Christian Fiction Blog Tours

Can't We All Just Get Along?

Now onto Christian Fiction Blog Tours. What are they, where did they come from and why are they here? Blog tours in general are simply a group of bloggers joining together to post their reviews, interviews, comments etc. about a particular book. There is no real way to put a date on when this activity started but the earliest blog tour date found was 2000 at a blog called Buzz, Balls & Hype, and since then this online promotional tool has really gained momentum and has done authors, especially new authors, a lot of exposure. Book blog tours promote all sorts of books from children's and business to coaching Little League to ethnic knitting.

Some brave souls in the Christian fiction industry have organized virtual book tours on their own. Karina Fabian of the Lost Genre Guild has a primer on her site that explains the ins and outs of VBTs, as well, I found another excellent blog article that gives good information. Then, the publicity agencies have entered the mix. Glass Roads Public Relations will set up a blog tour for $1750.

Several organizations have sprung up to tour exclusively Christian fiction. The most recent edition of CBA (Christian Booksellers Association) Retailers-Resources contains the article "With so many books on the CBA market how can front-liners keep up?" This article discusses the qualities of Christian fiction blog tours and their usefulness for promoting novels. This information is especially interesting to their audience, Christian book stores, as it works as a marketing tool for the stores: online readers read a review, like what they see and may well look for the book at their local Christian bookstore.

A blog posted on a particular CBA/ ECPA published author's site suggests that the article may not adequately cover the truth about "Christian" blog tours. Of course, that remains to be seen and hopefully they'll get it right because there is so little to get wrong. It's almost embarrassing to wonder how someone could since "Christian" blog tours haven't really been around all that long.