So you've written the next great thing in fiction. But how do you get the word out about it? Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past few years, you've probably noticed that blog tours are the quickest and easiest way to reach your target audience. In fact, whoring yourself around the blogosphere can be vital to your novel's success! Only one problem: you have to get booked on the right book blogs!

How do you do that, you ask? Well, we're here to give you our two cents based on our own experience-what pitches make us swoon and which ones cause us to hit the delete button faster than you can say Kim and Kanye are in love.

THE DO AND DON'TS OF PITCHING TO BOOK BLOGGERS

1. Call us by name. Take the time to personalize each email you send with the book bloggers name and maybe even a few words why you think their site is a good fit or which feature you like best. Not only does it make us feel like you've done your homework, but we'll be much more likely to take a good look at your book. It's our policy to respond to every pitch-but we make exceptions for ones that have obviously been sent to a bazillion people. Bottom line: BCCing multiple blogs in your pitch is like wearing white after labor day-tacky! (And PS, if you start with a generic "Hi there", you aren't fooling anybody...)

2. DO your research. If someone runs a chick lit site, you probably shouldn't pitch them vampire historical fiction. Just sayin'. Do your homework and pitch the sites that have the right audience for your book. Don't know where to start? Check out this list of the Top 50 book blogs.

3. DO give us the 411. ALWAYS include the premise of the story in the body of the email. In fact, it should resemble something like an agent query letter-a one or two paragraph synopsis followed by a paragraph about the author and release date, etc. Just putting a link to your site or Amazon page and telling us to check it out just seems, well, LAZY!

4. DO be sassy We're not going to lie-there have been books that we may have turned down if the author hadn't sounded so fun and sassy in their pitch. If your book is fun(or even if it isn't!), make sure you show some of that spunk in your email.

5. DO think about having someone do it for you. There are some great blog tours companies that will do all the leg work. Check out CLP blog tours, BookSparks PR or TLC Book Tours to see if they're right for you.

6. But DON'T have your Mom/sister/aunt/second cousin pitch it for you. Happens way more often than you would think. Seriously!

7. DON'T take it personally. Think twice before shooting off an angry email if a site has turned you down. For us, it might just not be what we feel like reading at the moment or possibly the premise isn't a good fit for the site. Or maybe our TBR pile is a mile high and we know we won't have time to get to your book if we request it. Bottom line: Rejection is a huge part of writing. As authors, we've had more than our fair share-so we totally get it! But the last thing you want to do is burn bridges. Just keep your head up and move on to the next one.

Hope that helps! We LOVE getting the word out about new authors and books and are truly grateful for all the support and love we've received over the years. We wish all of y'all the very best with your pitches.

Now TELL US-do you have anything to add to this list?

xoxo, Liz & Lisa