The book is now entitled Ghosts Through the Cracks. Discover more here.
Some of you asked me what a blog tour is.
Think at it as a tour of places where you go presenting your book. In real life, they’d be most likely bookshops or libraries. You’d show up, you’d talk about your book and based on the place you are, you’d give a different speech so to make the subject easy for the specific audience. Maybe there would be someone helping you presenting the book, a person knowledgeable in a subject close to your book (which is the reason why you chose that particular bookshop) and that person will add her voice to your speech.
Blog tours are the same thing, only they happene online. Your book goes around blogs and on each you’ll present the story and/or give a speech (a guest post) related to the story. Or maybe the host blogger will present the book for you.
I think at it as having book parties on multiple blogs, especially since my own tour all happens on friends’ and fellow writers’ blogs.
Organising my own blog tour
When I hosted the tour last year it was through a company who organise blog tours for author. I considered that, because you know, I just hosted one blog tour, I wasn’t sure how all that was done. But then a friend, Nicholas, suggested that I could actually orginise my own, with my friends.
That ‘with my friends’ was what sold me. I thought, I mean, how hard can that be? I’ll contact all people I know, we’ll talk, we’ll come up with something. I can do it.
Yes, I could do it. It was demanding and time consuming, but it was also uplifting and exciting. I loved working with every single person on this tour.
Let me give you a virtual hug, guys. It was a fantastic experience. I’m overwhelmed with your support and I can’t wait to return the favour any time you need it.
The grime and grit of it
As for how I went about it, here it is:
- I contacted the bloggers I thought might be interested in participating, either because I know they are fellow dieselpunks, or are into history, or have a recurring feature connected with publishing
- I explained what I wanted to do and together we came up with an idea. Some agreed to write a review. Some preferred an interview. Some asked for a guest post. Some other offered to write a post related to the story.
- When I gathered all the blogs interested in participating, I wrote down a schedule and contacted everyone to ask a confirmation whether the day could be good for them
- I wrote my own guest posts
- I designed a few graphics (and more I should design) and send it out to everyone participating
- I wrote down the roster for the blog tour and I’m posting it here
And so here we are. Today it begins. I’m so excited I can’t even express it.
I hope you’ll enjoy!
Give in to the Feeling #blogtour Have a look at the roster and the wonderful people on it Click To Tweet19 February
Sara Letourneau’s Official Website & Blog
Sara is a fantasy writer and a lover of teas and you’ll find both on her blog. She’s running an incredible series dedicated to building characters, The Character Evolution Files, and if you’re a writer, you want to have a look at that. Well, you may want to look at that even if you are a reader, it’s really interesting.
Interview with Sarah Zama, Author of Give in to the Feeling
20 February
Riding the Blimp
Jack is a Steampunk author (Beyond the Rail Series) and a very active member of -punk community. He has recently turned his blog into a hub for writer of all –punk genres, so if you’re curious about what this is all about, head to his site and you’ll have a very good look at what the indie community has to offer in this field.
Review
21 February
CW Hawes
Fellow dieselpunk author CW Hawes has a few series up his sleeve, both in the alternate history and mystery genres. He’s an enthusiast of everything vintage and on his blog you’ll find articles about classic sf stories, pulp series and true history, especially related to machines and invntions, though he’s especially famous for his love and knowledge of airship.
Day 4 of the Give in to the Feeling Blog Tour
22 February
Bard Writes Books
Bard is the author of the dieselpunk series The Troubleshooter, a dark, gritty sf series inspired by film noir themes and atmosphere, as well as a series of classic fantasy novels. I’ll define his blog nearly intimistic, though recently it has opened to interviews and articles about the self-published world.
Guest post – Shadow Against Light: the Soul of Noir
23 February
Crime Writer Sue ColettaIf you ever need to know anything about murders, serial killers, police procedures and even true life crimes, Sue’s blog is the place you want to go. She is a tireless collector of information and an equally tireless disseminator of her knowledge. And she’s always extremely accurate.
She’s also the acclaimed author of the mystery Marred.
A Writer’s Guide to the Informed Speakeasy Owner
24 February
Hopes and Dreams: My Writing and My Sons
Lillian is a writer of historical and fantasy stories. A very accurate historical writer, passionate about Japan, I met her last year during the AtoZ Challenge where she was writing about Fantasy Films so Bad They Are Actually Good, which believe me, you want to read.
Guest post – Speakeasy: Roaring Twenties America in a Shot
25 February
Atherton’s Magic Vapour
I met Melanie during last year AtoZ Challenge too, where she was posting a mystery story with a steampunky feel, each chapter of which was dedicated to a character related to the day’s letter of the alphabet, everyone with photos taken by Melanie herself. I was very impressed with the amount of work she put in, and the story is fun too, so if you want to read it: Alas! A complete mystery novelette in 26 installments
Interview – I pay a social call at the Old Shelter
26 February
Down the Rabbit Hole
French woman who grew up in the UK and now living in China: let’s talk about being a citizen of the world! She is a writer of Fantasy with a series of which The Viper and the Urchin is the first installment.
Her blog is a collection of funny and interesting things, starting with her series Of Course You Realise… where she shares the most unusual things she comes across on the internet while researching her books.
Speakeasies and the Roaring Twenteis: an interview with Sarah Zama
27 February
Holly Gonzalez
She’s the author of a series of dieselpunk/decopunk stories, The Family of Earth. She’s very passionate about Art Deco, which is a defining characteristic of her work.
The Art Deco Splendor of Chicago
28 February
Mike Fargo Blog
Bill is a veteran of the publishing world with many books under his belt. He has written about everything, but now he has devoted himself to the 1920s. He’s the author of a series of mystery stories set in NYC during Prohibition. His protagonist, Mike Fargo, is a NYC detective with the police department in the most classic hard-boiled style. But you’ll find good, informative article about the 1920s on his blog too.
New York City and Jazz, a Perfect 1920s Match
29 February
A Smile and a Gun
Another good place where you’ll find information about the 1920s. I especially liked the C is for Cocktail series, but there is always something interesting on this blog and what’s best, primary resources are preferred.
Lupachi is working to a dieselpunk story set in 1920s Chicago (her hometown).
“How long will they last?” Endurance Dance Contests: Jazz-Age reality TV
1 March
Sara C. Snider
Sara is an author of fantasy with a book published (The Thirteenth Tower) and a series (Hazel and Holly) going on on her blog. And guess what, I met her last year during the AtoZ Challenge. She has a gift for very short fiction.
Interview with Sarah Zama
2 March
Nicholas C. Rossis
Nicholas’s blog is a surprising place. You can find every sort of curious things on it, but above all, you’ll find insightful posts about promotion and marketing for authors, as well as Nicholas’s own experiments with it.
He’s also an author of SF with a series out, the Pearseus Saga.
Book Feature: Give in to the Feeling by Sarah Zama
3 March
Woelf Ditrich
Author of the fantasy series Guardians of the Seals. Is involved in many different projects, talks about fantasy and being a writer on his blog and runs a weekly series devoted to fantasy artists from around the world, the Art of Fantasy series.
Guest Blog by Sarah Zama: Fantasy’s Love Affair with History
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I hope you’ll find something interesting in here. I actually think all these blogs are fantastic places to visit where you’ll find yourself at home.
I’ll be updating links as they’ll go live, so stay tuned!
And don’t forget my own series of post, Characters Speak, that will run to the end of the month
6 Feb – Susie – When I dance to jazz music, I feel free
13 Feb – Simon – The dreams fueled my desires and I follow them willingly
20 Feb – Michael – I should have known better than to think my will alone would shaped my life
27 Feb – Blood – There are always voices calling and I’ll always listen




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The book is not currently on Amazon but is available for Kindle via my site
17 Comments
Sara L.
Just saying once again that I’m honored to be part of your blog tour, Sarah! Everything is ready to go for tomorrow. 😉 And I’ll do my best to keep up with the other blog tour stops, too!
jazzfeathers
Thanks Sara! Can’t wait to see this ball start rolling! 🙂
Sara C. Snider
Wow, this looks like a great tour (and not just because I’m part of it 😉 ). It’s great and amazing you were able to put this all together. I’ve been considering doing a blog tour for my next release, but I’m leaning towards going through a company. We’ll see! I’m going to spread the word around on this. I’m getting really excited for you and I can’t wait to see how it all turns out! Thanks for having me along for the ride! 😀
jazzfeathers
Sara I’d say totally go for it! And if you have a bit of time, do it yourself. Yes, it is time consuming, but if you know this in advance, you’ll be able to organise your time (I was lucky to have a few extra days off). I think a blog tour is probably a great experience in itself, but I enjoyed doing it with friends a lot. the sense of community is priceless 🙂
Anabel
Woohoo, it’s all coming together! What a lot of hard work – I hope you’re enjoying it too.
jazzfeathers
I am enjoying it a lot, Anabel! I hope you’ll enjoy it too.
Thanks so much for the support 🙂
Sue Coletta
What a fabulous lineup, Sarah. Thank you for your kind words. I’m thrilled I get to be a part of launching your debut. So exciting!!!
jazzfeathers
Don’t mention it, Sue. Hey, I had a great fun writing the post for your blog. It turned into an unexpected direction while I wasn’t watching, but I’m quite happy with it. Hope you’ll like it too 🙂
Sue Archer
Congratulations on publishing your book, and for pulling together what looks like an amazing blog tour! I wish you all the best. 🙂
jazzfeathers
Sorry for the late reply, Sue, it has been quite a busy week…
The blog tour was a big commitment, but it was fun, and the support I’ve received was amazing.
Thanks so much to all of you 🙂
Nicholas C. Rossis
Many thanks for including me in your blog tour, Sarah. Best of luck with the launch 😀
jazzfeathers
Thank YOU Nicholas for your support 🙂