by Anne R. Allen
I’m a big fan of author blogs. I think blogging is a great way to build your platform and connect with readers.
But not all writers are cut out to blog. Author blogs don’t just take time, commitment and discipline—they require the ability to switch gears from a WIP to blog-voice on a regular basis. If you’re working on a novel, this can be a major shift.
And, unfortunately, if your blog happens to get popular, you can be targeted by hackers, as we have been several times in the past few months. Because we’ve had to move around to escape the hackers, blogging has ended up taking up much of my time, which has meant my fiction writing has suffered.
But there’s a way to take advantage of blogging even if you don’t want to go through the hassles of maintaining your own site: guest blogging.
Guest Posting Pays off, Big Time
Visiting blogs by writing a guest post is a fantastic way to improve visibility and sell your books. And it doesn’t cost a thing.
It’s useful for everybody from new writers who haven’t built much of a platform yet—to long-time pros who want to promote a new title or build their mailing list.
Most host bloggers will allow you to link to your website and to your book “buy” pages, so the post can both improve your name recognition and sell books. It’s free advertising and boosts your search engine rank. You can also offer giveaways as promos or an incentive to sign up for your list.
Some authors don’t have blogs and manage to do very well by simply guesting on other blogs several times a month. Ruth Harris did that before I talked her into joining me here.
You don’t have to be a published author to benefit from guesting on blogs. Guest blogging before you have a book out is a fantastic way to pave the way for a launch and get name recognition, and it’s also an excellent way to raise your profile if you’re a freelancer.
Don’t assume all bloggers will welcome you.
The higher ranked the blog, the more guest blog queries they’re getting—and they may be burned out on the whole process.
Here we often get ten or more queries a week, which makes me sad, because we have to turn away most of them. We host only a dozen guests per year, and book many months in advance. We don’t often find the experts we need in “cold” email queries.
Unfortunately, the one thing most requests have in common is they show the writer hasn’t visited the blog (although they always give it high, generic praise.) But they usually don’t have the slightest idea what the blog is about or who our readers are.
They usually offer content—absolutely FREE!—written about “the subject of your choice” and the only thing they seem to know about us is that our Alexa rating is low (a good thing) and our readership numbers are high (not as high as they were, but we hope to rebuild readership after all the crazy moving around.)
Visit the Blog!
Most queriers don’t have a clue this is a slow blog focused on the publishing industry, and with only 4 posts a month, each post has to offer something pretty special to keep those numbers where they are.
I usually answer each query individually (which makes me feel a lot of empathy with agents and editors.) I thank the writers and wish them all the best in their careers and then suggest that they, um, read a blog before querying.
After a morning in the guest-blog-request trenches, I decided to do some research. I discovered guest blogging is one of the most popular ways to raise SEO and get backlinks to websites.
Unfortunately, it has also become a preferred venue for dodgy marketers and spammers. Many will provide mediocre content full of links to websites unrelated to the post—sometimes ads for male enhancement pills and “adult” sites.
Yeah, I felt kinda dumb when I realized I’d been working so hard to spare the feelings of porn spammers.
Approach Bloggers with Respect
But not every potential guest is offering spammy content. Many queries come from editing professionals, designers and fellow authors who have something worthwhile to share.
Trouble is, they usually approach in an impersonal way and, although they may reference one post, they don’t have a feel for our tone or content. Often they make demands but don’t offer much in return. Yes, we know it will help your book launch to get your covers and links in front of our readers.
But if your post is simply a thinly disguised ad for your book or services, visitors will click away and we could lose the readership we’ve worked so hard to build.
Also, guest posts seldom get the hits our own posts do (readers seem to view guests like substitute teachers—not really part of the curriculum.) So a guest spot is something of a gift. You need to make bloggers want to turn their own bookselling platform over to you, either because you have a big following of your own, you offer something fresh and unique, or they like you. Preferably all of the above.
Getting your (high quality) work onto a well-known blog is still one of the best ways to raise your search engine profile. The marketers are right about getting those “backlinks” from the blog to your own website or author page. It’s a great way to get the Google spider-bots to notice you and raise your own website or blog higher on a Google search page.
But selling books isn’t the same as selling shampoo or refrigerators. With books, you’re often better off targeting lesser-known blogs. Forget the SEO and Alexa ratings.
Look for blogs that address your audience’s niche. A visit to a chick lit blog with 50 followers may sell more copies of your chick lit novel than a visit to a general interest blog with 5000.
Here are some tips for authors who want to try guest blogging:
1) Read a blog before you query, including comments.
Seems like a no-brainer, but if you visit the blog, you’re already ahead of 90% of the guest blog wannabes who query.
Not just one post. Read several—and make sure you check the comments. That’s how you can tell if the audience is right for the topic you’re pitching. You don’t want to pitch a “how to send your first query letter” article to an audience of published authors or a technical post on SEO to a poetry circle.
In fact, you can get great ideas for topics to write about by reading what people are asking questions about in the comments.
2) Comment on the blog.
If bloggers have seen your name before, they’re going to pay more attention to your query. The best way to break in is to get to know other bloggers and the blog community.
If you show your expertise in a certain subject in a blog comment, the blogger may even seek you out and ask you to be a guest.
That’s how we find most of our guests: in the comment threads. NOT a query in a comment thread (don’t do this), but with a useful comment that shows expertise and good writing skills.
It’s how I connected with Ruth Harris. She commented several times on this blog and I remembered reading her books when they were on the NYT bestseller list, and when I saw she had no blog of her own…the rest is history. (Ruth does have her own blog now at Ruth Harris’s Blog.)
3) Learn how to write blog content.
That means using sub-headers, lists, bullet points, bolding, and lots of white space. Older writers like me have a lot of re-learning to do when we start to blog.
Here’s my post on How To Write for a Blog. If you’re new to blogging, do take a look. Whether you’re writing fiction, essays or blogposts, you attract more readers these days if you can write concise, skimmable copy.
Writing in the digital age means forgetting a lot of those writing rules you learned in high school.
4) Be real and use a friendly, personal tone.
A blogpost is not a news article, college thesis, or tech manual. Offer information in an entertaining, non-condescending way. Keep things light and encouraging.
If you have a tale of woe, make sure the ending is hopeful and upbeat. (And be careful of language. Make sure it’s appropriate for the blog. If you want to guest for somebody like Chuck Wendig, it’s fine to go all four-letter in the text. On this blog, not so much.)
5) Target more than book blogs.
Think about where your readers might hang out. Google your subject matter and read some of the blogs that come up.
Don’t wait until your book is finished. Reading those blogs can be a great source of information and inspiration for your story, too.
Visiting non-writing blogs is also a great way to ask for reviews. There will be no conflict with Amazon’s murky rules that exclude some authors from writing book reviews.
Craft Blogs
Write crafting cozies? Try a blog that talks about selling crafts on Etsy. Google “quilting blogs”, “knitting blogs” or “craft blogs” and you’ll come up with lists of 1000s.
Check out a few in your field and comment. These people are your audience. Find out what they’re interested in and pitch a post to the blogger.
Crafters are going to be more excited about a new mystery about a crocheting sleuth than a bunch of writers whose Kindles are already loaded with more books than they can read in the next five years.
Food blogs
Food is huge on the Interwebz. Half of Pinterest seems to be food photos and recipes, and there may be more blogs devoted to food than any subject other than politics. You’ve got vast untapped markets here.
Have a historical or regional novel where food plays a role? Approach a blogger who blogs about food in that area. Write bakery mysteries? Pitch a blogger your heroine’s secret cupcake recipe.
Food and fiction go hand in hand. You can usually find a tie-in with some kind of food. Bloggers may find your approach refreshing.
Military History Blogs (updated)
Have a war memoir? Find some blogs that discuss the war you were involved in. Start commenting. (But pay attention to the other comments: a veteran has warned me in the comments these blogs can get argumentative and political, so stay clear of the political ones.)
Those blogs can be great for research, too. Let the blogger know you’re working on a book about this or that battle or campaign. They might like to have a guest post that contains a bit of your memoir that relates to their subject matter.
The average visitor to a non-writing blog might only buy two or three books a year, but if they “know” you through that post, one of those books might be yours.
Travel Blogs
Set your thriller in an exotic local? Look to travel blogs for possible guest spots (and they’re great for research, too.)
Travelers love to read books set in a country they’re planning to visit—or would like to revisit via armchair.
You can pretty much find a blog on any subject you can name. Blogs are one of the best resources for writers both for research and finding readers…and they’re FREE!
6) Read the guidelines.
You may think I mention this too often, but most of the queries we get don’t follow our guidelines.
If a blog doesn’t have a separate “guest blog guidelines” page, it may be because they don’t take many guests. But there will usually be a “contact us” page, so check it out.
Almost all bloggers will want you to include a short bio, a head-shot and links to your website, author page and social media. They may also ask you to include images. (Make sure they are not under copyright.) If the guidelines don’t spell out exactly what they need, ask the blogger.
Some bloggers may prefer to give you a topic, or may offer questions so the post can be in an interview format. They may have specific requirements for number and size of photos and/or word count. They may suggest you offer a book give-away. Don’t assume you “know the ropes”. Guidelines are there for a reason.
7) Check out other guest posts.
If you’re a beginning freelance writer, you probably won’t land a spot on a blog where bestselling authors and movie stars go to promote their books. You also won’t benefit from guesting if the blogger has been lazy and accepts a lot of mediocre content.
Here our guests are mostly seasoned authors, award winners, or experts in their fields (and yes, we’ve hosted a movie star). They also need to be good general-interest writers who don’t use too much jargon, because tech-speak reads like Klingon to a lot of our readers (it sure does to me).
A humorous approach is a big plus.
But you don’t have to be a movie star or a bestseller to guest for us. You do need to be experienced in writing solid Web content and have something fresh and unique to say that’s of general interest to writers.
Here are some examples of guests who hit it out of the park for us:
- Boomer Lit author Michael Murphy wrote one of our most popular posts ever on how to get rights to song lyrics.
- Author Paul Alan Fahey gave us a Step by Step Guide to Writing Novellas
- Radio talk show host Dave Congalton told us how to be a good talk show guest.
- SEO specialist Johnny Base explained why Google Plus is important for writers and included a video tutorial showing how to sign up.
- CNN’s Porter Anderson told us how to get indie books into libraries.
- Creative Writing professor Dr. John Yeoman told us the secrets of successful fiction writers.
- Agent Laurie McLean has written a number of posts for us with cutting-edge info on the future of the publishing industry.
- Canada’s Queen of Comedy, Melodie Campbell told us how to write funny novels (and why we shouldn’t)
- Publisher/author Jessica Bell wrote about how to write great chapter endings.
The most important thing you can do is individualize your pitch to each specific blog. (Just the way you MUST individualize agent queries.)
We don’t post personal stories, but lots of blogs do. Most blogs love success (or failure) stories, interesting anecdotes about researching your book, posts based on your book research or funny stories about the writing life. A lot of blogs like interviews, too.
8) Don’t spam.
Make sure you’re not writing a thinly disguised advertisement for your own book or services. This is important. I see way too many guest posts that are just ad copy.
Offer new, useful, informative content that can’t be found everywhere. Cutting and pasting tired information from around the Web–or even your own blog–usually won’t cut it.
But note that if you often blog about your special field of expertise, a reblogged post may work fine. I’ve often read a great post and asked the blogger if s/he wants to do a version of the piece for us.
9) Write a professional query via email.
As I said in my post on how to query on April 10th, a blog query is very similar to an agent query.
- Open with a mention of why you’re querying this particular blogger.
- Pitch your project in a couple of sentences.
- Follow up with your credentials (choose a few of the best ones–skip that honorable mention poetry award and the penmanship prize you got in 5th grade.)
- Links to your best “clips” in online magazines, your own blog and guest posts.
Note: as I said above, DON’T request a guest spot via comment thread, tweet or direct message. When I wrote about guest blogging two years ago, somebody actually pasted a query into the comments, showing they hadn’t read a word of the post.
…so for those people, here’s a bonus tip:
10) Read the blog.
Seriously. READ. THE. BLOG!!!
Guest blogging is one of the best ways to build your platform—and it’s free advertising for your books. But remember you’re asking for a favor.
If you’re a new writer without a presence in the blogosphere, it may be worth your while to launch your book with a professional blog tour, which will involve guest blogging as well as interviews and reviews. It will cost you some money, but doesn’t have to be hugely expensive.
by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) May 1, 2016
What about you scriveners? Do you host guests on your blog? Have you been a guest? Have you had good experiences? What tips would you give new guest bloggers?
This week Ruth has a great post on her blog about Dumb Career Moves writers can make. And on my book blog, I’m continuing my series on Poisoning People for Fun and Profit. This week is part 2: Wolfsbane.
BOOK OF THE WEEK
FOOD OF LOVE: a comedy about friendship, chocolate, and a small nuclear bomb.
Two sisters: one white, one black. Two world views: one liberal, one conservative. But these two women have one goal in common—one they share with most women in modern society: the urge to diminish themselves by dieting. Food of Love is a historical comedy-mystery-romance set in the 1990s that carries a powerful message. It offers some of life’s darker truths—told with a punchline.
After Princess Regina, a former supermodel, is ridiculed in the tabloids for gaining weight, someone tries to kill her. She suspects her royal husband wants to be rid of her, now she’s no longer model-thin. As she flees the mysterious assassin, she discovers the world thinks she is dead, and seeks refuge with the only person she can trust: her long-estranged foster sister, Rev. Cady Stanton, a right-wing talk show host who has romantic and weight issues of her own. Cady delves into Regina’s past and discovers Regina’s long-lost love, as well as dark secrets that connect them all.
Available in eBook from:
All Amazons Smashwords Kobo iTunes Scribd Barnes & Noble Page Foundry
Available in Audiobook from:
Audible iTunes
Anne, so much of what you’re saying comes down to good manners and common sense but, as the lyrics from “Chicago” go, what ever happened to class? Be nice, be polite, be professional & have a good sense of humor…works for blogs, works for Life!
Ruth–You’re right that it all comes down to manners. But people are taught by some marketing “experts” that you need to ignore good manners if you want to “win.” The experts tell people to do all sorts of rude things and treat others as faceless “targets” instead of fellow humans. It’s so much part of business today that people forget the Golden Rule is still the best one.
Although my blog isn’t focused on writing, the points you make really resonate with me. I often get queries from companies wanting me to flog their products and services through a guest post or a post they expect me to write myself. I’m astonished how many of these requests are obvious form letters which clearly show they’ve never read my blog or have any sense of my audience. I think Ruth puts it well – it comes down to good manners and common sense when approaching someone about their blog and potential opportunities.
Ellen–I’m amazed at those impersonal letters too. They often say stuff like “Dear Blogger–I much admire Anne R. Allen’s Blog…” Kind of gives it away that it’s a robot writing the query when they can’t figure out my name is Anne R. Allen. That’s a great deal of the trouble. So much is mass-marketed by robots these days. But they expect real people like us to do their niche marketing for them.
It’s ironic, isn’t it, Ellen? The only sites that will take posts from these shills are desperate no-traffic sites that will bring no business to their clients anyway. So why do the shills bother?
That’s so true, John. I’ve seen blogs advertise all sorts of products and services because they feel flattered to have been asked, even if it’s a poor fit for their blog and audience, which doesn’t do the blogger or the company any good in the long run.
Hi Anne. Just as a little scientific experiment (or because I’m evil), might you consider telling us in a month or so how many guest spot queries you get in response to this (great) post, and what percentage of enquirers showed evidence of not having read it?!
Tara–It will be interesting to see. As I said, I blogged about this once before and had somebody pitch me a guest post in the comment thread, They’d obviously just picked up the title with a Google search, then pasted in the query in the thread without even skimming the post. Pretty sad. We’ll see if that happens again.
Anne – Your inner Camilla is deliciously present in this post. Thanks, once more, for reminding the EtherWorld that manners & kindness go a very long way.
CS–I guess I did let my inner “Manners Doctor” come out here. But it’s not just common sense.
Some of this is stuff most people wouldn’t think of–like approaching non-book blogs and learning that writing for a blog is a little different from writing for a magazine or newspaper.
Ummm….I know from experience that following Anne’s first two tips — being a serious reader and commenter who values the site — can help you land a guest spot on a top blog -:D. But glad I did not know how many guesting queries you turn away, Anne, or I would have been super-nervous reaching out to you!
Cat–I thought I reached out to you. 🙂 I remember seeing a guest post you did on another blog on social media community-building, and I liked it so much I wanted you to write a version of it for us .So if you did the first reaching, I was already sold, so you were not in competition with the “cold queriers”. And I was right. Your guest post has been very popular!
Great thoughts, Anne. I can relate to them totally. As you know, I’m one of the privileged few whom you’ve allowed to guest post at your site, and it was a wonderful experience. Thanks for mentioning me in your Honors list! I also run my own high-traffic site at Writers’ Village and every week, like you, I receive a dozen or so pitches from folk – usually shilling ‘essay writing services’ or other quasi-legal dreck – who have clearly never read my blog.
Yes, guest posting is the best way to get backlinks to your blog plus quality sign-ups to your email list, in its early days. I built my own list that way.
Yes, you need to select your guest site very carefully. No point spending two days writing a ‘killer’ post if it gets all of five clickthroughs – because you approached a duff site with an Alexa rank of 20million+. Or one that will mangle your guest post with irrelevant links or tiny fonts, or hide your all-important Call To Action.
Yes, as a site owner you’ll find a lot of potential guest posters in your own Comments thread. Articulate? Intelligent? Folk with a pungent point of view? That’s how I got three great guest posters this year. I approached them.
Above all, guest posting builds long-term relationships. Good ones. With both visitors and site owners. That’s fun!
John–As usual, a comment has even more info than my post. These are all great tips! And it’s true that guest posting builds relationships as well as getting your name and product out there.
As I remember, I first “met” you when you commented here. Then you brought me some of your contest info. I don’t remember if I invited you or if you approached me first about guest blogging, but your posts have been some of our most visited. It helps that you have such a huge blog community of your own at Writer’s Village!
Thanks, Anne, it works, doesn’t it? Some years ago I ‘met’ the legendary Jon Morrow of Serious Bloggers Only by adding a cynical comment to one of his posts. Ignorantly, I chided him for asking me for big money to join his program when he was – by his own testimony – a multi-millionaire already. Amazingly, he responded, very sweetly. He revealed that he was 99% disabled and needed money to pay for his 24-hour medical care. It was true. We’ve been in correspondence since. Jon is one of the nicest men I have ever known. I wish he’d guest post for me 😉 No matter. I’ve since guest posted for him. Yes, reaching out via guest posting does work…
John–How awesome you get to “meet” Jon Morrow and guest for him. He’s one of my heroes!
I would tend to disagree with looking for military/veteran blogs, for a variety of reasons. The first is that it’s like writing sites; you only get veterans, and often disgruntled or angry veterans because of the issues. You wouldn’t get a broader audience beyond military or spouses. I have a war memoir from Desert Storm, and I’ve never promoted it on those sites at all because that’s not my audience. I wrote it for the people who asked me “What was it like?”
The other is that anything with veterans in it tends to veer very political. If you’re a fiction writer, it’s probably going the wrong type of promotion, because it’ll pull you into politics when you should be writing your fiction.
(And if anyone is interested in the book, search Amazon on my name as it listed here; you’ll find it.)
Linda–Thanks for the input. You’re a veteran, so you know what you’re talking about.
But I was just referring to war memoirs, not fiction. I know so many older guys writing about their war experiences and their audience is generally going to be other Vietnam-era vets who can relate to the experiences. Other people aren’t all that interested.
But I do know how political that stuff can get, so they’d have to be really careful they read the blog first and find people who are simpatico.
It’s actually probably going to be people interested in the history, and those who enjoy reading about. Very doubtful it would be other vets. Most of them don’t want to relive the experience.
Linda–Thanks for letting me know. I’ll change that recommendation.
I’ve got a question. I’ve been invited to guest blog on a very cool vintage music website (which is in line with my “vintage” brand) and I wrote the post in a timely manner (5 says after I’d been invited). used references to their songs, and followed the format I’d read on their own blog posts.
How long do I wait for it to be published? They solicited me, and its been a couple weeks. Do I bug them? This is a new experience for me and don’t know what the etiquette is? I can use the blog on my own site, but the exposure on their site would be great.
Thanks for any advice you have on this.
~ Tam Francis ~
http://www.girlinthejitterbugdress.com
If they solicited you, swiveltam, and they haven’t responded in two weeks, I’d send them now a – very gentle – nag. Stuff does happen. Folk do fall ill. Cut them some rope… But if you haven’t heard back from your nag email in another two weeks, strike that site off your list. It ain’t professional 😉
Tam–John had good advice. I always offer people a particular date, with a set deadline, so they know exactly when it will go up. I also send a heads-up as soon as it has posted.
Not everybody is that organized, but they should tell you when your piece is going to be posted, if only so you can promote it on social media.
So do send them a polite little note asking that they let you know when it’s going to be posted, so you can promote it to your followers.
Thank you Anne and John, I really appreciate the feedback. The site seems very professional, and the band tours the world, but things do happen. I’ll give a nudge and two more weeks. I really hope they do publish it. It would be such a GREAT boost and my target readers.
Afternoon Anne and Ruth,
Excellent post again! Totally spot on! Since you bring up the subject of hackers at the beginning of the post, I though I’d share what I learned at a workshop this week. The workshop was titled “Why websites are hacked.” Very topical! Hacking seems to be divided up in to 2 categories – targeted hacks and hacks of opportunity. The vast majority of us will never be the victim of a target attack – as you say – we just aren’t famous enough. The opportunity ones are a concern to us all, though as they tend to be an automated process. Do we paint a big red target on our blog? The 3 major ways we do this according to the workshop is have weak passwords, not keep our websites up to date and have plugins that have security holes because they are not up to date. We can’t eliminate all hacks of opportunity but we can remove the target and bring in the welcome mat!
Barb–Thanks so much for the great tips!
I had some passwords that were really lame. I’ve changed pretty much all of them now.
Keeping a website up to date is so important! I was looking for a book blogger friend’s site recently and found everything in a foreign language, selling Asian herbal medicine. They had taken my friend’s name as the name of the company. The blog had a pretty logo designed around her name. But it had nothing to do with her. She had neglected the site for a while and they just hacked in to get her traffic.
Another blogger Ruth told me about had her blog hacked by porn spammers!
So I guess I got off easy. Keep your blog and security up to date and use strong passwords, everybody!
Anne, thank you for the shout out. I loved being a guest on your blog. To be honest I’ve done a ton of guest posts on LGBT blogs and I still do. I really enjoy them. I can be myself and talk about things I think readers and writers alike will enjoy. (And not just the book I’m hyping.) Ruth: “Class,” is one of my fav. songs from the play (Chicago). Why did they cut it out of the film, I wonder? It’s on the dvd as an extra and it’s still hysterical. Congrats too, Ruth, on your new writer blog. I’ll be checking it out. Great post, Anne. And wonderful tips for being a guest in someone else’s “home.” 🙂 Paul
Paul–You were a great guest. And now your post has expanded into a book!
Everybody, pick up a copy of “The Long and the Short of it” by Paul Alan Fahey–all about how to write and expand and publish short fiction. And it’s FREE today! http://amzn.to/26In5ti
Guesting is one of the best ways to reach a target audience and it sometimes is better than having your own blog!
Oh, Anne, thank you so very much for telling your readers about my new writing book. Truly appreciate the support; this is what you do for other writers all the time and I know we ALL appreciate it tremendously. 🙂 Paul
Thanks so much for that mention in your post above, Anne!
And what a great column this is.
Ah yes. And you’ll get a kick out of this circle of life: Someone claimed they got my name from my guest post on your blog. So he contacted me about guesting on my blog to promote his book. I asked, do you know what my blog is about? He said books. I said, actually, it’s a comedy blog. Are you writing humorous books?
No, he wasn’t. But he’d heard I got a lot of hits, so he thought it would be good for him to be on there.
Hadn’t read my blog. Hadn’t read my books. Didn’t know a thing about me, except the traffic I got.
*hits head against desk*
Melodie–Oh, no! I gave you a shout-out, so he targeted you? I suppose all the guests I’ve listed here may get targeted now. Poor guy. What was he thinking? Not much, I guess. Read the blog, people! readtheblogreadtheblogreadtheblog….
But that’s too much work, right? Better to write a query to somebody who has zero chance of hosting you. Sigh.
Anne
Some posts ago, you saved me from near “death by a thousand cuts” by letting me know there was such a thing as “slow blogging” and now I happily spend more time with the main work of writing and blog only when I feel I truly have something worthwhile to say. Probably just as long ago, you and other bloggers I read opened my eyes to the world of “guest blogging.” I am delighted to have had some success there, hopefully adding to my host’s conversation.
Somewhere along the line, I also began what I’ll call “integrated blogging” — not something I read about in any one place but compiled from the best advice I found:
> to blog about something genuinely of great personal interest, in part so that you don’t dread blogging but look forward to it
> to blog on a topic germane to the theme or period or characters or setting of your novels (for authors)
> to blog as a form of daily, weekly, or periodic writing exercise
Now, when I blog and when I assess opportunities for guest blogging, it is with the idea (and hope) that the post I write will further the plot, or characters, or setting, or message of a work in progress or one down the line.
Maybe this is obvious to anyone who’s a blogger and an author or writer, but it was new to me and it’s made a big difference.
Thanks again for all you do! It’s always a pleasure to read your posts.
Rona–I’m so glad I enlightened you about Slow Blogging. It’s the only way I know to have a blog AND produce good fiction.
I love the term “integrated blogging” It’s exactly what I recommend to new bloggers: it has to be fun! Don’t just write to fill up space, and don’t write about writing all that much (unless you have a writing blog like this one.)
A blogpost needs to be about something you find fascinating yourself. Right now on my book blog I’m doing a series on poisons. I got the idea when i was researching local poisonous plants for my latest mystery. I found myself reading more and more and realized it would make great material for a blog series.
All your research about history, places, food. clothing, etc, can make great posts for your own blog and guest blogging. Great tips!
This gives me an idea on what to post on. I’m not new to blogging but I often run out of things to say. Thanks for talking about guest blogging and what to expect!!
Traci–Anything you’re passionate about can make a good guest blogpost. If it’s related to your books in any way, it will make a great sales tool.
Great advice, as always. And, I think you and Ruth and CS are so right, it all boils down to manners. Knowing what is expected and doing just that, what is expected. And, hey! I visited your Book Page and it looks great! I would order something but I already own them all. I eagerly await your next Camilla book. Love Camilla, the Manners Doctor!
Christine–Didn’t Barb give me a fabulous book page? I’m so jazzed about this new WordPress theme. It’s so clear and readable. Yeah, I’d better get to work. I shouldn’t keep the Manners Doctor waiting! 🙂
Goodness, how very topical! I’ve been looking to beef up my blogging (which has been a bit scattershot), and wracking my brains for something of value to submit as a guest blog for a group blog I follow. Cold-calling horrifies me … I’m afraid I’d circulate around my writer community bloggers first. I hadn’t thought of checking out the cooking blogs. I’m writing a cozy right now that’s themed around ice cream. And dragons. So maybe I’ve shot myself in the foot already, ha ha.
Kessie–That means you have two directions to go in–ice cream people and fantasy people. Lots of opportunities there! I love the idea of dragons and ice cream. It could be kind of tragic for the dragons, though–fiery breath and ice cream would not mix well. 🙂
A lot of these tips hold true for authors approaching bloggers for reviews. No, I don’t want to review your book on dating in Australia. If you’d read my reviewing blog, you’d know I’m married, live in New Zealand, and 95%+ of my reviews are genre fiction (with the odd writing craft book thrown in for fun). I happen to know a lot of Australians read my blog . . . but I also know they too are mostly married and read genre fiction. Not dating books.
And thanks for the tips on what kind of blogs to approach – when I get over my fear of cold-calling (commenting on blogs is easy. Asking to be on blogs is not).
Iola–That is so true about approaching book bloggers and reviewers! In fact I devoted a whole post to querying book reviewers last month. http://bit.ly/1W1lhrJ . A fair number of people approach us for book reviews and we’ve never reviewed a book in 8 years of blogging. They don’t even try to do their homework. All they look at is numbers.
It’s true that approaching bloggers for a guest post can be daunting, but if you get to know them through comments, they may even ask you first. Most of our guest posts come from regular commenters who have shown us they have expertise on some relevant topic. And sometimes just exchanging guest blogs with a fellow reviewer can expose you to new readers.
Thanks for being a book reviewer! Authors couldn’t survive without you.
Once again, great advice. Thank you for all the suggestions. I agree with the comment above that it comes down to manners. I can’t imagine asking someone to let me hype my book on their blog just “because” I’ve written one! Also, I notice many times when I’m looking up interesting blogs, that many haven’t had a post written in months and months. That turns me off. I don’t care if there are a ton of comments but I expect blog posts to be sort of recent. It shows me the creator is interested in writing something I might like and are endeavoring to reach an audience.
Patricia–You bring up an important point. I advocate “slow” blogging, but I strongly urge blogging on a schedule. Even if you only post once a month, put that info on the blog. “Updated on the last Friday of the month” or whatever. Otherwise, the blog looks abandoned…and the author looks like a flake.
As far as those entitled “special snowflakes” who think everybody owes them because they managed to complete a book…they can ruin your day. They often have temper tantrums. I remember one guy who had written a children’s book “that’s clean and wholesome…not like the other garbage that’s out there.” And he insisted I promote it on this blog. When I said we only spotlight our own books and those of our guests, and those are usually books related to writing, he called me all sorts of names and accused me of poisoning the next generation.
There are a lot of unwell people out there writing books, unfortunately.
I do hope writers read this and heed it well. 🙂 I am always open to guest posts, and love to help writers get visibility, but I have protocol on my website how to contact me and it is mind boggling how many don’t take the time to read my guidelines. How hard is it to do that? If I am trying to give you visibility, I don’t think it is too much to ask that you respect my time and 1) know what my blog is about and 2) follow the guidelines.
It’s gotten to the point where I now just delete emails from people requesting guest posts (many who are publicists) because I was wasting so much time pointing people to the very clear “guest post guidelines” in my menu bar so they could use my online form. Sad, but true.
Angela–It’s amazing that people are so rude, isn’t it? Unfortunately, when you have a blog called “Writers Helping Writers” like yours, or you say your mission is to help writers, some people think that means they are *entitled* to your help.
That has happened to me. A guy who wanted us to review his book (which I politely said we don’t do) then wrote back in a huff, quoting something in our “about” section that said we wanted to help new writers. He said, “how can you say you want to help when you won’t even review my book?! You’re just a liar!”
People who are that unclear on the concept are so exhausting. The trouble with making it to the top and getting things like the Writer’s Digest Best Website badge (congrats!) means that you’re on a LOT of lists. And a certain percentage of any demographic is going to be seriously manners-impaired.
And unfortunately publicists seem to forget their manners more than most. They don’t seem to get it that even though they are being paid, we’re NOT–and we don’t owe them anything.
Great advice as always Anne and Ruth. It’s astounding the amount of people who don’t think to use common sense and manners. A little sugar goes a long way sometimes. 🙂
I’m dealing with this issue now. I run a crime resource blog, and often find my guests on Twitter (experts in their field). Like you, I don’t have many guests. I’m very selective who I invite and turn down way more requests than I accept.
Two weeks ago, I chatted with a judge on Twitter. I thought it might be fun to have a post written from a judge’s perspective, so I told him I “might” have an opportunity for him IF he could write the post I had in mind. Well, turns out, this judge doesn’t have a clue about blogging. And even though he raves about my blog, I seriously doubt he’s taken more than a quick peek. If he did, he’d realize I don’t do book promos, or blatant self-promotion of any kind. Sure enough, he sent me a long, rambling post about his book. No value for anyone but him. I got so tired of repeating myself that I stopped responding. Then a flurry of emails followed…a paragraph at a time of pure nonsense…and his book. Oh, yay.
Now he’s emailing: “Are you going to give our book a shout-out on your blog, or what? I’ve sent you more than enough information to write it (he wants ME to the write the post!!!). If you read my book, you’ll find a fascinating case written from the judge’s POV.”
Crazy, right? So, to your point about authors who don’t have blogs, because of this horrible experience, I’ll never invite or accept any author who doesn’t have their own site. It’s way too much work to teach them how to blog, and more aggravation than I need. I’d love some advice on how to make him go away. Any words of wisdom?
Sue–Oh my! That’s just the kind of toxic person who can make you long for pre-Internet days. I’ve had a few. The worst are the ones who pick up my book when it’s on sale or free, write a generic review and then say I “owe” them and have to buy their book and give it a rave.
How would I deal with this guy? Put on my Manners Doctor hat and say something like:
“I’m sorry I wasn’t clear when I asked you to write a guest post for my blog. I wrongly assumed you had read the blog and knew what a guest post is. I do not have a book review blog. The offer was for yOU to write a guest post, not for me to write a book review for you. Since you are not familiar with guest blogging, our business is concluded. Sorry for the misunderstanding.”
I hope that works. Let me know.
Perfect. I’ll be copy/pasting. Thank you, Anne!
It’s on my “dream to-do list”: guest posting on your blog :-). Even if it never happens, making it a goal’s a strong incentive to learn, and grow, and have fun in the process. Thank you for another great post, Anne.
Sasha–I’m sure you’ll come up with a great topic when the time is right. Having fun is what blogging should be all about!
This is a post which I’ll bookmark. Thanks for all the great advice and links to MORE great advice!
Suzanne–You’re welcome. Thanks for stopping by!
Great tips! I think the “Read the blog” should be obvious, but sometimes it doesn’t seem to be that way. I actually never respond to e-mails that seem to be sent by spammers – I usually “check” them by looking them up.
Tyrean–It should be obvious, but I get at least one request a day for a guest post from somebody who hasn’t read the guidelines. I do delete the spammier ones. But some are from clueless people who are following bad marketing advice from some website or blog. Marketers can often see bloggers as prey who are only there to be used and abused. Makes me furious.