So Who am I?

People often ask me why I'm promoting blog book tours for free. Because I'm a kept woman and have nothing better to do? Wrong.

I'm a writer, and I'm fully aware that in today's publishing world, authors must offer up a promotion package with their manuscript submissions that puts the load of the selling squarely on their shoulders. In the traditional paradigm, that means they will likely travel. And I hate to travel.

Even worse, I hate the hotels, the airports, the food, not sleeping in my own bed, and that's just to name a few details I can get disgruntled about. I just flat-out don't like being away from home to work, and I don't like conferences either.

Fortunately for me, there is an oil crisis and travel will soon be curtailed for all of us. That means we all get to find better ways to promote. I knew early on that blogs and other virtual world vehicles would be my ride. So here I am, happily blazing my own new road.

That isn't to say, some traveling won't be part of my life as I promote in the future. But I think it's smart to consider new options. What about you?

Maybe a live book tour will be shorter, more concentrated in a region, and you might take fellow authors along and make it a group project. Even better, look for accomodations that are "green" and different from the usual hotel scenario. Why not try planning a more unusual trip for your next live book tour and enjoy the journey a little more while you're touring? Here's a link to the Green Vacation Hub that might get your imagination flowing. If not for you, then maybe for a character in your next book?

So Sorry?

Picked up on Twitter and so true:

I must delete some of my rss feeds, so I just now decided, any blog that apologizes for not posting, they're out. One gone already!

Don't apologize for not posting. If you must, sneak back in and back-date some posts so it looks like you've been paying attention to your blog all along. Or commit to daily posts for a month so that your blog looks fresh. Then collapse your archives so previous months' don't tattletale about former bad habits.

There are ways and there are ways.

Are you pinging?

Pinging is a way to give your blog a little boost by notifying an online service that you've updated your blog. This technique is much more proactive than waiting for the web crawlers at Google to notice you. I use Pingoat and once you're there, it's easy peasy. Just fill in the blanks, and click on all the services you want notified. If you click on the header in each category, all the items within will be checked. Don't do this too often, but once or twice a week after you update your blog is a good idea. This takes less than 60 seconds. Do it!

"Bee" a perfect blogger

Pro-blogger and blogging guru, Chris Garrett explains how to "bee" a perfect blogger. Here's good advice for authors preparing their own blogs for an impending blog book tour. Be sure to read the comments, too, because there are plenty of good insights and tips there.

Be sure to bookmark Chris' site and stop by often for the very best blogging help available. He's also on Twitter, and the above-mentioned article was picked up there. If you're not tweeting yet, I recommend it for a quick and easy way to give and get valuable information and links.

A Smashing Idea

Picked up at Twitter, Smashing Magazine offers up fifteen tools purported to make your blogging life easier. Do any of them work? I haven't tried them since the actual act of blogging isn't that difficult for me. But, if you're a virtual gadget lover, this might offer you some tools you'll like, and the article is definitely worth a read. Clear overviews and a clean wrap-up make it worth your while. This eMagazine is definitely worth exploring further.

Thanks, aboutbooks, for the heads-up.

The Perfect Plan

Few things make an entrepreneur's heart sink quite as deeply as the prospect of creating a business plan, and yet that one monumental step might be exactly the thing to ensure success in the long-term endeavor. It doesn't have to be as daunting as it sounds, and it can be downright fun.

The same holds true for blogging. Having a good blog is an important part of your long-term blog book tour success, but you must have a plan so your blog does all that it can and should accomplish.

You can start by answering a few simple questions:

• Who?
• What?
• Where?
• When?
• How?
• Why?

Arrange them in any order you like, and each day think about one question and it's relationship to your blog.

Today, let's use Who. Look at your blog with an objective eye, and decide if it truly reflects who you are. Who is the person behind the image? Is this an author's blog? Who is that writer? Is your readership seeing you the way you would like them to? Who are you? And what can you say in your next post that will give a clearer indication? How can you change your blog to more closely reflect the personality you'd like to project? Are you all over the map? Sound whine-y? Foul-mouthed? Or do you seem like someone you'd like to meet? With interesting commentary and good writing that makes people come back for more.

If you have time, take it a step further and look at who you're linking to. Do they reflect your focus on the blog? Or have those links just been there forever and they really need a little housekeeping?

Happy August and good blogging!

August Blogging Challenge

We're issuing a challenge to all you blogging authors to help get your blogs in good shape for a blog book tour. August is The One-Post-Per-Day Blog Challenge. Post each day, every day.

Anyone who participates can leave a comment and link here so we go over to leave messages on your blogs. The idea is to get your blog active and noticed by the search engines before your tour. So start thinking about how you're going to beef things up on your blog; you don't want to bore us to tears with useless drivel.

If you don't know what a blog book tour is, go read The Quickest Blog Book Tour Guide Ever. You'll find more useful tips to get your blog in topnotch shape for a dynamite blog tour. It all starts with your blog - that's the launching pad for the best tours.

If you want to participate with a group, this challenge is homebased at the Blog Book Tours Yahoo!Group. You must give your full name and book title to join the group.