Can you imagine if blog tours for books got the same treatment and hype as concert tours do? What if they got bright strobes and spotlights, an army of fabulous background dancers, killer wardrobe changes, and an abundance of brain-rattling special effects? That would be quite a sight to behold.
But all horribly photoshopped GIFs aside, I have a hot-and-cold, yes-and-no, in-and-out, up-and-down relationship with blog tours. Why, you might ask? Well, you’re in luck because today I want to share with you two reasons why I think blog tours are the best thing to enter this bland world since the invention of the waffle iron, as well as two reasons why I’m tempted to never participate in one ever again.
What I Like and Dislike About Blog Tours
I Like: Receiving ARCs
People like free things. In fact, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that people might even love them. I know I do. Whenever I see free samples at the supermarket, I always go out of my way to try them, even if the food itself doesn’t look particularly appetizing. But it doesn’t even matter because it’s FREEeeEEeeEeeeE. That’s one of the best parts of blog tours; we can receive free copies of books in exchange for an honest review.
Not only that, but because I’m an international book blogger, participating in blog tours is one of the only ways I can access my most highly anticipated ARCs. If it weren’t for them, many popular titles would be as unobtainable to me as unobtainium.
I Dislike: Deadlines
If people love free things, then I think people also hate deadlines (or at least being on the receiving end of them). I’ve said this before, but reading and blogging about books is something that I do as a hobby. Something that I do for fun. Deadlines turn me into an anxious Psyduck, which is decidedly not fun.
The added time-sensitivity takes the kick-back-and-relax element out of reading and blogging for me and turns it into something closer to a job. And as somebody who already works twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week as a stay-at-home mom, I don’t need to add more stress to my metaphorical laundry basket that’s already full of non-metaphorical dirty clothes.
I Like: Supporting Authors
Authors are amazing creatures. They’ve written a whole book full of thousands and thousands of words; what crazy, magical witchcraft is that? But even after accomplishing this herculean task, they’ve still got another dragon to slay; they’ve now got to get people (outside of their family) to read it. Blog tours are a great way to do this! It’s especially helpful for self-published and indie authors who might not have a whole marketing team working behind the scenes for them. Not only that, but participating in blog tours can help support diverse or lesser known books that might not get a lot of attention or advertising otherwise.
I Dislike: The Pressure
If a diamond is just a chunk of coal that did well under pressure, then I guess I’m destined to forever live out my life as coal. Me and pressure do not mix well. Like, at all. And one of the things I don’t like about blog tours is the heightened pressure I feel to only say nice things about the book I’m reviewing. To love it to the rings of Saturn and back. Now, this is a self-inflicted stress and not something any of the many wonderful blog tour organizers I’ve worked with ever hinted at or insinuated. (Seriously, I applaud every blogger who has hosted a blog tour. You all are angels and I love you.)
But the massive guilt I feel if perchance I have some negative thoughts about a blog tour book is real. I don’t want to disappoint anyone and as a result, my social anxiety rears its angry head and starts to breathe out soul-crushing flames of despair.
To Sum it Up
I have a Cardan-and-Jude-esque relationship with blog tours; I love participating in them, but I also hate it. This is very much due to my own social anxieties and not at all a reflection of the many amazing bloggers who sacrifice their precious time and make a herculean effort to organize such tours. I’m infinitely grateful to them.
That being said, will I continue to sign up for blog tours in the future? Most likely. Why? because I’m a crazy lady who loves stressing herself out in the name of a good book.
Blog Tours I’ve Participated In
Have you ever participated in a book blog tour?
What did you think about your experience?
What do you think about blog tours in general?
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Great post!
As for your questions: I participate in Blogtours/promos quite a bit. However I generally don’t do reviews for the reasons you specified (deadlines ughhhh), I just pick excerpts,spotlight posts, or get interviews/guest posts. That way I can still promo the book and give love to it without too much stress.
My experience so far is pretty positive. I only think it is a shame that tour hosts and publisher don’t always help with retweeting/liking or promoting my posts. I take the time to promote the book, help me out a bit. Ah, and one of my tour hosts is very eh with dates and puts me for multiple tours on the same date… causing me to have to ask for a different date.
In general I love blog tours and seeing people participate in them. Though if a blog is only doing them.. .eh, I get turned away from that.
I’ve never participated in a blog tour and it’s kind of for the reasons you’ve mentioned 😅 I think what terrifies me the most is not liking the book and then I’ll feel super guilty about it. But blog tours are really helpful like you said, and sometimes I do want to take part. I’ll just try to pick a book that I’ll love lol
Great post 💖
And there is more exposure both for book and blog. another con is, if it’s just promo post, people have read about the book through other posts during blog tour, so it’s likely they wouldn’t want o read them again on your blog.
I totally agree with all of these points!
I love getting the ARCs and supporting the book, but because of the deadline I feel like sometimes I’m not giving the book the attention it deserves since I’m rushing through..
I really try to only sign up for blog tours for books I really feel like I’m going to love!
(www.evelynreads.com)
What a great discussion post, Kat! 🥰 I have similar thoughts, as I value blog tours because they give me access to Arcs when Netgalley often only presents a ‘Wish for it’ Button but there is a bit of pressure involved too. I always want to present my best work, write a thoughtful review and of course I hope to actually enjoy the book as well. I also appreciate it when the blog tour provides a guideline what to do in case you don’t like the book!
I haven’t participated in blog tours for a long time because when I did there wasn’t a lot of interesting content tied to them other than people’s reviews. If there were any cover reveals or promo posts, they would all be the same and I don’t really want to copy and paste someone else’s post onto my blog :/ Even though they’re not for me, I can totally see why other people would enjoy participating in blog tours :D
This post perfectly explains why I’ve always been too nervous to participate in a blog tour! Yeah, the free books and author support are great, but the deadlines and pressure? And what if you don’t like it? Oh man, it’s too much.
Yup! Agree on all points! I’m signed up for quite a few tours coming up and I am SO excited to read the books! But, geez, it’s a lot of pressure!
Great post!
Christine @ Captivated Reading
This was very insightful hearing your thoughts on this topic 😮! I’ve never participated in a blog tour, but having a deadline to read a book or feeling pressured to like one are definitely reasons why I haven’t actively tried to join one 😅. Getting free stuff would be cool hahaha, and supporting authors is awesome! But, for now, that doesn’t off-set the responsibility(? i guess lol) of taking part of a blog tour. Awesome post, Kat 😄! ( I loved the rock star book gif 🤣.)
Awesome article! I also dislike the deadlines for the blog tours, especially since I’m a pretty slow reader. But I do love getting free books!
Love your post ! I’d like to do blog tours, but for now, I’m way too stressed about the ARC deadlines to actually dare try to sign up for one. Maybe one day, though ! It does seem to be one of the only ways to get some ARCs that US reviewers get more easily… (looking at NetGalley’S “wish for it” option…).
I’d love to participate in one, but have no idea how one would even start! I really like doing ARCs and promoting authors and upcoming works. I find it really rewarding!
I have had good luck with most of the tours I signed up for, but I definitely feel the pressure to like the book. I am on a publicist organized tour for a book, which essentially disparaged adult YA bloggers. So, now I feel awkward about supporting the book, as an adult YA blogger. I usually only sign up for tours supporting ARCs I already have. I have had problems in the past with the books coming late, and that stresses me out. If I already have the book, I know I will be able to read it in time, and it also motivates me to read my ARCs.
receiving arcs is such a gratifying feeling, i agreeee but yes deadlines are the biggest reason why i end up putting them off hahah. deadlines take away all the fun 😭😭😭 i love your discussion posts kat and you always make me laugh with your jokes and metaphors 🥺🥺❤️
While I’ve never participated in a blog tour, I still understand so much of what you’re saying. When I get arcs I always feel pressure to read them and say glowing things about the book, and it stresses me out. Amazing post BTW!
Hi Kat!! I hope you’ve been doing well! <3 Oh my gosh, I relate to this post so much. It perfectly articulates how conflicting my thoughts about blog tours are! I love being able to hype up books and promote authors, but I get so easily stressed out by the deadlines and pressure! 🙈
i love this post so much, kat!! in fact, today i had to post a review of a book i didn’t quite Love for a blog tour, and writing the review for it was so hard because i had to keep trying to think of positives 😭 i really enjoy receiving arcs of books, as i think anyone does, and if it’s done through the publisher i think it’s a great way to build a relationship with them as well. but it’s definitely intimidating to know that you’re supposed to love it and promote it!
I love this post! :) I stopped doing blog tours in a big part because of the negatives you mentioned – I get STRESSED by deadlines and I dislike the pressure that I have to like a book to review it. I mean, that’s an understandable expectation from the organizers!! But it prompts me to be even more stressed about reading the book – I feel like I need to get to it asap so I can back out in time for them to find someone else. Also, I know this is mean, but I hate when I’m supposed to put certain things into my post, like the organizer’s button or an excerpt or the long list of participants. Also, I participated in a blog tour at the beginning of the year, because I *needed* that book… and then I ended up not reading it until close to the deadline. *facepalm* I could have easily waited for the pub date.
I completely agree with everything you said!! (Also the gif at the beginning of the post is *pure art* and should be treasured).
I love participating in blog tours to give hype to books and to support authors, but the pressure is just so much. I’m always a bit conflicted, because I don’t want to lie about loving a book, but I don’t want to post something that might not be perceived as totally positive about a book. This is why I’ve started leaning towards posting Q&A’s when doing blog tours, that way my review for the book would be separate, but I’ll still be supporting the author and giving the book exposure.
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First off I just want to say that your blog is incredibly cute and just…it makes me happy just looking it at it!
Second, I agree with the pressure to say nice things. I like to give useful feedback, whether its a review or I’m helping a friend edit their work. For a long time I wasn’t sure how to give constructive criticism, because I know how hard people work on their art and I’d hate to bring them down!
One way I got over it was some advice I got while doing a teaching/tutoring placement way back. The teacher had his class do this thing called 2 stars and wish. Basically, you say two things that you thought the person did well, and one thing that you think they could improve on.
Going about giving criticism this way, actually makes the person giving it more aware of what they are saying and they end up giving thoughtful and helpful advice. Plus the person receiving the constructive criticism will usually (like 80% of the time), be more open to it.
I also noticed that with the kids in that class, they became more honest with one another when it came to critiquing each others work, and since I’ve started doing it myself, I don’t feel as anxious when giving others feedback!
Oh gosh, wow! Thank you so much for your kind words and for leaving such a lovely comment! It means a lot to me! It totally made my day :)
Anyways, I totally agree with what you said about giving constructive criticism; it can be so difficult! Like, I want to help people improve their work, but I also don’t want to offend anyone??? It’s a delicate balance. But I really really like what you said about the exercise your teacher had you do. I’ll have to apply that technique in the future! Maybe it will help.
Thanks again for stopping by :)
Kat that gif has me laughing so hard, SEND HELP!
I too contain multitudes and have a love/hate relationship with blog tours. Being based in the US, I am fortunate enough to skip out on them a lot of the time because I have other avenues. I actually love AND hate the deadlines – it’s the only way I can get a book read in a slump. Two blog tours for Wednesday Books last year brought me out of a slump and help me reach my overall reading goal. Who knows how long I would have suffered without consuming words?! But it is stressful, and I always panic about what if I hate the book. Because I am honest and don’t want to get into a situation… I actually pulled out of a tour before because I DNFd the book and refused to do promo because I found the book problematic. So needless to say, I am very cautious with tours now lol
KALLLL I am so glad you got a laugh out of my horrible photoshopping skills. To be honest, it took me way longer than it should have to make that GIF. Best use of my time? Oh absolutely haha.
But what you said about what if you hate the book is 100% me. Like, one of my worst fears is hurting somebody’s feelings and so I don’t want to disappoint anybody if I didn’t like a book, but I’m also not going to lie about it and say I loved it? I am in a moral quandary.
Anyways, thanks for such a lovely comment! YOU ARE AWESOME.