In today’s post I want to talk about the different types of posts during blog tours and what they entail. For the purpose of this post I will be focusing mainly on my own blog tours and the types of posts I include in my tour as I know exactly what those entail. A lot of tour companies will offer similar packages and post types during their tours, but it’s always important to read what the tour packages entail for the tour company you want to book.
It depends from tour to tour which post types I offer, so I want to list that first, then I discuss what all the different post types mean and then I’ll explain how the process works from the point of view of my tour participants and me when they sign up for a particular post type.
Which tours have which post types?
It varies from tour to tour which post types I offer as options for the participants. Below I listed the tours I offer and which type of posts they have for the participants to choose from. Keep in mind that not every tour will actually have all the different types of posts listed, as participants can decide which type of posts they like. This means sometimes I have tours with multiple interviews, excerpts and promo only post, but little else. And other tours are mostly reviews and excerpts. And again others which have most excerpts, promo only posts and reviews, but also some guest posts, interviews and top ten lists. It really varies.
- Book Blitz – promo only posts + excerpt posts
- Cover Reveal – promo only posts + excerpt posts
- Review Opportunity – review posts
- Book Blitz Deluxe – promo only posts + excerpt posts + review posts
- Blog Tour – promo only posts + excerpt posts + review posts + guest posts + interview posts + top ten list posts
The different post types during a blog tour and what they entail
Below I listed the different post types and what they mean. Everyone receives the media kit next to the materials for their particular post type, as will be explained in more detail later in this post.
- Promo Only post. A promo only post is a post where the tour participant posts only the promotional materials for the book. They can decide what to include from the media kit I send them. The media kit includes: book information, author information, links, tour information, excerpt(s), graphic(s), cover(s) and html media kit as well as the giveaway info (if author decides to do a giveaway). People who sign up for this post type don’t have any additional content for their post.
- Excerpt post. An excerpt post is when a tour participant posts an excerpt of the book in their post. I usually ask for multiple excerpts from the author so not everyone who shares an excerpt will have the same one. The participant can decide which excerpt to share. I’ve also done tours where I send different excerpts to different participants to spread them out that way, if you want this for your tour, make sure to let me know.
- Review post. When someone signs up for a review post they receive a review copy of the book, either in eformat, paperback or audio depending on the format(s) the author has available and the format the participants choose. They then read and review the book and post their review in their post during the tour. If a reviewer doesn’t like the book (below 3 stars) I ask them to post their review after the tour and do another type of post during the tour or they have the option to be removed from the tour altogether. The exception is my review opportunity as that isn’t a tour, reviewers can post their review whenever they want. For my tours with review posts I offer the author the option to also allow reviews within two months of the tour, in that case reviewers can decide whether to review during the tour or after the tour.
- Guest post. With a guest post the tour participant comes up with a topic they would like the author to write about. I then pass this topic along to the author who writes the post. Guest posts are a post about one topic or question and the author writes about that topic or answers the questions in the post. These posts usually are longer than interview question answers, but I don’t have a set length for these posts, so they can be as long or short as the author likes.
- Interview post. An interview is where the tour participant comes up with multiple questions, I then pass these along to the author who then answers them. Where a guest post is only one topic or question, with an interview there are multiple questions and often shorter answers. Authors can skip any questions they don’t want to answer.
- Top Ten list post. A top ten list is a list with 10 items about the author’s favorites regarding a certain topic. A few examples are topics like: top ten favorite books, ten favorite scenes to write, ten interesting things about your book etc. In each case it’s a list of 10 surrounding a certain topic. The tour participant comes up with a topic they want the author to write a top ten list about and the author then writes about their ten favorites in that topic. These posts can be just a simple list from 1 to 10 with something listed for each number. Or the author can elaborate and explain why each item made the list.
How participants pick their post type and receive materials
When joining a blog tour, participants can choose which type of post(s) they want during the tour. Depending on the tour I have different post types and the author can also decide to not include certain post types. Participants can pick one or multiple post types for their post. There’s one exception, they can only pick one of the following: guest post, top ten list or interview. If they pick two or three of these I’ll pick one for their post, so the author only has to write one type of post for their stop.
A week before the tour starts all participants will receive the media kit for the tour which includes book information, author information, tour information, links, excerpt(s), graphic(s), cover(s) and html media kit as well as the giveaway info (if author decides to do a giveaway). Then on top of that they will receive materials specific for their chosen post type. If they pick a promo only post or excerpt they have all the materials already. If they pick a review they will have received a review copy of the book when they sign up for the tour, so they can read and review the book. If they pick a guest post, top ten list or interview I’ll send them the finished post that I received from the author.