Yeah, I’m still on vacation and posting with no rhyme or reason. I wasn’t event going to attempt a Friday Fiction today until I saw this prompt on Facebook. Visit the link to see what I’m, and a bunch of others hopefully, are sharing today.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/239793746052181/permalink/1000697943295087/
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
Let me go ahead and say now that I am not about to reinvent the wheel. Most of what I’m about to say may seem commonplace or simple to many of you reading this, but that doesn’t mean that some of you haven’t been a bit confused about these terms. So, this article is for those who don’t know or who have been a bit confused.
The term Blog Tour is used loosely among the blog community which may be why some people aren’t quite sure what one is. Today I’m going to breakdown a few terms based solely on my experience and opinion. If you don’t like my terms, make your own…
Previously posted at SheWrites.com, read below to see how I define: Blog Tour, Virtual Book Tour, Blog Hop, and even Reblog.
Blog Tour– When a blogger visits other blogs to promote themselves or share information. These are often collaborative efforts and come with a theme. I participated in a tour once where each blog I visited shared a recipe and I got to pair something of mine with it. Blog Tours are usually set up in the form of a chain, where one blogger directs you to another, similar to the blog hop listed below- I’ll explain the difference when you get down there. Many of these are what we now consider tagging events. A blogger or group comes up with an idea to blog about and then tags others to join in.
Virtual Book Tour– a book tour that happens virtually/online. First, let’s clarify what a book tour is. Happening IRL (in real life) or in the physical world, a book tour consists of an author traveling around to bookstores, libraries, coffee shops, and more to do interviews, read samples, and more all to promote a book, usually a new release, but it doesn’t have to be. As part of the tour, ARC (advance reader copy) books are given out to book reviewers and or critics to help spread the word and build buzz. Now, take all this online and you have a virtual book tour. Hop around from site to site, blog to blog, social media to social media. Digital ARCs will also get sent out to help the book gain reviews and or buzz. The events that occur on the tour, whether IRL or virtually, are only limited to the author’s resources and imagination.
Blog Hop– a blog posting prompt, a sign-up chain, and a schedule of participation. For example, the IWSG (insecure writers support group) hosts a monthly blog hop where each blogger shares their insecurities and or triumphs on the first Wednesday of the month. The 150+ participants visit, or hop around, other participants on the sign-up list to leave comments, ask questions, and offer encouragement. Blog hops are usually themed and can be conducted regularly or be used for limited promotions. Instead of one blogger directing the reader to another blog, the full sign-up list is available for readers to pick and choose which blogs they want to visit, hoping around in whatever order they choose, to visit all stops on the hop or just a few.
Reblog– sharing a blog article you found somewhere else to your own blog and giving appropriate credit. This is not a pass to plagiarize someone else’s content. It is, however, a great way to share someone else’s content to give them a boost. I do this most often if I have a guest appearance on someone else’s blog and want the subscribers to my blog to know about it. Reblogs usually consist of the title, a quote from the content, and a link back to the original article (images are often used as well).
Hope you found this helpful and will be around for the next post.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
This article contains mature themes.
Content is key, but what if you don’t have a handle on how to gauge content? This big issue I’ve been faced with as of late is how people interpret my promotional policy. My policy was static for about two years, but now it seems I have to update it every other month. On one hand, I’m not one to shy away from expressing my opinions, but I also don’t set out to offend people. On the other hand, I refuse to be made to feel guilty for not wanting to promote something that I’m just not interested in reading and or promoting.
As for what I read, I choose to read fiction that’s within my comfort zone, most of the time. How can I be expected to find an escape if I’m uncomfortable and frustrated with the content? And to be perfectly honest, I’m more open-minded about what I read, than many of the people I associate with. I have come across so many blogs and groups who refuse to review spiritual fiction, especially not 
anything religious or tied to a religious affiliation, and I have no problem with that. I don’t think these bloggers should be made to feel bad simply because they
choose not read something that makes them uncomfortable. However, when the tables are turned against any topic related to sex and or violence, people get mad and offended.
So here’s the big issue: what is erotica?
Heck if I know. I don’t read it, but I’ve read a few things I feel might be pretty close it and that’s one comfort zone I’d like to stay within. As an adult, I have no problem with anyone who reads or writes erotic stories. I even think some stories could use a little spicing up, but that doesn’t mean I want to be immersed in erotic language and images nor do I want to promote it. So all that’s left now is for me to decide how much is too much.
This would all be so much easier if there were some kind of industry standard, but there isn’t. Many will argue that some works are clearly Erotica, but what about all those that are “borderline.” I was recently faced with the challenge of trying to clarify my promotional policy by having someone compare the works, Fifty Shades of Grey and A Discovery of Witches. Taking into consideration that not everyone reads the same genres no matter how popular a book may be this comparison didn’t work; the author hadn’t read either of the books and hadn’t even heard of the latter. For me personally, I can scan the reviews of a book to get a feel for the content within, but we were in a bit of a crunch at that moment.
So now I’m felt looking back at my reading history and wondering where each book falls into my promotional policy. Have I read books that I actually wouldn’t promote?…Yes, and to be honest, I’ve never promoted those books. Some of them I didn’t finish and the few I did, I don’t think I’ve ever reviewed… Maybe I should.
Now it becomes a matter of what I think Erotica is.
I’ve never read Fifty Shades of Grey, but I’m pretty confident it’s too extreme for me, along with other such titles as: Insufferable Proximity and His Possession (books recommended if you like 50 Shades). I guess if the major selling point of the book is sex, that’s a pretty clear indicator. What about all those books that actually have a well-developed story along with a lot of detailed sex?
Take the book Outlander for instance. To me this book is borderline Erotica, but I have a feeling the Showtime series is pushing the limits of that (I’ve never watched it). I read this book because it was recommended to fans of time-travel and historical fiction; both accurate descriptions. However, this book contains a lot of sex and some of it is what you might consider “kinky”. This book was very uncomfortable to finish, but the beginning was so good and the actual story and characters so compelling, that I plowed forward and tried to skip over the parts I didn’t like. It was truly an incredible story, but it’s not a series I will ever continue simply because of the intense and graphic content I choose not to read.
Now consider the All Souls Series, specifically A Discovery of Witches. There is no way I would let anyone under 18 read this, but I’m not a parent and it’s really not that bad. It’s quite simply very mature and meant for adult consumption. This is an 18+ read, but I don’t consider it borderline and definitely not Erotica… I am way off and suffering from a delusion? I don’t know, but this is how I see this. I don’t exactly write children’s books myself (yet 😉 ), but I must draw the line somewhere.
I often try to compare book content to movie content, but even that’s not so easy to do. I often ask people that if a book was a movie would it be rated R or NC-17, but that’s not always a good indicator. Many R-rated movies are released only after a 2 or 3 minute clip is either edited or cut to bring it down from the NC-17 rating, and many PG-13 movies seem like they could be rated higher. There’s simply no way to determine where exactly to draw the line. In writing it goes even further. As much time as I may spend trying to define “What is Erotica?” others are arguing over what’s the difference and limitations between Erotica and Pornographic Lit. I can’t even imagine where it goes from there.
So in conclusion, I guess I’ll continue to update and tweak my promotional policy and continue to please some while I offend others.
This is an unoffical Author Insights post.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords