An author blog is the best way to build your writer’s platform
by Anne R. Allen
Some people have been saying blogging is dead for a while now. But for authors, it’s anything but. On a recent list of the most overrated marketing strategies, blogging was close to the bottom. Only 6% of marketers thought it was overrated. (12% found email marketing overrated.)
It’s true that it’s harder to get a readership now than it was a few years ago because of stiff competition, but blogging is still a valuable use of a writer’s time.
People who want to ring a death-knell on the blog are usually talking about the business blog, not the author blog, which is a whole different thing. An author blog doesn’t have to make money directly, so the saturation and competitiveness of the current blogosphere isn’t such a big deal.
And that makes an author blog a lot more fun. Easier, too. Here’s my post on How to Start an Author Blog in 20 Easy Steps
Starting an author blog is the easiest way to establish your platform. And these days, every author needs a platform. In fact, this week on the Book Designer, Matt Aird says savvy authors don’t use social media to sell books. They use it to build platform.
Blogging will help establish your platform even if you only blog once a month. (I’m a big advocate of slow blogging, but I think it’s best to post on a timetable: write at your leisure, but post to a schedule.)
I know many authors who, like me, have met their publishers, agents, and writing partners through blogging.
I’m not saying all blogs will bring big opportunities, but with patience, an author blog can help you meet the people who can take your career to the next level. And that’s what social media is about: meeting people and networking.
Do all Authors Need a Blog?
Nope. Plenty of successful authors don’t have a blog.
But if you write nonfiction and you’re not famous, a blog can make all the difference in your career.
Memoirists especially can start to gather an audience long before their books come out, and if you hope to publish a memoir traditionally, mentioning in your query that you have a blog following can be a big factor in whether you get a read or not.
And even fiction writers need that online platform. You can’t just have a launch party in your local bookstore and get a press release into your hometown newspaper and expect to make significant sales. (And even if you go the traditional publishing route, don’t count on your publisher for much help with marketing.)
Today, a writer’s market is global. Do you know the country where people read the most? India. Or where the 2nd biggest population of English speakers lives? India. Followed by Pakistan and Nigeria.
The advantage of a blog is that it can be your home in that global marketplace—a place where people can drop in and get to know you and find out about your books.
NOTE: Blogging isn’t for direct sales of books. No social media is about hard-selling. (See my post on Social Media Secrets .)
Here are ten reasons to start an author blog.
1) You Need a Website Anyway.
A blog is a website. It’s an interactive one, which is a plus when you’re starting out. People can comment and get to know you. Yes, you may want a flashy expensive static website later on, but if you’re not published, that can look pretentious. A blog is more down-to-earth.
Sending out a query when you don’t have a website is often a waste of time. Many agents and reviewers will reject on that item alone.
If you’re getting lots of form rejections on a polished query or book proposal, this may be the reason.
Stop revising that query for the millionth time and start blogging.
I’m not saying you should start blogging when you’re a total newbie, or when you’ve just started that book you’ve always wanted to write. Don’t scatter your energies. If it’s either blogging or writing the book, the book should always win.
But I’d say you’d benefit from starting an author blog when you’re getting ready to send out queries or preparing to self-publish. (Which should probably be when you’re polishing up your second book.)
2) An Author Blog Gets You into Search Engines.
A static website gets less traffic, so the search engine spiders don’t notice it. Before a search engine can tell people where your website is, they have to find it. The way they do that is with special software robots, sometimes called spiders. To discover information on the hundreds of millions of Web pages out there, spiders build lists of the words found on Web sites.
The more active the site, the more likely the spiders will find it. Spiders will begin with a popular site, index the words on its pages and follow every link found within the site. (This is why you want to link to other sites from your blog, and you want to encourage other bloggers to link to you from theirs.) This is why blog hops are a great thing for new bloggers.
An active blog that’s getting hits and comments will get noticed. It may take six months to a year, but it will get Google’s attention, then when somebody Googles you, you’ll be on the first page of the Search Engine Results Page (known as SERP.)
Whenever you query an agent or publisher or reviewer, or you send a story to an anthology or literary magazine—pretty much every time you want to do business online—the first thing people will do is Google you. A blog is one of the best ways to get your name on that all important first SERP.
3) Blogging Uses Skills You Already Have
Blogging is writing. This is your medium. It’s what you do. Like the people in those Geico ads. 🙂
So do it. It’s a great way to polish your writing skills. And if you’re a fiction writer, you’ll learn to write better nonfiction and advertising copy, which you’re going to have to do when you’re marketing your books anyway.
You’ll also get used to writing to a deadline. An important skill.
For more about the writing side of blogging, see my post on What Should an Author Blog About?
4) Blogging Teaches You to Write Web Content.
Writing for a blog teaches you to write for the digital age. You can see immediately what posts are getting the most traffic, and which ones are getting crickets.
You’ll also learn to use keywords, bulleting, subheaders and minor headers to draw the eye through a post. This is useful for composing any kind of content for the Web.
Once you’re published, you’re going to need to know how to write guest blogposts (one of the best methods of marketing your book) as well as other web content. Why not start practicing now?
For more on this, check my post on how to write blog content.
5) There’s Faddism in Other Social Media.
Facebook is making it tougher and tougher for people to see your posts if you don’t pay to boost them. And some people say Twitter will go the same way.
Trend watchers tell us Facebook mostly for old people now. Instagram is the place for younger people at the moment, but that can change on a dime.
We don’t want to forget MySpace or Redroom…oh, whoops, I guess we already have.
6) Other Social Media can Kick you Out Any Time.
A lot of people have been finding their Facebook accounts deleted because they use a “fake name” (like they put “Author” after their real name.) They have to start all over again getting friends and followers. It can take months to get their following back, if they ever do.
And you can get kicked off through no fault of your own. I got put in Facebook jail for a week once because some troll reported me for spam (for something I posted on my own page.) And once they slapped a CAPTCHA on all my links for about six months for no reason I could see.
7) Control of Your Brand
Unfortunately, the Internet is infested with trolls, rage addicts, and spammers. I know a woman whose Facebook account got hijacked by some diet-drug spammer who hit all her FB peeps with insulting ads. Several promptly “defriended” her before she even knew what happened.
Another friend got hit by a porn site who “tagged” a bunch of amateur porn with my friend’s name (as well as many other well known authors.) My friend and the other authors got porn all over their pages. Since he doesn’t visit his page every day, his page was covered with porn for quite a while. Lots of people unliked it.
Stuff like this happens every day.
But on your own blog, there’s that nice “delete” button. A troll, spammer or furious fool shows up and you click it. All gone.
8) It’s FREE!
Oh, I know everybody says you you need to have a professional, expensive self-hosted blog and you should pay a designer to set it up for you, because OMG what will happen when you get 10,000 hits an hour and your blog crashes?
Sorry to pop anybody’s bubble, but that doesn’t happen with an author blog. Not even the superstars get that much blog traffic. We’ve had 5000-hit days, but not 5000-hit hours. We used a little freebie Blogger blog until December 2015 and it never crashed, even when we were getting over 100K hits a month.
If you’re starting out, a free Blogger or WordPress blog will do you just fine.
NOTE:
I don’t recommend using the free blogs on dedicated book sites like Goodreads, BookLikes or SheWrites, even though the sites can be great for other things.
- Those blogs are not as likely to get picked up by search engines so the spiders won’t find it. (If you want your blog on Goodreads, just link to your Blogger or WordPress blog and it will go up on Goodreads whenever you post. But I get about 3 hits a month on the Goodreads version of this blog and 30,000 on this one.)
- Only members can see them. A lot of people don’t like Goodreads because of the bullying, so they wouldn’t be able to read your blog.
- You don’t own your own content. Technically the site owns it.
- Those sites can disappear. Lots of writers blogged on Red Room until it suddenly died in 2014 and everybody lost their blogs.
One site that is useful and can be very good for authors who want to get a taste of blogging but don’t want to commit to a site of their own is Medium. You can try to get into one of their dedicated publications like the Writing Cooperative, or open an account and publish on your own.
9) Community.
I have made so many wonderful friends through blogging—friends who live all over the world. These are people I never would have met otherwise. They have been encouraging and supportive as I rebuilt my career, and it’s been wonderful to see so many of them succeed, too.
Plus it’s just plain fun to write for my loyal core of readers every week and then see new people come and comment and join the group. It’s a little informal get-together every Sunday that I really enjoy.
Networking with other industry professionals is how your career grows. A blog gives you the “home base” to do that.
As always, I highly recommend joining the Insecure Writer’s Support Group if you’re starting to blog, so you’ll have a ready-made community of blogging authors.
10) It’s Social Media for Grown-Ups
My favorite reason for blogging: you can discuss complex ideas and share them with like-minded people.
We all love those videos of cats riding Roombas, but sometimes it’s nice to be able to talk about deeper things with educated adult humans.
If you like to read and write and think, blogging is probably the best medium for you. Most other social media platforms are more about the visuals.
***
Almost all the good things that have happened in my career in the past 8 years came as a direct result of this blog. And they keep happening. I’ve recently been invited to write for the new fiction phone app, Radish. You can now read episodes of my satire of the publishing business, Sherwood Ltd. at Radish absolutely free! New episodes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
And The Queen of Staves: The Camilla Randall Mysteries #6, my eleventh book, will debut on the 15th with Kotu Beach Press. My nonfic book, The Author Blog: Easy Blogging for Busy Authors debuts in October.
For more on how authors can benefit from blogging, see Robin Houghton‘s guest post on this blog, “10 Reasons for Authors to Blog.”
And I’ll be coming out with a book on “Easy Author Blogging” in October.
BOOK OF THE WEEK
No Place Like Home: Camilla Randall Comedy-Mystery #4
(It’s #4 in the series, but it can be read as a stand-alone)
Wealthy Doria Windsor is suddenly homeless and accused of a murder she didn’t commit. But Camilla, with the help of a brave trio of homeless people, the adorable Mr. X, and a little dog named Toto, is determined to unmask the real killer and discover the dark secrets of Doria’s deceased “financial wizard” husband before Doria is killed herself.
And NO PLACE LIKE HOME IS ALSO AN AUDIOBOOK!!
Nearly 8 hours of hilarious entertainment!Only $1.99 if you buy the Kindle ebook
***
OPPORTUNITY ALERTS
The Golden Quill Awards. The theme is “Liberation.” $500 first prize. Short fiction, poetry and personal essay categories. Up to 1500 words for prose, 40 lines for poetry. Entry fee $15. Deadline September 15, 2017.
University of New Orleans Press Lab Prize. A prize of $1,000 and publication of your book-length manuscript by UNO Press for a short story collection or a novel. The selected manuscript will be promoted by The Publishing Laboratory at the University of New Orleans, an institute that seeks to bring innovative publicity and broad distribution to first-time authors $18 entry fee. Deadline August 15.
Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Awards. Write Romance, Thriller, Crime, Horror, Science-Fiction, and Young Adult? Short fiction: 4,000 words or less. $20 fee. Grand prize $2500. Deadline October 16th, 2017
Looking for editors, designers, marketers? Writers Boon. is a FREE discounted marketplace for writers where editors, designers, course providers, book marketers and you get a 15% discount or more on their services. Writers Boon also helps you pump up the buzz like a pro with 3 unique and powerful book discoverability tools that get you out there.
20 Literary Journals that publish new writers. Compiled by the good folks at Authors Publish magazine.
7 Publishers that take unagented memoir. from Authors Publish.
25 Publishers who accept unagented submissions for Young Adult books. Also form Authors Publish, a great resource.
Aesthetica Creative Writing Award Two prizes of £1,000 each and publication in Aesthetica. Winners also receive a consultation with literary agency Redhammer Management. Up to 40 lines of poetry ($15 fee), 2000 words for short fiction ($24 fee.) Deadline August 31.
Excellent post, Anne! I think you make a very good point about owning your content. I post many of my published comedy columns/standup routines on my blog, and it is imperative that I keep copyright to them.
You need a website anyway, so readers can find you. A blog lets them get to know you as well.
Melodie–As authors, we really need to keep ownership in mind. We need to hang onto the copyright of our creative content.
Exactly–a blog is a website where you can invite your readers in for a chat.
And most important – if we both hadn’t been bloggers, I never would have met YOU!
That’s so true, Melodie! I cherish my online friendships. And I love it that we’ve got to be friends and also that I’ve found out about your books, which I LOVE!
Ms. Campbell is absolutely correct- most of US, Anne, need to put the fact that we met you in our own top 10 lists of why-blog.
I’ve sadly neglected my blog these past months as I’ve focused on the writing for a while, but it’s always close in terms of the pleasure I get. One thing about fantasy writing, you pile up a lot to say about your world- but of course no one wants to read it in a tale! So park it on the blog, and the fans or folks who ask that question can always see the link and enjoy it in their own good time. I’ve made references to several themes on my own blog over the years and it’s terrific to know you have that storehouse of ideas to refer to.
Long live the blog!
Will–You’ve brought up two of the major reasons a blog can be such a great thing for authors
1) We get to establish valuable friendships with other publishing professionals and with our readers.
2) We have a place to put all that stuff that doesn’t fit in the books: the world building, the historical research, the settings, the data on illnesses or whatever topics you explore in your fiction.. Also, for memoirists, they can post the photos that are way to expensive to reproduce in a book.
Thanks, Anne. Informative content, as always.
“I’m a big advocate of slow blogging, but I think it’s best to post on a timetable: write at your leisure, but post to a schedule.”
Fantastic advice. So many authors spend an inordinate number of hours per week on their blogs. Yes, blogging is writing, but blogs won’t pay the bills.
Kathy–Yes! That is one of my “soap-box issues.” Most of the advice on blogging comes from people who are business-blogging more or less full time. They’re not writing fiction as well. But fiction and memoir writers need to keep their books their #1 priority. Blogging comes second. Don’t let it eat into your creative writing time! .
Another point is that regularly posting on one’s blog keeps one’s head in the game. A little research never hurt anyone & it’s particularly healthy habit for authors to cultivate. Thanks for another fine post.
CS–You’re so right. I had such fun researching poisons for the “Poisoning People for Fun and Profit” on my book blog.
I needed to research poisons for my current mystery, so I put the research on the blog and the whole thing took off. Now I’m going to turn the series into a book, so not only did I cultivate a healthy habit, but I ended up with another book.
Hi Anne – I’d like to add some sort of creative comment but I can’t because you’ve perfectly summed up why writers should blog. Thanks for your continously great content!
Garry–Thanks so much! My readers teach me a whole lot. These comments are always full of great information.
That’s why I’m still blogging! (And why I’ve never bothered with Facebook.) My blog is my website and I get to be social with it. Plus I get to go at my own pace, which is really nice during the summer. (As I’ve taken a couple weeks off.)
As always, thanks for mentioning the IWSG. Which is also set up on a blogging platform!
Alex–Kudos for resisting the siren call of Facebook! That’s probably why you have time to do so much other stuff. I do find FB valuable, but it’s such a time-suck! And there are always a few trolls…
You have done so much with your blog–with the IWSG, you’ve created one of the most popular and helpful communities for writers on the Web. And yes, i guess the IWSG is basically a blog. That means it doesn’t have all the pitfalls of a forum set up and I’m sure it’s easier to control. Thanks for offering so much to the author-blogger community!
Ah yes, the blogging frontier. The one caveat I should emphasize it to never, repeat, never start a new blog on the same platform simply because you hit a rut with your first one. I had built up a steady but small (135+) subscriber base to my first blog, which ran from 2008 thru 2013. However, a serious case of burnout lead me to create another blog on the same platform (Blogger) that sputtered along for another 4 years, until I ultimately was forced to close all five Blogger blogs due to the inability of Blogger to give me a direct answer to a simple question in regards to reposting content from another platform.
I had originally expanded my blogging to Tumblr as a direct response to being in FB jail since 2012, when I’d stupidly posted a link to my new book roughly a half dozen times in one day. From then until now, my Blogger has been labeled as spam. I am forced to do the CAPTCHA for my own blog and I can’t even post it as a direct buy link to my public FB author’s page because it was improperly labeled as spam. So I created a Tumblr book blog. I eventually created a writing only Tumblr blog that I post to once a week and it seems to do the trick, as the content has many tentacles but is all connected by the overall concept of my adventures in writing.
And in regards to censorship issues, I had originally started blogging because I was suffering from selected censorship imposed on by a chat room website. So the one good thing about blogging is that you are indeed master of your domain. Just be careful when you go to repost your blog links on FB.
G. B. You discovered one of my rules the hard way. I always tell authors not to have more than one blog (unless you write under multiple pen names.) I do have my little Blogger book blog, but that’s just insurance in case the hackers ever get into this one.
But more than one blog–especially on the same platform–confuses our robot overlords and it’s way more work than you need to make for yourself. If a blog isn’t working for you, you can change everything about it except for the url, and nobody much cares about your url. You can take a blog you made to promote a romance novel and turn it into a sci-fi site with new images, colors, theme, title, etc. Glad to know the Tumblr blog works for you!
You’re absolutely right about the writer’s global market. I’d say at least a third of my followers are from India.
Mike–Congrats on getting into the Indian market. My publisher makes my ebooks cheaper in India and I have a handful of sales there, but it looks like you’ve really made inroads into the market.
I think you hit on all the reasons I blog. I used to maintain a website and a blog until I realized my blog could easily do both and it takes less time to update.
Susan–I agree that a blog is all you need. Your readers don’t have to click around trying to find you, and it’s easier and usually cheaper.
Thanks for posting this. I thought I was the only one who enjoyed blogging.
Missi–A lot of us love it! I sure do.
This is a such a great and timely post on blogs, Anne…timely for me because I need to make sure I don’t miss a single week on mine! I like the general platform-building aspect of it, and I also appreciate the way it allows me to connect with other writers as well as my readers.
As an aside, I also loved your use of the term “robot overlords” in the comments section. I remember you introducing me to that expression when we were emailing back and forth about my guest post here back in March. It made me smile then, and it made me smile again today!
Mike–Thanks! Robot overlords are real. Those algos keep us on our toes.
Connecting with readers is important in the Internet age. They expect to be able to reach you. Don’t neglect that blog!
Another excellent post hitting all the highlights again today! Like Garry, I’d add my 2 cents but I think you have covered the topic thoroughly! In today’s world if instantaneous gratification, being able to purchase the next book in a series from Amazon within milliseconds of finishing reading (from my iPad without leaving my bed), and “Googling” an author to find out what else he/she has written are two of my favorite activities. I will admit to having a short attention span when it comes to authors who don’t have a website/blog where I can learn more. I tend to just move on to the next (of many) books on my Kindle app.
Barb–Since you’re a book review blogger people should pay attention here! I think most readers feel that way. If they can’t find out anything about the author, they’ll move on to somebody more interested in connecting with readers. Thanks for the heads-up!
Hey Anne,
I have to say that you have rehabbed my desire to blog lately with all these posts you have been doing about author blogs. Though I’ve had my blog for many years, the last couple of years it’s been very hit and miss. But your posts have given me ideas that I think will and are working – for me and my readers. So, thanks for that.
There is so much a blog can do for a writer – above and beyond the platform aspects. Many you pointed out. For me, it was a way back into writing – which I had not done for many years before that. I not only got my writing chops back but I got disciplined and finally made writing a priority in my life. Just like I don’t think books will ever die, I also don’t think blogs will ever die. To me, it’s the most intimate and connective type of social media. And I think the most enjoyable because of the true interactive capabilities.
A good tip which I wanted to mention is to back up your blog monthly (most platforms have an easy way for you to do this). That way, should there be technical difficulties, or something worse, you’ll still have a copy of all your posts and comments which you can upload either to the recovered blog or a new site. It takes all of five minutes to do and can save you a lot of heartache.
Cheers,
Annie
Annie–How great to know I helped you get back into blogging. You’re right that it is the most interactive of social media. If Twitter is like a big, noisy cocktail party, a blog is like an intimate dinner with friends.
Good tip to remind people to back up their blogs. I’m lucky I did that with my Blogger blog, or I would have lost years of work when it got hacked. Yes, do it once a month and make it part of your blogging routine. Thanks for the reminder!
I started blogging around 2009, because writers were told they ‘had’ to have a blog. At the time I was a newbie, had a couple of young kids and doing a University degree. So, yes I’m a big believer of slow blogging! Despite all that trial and error, I’m still blogging as I enjoy it and blogging has been my main source of making friends on social media.
You raise an interesting point with blogging being a conversation for grown-ups. You’re limited on what can be said on Twitter and for some reason Facebook makes me uncomfortable, but with a blog it’s ‘our space’. We have the freedom to write what’s on our minds and I’ve had some interesting discussions through the comments. So I agree that blogging is a great way to build a community and build a platform.
Once again, another helpful post Anne and I look forward to seeing your book out in October. 🙂
Debbie–You must have started blogging around the same time I did. It’s kind of amazing we’ve kept it up. Most blogs only last three years. So you deserve a back-pat. Especially with raising little kids and getting a degree at the same time!
I agree that the most important aspect of blogging is making friends!
Great advice and suggestions for blogging. Right now I have a author newsletter that’s managed by Writerspace to build my platform. Personally, I like reading blogs like yours and making a comment. It’s a nice way of interacting with other writers.
Patricia–Generally a newsletter doesn’t build platform. It does give you a way to announce things to your established fans, but nobody stumbles upon a newsletter.
So it’s worthwhile to have a blog as well even if it’s just to get people to sign up for the newsletter–it provides a way for new people to find you.
#7 is huge for me Anne. I care not about critics and stuff but do love building a 1 of a kind brand, which I could easily build through my self-hosted WordPress blog. I post my Blogging From Paradise brand logo on all of my 126 eBooks covers. Consistent branding, which helps me drive traffic to my blog and of course, which creates brand continuity, helping me sell more eBooks through Amazon to folks who want helpful, short and sweet eBooks to build their blogs. Excellent points all around 🙂
Ryan–126 books! That’s amazing. More than Agatha Christie wrote in her lifetime and she was amazingly prolific. I guess your branding works!
Ryan–It is a shame you block your content with so many popups. They are the most hated marketing tool on the planet. I would have liked to read your blog, but you won’t let people see your content without bullying them into subscribing. Those “conversions” aren’t real. Those people will delete and unsubscribe. And Google will downgrade you for them. Please rethink. Entice readers instead of bullying them. https://www.moghill.co.uk/blog/googles-attack-pop-ups-interstitials-good-news/
I love blogging (as you know) and I think it’s the secondary aspects of blogging that are almost more fun – my folklore column got me invited onto a podcast, and I’ve made some good friends through sharing stuff. My blog is very much aimed at articles about things which you might find in my fiction, so Ouija boards, witch bottles, voodoo dolls, etc., rather than being about my books directly – which means I now get people asking me questions going “Oh you’ll know about this…”. So blogging has inadvertently turned me into Giles from Buffy!
Icy–Or should I say “Giles”. 🙂 You’ve done the blog thing exactly right. You reach so many more people than simply the ones who have already read your book. By using the research you do for your fiction, you have become an expert on the occult. When your blog establishes you as an authority, you’ve done everything right.
You’re right about blogging. That’s how we became friends way back when. I’ve finally found time this summer to cruise around and find people I’ve been missing. I’ve been trying to find pertinent topics to post about, but so many other people say it so much better, I flounder, and then don’t post. I think I’ve lost my blogging mojo. Maybe you can do a post about that.
Anne–We have been blogging about the same amount of time, I think. I met you early in my blogging career.
There is definitely something like “Blogger’s Block” and I’ve gone through some months where I have been afraid I’m never going to be able to come up with another topic.
Maybe I should write about it. Thanks for the suggestion.
I find the best way to fight it is to read other blogs and see what people are talking about . When I feel like leaving a comment, it can often be the seed of a blog topic.
Great post and so true. I write web content at work too so my blog feeds off that and vice versa, helping me with both.
It’s tough doing it around a day job, I definitely recommend planning in time to write posts then schedule them in and re-post previous ‘evergreen’ posts too. And most blogging platforms have apps so you can write on the go!
It also means you can get a bit of writing in even if you can’t get to the WiP. I love following fellow writers and learning from them.
Rachel–I admire people who can compose on a phone keyboard. I can’t write more than a word or two on those. I’m a long-time touch typist and without a full sized keyboard, I feel like I’m trying to write with hooves. 🙂
But you make a good point about evergreen posts. Reposting your most popular posts with updates can be a big help to the busy author and also to your readers, who would love to see the material updated. Thanks!
Anne, another great post. An author blog is a tremendous help in making your author website visible in Google searches because a blog means you are always putting fresh content out there, which search engines love, and allow you to use new keywords that correspond with what readers are looking for. A blogging author can offer behind the scenes looks, excerpts, and other tidbits to entice readers. There are lots of free ways to promote and share new posts, too, helping to defeat a writer’s worst enemy: obscurity.
Re what another reader mentioned regarding finding an author online: I do interviews with mystery authors for my Mystery Ahead newsletter. Many times an author will ask to be featured. But without a decent website that provides background info on them–and that usually means a blog–my readers won’t be able to find out more or have faith that I’m introducing them to a professional author with a polished product. In those cases, the answer is always no.
Carmen–You make two great points. 1) A blog gets you out of obscurity by getting the attention of search engines the way a static website can’t. 2) Without a blog or website, you come across as an amateur dabbler, not a professional author. A reader’s time is at a premium these days, so they want to make sure they’ll be in good hands before they start a book. If you look like an amateur, you’re going to lose a lot of readers.
Thanks for the insight from the point of view of an interviewer!
Really good stuff here. You’ve inspired me to polish up (hell, overhaul!) my blog. Thank you for that. 🙂
Mott–Have fun giving your blog a make-over. It can really give you (and your traffic) a boost!
Great post Anne. I totally agree with starting low on free Blog sites when you’re just getting started and only have one or two books (or even none!). I’m waiting until I have a back catalogue before going for author website.
Brian–Yes! When you’re honing your craft and building inventory, you really don’t want the huge expense of a fancy website. And a website for just one or two books can look a little sad. That’s when a freebie blog can be your best friend. You have a presence on the Web, you’re networking, but it doesn’t have to take up much of your time, and it doesn’t cost you a thing.
I hate it when people make me question things I know are true. Like blogs don’t work. Thanks a lot Anne. I had almost convinced myself that I’ll just set up a static business card website, do a newsletter (another thing I know–you’ve got to have a newsletter!), and spend my time finishing these stories and novels. And then you come along, with experience and commonsense, and make me wonder what I’ve been thinking.
So, now I’m back to wondering if a blog may be the way to go. Which brings up two questions: Do blogs work for fiction writers? I’m not in the business of blogging about writing as there are way too many already and so many have much more value than I could ever add to the discussion. So the question is: how do I blog to potential readers of my stories and novels (when they come out)?
And the next question: Please define “slow blogging.” In your previous post on that subject, you said to slow down to one post a week. Yikes! That sounds like speed blogging to me.
As you can see, I’ve got a ways to go. Thanks to you (and your tribe of commenters), maybe I’ll eventually get on the right path. Thanks for sharing your experience, even when I goes against everything I “know” to be true.
Ken–You might like to read my post on newsletter vs. blog. http://bit.ly/2hDD9w8. I prefer a blog because it does everything a newsletter does PLUS it’s interactive and draws new readers. You can put anything in a blog that you’d put in a newsletter. Plus you can tweet and share it and spread the word through social media.
Don’t write about writing. (Do as I say, not as I do. Haha.) Follow my link above in #3: “What should an author blog about?”
Blogging gurus tell people to blog every day, but author bloggers can blog once a week or even once a month. Everything in red is a link. So click on Slow Blogging and you’ll go to a post about it.
Ken, I have to jump in because I have also struggled with what to blog about as a fiction writer. My most popular topics on my blog have been behind the scenes looks, and specific people/places/concepts that have inspired me. Plus reviews of what I’m reading (I write mystery so assume my readers love mysteries so that’s what I review). When you sit down to create a blog post, think that the purpose of your post is to gently guide your ideal reader to your books.
To get yourself going, make a hub and spoke diagram, with your book in the middle as the hub. Then use spokes to write down every topic that possibly relates. This will give you a ton of ideas. Good luck!
Carmen, Thanks for the tips and the example. Your website and blog look chock full of good stuff. Your readers should be pleased.
Excellent points in post Anne. It’s so important that we all learn the proper business of using social media to connect and gain readers. After gaining that respect and sharing work and books of others on a regular basis, it’s okay to plug our promo or WIP updates because we’ve earned the respect of our readers who trust that we aren’t going to spam their feeds with ‘buy this’ buy that’. 🙂
Debby–That’s so true. You promote your books AFTER you’ve made friends. If some stranger walks up to you on the street and offers you a bakery bag of something and says “eat this”, you’re probably going to say “uh, no thanks.” But if a good friend offers the same bag you’ll probably open it and scarf down the goodies inside.
Wonderful analogy Anne. 🙂
Great article, Anne.
My only objection is the later part of #1. I agree authors can get side-tracked by blogging. But I’d suggest it’s better to start early and gradually. Then when the time comes with the book, you have an established market to show (something publishers ask about), presence on Google, and so forth. It takes time to be noticed and picked up by readers.
David–I agree, but it depends on how “early” you’re talking about. I know a lot of beginning writers who lost all their momentum in their WIP because blogging took over.
I think people should take classes, join a critique group and learn to write before they worry about platform. It can just be too overwhelming.
Great post! Most of your advice are reasons why I started blogging ????
Charlene–Welcome! Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Anne, just popped over here from DG Kaye’s tweet—LOL. Great article, here. I also just bought your book and looking forward to the adventure. Love your site and helpful tips. I’m a self published author. I’m just polishing up my first fiction, a short story collection. It’s been professionally edited twice, so I’m almost there. I blog, blog and blog. Right now, I’m feeling a little burned out but reading your article helped to motivate me. Thank you!
Lisa–Obviously I haven’t had enough tea this morning. Your reply is below. as a separate comment. Sorry.
And thanks for buying my book! I hope you find it fun!
Lisa–Welcome! Great to hear you’re using blogging to network and establish platform. Since you write short fiction, I urge you to enter contests and get your stories into journals or even a phone app like Radish. Maybe you’ve done this, but if you haven’t, do give yourself time to market the stories individually. If you can put “award winning story” on your cover, you’ll have a huge advantage in marketing a self-published collection.
The great thing about short fiction is that it can be sold over and over again. But first rights can only be sold once, and many contests don’t take work that’s been previously self-published. So those stories can be powerful currency before you publish them in a book. Experts say indies need at least two books ready to go before they publish. Then release in quick succession.
Wow, thank you so much for those tips, Anne. I had no clue about that. Plus, just the thought of marketing each or a chosen short story on its own is brilliant. I’m very invested in these stories…as I’m sure you can understand. I will look into Radish.
Lisa–You’re sitting on a gold mine, so it’s much better to make some money on these before self-publishing. Story collections don’t do that well, but individual stories do. Here’s one of my posts on how hot short fiction is http://bit.ly/2frogMR. Also, if some stories are long, (over 10K words) consider publishing them separately. But first, enter some contests! You may win more money than you would ever make with a collection with just one story!
In these days of reading on phones, think outside the book!
I blogged at first because it was commonly stated that all authors needed a blog. I found friends, community, and a place I could write what I wished not what everyone thought was hot. Good article. 🙂
rxena–You found out what blogging is really about: making friends. Sounds like you really have a knack for it.
Wonderful post. I started a blog five years ago and it’s been a wonderful part of my writing life. Actually, a wonderful part of my LIFE. I’ve ‘met’ so many people throughout the world. I’ve gained many readers for my books of fiction as well as my children’s book, and I’ve LEARNED from every one who comments on my blog and then who I race over and read their bon mots and comment in return. I’ve met some of my blogging friends ‘in person’ and enjoyed talking about our writing life – the pain and pleasure. I hope to blog for the rest of my long life. 🙂 GREAT meeting YOU here, Anne.
Rough–Good to meet you! You’ve made a very good point about how much we learn from our commenters. Mine have taught me so much about tech that I didn’t know. I learn from comments on every post!
Thanks for the kick in the pants, Anne. I can barely find enough time to write books so my blog sits twiddling its thumbs until I have a “free” moment which is usually less than once a month. I know I can do better. I don’t know how you accomplish so much, WonderWoman!
Eldonna–You’re a Wonder Woman too! You run a business besides having a big book coming out with Kensington next year, another one on contract and marketing your memoir. I’m amazed at all you do.
The secret with the blog is use that one day a month to write four blogposts. Then post them regularly over the month.
That’s a great idea. I just drew up a list of 23 topics related to the novel, plus one invited guest post. 😉
Great blog and am happy to sign up. I
Amorina–Welcome!!
Thank you so much for this article!! I didn’t knew About “Redroom” (maybei it is not as common here in Austria) but to be reminded that I have much more “Control” on my Authors Blog like anywhere else and have more “Freedom” with it was a very nice Push for me to Keep at it. Sure gonna check your blog back! Thanks once again! Love, Shortstory Woman.
Great information !