Easy for readers to remember.

Consistency and clarity of blog purpose?

Mostly.

Loading speed?

The header hangs up on my dial-up. It takes quite a while to load but presumably slow connects aren't an issue in outer space.

Follow widget in place?

Perfect - all of them up high and right.

Hit counter?

Yes, and well-placed towards the bottom of the page with actual count showing.

Bookmarking in place?

Positioned with the follow widgets, but maybe could add an RSS feed link?

FB and Twitter widgets?

Didn't see Facebook, but Twitter is there.

Blogrolls?

Yes, very good. Could be organized a bit more concisely.

Linking effective? Tags/keywords used?

Good enough. Could have more linking within posts and between posts.

Frequent posting 2-3 x weekly?

Yes, very good, and a nice mix. Could include the occasional shorter post, or split longer posts into two.

Quality of overall posts?

Excellent, and clearly readers love this blog.

Comments section working?

Yes, and Alex gets enviable comment interaction. I suspect his ability to cyber-schmooze and interact with other bloggers (make friends) results in long-term loyalty. All bloggers should try to achieve this. Then you don't have to look for blog hosts - they beg to host you!

Blog components arranged in optimum manner? (see tomorrow's post for more about this)

Yes, except where noted.

Too many/too few third-party gadgets?

The blog award gadgets are a bit much - I know that it's hard not to accept these tokens of friendship, but maybe add older ones to the bottom of the page, and keep only a few of the most recent at the top?
They are both a psychological attractant and a visual repellent, so may take some clever managing.

Pages used effectively? Can the reader easily learn more about this writer and book?

Separate pages with tabs - with author bio, maybe an excerpt under another tab, a list of your favorite books - these could all engage the reader even more.

What's great?

Almost everything!

What can be improved?

Not much.

Is it ready for a blog tour?

Without a doubt.


Nice job, Alex! We'll expect a great blog book tour from you sometime this autumn.