Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme that was originally created and hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books starting in August 2019, and was then cohosted with Dani @ Literary Lion from May 2020 to March 2022. Book Nook Bits has hosted since April 2022, with Dini at Dini Panda Reads as co-host from February 2025.
Let’s Talk Bookish April 25th:
Do Blog Tours Build Community?
Prompts: Do you participate in blog tours? What do you like or dislike about them? Do you trust reviews that are written for blog tours? When you participate in blog tours, do you connect with other bloggers involved? Do you think blog tours build community?
I used to, unfortunately a growing TBR and finding myself with increasingly less time meant I wasn’t able to commit to them anymore. I liked the community that built up around them (which probably answers the initial question!) and seeing different people’s thoughts and opinions on the books. Sometimes, blogging can be a pretty lonely activity, so it’s always fun when you can take part in something as a group – which is also why I quite like doing memes like these!
I do trust the reviews – I think the best blog tour organisers will give bloggers the freedom to share their true thoughts, though I’m aware in some instances bloggers might choose to go for a spotlight or other form of promotion during the tour, and share their review following. Either approach is fair, though I’m also conscious that some tour organisers will be quite strict in what can be posted. It makes sense to want a largely positive blog tour, but I think with some you can tell when the reviews coming through are falsely positive, and I definitely think spotlight with a review after is a better option, or as I have some seen bloggers do, I think focusing on ‘first impressions’ can be a nice compromise, too.
I did connect with other bloggers, and really enjoyed doing so when I took part in tours. And I think when they’re run by good organisers who encourage that connection, they absolutely can build community.
Do you take part in blog tours? What are your favourite things about doing them?
Unwrapping Words 
I feel like I’m commenting this on all the posts, but I liked a decade ago when blog tours had more content contributed by the author of the book. You could post an interview or a guest post about an aspect of writing or a fun playlist, etc. from the author, and I feel that mitigates the issue of the negative review or just having 10 people post the same “spotlight.”
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That’s a good point – I do see some of them still do host interviews but it’s rare, and like you said other things from the author can make a big difference too! I remember loving those sort of posts – feels like a memory’s been unlocked now
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I completely understand where you’re coming from! It can be so hard to keep up with blog tours when your TBR grows and life gets busier. But I totally agree with you about the sense of community they create — it’s great to see everyone’s different takes on the same book, and it really does break up the sometimes solitary nature of blogging.
I also think you made an excellent point about trusting blog tour reviews. I appreciate when organizers give bloggers the freedom to be honest, and I agree that a spotlight or “first impressions” approach can be a good compromise when you don’t want to post a full review right away. It’s nice to hear that when blog tours are done right, they can help foster connections between bloggers and create a stronger sense of community.If you’re interested, feel free to check out my post on my blog about this topic! :)https://bookfllwerpath.art/2025/04/26/do-blog-tours-build-community-lets-talk-bookish/
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I think the strictness of tours is a big reason why people don’t enjoy blog tours but I’ve found that it makes sense to me. Authors and publishers are (I’m assuming) paying to get positive promo for their book, so of course they’d want to have good reviews only. I get that can cause people to believe that tours create fake positivity but I also do more research on books I’m interested in and don’t rely only on blog tour reviews to decide whether something will be for me or not. 🤭
Great post and thanks for participating in LTB this week!
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Yeah – I think a lot of people who take part don’t always realise they are paid for! They’re a promo tool! Not every person is going to vibe with every book, but I definitely think good organisers account for that and offer different options for what people can post instead of a review, if they didn’t like the book. When I did take part in blog tours, if I disliked a book I’d try and post one review for the tour highlighting the stuff I did like, and maybe a more ‘full’ review for after. If I just didn’t like it, I’d go for a review that still talked mostly of what I liked, with some of the stuff I didn’t, but make sure I suggested readers go check out other blog tour posts that were more positive about the book
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