Bill Frederick on Virtual Book Tours

Bill Frederick is on a virtual book tour promoting his e-book on, surprisingly, virtual book tours. If you have not seen one in action, I encourage you to follow him from site to site. Also and importantly, take a look at his My Virtual Book Tour Secrets. If you interested in winning a free copy, read to the end of the interview, and Bill will tell you can do just that! If you have questions, Bill will be around to answer them Feel free to leave a comment and he will respond.

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TN: Why did you decide to write this book?

BF: I have two self-published books coming out later this year, "The 5-Minute Writer," and, "Timeless Promises." After paying for their printing and binding, I have no money left to pay for their promotion and advertising. I had to find a way to promote and advertise them basically on a $0 budget. About the same time, I was reading author and friend Glenda Watson Hyatt's blog where she mentioned that she had just completed a "virtual book tour" for her self-published autobiography, "I'll Do It Myself." The journalist in me became curious and I started researching virtual book tours. It wasn't long before I realized that I had found a way to promote my books on a $0 budget. And, I share, step-by-step, how anyone can set up a virtual book tour in My Virtual Book Tour Secrets!.

TN: Why should someone do a virtual book tour? Should everyone do one?

BF: Good question Tom. In addition to their low cost, which I’ve already mentioned, virtual book tours allow you to target your specific audience with laser-like accuracy. There are blogs dedicated to any topic you can imagine, all you have to do is find and contact the ones that are already catering to your potential readers.

Even with these benefits though, a virtual book tour is not for every author. If your readers don’t spend any time online or you’re trying to promote a textbook or some other highly technical book you’ve written, a virtual book tour may not be the best way to market your book.

TN: In your e-book, you discuss seven types of virtual book tour content. Perhaps you could share one or two of those with my readers.

BF: Sure. One of the easiest types of content you can produce for your virtual book tour, especially if your book is non-fiction, is a guest post. You simply write a short article or essay discussing some aspect of your book that relates to the theme of the blog. The blog owner then posts your article on their blog. Another type that looks really fun, but I haven’t tried yet, is virtual book readings. There are 3-D virtual worlds on the internet where people create characters, businesses, homes, entire lives, and interact with each other through text messages, audio and video. A lot like people do in real life. Well, several authors have set up virtual bookstores where they hold virtual readings very much like you’d see at a Barnes and Noble or another local bookstore. And they’re selling books. They’re very futuristic. And, let’s not forget the interview, like we’re doing today. 

TN: What are some things that you should do before the virtual book tour?

BF: Yeah, you can’t just start contacting blog owners tomorrow morning to schedule a virtual book tour without some preliminary work. There are several things you need to have in place before you begin thinking about a virtual book tour.

First, you need to have a book to discuss. Not an idea for a book, an actual book or ebook. You should also have a blog or website set up where you can announce your virtual book tour. You also need a media page on your website where you can post your author’s bio and your photo, cover images, press releases, reviews of your book and any testimonials, as well as your contact information. You should also be able to produce original content quickly and can commit one or two hours for each tour stop you schedule. After you have all of that in place, you can begin contacting blog owners.

TN: A different sort of question: Why did you decide to do an electronic book instead of a print one?

BF: I have several reasons actually. Once your book is published and online, the cost of delivering an electronic book to your readers is $0 and they can purchase 24/7.

Second, and more importantly, the internet is a dynamic and ever changing place. Websites are sold, change their focus or even go out of business. The ability for me to update the ebook wile keeping expenses to a minimum is also important. Who can predict what new methods and tools will be available next year, next month or even next week for that matter, that authors can use to promote their books. I want to provide my readers the most up-to-date information available.

With an ebook all I have to do is make the changes, upload the ebook to my website and send a brief email to everyone who’s already purchased letting them know there has been an update. Since they’re already customers, they can then download the updated version free.

As a way of saying thank you, Tom, I'd like to give one of your readers a free copy of, "My Virtual Book Tour Secrets!" For anyone interested in winning a free copy of "My Virtual Book Tour Secrets!", visit this site, read the instructions, and enter. Your odds are good because I'm giving away a free copy on each of the blog tour stops. You can increase your odds by visiting the other blog tour stops and entering on those sites as well.

Comments

[Antonio]

Bill thank you for sharing your knowledge on VBTs. I'm in the process of building my own!
Sounds like a great book. Would love to submit
a book review..

Hope I can win a copy!

Again thanks

Tony
http://www.strateginomics.com
antonio@strateginomics.com

[Bill Frederick]

Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with me Tom. I really enjoyed our brief time together and answering your questions.

[Barbara]

Thank you, Bill! I just bought and downloaded your ebook on VBT. I am on the cusp of doing a VBT and can't wait to read your tips! To me, as a new, self-published children's author (non-fiction) the internet and all it offers to authors is so exciting! Sometimes I can't sleep thinking about all the possibilities! Thank you for putting this book together. Best of luck to you!
Joyfully,
Barbara Techel
Mom and Author of Frankie, the Walk 'N Roll Dog
www.joyfulpaws.com