Authors go on book tours to promote their work.  I am always surprised by the stream of authors that make an appearance at the little Barnes & Noble near where I live.  We are off the beaten path, a bit.  They must travel to quite a few stops before this burg rises to the top of the list.

Recently, I learned about blog tours by authors.  Whether this is a truly revolutionary concept, I don’t know;  I had not heard of it, but since I am a newbie to the publishing world, everything is brand-spanking new to me.  Either way, the idea of “traveling” to reach the readers (and potential readers) via blogs seems to be an exciting and potentially game-changing marketing approach for writers.

For me, following these blog tours is like doing a ‘beautiful home tour’ in my favorite city.  Someone else has looked through lots of places and picked ones that were unique in style, content and creativity.  The organizer won’t put a house on the tour that is in C.H.A.O.S. Everything will be neat and tidy and I can just look around as long as I want and find new ideas I may want to try at home.  I get to peek inside some very creative, inspirational, thought-provoking little corners.  I could have found these places on my own, but I would have had to crack open some scary doors. (Do you have any idea how much crap is on the internet??)

Speaking of S-C-A-R-Y, one of the blog tours I am following now is J.A. Konrath, who publishes the blog A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing, and is the author of the Lt. Jack Daniels thriller novel series.  He is promoting his new horror novel AFRAID, which is frankly too scary for me to read, but that is because I am just a big scaredy-pants.  Even without reading his new book, I can tell you that I have already learned a great deal from his own blog, and have thoroughly enjoyed visiting the ones he is picking for his tour.  Whew!  So many ‘houses’ to see!

I am also following the blog cyber-tour of Christina Katz, author of “Writer Mama: How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids” and “Get Known Before the Book Deal“.  Her blog, The Writer Mama Riffs, has also been a wonderful source of industry information (and humor), and the blog stops so far in March have been lovely.  Christina’s tour is planned to celebrate the two year anniversary of the release of “Writer Mama”, and it is inspiring to see what all those other writer mamas are accomplishing every day (plus it is always just fun to peek around in someone else’s house).

In the meantime, Kitty continues to wait her turn for some attention.  The In-Box seems a logical place to pass the time while SOMEONE sits reading blogs all day…

So many great blogs, so little time.  Anyone have another blog tour they recommend?