Are Blog Tours Useful?

One of the things new authors are told by the professional organizations they join and the more experienced writer friends they make is to be sure and have blog tours for your new releases. There are a number of places you can sign up, as a reader, to participate in blog tours. Before I was published, I participated in a number of these – after all, I love to read and if someone wants to send me a book to read with the only expectation being that I post a review? Well, I can do that.

So for the reader who wants to participate in blog tours, the answer to the question above is pretty easy – of course. Free books. Check. Something to blog about. Check. Everyone wins.

Now that I’m on the other side of the table though, I’ve begun to see the other side of the blog tour as well, and it’s much less a win-win picture than I imagined. First off, I’ve come to understand that the companies who run blog tours are the primary people who benefit. In the Christian reading world, there are two primary places (who no, I’m not going to outright name) who will do this for you for the low low price of between $300-450. And that’s not including the books and shipping to the 30 or so people who you get to review your book. So tack on another $150-200 for that. For ease, let’s say it totals out at about $600. For that money, you’re told you’ll have 30 people read your book, post a review on their blog, and also post a review on Amazon. Now, to me, the Amazon reviews are what I care the most about. And it sounds great – a guaranteed 30 reviews? Awesome. Except that apparently some people don’t read the book. And they don’t post anything, or they just post a blurb on their blog. Or they post a review on their blog but not on Amazon. And while the companies say they follow up with their reviewers, I can’t see that they do. Because in the handful of examples where I or my publisher have done this, I’ve never gotten close to 30 reviews or even blog posts. (And apparently if you, the author, try to follow up, the people running the show get all bent out of shape and say you’re being unprofessional. I don’t understand what’s unprofessional about following up with people, but hey, whatever.)

So with those experiences in mind, I put together my own mini-blog tour for Faith Departed. I got about 16 people who agreed to read and review it and it only cost me the books and shipping, so it was slightly more affordable. But the results were still fairly disappointing. I think I got 5 actual reviews out of those 16 promises. And a handful (maybe 4 others) who posted a bio, blurb, and cover photo.

Which leads me back to my question. And I’m asking you as a reader. If you stop by a blog you read regularly and see that they’re participating in a blog tour, does this do anything for you in terms of helping you evaluate the book? Compare it, perhaps, with seeing that a blogger you read has organically read and reviewed a book (suggesting that they purchased the book and are talking about it because they enjoyed it or hated it enough that they created a post.)

Do blog tours give any benefits to readers who don’t participate in the tour?