TLC Book Tours

“I also want to say how much I appreciate your excellent organizational skills and efficiency. You do a fabulous job, are always on top of things, and, well, couldn’t be better. I will unqualifiedly recommend you to anyone I know publishing a book.

Let me also add how fascinating and frankly uplifting it’s been to be introduced to the world of book bloggers. I don’t know if I’ve been living under a rock (maybe!), but I wasn’t terribly aware of the extent of book blogging until I began to work with you. I have since discovered a terrifically heartening world of readers who genuinely care about books (!) — and who spend time and effort reading, thinking and writing about them not for pay or professional advancement but simply because they engage with them. This, for a writer, is tremendously encouraging and motivating. There is a lot of hand-wringing out there in the world of so-called professional publishing, saying nobody’s reading or interested in serious fiction. And here is the world of enthusiastic and thoughtful bloggers to say otherwise. The interest and reception I’ve had from bloggers, their words and reviews, even when there are quibbles, have been hugely uplifting to me.”

– Joan Leegant, author of Wherever You Go

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Dearest Trish,

Thank you so much for arranging the 32 CANDLES blogger book tour. You were amazing to work with, and I couldn’t have had a better experience. I’ll be recommending TLC to other authors I know, and can’t wait to work with you again for my second book.

Ernessa T. Carter

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We can’t thank you enough for the extraordinary job you did in organizing the blog tour for our first novel, HIDDEN WIVES.  We really had no idea what we were doing when we sent that first e-mail to you.  You were so encouraging and incredibly diligent and professional.  You guided us through the process every step of the way and made it effortless.  Even though we heard about your services at the last minute, you managed to squeeze us in and get so many thoughtful and competent bloggers lined up immediately to read and review the book.  Along the way, we discovered so many creative and fun blogs.  We met  kind and talented bloggers who all share a passion for books.  We absolutely loved doing the tour and have added these bloggers to our web-site so our readers can discover their wonderful blogs too.

Our editor showed our marketing department many of the wonderful reviews we received from some of the bloggers.  They were impressed with the insightful and poignant reviews and the level of exposure in the blogsphere.  Many readers commented that the book seemed to be on-line “everywhere” during the TLC tour.  We believe this exposure helped generate some strong early sales, encouraging our publisher to release a mass market edition of the book scheduled for release this coming August.

We just can’t thank you enough.  We will be lining up another tour for the next novel  soon.   We really are so grateful to have found your services.

Warmest Regards,

–Mari Hilburn & Michelle Poche  (Pseudonym, Claire Avery), authors of Hidden Wives

I had no idea what to expect when I contacted TLC book tours. But Lisa Munley acted quickly, efficiently–and kindly.  She  targeted bloggers who would be interested in a book of literary fiction that took place during WWII and had a surrealistic tilt. And soon I woke up almost every morning to discover an  articulate blogger shine a new lens on the material. It was great that  Heidegger’s Glasses got cogent, articulate reviews. But beyond that I felt the most important thing an author can feel–namely, that the characters and story were coming alive in someone else’s imagination.  Lisa was patient in explaining every mechanical detail that I didn’t understand, and created a calendar I was able to follow.   I couldn’t have asked for a better guide. And Heidegger’s Glasses couldn’t have asked for a better navigator in the online world.  Lisa Munley is terrific!

–Thaisa Frank, author of Heidegger’s Glasses

“Hi Lisa,

I just want to thank you for setting up the TLC book tour for Queen Hereafter!  It’s been a wonderful tour, well organized and nicely promoted, and it’s been fun to see so many wonderful reviews throughout December. The book got lots of lovely attention as word spread, I’ve made some great new acquaintances, and hopefully I’ve picked up lots of readers along the way too!

Thanks again, and best wishes for the new year!”

–Susan Fraser King, author of Queen Hereafter
www.susanfraserking.com
www.wordwenches.com

“I really enjoyed working with Trish Collins and TLC.  Trish was responsive, diligent, and helpful, and I appreciated the exposure TLC garnered for my book.  One of the nicest things the tour did was to introduce me to a lot of people in the blogging community, which is a wonderful and supportive community with a real passion for books.  It’s a lucky thing for a writer to meet so many people who care deeply about good writing and want to tell others about it.  TLC is so well connected and respected in the blogging community, that I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction.”

“Publishing is changing so fast that it has been compared to the wild, wild west and the explosion of book blogs has made it challenging to know how to best reach the right audience for a book.  TLC Book Tours are the experts!  Lisa Munley found wonderful bloggers to host my tour. She hits the perfect balance between warmth and professionalism, and is just a joy to work with. I would work with her again in a heartbeat.”

–Jean Davies Okimoto, author of The Love Ceiling

“I didn’t know what to expect from a blog tour, but I knew how important the internet has become as a way to reach readers. TLC was a pleasure to deal with. Lisa treats you like a friend and patiently guides you through the process. The good part for the author is that it is effortless. Lisa makes sure the whole thing runs smoothly. I felt the reviewers were intelligent and thoughtful in their critiques, and that a good dialogue about the book emerged from the process. I would definitely recommend them.”

– Tatjana Soli, author of The Lotus Eaters

“I am hopelessly and famously backward regarding anything involving the Internet and still tend to think of computers as the world’s best typewriters, magically endowed with the power to correct my spelling and let me comb through encyclopedias. So when Penguin told me about TLC’s blog tour, I truly didn’t understand a single thing about it. And then, in the two months before Keeping the Feast came out, I started getting regular notices of reviews that had been posted on the web about my book. They were thoughtful, considered and — what I especially loved, since I live in France – they all seemed to come from very different parts of the U.S. and very different sorts of readers. I liked seeing how readers responded, and once I figured out I could respond too, I really enjoyed it. The best was the last evening, when all the groups were online at once and I was trying to answer their questions as fast as they came up. The whole experience was marvelous, and I believe my book got ‘out there’ in a way it never would have without it. I also loved writing a review for aarti’s blog about a ‘riveting’ female character in literature. I chose Penelope in Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad and had a blast, and now a lot of my friends are reading it too. Thanks all round!”

–Paula Butturini, author of Keeping the Feast

“TLC Book Tours is such a great way to get the word out about your book! The bloggers they work with are reliable and enthusiastic, as well as being smart and savvy readers who write thoughtful and interesting reviews. The buzz they create in the blogosphere is invaluable, and readers respond!”

– Jennie Shortridge, author of When She Flew, Love & Biology at the Center of the Universe, Eating Heaven, and Riding With the Queen
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“I was very impressed with TLC Book Tours.  Lisa was friendly, dedicated, and professional throughout my entire blog tour.  Indeed, the level of professionalism was stellar, both from her and each reviewer.  The reviews were honest, detailed, and helped bolster on-line exposure for my literary debut novel, PRECIOUS.  I noticed jumps in sales as well as increased visitations to my website.  The group also made the experience a fun and lively one; I had several conversations with reviewers that went beyond the standard post and have added all of their sites to my own blogroll.  I would recommend TLC in a heartbeat.  Two thumbs up!”

–Sandra Novack, author of Precious

“Lisa is not only very nice, but I think she’s really good at what she does, and she’s very on top of things.  She followed up on every last detail and I noticed she commented on every blog post.  I was very impressed and pleased with the TLC tour.   I really enjoyed the tour and have made some great new friends among the blog hosts.  Thanks for all your efforts; I’ve already recommended TLC to several author friends.”

–Judith Hendricks, author of The Laws of Harmony

Online book promotion has become essential to a book’s success, and TLC arranged a book tour for my new story collection, THE MECHANICS OF FALLING, that gained positive exposure for my book.  My book was reviewed online by articulate, thoughtful reviewers, so the selection of sites was fantastic and well matched to the nature of the book.  TLC organizes the reading tour with a high degree of professionalism and is responsive to reviewers and to authors as the process unfolds.  My online book tour went smoothly thanks to this professional oversight, and I’d recommend TLC to any author hoping to promote her book.

–Catherine Brady, author of The Mechanics of Falling

Trish Collins is very professional and at the same time, fun to work with. She answered all my questions and very patiently educated me about this virtual tour process. She provided all the info. I needed to maximize the experience, trying hard to match my book with appropriate blogs and for the most part, doing that exceedingly well. She did all she promised (and more) on schedule and checked to make sure the bloggers posted their reviews when they were supposed to.

I haven’t done a virtual tour with anyone else, so I have nothing to compare this to, but if I did another virtual tour, I’d definitely use TLC and Trish Collins again. I recommend her with enthusiasm and without reservation.

– Eleanor Bluestein, author of Tea & Other Ayama Na Tales

I want to thank you for the very professional job that you did in setting up and conducting my TLC Book Tour….Overall, I believe that the TLC Book Tour was a sound investment for Staghorn Press. It’s hard to track specific results, but the reader exposure per dollar spent seems to be in balance.”

–David H. Jones, author of Two Brothers – One North, One South

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“I had a wonderful time, and I really enjoyed interacting with the hosts, writing guest blogs, doing interviews, and just meeting new readers and bloggers. I found every one of the hosts to be incredibly easy to work with and genuinely interested in my book as well as me, the author. In this difficult industry, it’s so gratifying and humbling to know that there are people who actually enjoy reading and who get a kick out of meeting the author. In the same way, I got such a great kick out of meeting them!

I also really appreciate how involved you were, Lisa, with my tour.  I never worried that my hosts might bail, or that I would have to be the one to keep on top of them.  You were great about making sure that the posts were up when they were supposed to be and dealt with all the details so that I didn’t worry at all during the tour!”

–Christine Son, author of Off the Menu

“By the end of my virtual tour, my novel was all over the blogosphere.  TLC Book Tours did a fantastic job helping me connect directly with readers and further publicize my book.”

–David Ebershoff, author of The 19th Wife and The Danish Girl

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“TLC” Virtual Book Tours is exactly what it says – tender loving care for your baby, your book. Using Lisa and her rolodex of online book blogs is one of the smartest things I did for the paperback release of my book, Capote in Kansas. She matched me up perfectly with a supportive community of online bloggers who do what they do because they love books. In these days of waning book coverage, it was the perfect way to get the word out – and discover a new world of readers. Using TLC is a no-brainer, for writers with brains…and I can’t wait to sell my new book, and use Lisa again.”

–Kim Powers, author of Capote in Kansas and The History of Swimming

“I didn’t know what to expect when TLC Tours hosted a virtual tour for my first novel. As the tour began, I was happy to find out that my book was going to be reviewed by more than a dozen different book blogs, all of them targeted to my reading audience. During the month-long tour, my website received fifty more hits per day, and my Amazon sales rank rose steadily. TLC’s virtual tour helped spread my book virally—I started to get reviews from other bloggers not on the tour, and from readers who had seen it mentioned on a blog and then bought the book and written about it on Goodreads or another web site. I’m currently finishing up my second novel, and can’t wait to work with TLC Tours again. They were professional, well-organized, and smart about the best places to feature my book. My TLC tour provided a definite bump in interest in the book AND in sales. And they’re a pleasure to work with! ”

– Kathleen McCleary, author of House and Home