CAMI HENSLEY: SET CLEAR BOOK MARKETING GOALS

Cami Hensley is the founder of RATB Book Tours and PR, one of the most respected agencies on the market. For the past thirteen years she helped authors connect with book bloggers to bring their books in front of the right audience. Read this interview and learn all you need to know about book blog tours.

 

SPM: What exactly is a book blog tour?

Cami Hensley: A book blog tour is a way for authors to connect with readers virtually. We connect authors with bloggers and their following in order to promote the book. Book tours take place over a set period of time and typically feature a different blog each day. Each blogger chooses what kind of post to feature. There will be a mixture of spotlight posts for the books, excerpts from the book, book reviews of the book, and author interviews.

 

SPM: What are the top three performing book genres in book blog tours and why do you think it’s working so well for them?

Cami Hensley: The most popular genres currently are anything with Romance. Pretty much any sub-genre of romance. Adult and Young Adult. The main reason is just for the simple fact that it’s popular with bloggers. There are the most bloggers in those genres. Up next would definitely be any kind of Mystery or Thriller. There is also a large following for those genres. 

 

SPM: What are the top three benefits of doing a book blog tour?

Cami Hensley: The thing you can expect with a blog tour is reaching readers you would have not reached in another way. Our goal with a book tour is to get your book in front of as many perspective readers in your genre as possible. Authors can spend so much time “cold emailing” for reviews and features and we aim to take that hassle away and connect their book without all of the stress and time. 

SPM: When is the best time in a book’s life to consider doing a book blog tour?

Cami Hensley:The great thing about book tours is that they can be done at any time. We have authors who want to give an older book a “boost” and get it back out there in front of readers as some of the shine may have worn off and they aren’t seeing much traction. However, the majority of our tours do include newly released books.  

SPM:  What assets should an author prepare for a book blog tour? 

Cami Hensley: Book Tours require Book Cover, Author Photo and info if you want it to be featured, we ask for excerpts from the book in order for bloggers to feature excerpts and then of course we will need the actual copy of the book for anyone wanting to review. Interviews are typically done right before the tour is set to begin and we send the questions in a word format to the author so they can fill out and we can get them to the blogger for their stop. Interviews are not live, they are pre-done.

SPM: What is the best way for an author to approach a book blogger to be featured on their blog?

Cami Hensley: Most bloggers are PR friendly. Finding a blog and emailing the blog owner is really the main way to contact them if you are not going through a book tour company. Tour companies have a list of bloggers they can submit your book to for you. 

 

SPM: But Book blogs, Instagram, or TikTok for book tours? Which is your favorite and why?

Cami Hensley: For the last 13 years we’ve seen the rise and fall of social media. At times certain ones are definitely more popular than the other. Book Blogs are great in the fact that they are steady and allow for longer and more visual posts to include things like Excerpts, Book Reviews, Interviews, etc. Currently TikTok is popular, but a lot harder to be featured on by just the everyday author.

 

SPM: Tell us about your book blog tours. How do they work? How do you pick the book bloggers that you collaborate with?

Cami Hensley: We have a large host list. Anyone can sign up to host with us. When they sign up they choose which genres they like to host for. Then from there, they will receive invites in their chosen genre. When they get an invite they see if they have time/space on their blog during the tour and if the book seems like something they would like to feature and then they sign up. We obviously have bloggers who have worked out over the years and those who have not. We aim to overbook tours to allow for any issues with newer bloggers that may arise but typically our bloggers are people we have worked with for YEARS. 

SPM: What sets you apart from other similar companies?

Cami Hensley: There are so many book tour companies these days and a lot do a great job. I will say this, sometimes authors book multiple tours with multiple companies without realizing that there is an overlap with bloggers. We often use some of the same bloggers. That is definitely something I would tell your provider when you are booking, if you’ve done a tour with another company. That way they can aim to get you different bloggers. There are a lot of companies that specialize in specific genres. We are one of the ones that actually works in all genres. So we are a great fit for an author or company who doesn’t want to switch tour providers for each book/genre.

SPM: Which of your packages is the most effective and why?

Cami Hensley: We have 2 that are more popular than the others and those are the Tour Packages. They offer both a Book Blitz on a single day for a great promotion “push”. Authors a lot of times will book these if they have a sale or New Release. A Blitz is a simple uniform post that is to spotlight only. The Blitz runs on the sale or Release date and then it is followed up with the more in depth Tour with things like Reviews, Interviews, etc. 

SPM: Which of your packages is the most effective andLast words of wisdom regarding book marketing and book blog tours before we say goodbye why?

Cami Hensley: I definitely think it’s important to know what you want out of a book tour and marketing before you go into it. A book tour is a great way to gain new readers and get your book out there. If you are strictly looking for Amazon Reviews or SALES, that is something that you may need to find a different package for. While our tours can definitely garner those, it’s not guaranteed. Bloggers are signing up to host you and post on their blog and social media first and foremost. We do have other packages that aim more for Amazon Reviews and Book Launch Sales, etc. We have packages with more full scale start to finish Publicity as well that actually includes Book Tours, Launch Sales, Amazon Reviews, etc. 

To book your next book blog tour, visit https://www.rabtbooktoursandpr.com