annethology
  • Home
    • About Annethology
    • About me >
      • A little more about me
    • About my books
    • Author talks
    • Contact me
    • Forthcoming events
    • World Mental Health Day
    • Privacy
    • Sign up for my newsletter
  • First two novels
    • Sugar and Snails >
      • Acknowledgements
      • Blog tour, Q&A's and feature articles >
        • Birthday blog tour
        • S&S on tour 2022
      • Early endorsements
      • Events >
        • Launch photos
        • Launch party videos
      • in pictures
      • Media
      • If you've read the book
      • Polari
      • Reading group questions
      • Reviews
      • In the media
    • Underneath >
      • Endorsements and reviews
      • Launch party and events
      • Pictures
      • Questions for book groups
      • The stories underneath the novel
  • Matilda Windsor series
    • The accidental series
    • Matilda Windsor >
      • What readers say
      • For book groups
      • Interviews, articles and features
      • Matty on the move
      • Who were you in 1990?
      • Asylum lit
      • Matilda Windsor media
    • Stolen Summers >
      • Stolen Summers reviews
    • Lyrics for the Loved Ones
  • Short stories
    • Somebody’s Daughter
    • Becoming Someone (anthology) >
      • Becoming Someone (video readings)
      • Becoming Someone reviews
      • Becoming Someone online book chat
    • Print and downloads
    • Read it online
    • Quick reads
  • Free ebook
  • Annecdotal
    • Annecdotal blog
    • Annecdotal Press
    • Articles >
      • Print journalism
      • Where psychology meets fiction
    • Fictional therapists
    • Reading and reviews >
      • Reviews A to H
      • Reviews I to M
      • Reviews N to Z
      • Nonfiction
      • Themed quotes
      • Reading around the world
  • Shop
    • Inspired Quill (my publisher)
    • Bookshop.org (affiliate link)
    • Amazon UK
    • Amazon US
    • books2read
  • Main site

Welcome

I started this blog in 2013 to share my reflections on reading, writing and psychology, along with my journey to become a published novelist.​  I soon graduated to about twenty book reviews a month and a weekly 99-word story. Ten years later, I've transferred my writing / publication updates to my new website but will continue here with occasional reviews and flash fiction pieces, and maybe the odd personal post.

ANNE GOODWIN'S WRITING NEWS

The art of the long-distance blog tour

23/8/2015

9 Comments

 
Picture
The year I turned fifty, I undertook a long-distance walk: 190 odd miles across northern England from the west coast to the east. Instead of trying to cajole a group of friends into joining me, I chose to do the whole thing alone, but arranging for various friends and family to accompany me for a day at a time. Sometimes I walked solo, sometimes with individuals or a small group of four or five, with my husband – not an aficionado of rambling – valiantly attempting to fill in the gaps. Although the planning process stretched my organisational capacities to the limit, the event itself was wonderful, despite blisters, inadequate navigation skills and the vagaries of the English weather. After two and a bit weeks hiking across three national parks, I reached my destination at Robin Hood’s Bay, exhausted and exuberant. Back home, with a couple of days free before returning to work, I began writing the novel that became Sugar and Snails.

With its theme of friendship, it seemed fitting to dedicate my novel to the people who had supported me on that walk, along with the “old school friends” with whom I’d met up the evening before setting off. But I didn’t see the other connection between my epic walk and the book’s publication until I had my novel in my hands.

Being published by a small press, I knew I’d have to work that bit harder to bring my book to the attention of readers. Having hosted a few promotional posts and blog-tour stopping-off points on my own blog, I knew this was a well-trodden path. So when I published my cover-reveal post, I included a list of potential guest-post topics. It wasn’t long before the offers from my fellow bloggers came flooding in.

Fortunately, Sugar and Snails is a portmanteau kind of novel which can be considered from a range of perspectives, so I had no shortage of ideas for topics for posts. Those ideas, in interaction with the questions raised by blogging friends and comments from early readers, bred other ideas so that soon my mind was whirling as much when I’d been living inside my novel. I was introduced to more potential hosts through my publishers, and other generous lovers of literature I discovered through Twitter and following links from other blogs. While still engaged in the final tweaks to the novel, the promotional possibilities had become enormous. Could I get it all together in time?

I wanted to produce quality content (as much as I’m able) for the bloggers who’d offered to host me. I wanted to make each post unique, even if there were some overlap in the themes. I wanted to schedule the posts to create a steady stream from the week of publication and beyond, although I never envisaged it running to five weeks.

Just as with my real-life epic walk, this virtual tour required some juggling. While my hosts were extremely supportive and amazingly accommodating, I couldn’t expect absolute adherence to my plan. Slots would be filled and then changed, as life intervened. Bloggers (sensibly) had their own preferences: publication day or one of the Twitter hashtag days, #MondayBlogs or #WWWBlogs, while I was aiming for a spread across the week. I also had to discipline myself, composing the posts that were imminent even if my head was full of thoughts about one scheduled for a little way ahead.

When friends imagined me awaiting publication day in the garden with a glass of champagne, I was at my computer composing another guest post or adding text to my cover image to create a JPEG of that week’s itinerary. Looking at my blog tour page, I wonder if I’ve spawned a monster. Or overloaded my plate at a buffet. But, while arduous, the process has been immensely rewarding. I’ve travelled to Poland, Switzerland, India, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and the USA without the hassle of boarding a plane. I’ve been deeply moved by the generosity of my hosts. Where I’ve had feedback on the amount of traffic my posts have generated, I’ve been impressed by the numbers. Whether it’s made a difference in getting my novel to readers, I can’t say. But, consistent with my “just do it” marketing strategy, I’m glad I’ve tried.

When I announced week 5 of the tour here last weekend, I genuinely didn’t know whether this would be the end. Although hard work, it’s become strangely addictive and I felt a stab of nostalgia as I emailed the text and images for what has turned out to be the final post of the tour. Yet it’s come to a natural end as I’ve found myself more able to look outwards, to host a post by another writer and knuckling down to some reviews. It’s also time to discover different kinds of promotional strategies rather than getting stuck in a blog tour rut.

I’ll be putting together a post on what I’ve learnt from this process and advice for others considering embarking on a similar (or more sensibly sized) tour. But in the meantime, a huge thank you to my twenty-four hosts and countless other readers who have followed the tour.
Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
9 Comments
Charli Mills
24/8/2015 07:31:26 am

Congratulations, Anne! It was an honor to get to "walk" with you for a day on your tour. You made it look well-organized and executed. Everything you do today, builds the platform closer to your readers discovering your book. My cousin Joy is off promoting it to friends and even suggested it for a coffee shop/library event in Colorado. That's how WOM (word of mouth) works -- it starts with a good product (good book) and as it is discovered, others share the word. You gave your book a tremendous boost toward WOM that will continue to grow. Cheers to the next phase!

Reply
AnnecdotisWhat a lovely example of
28/8/2015 03:34:36 am

What a lovely example of word-of-mouth in action, please thank Joy for me! I do hope the word spreads this way, hopefully not as disturbingly as your Idaho wildfires.

Reply
Charli Mills
28/8/2015 09:16:40 am

Here's a fun update on your book in Colorado: it was paired a coffee shop drink, Sugar and Snails. It's coffee with sugar on the rim of the cup and the a design in the cream froth like swirls of a snail. Your book and drink pairing are now entered in a library contest in Rifle, Colorado! How's that for fun word of mouth?

Annecdotist
29/8/2015 09:28:54 am

Yay, How fabulous is that? I'd love a photo if she can get me one. (And I see I've given myself another name AnnecdotistWhat a lovely example of – somewhere between weird and embarrassing)

Charli Mills
29/8/2015 02:11:27 pm

You are a lovely example of Annecdotis! :-) I'll see if I can wrangle a picture!

Sarah link
25/8/2015 07:04:09 pm

I loved following along with your virtual tour and love this post. You're right, it was a long tour but you did it. :-) I'm looking forward to the post on how you did it. (Not that I need it right now but one never knows...) Cheers!

Reply
Annecdotist
28/8/2015 03:35:49 am

Thanks, Sarah, the post is drafted and I'm just awaiting, confirmation of where it's going to go!

Reply
Norah Colvin link
28/8/2015 01:31:10 am

I add my congratulations to those of Charli and Sarah. What an amazing around the world tour. Thank you for stopping off at my pad on the way. I enjoyed our chat, as I always do. I look forward to hearing your thoughts about the process and hope you are having some successful sales with your book.

Reply
Annecdotist
28/8/2015 03:36:35 am

Thanks, Norah, your support and that of others like you is very much appreciated.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Free ebook: click the image to claim yours.
    Picture
    Available now
    Picture
    The poignant prequel to Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home
    Picture
    Find a review
    Picture
    Fictional therapists
    Picture
    Picture
    About Anne Goodwin
    Picture
    My published books
    entertaining fiction about identity, mental health and social justice
    Picture
    My third novel, published May 2021
    Picture
    My debut novel shortlisted for the 2016 Polari First Book Prize
    Picture
    Picture
    My second novel published May 2017.
    Picture
    Short stories on the theme of identity published 2018
    Anne Goodwin's books on Goodreads
    Sugar and Snails Sugar and Snails
    reviews: 32
    ratings: 52 (avg rating 4.21)

    Underneath Underneath
    reviews: 24
    ratings: 60 (avg rating 3.17)

    Becoming Someone Becoming Someone
    reviews: 8
    ratings: 9 (avg rating 4.56)

    GUD: Greatest Uncommon Denominator, Issue 4 GUD: Greatest Uncommon Denominator, Issue 4
    reviews: 4
    ratings: 9 (avg rating 4.44)

    The Best of Fiction on the Web The Best of Fiction on the Web
    reviews: 3
    ratings: 3 (avg rating 4.67)

    2022 Reading Challenge

    2022 Reading Challenge
    Anne has read 2 books toward their goal of 100 books.
    hide
    2 of 100 (2%)
    view books
    Picture
    Annecdotal is where real life brushes up against the fictional.  
    Picture
    Annecdotist is the blogging persona of Anne Goodwin: 
    reader, writer,

    slug-slayer, tramper of moors, 
    recovering psychologist, 
    struggling soprano, 
    author of three fiction books.

    LATEST POSTS HERE
    I don't post to a schedule, but average  around ten reviews a month (see here for an alphabetical list), 
    some linked to a weekly flash fiction, plus posts on my WIPs and published books.  

    Your comments are welcome any time any where.

    Get new posts direct to your inbox ...

    Enter your email address:

    or click here …

    RSS Feed


    Picture

    Tweets by @Annecdotist
    Picture
    New short story, “My Dirty Weekend”
    Picture
    Let’s keep in touch – subscribe to my newsletter
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Popular posts

    • Compassion: something we all need
    • Do spoilers spoil?
    • How to create a convincing fictional therapist
    • Instructions for a novel
    • Looking at difference, embracing diversity
    • Never let me go: the dilemma of lending books
    • On loving, hating and writers’ block
      On Pop, Pirates and Plagiarism
    • READIN' for HER reviews
    • Relishing the cuts
    • The fast first draft
    • The tragedy of obedience
    • Writers and therapy: a love-hate relationship?

    Categories/Tags

    All
    Animals
    Annecdotist Hosts
    Annecdotist On Tour
    Articles
    Attachment Theory
    Author Interviews
    Becoming Someone
    Being A Writer
    Blogging
    Bodies
    Body
    Bookbirthday
    Books For Writers
    Bookshops
    CB Book Group
    Character
    Childhood
    Christmas
    Classics
    Climate Crisis
    Coming Of Age
    Counsellors Cafe
    Creative Writing Industry
    Creativity
    Cumbria
    Debut Novels
    Disability
    Editing
    Emotion
    Ethics
    Ethis
    Family
    Feedback And Critiques
    Fictional Psychologists & Therapists
    Food
    Friendship
    Futuristic
    Gender
    Genre
    Getting Published
    Giveaways
    Good Enough
    Grammar
    Gratitude
    Group/organisational Dynamics
    Hero’s Journey
    History
    Humour
    Identity
    Illness
    Independent Presses
    Institutions
    International Commemorative Day
    Jane Eyre
    Kidney Disease
    Language
    LGBTQ
    Libraries
    Live Events
    Lyrics For The Loved Ones
    Marketing
    Matilda Windsor
    Memoir
    Memory
    Mental Health
    Microfiction
    Motivation
    Music
    MW Prequel
    Names
    Narrative Voice
    Nature / Gardening
    Networking
    Newcastle
    Nonfiction
    Nottingham
    Novels
    Pandemic
    Peak District
    Perfect Match
    Poetry
    Point Of View
    Politics
    Politics Current Affairs
    Presentation
    Privacy
    Prizes
    Psychoanalytic Theory
    Psychology
    Psycholoists Write
    Psychotherapy
    Race
    Racism
    Rants
    Reading
    Real Vs Imaginary
    Religion
    Repetitive Strain Injury
    Research
    Reviewing
    Romance
    Satire
    Second Novels
    Settings
    Sex
    Shakespeare
    Short Stories General
    Short Stories My Published
    Short Stories Others'
    Siblings
    Snowflake
    Somebody's Daughter
    Stolen Summers
    Storytelling
    Structure
    Sugar And Snails
    Technology
    The
    The Guestlist
    Therapy
    TikTok
    TNTB
    Toiletday
    Tourism
    Toxic Positivity
    Transfiction
    Translation
    Trauma
    Unconscious
    Unconscious, The
    Underneath
    Voice Recognition Software
    War
    WaSBihC
    Weather
    Work
    Writing Process
    Writing Technique

    Archives

    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    March 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Picture
    BLOGGING COMMUNITIES
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos from havens.michael34, romana klee, mrsdkrebs, Kyle Taylor, Dream It. Do It., adam & lucy, dluders, Joybot, Hammer51012, jorgempf, Sherif Salama, eyspahn, raniel diaz, E. E. Piphanies, scaredofbabies, Nomadic Lass, paulternate, Tony Fischer Photography, archer10 (Dennis), slightly everything, impbox, jonwick04, country_boy_shane, dok1, Out.of.Focus, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Elvert Barnes, guillenperez, Richard Perry, jamesnaruke, Juan Carlos Arniz Sanz, El Tuerto, kona99, maveric2003, !anaughty!, Patrick Denker, David Davies, hamilcar_south, idleformat, Dave Goodman, Sharon Mollerus, photosteve101, La Citta Vita, A Girl With Tea, striatic, carlosfpardo, Damork, Elvert Barnes, UNE Photos, jurvetson, quinn.anya, BChristensen93, Joelk75, ashesmonroe, albertogp123, >littleyiye<, mudgalbharat, Swami Stream, Dicemanic, lovelihood, anyjazz65, Tjeerd, albastrica mititica, jimmiehomeschoolmom, joshtasman, tedeytan, striatic, goforchris, torbakhopper, maggibautista, andreboeni, snigl3t, rainy city, frankieleon