When I was in my teens and twenties, I spent a lot of time going to concerts. Although I’ve barely scratched the surface with them so far, my Gigging Years posts have begun charting those days, and I will continue to share more. Back then, very few artists played arenas and stadia, largely because there weren’t many of them available. With smaller venues and a need to promote new albums, the tours often went on a lot longer than they would now.

Tours looked exciting from the outside, but I have been backstage a few times and some of the conditions there were less than glamorous. Having spent periods of my life living out of a suitcase for much less exciting reasons, I can see how tours might not live up to expectations. Still, the opportunity to connect with fans and feel their appreciation of your music must give a real buzz.

Although it wasn’t a conscious thought in my mind, I suspect with hindsight that my decision to theme the series of posts about my recent blog tour as I did was a reflection of the frustrated rock star in me. Frustrated, of course, because I can’t sing or play a musical instrument (air guitar doesn’t count, does it?).

Social media has changed things, though, hasn’t it? Now, an artist – musician, poet, author, painter – doesn’t have to go out on tour to reach their fans or find potential new listeners/readers/viewers.

It’s early days yet, but I haven’t noticed a huge spike in sales as a result of the tour. What I have noticed, though, is a lot more interaction between me and readers and book bloggers that I hadn’t previously encountered. I’ve also discovered I have a lot of support from those I’d already connected with, and that has been a great boost to my ego and my confidence – in myself as well as the book.  

There have been examples of readers jumping in and enthusing about the reviews they’ve read. I’ve even had one person get a copy and read it and review it herself before the tour was over. I’ll be sharing that review very shortly.

In my past working life, much of the business I conducted was done face-to-face, which meant I had to develop relationships with my clients. It also meant there was regular interaction and I could judge reactions to my work because I was often looking at the people concerned during the process. When you write a book, you can’t do that. When you interact on social media, you can’t do that. So I will always look for opportunities to meet up in person, and welcome any that are pushed in my direction. But I recognise that it’s a very expensive way of selling a book at a time, so a blog tour has been a great way of getting out there, and I will do it again.

I just need another book to promote. Watch this space…

For more detail about Ravens Gathering and links to buy it click here.