Creating a Blog Tour for a Kickstarter Book

 Why create something if you aren't going to get it out in the world? Tessalation! is going on blog tour!

What is a blog tour?

Instead of traveling the country with physical books in tow, I'll be guest posting and working with other content creators to build material for their websites. The tour will last two weeks, during which I'll be spreading the message about Tessalation! far and wide.

Why it works

Blog tours are great for books because they allow you to reach a targeted audience instead of throwing your book out there and waiting for the audience to find it. For my tour, I'm focusing on a number of blogs/websites whose readers might enjoy being exposed to a math learning story about a little girl who hides in patterns.

• Math learning blogs
• Math teacher blogs
• Homeschooling blogs
• At-home creativity blogs
• Asian-American parenting blogs
• Self-publishing blogs
• Independent bookstore blogs
• Gifted children blogs
  
  

By reaching out to people who already have a built-in interest in the subject matter, the chances are greater that they will engage with the idea, maybe buy the book, or at the very least, download some tessellation coloring pages!

Preparation

If you'd like to plan a book tour, I'd suggest reading a quick 99 cent Kindle book on how to set one up and then brainstorming blogs. If you're on Kickstarter for your project and have already done this, you should have a built-in audience of people who are excited to host you. Ideally you can follow up with them when you announce your blog tour.

Action plan

1. Brainstorm possible blogs based on the audiences for your book
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2. Brainstorm a list of ideas that you can contribute to their sites. Here was my list. I also offered specific people I know well something tailored to their sites.
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• Post a tessellation tutorial from the book
• How to do a #TessaHike
• Run a simple Q & A with the author
• Post a review of the book
• How to use Tessalation! as a part of math play
• Top 10 list of how to do tessellations in math classes
• How to use Tessalation! in the classroom
• Include Tessalation! in a list of great math story books (like The Pancake Menu)
• A post on creative, back-door approaches to math learning
• Post the Tessalation! coloring pages (I am happy to send you the files)

​3. Build a site on your website where you can put imagery and links to the people who are hosting you. Line up a few before you reach out to people you don't know. Here is my blog tour page. 

4. Send an email introducing yourself and the tour and inviting blogger to join. Be sure to let them know they will get a permanent link on your site as well as broadcast through all of your social media channels.

5. Send them what you've worked on. It helps to have a variety of images and materials to send to bloggers. In my case, coloring pages, images, and tessellation tutorials.

6. When the blogs go live, share everywhere you can!

7. Thank the blogger for participating in the blog tour. Remember, they are the ones helping YOU out.

Above all, understand that this isn't a quick process but the rewards are many, from developing relationships to actually selling your books.

Have you done a blog tour? Do you have any tips?