Frequently Asked Questions for Authors and Publishers:
1. What do your virtual tours consist of?
All our tours include giving book bloggers the option to participate by:
● reviewing your book: blogger will be sent your book to read and review on their blog. The review will include your book cover, author bio and pic, your social media links and where to buy the book;
● spotlighting your book: blogger will post your book cover, synopsis, author bio and pic, social media links and where to buy book;
● doing an author interview: blogger will either send you a small list of questions to answer, or we will provide him with a prepared Q&A (from you) to copy and paste on the blog, including your book cover, synopsis, author bio and pic, social media links and where to buy book;
● allowing you to “guest” post on their blog: blogger will either send you a topic to write about or we will provide him with a prepared guest post (from you) to copy and paste on the blog, including your book cover, synopsis, author bio and pic, social media links and where to buy book;
● including a book excerpt: blogger will post a short excerpt of your book, including your book cover, synopsis, author bio and pic, social media links and where to buy book;
● doing a book giveaway: blogger will host a giveaway of your book
● doing a combination of the above: some bloggers do a review and interview as well as a giveaway, or some bloggers choose to do a guest post and giveaway.
However, you are the one who decides if you wish to do interviews, guest posts, book excerpt and giveaways. We highly recommend you be open to them as they increase your visibility and help to promote your book in different ways. Many bloggers who cannot review your book because of time constraints may agree to choose these other options instead.
2. Will my reviews be posted to Amazon?
iRead Book Tours does not guarantee that our bloggers will post their reviews on Amazon because neither we nor our bloggers have any control on if Amazon will accept the reviews or when they will go live if they are accepted. (For this reason, please you should be wary of any virtual book tour company that does offer such a guarantee.)
However, we do offer great incentives for our bloggers to post their reviews on Amazon if they can and most do. With this in mind:
3. My book is not yet published, but will be soon. Should I go ahead and book a tour now or should I wait until the publication date?
If you are certain of the publication date, then it is advisable that you book a tour now. If you have ARCs (advance review copies or galleys) to send out, that’s even better. We can then create a buzz just before your publication date by organizing the tour a week before or after your publication date.
4. Do you organize tours for self-published authors?
Yes, we do. However, we only accept self-published books that have been edited by a professional editor. We screen all books before offering them for tours. If we do not feel your book meets our standards, we reserve the right to deny acceptance.
5. Do you organize tours for ebooks?
Yes, we do. We have a list of tour hosts who review ebooks.
6. How do I book a tour?
We ask that you please first read our tour policy. Then fill out the form on the Apply for a Book Tour page. Once we receive your application, we will send you our prices. We will also review your title to make sure our tour company is a good fit for your book.
7. How do I pay for the tour?
Payment is done through Paypal. You do not need to have a Paypal account to make your payment. We do not refund a tour once we've begun organizing it.
8. Are there some books your don't accept?
We accept most books but there are some genres we don't. Please read our policy for further info.
9. I'm not sure if my book fits your guidelines. Should I contact you with my book info?
It's best to fill out the form on the Apply for a Book Tour page. This will give us enough information on your book. We will get back to you within 48 hours.
10. My book was published two years ago. Can I still book a tour?
Of course, you can. If your book does not deal with a time-sensitive topic, bloggers will be happy to be part of your tour if your book interests them regardless of when it was published.
11. Once my tour is booked, what do I do?
We guide you step-by-step. We take care of contacting the tour hosts and setting up your tour. We provide you with an information and referral sheet with instructions and handy tips on having a successful book tour. The most important step for you is to send out your books in a timely fashion so that the tour hosts have enough time to read and review your book.
All our tours include giving book bloggers the option to participate by:
● reviewing your book: blogger will be sent your book to read and review on their blog. The review will include your book cover, author bio and pic, your social media links and where to buy the book;
● spotlighting your book: blogger will post your book cover, synopsis, author bio and pic, social media links and where to buy book;
● doing an author interview: blogger will either send you a small list of questions to answer, or we will provide him with a prepared Q&A (from you) to copy and paste on the blog, including your book cover, synopsis, author bio and pic, social media links and where to buy book;
● allowing you to “guest” post on their blog: blogger will either send you a topic to write about or we will provide him with a prepared guest post (from you) to copy and paste on the blog, including your book cover, synopsis, author bio and pic, social media links and where to buy book;
● including a book excerpt: blogger will post a short excerpt of your book, including your book cover, synopsis, author bio and pic, social media links and where to buy book;
● doing a book giveaway: blogger will host a giveaway of your book
● doing a combination of the above: some bloggers do a review and interview as well as a giveaway, or some bloggers choose to do a guest post and giveaway.
However, you are the one who decides if you wish to do interviews, guest posts, book excerpt and giveaways. We highly recommend you be open to them as they increase your visibility and help to promote your book in different ways. Many bloggers who cannot review your book because of time constraints may agree to choose these other options instead.
2. Will my reviews be posted to Amazon?
iRead Book Tours does not guarantee that our bloggers will post their reviews on Amazon because neither we nor our bloggers have any control on if Amazon will accept the reviews or when they will go live if they are accepted. (For this reason, please you should be wary of any virtual book tour company that does offer such a guarantee.)
However, we do offer great incentives for our bloggers to post their reviews on Amazon if they can and most do. With this in mind:
- Please, be patient. It can take weeks between when a blogger submits their review to Amazon to when it will go live on your book page.
- Use the Editorial Reviews section on your book page! Don’t wait for Amazon or the blogger! If you get a fabulous review that you want everyone to see, then post it on the book page yourself under Editorial Reviews. You can access this at Author Central.
- Don’t ask iReads to remind our bloggers to post their reviews to Amazon. As mentioned above, we offer wonderful incentives to the bloggers to post their reviews everywhere and being book lovers, they already know how important it is to authors to have their reviews appear on Amazon. If they can, they will post their reviews on Amazon.
3. My book is not yet published, but will be soon. Should I go ahead and book a tour now or should I wait until the publication date?
If you are certain of the publication date, then it is advisable that you book a tour now. If you have ARCs (advance review copies or galleys) to send out, that’s even better. We can then create a buzz just before your publication date by organizing the tour a week before or after your publication date.
4. Do you organize tours for self-published authors?
Yes, we do. However, we only accept self-published books that have been edited by a professional editor. We screen all books before offering them for tours. If we do not feel your book meets our standards, we reserve the right to deny acceptance.
5. Do you organize tours for ebooks?
Yes, we do. We have a list of tour hosts who review ebooks.
6. How do I book a tour?
We ask that you please first read our tour policy. Then fill out the form on the Apply for a Book Tour page. Once we receive your application, we will send you our prices. We will also review your title to make sure our tour company is a good fit for your book.
7. How do I pay for the tour?
Payment is done through Paypal. You do not need to have a Paypal account to make your payment. We do not refund a tour once we've begun organizing it.
8. Are there some books your don't accept?
We accept most books but there are some genres we don't. Please read our policy for further info.
9. I'm not sure if my book fits your guidelines. Should I contact you with my book info?
It's best to fill out the form on the Apply for a Book Tour page. This will give us enough information on your book. We will get back to you within 48 hours.
10. My book was published two years ago. Can I still book a tour?
Of course, you can. If your book does not deal with a time-sensitive topic, bloggers will be happy to be part of your tour if your book interests them regardless of when it was published.
11. Once my tour is booked, what do I do?
We guide you step-by-step. We take care of contacting the tour hosts and setting up your tour. We provide you with an information and referral sheet with instructions and handy tips on having a successful book tour. The most important step for you is to send out your books in a timely fashion so that the tour hosts have enough time to read and review your book.
© 2014-2019 iRead Book Tours
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