The Author Blog: Easy Blogging for Busy Authors is here!
by Anne R. Allen
I’ve made some spectacular blunders in my blogging career. But since we learn from our mistakes, I’ve got a boatload of information now.
As Ruth and I say: “We made the mistakes so you don’t have to.”
The worst decision I made was trying to turn this blog into a monetized business blog. That lasted about six months— until my doctor said I was going to have to choose between blogging and living to see my next birthday.
This is the second anniversary of the beginning of that failed experiment, and I’ve been thinking over what I’ve learned.
My biggest mistake was that I didn’t see that an author blog has a different purpose and goal from a business blog. Author blogs aren’t about making money directly with ads or sales.
Instead, they provide a platform for your writing and a way to communicate with readers and fellow writers. An excellent one. In fact, a blog is still the best platform-building tool for authors, according to agent Laurie McLean of Fuse Literary, (Laurie will be visiting us in January.)
The money comes later when we sell our books. The mechanics of those sales are best left to retailers like Amazon, Kobo, iTunes, etc. unless you have a huge franchise with twenty or more titles to sell, as well as mugs, t-shirts, etc.
Does that mean we’re giving away our work for free when we write for a non-monetized blog?
Yes.
But.
When you think about how much work it takes to make the money to pay for the publicity, marketing and advertising required to make a book visible in today’s marketplace, an author blog—even if it doesn’t have any ads or affiliates—looks like a pretty good deal. A blog is the fastest way to get the attention of Google. Plus blogposts can be tweaked and recycled for guest posts and other promotions.
And an author blog doesn’t have to take much time. Because it doesn’t have to follow monetized-blog rules.
But don’t some authors monetize their blogs AND sell books?
Yes. But many of those authors started early in the blogging era so they built a big audience before there was a lot of competition. Others have a whole lot more energy and stamina than the average author.
And maybe a large staff of servants.
I’m not telling you it’s impossible to monetize an author blog and still find time to actually be an author, but I’m telling you that for me personally, it didn’t work.
Here are some other lessons I learned from my big blogging mistake:
1) Don’t Define Success with Numbers
What defines success for a business blog is irrelevant to an author.
Checking your stats or Alexa rating is fun for monitoring your progress, but those numbers mean very little for an author blog.
Superstar author Catherine Ryan Hyde sells tens of thousands of books a week, but her blog has a mediocre Alexa rating of 7 million. This blog has an excellent Alexa rating that hovers just under 300 thousand. (It’s like golf: the lower the number, the better.)
Do I sell tens of thousands of books a week? Um…not this week, anyway.
Stats and Alexa ratings are important to advertisers, but you’re not advertising anything but yourself, so it’s all good.
A small group of engaged readers can be much better for sales than a whole bunch of drive-bys. I recently visited a fellow author whose blog doesn’t even rate an Alexa rank. But she gave me a rave review and I sold nearly 40 books within hours.
2) Be True to Your Brand.
Ruth and I have spent years on our blog building a reputation for being friendly, savvy, and straightforward. We alert authors about scams and expensive mistakes they can avoid.
We also both write upmarket fiction about classy women. That’s our brand.
The “blogging rules” for business blogs and online marketing often tell you to act sleazy and bully people with popups, clickbait, bribes, and other ways of “tricking” the reader.
Serious disconnect there. No amount of SEO will make up for alienating your core readership.
3) Be Generous with Content.
Owners of monetized and business blogs are often worried other bloggers will steal their content. But we authors want you to “steal” quotes from our blog and spread them all over the Web. (Just link back to the blog* and spell our names right.)
However, when I told the expensive web host I wanted protection from hackers, they put some awful thing on the blog that made it impossible to copy the content and post it to other blogs. I got called on the carpet for this by some of the biggest names in the industry and I had no idea it had happened or how to stop it. (I finally did get word to the right people and that “protection” went away.)
But I ended up looking like a paranoid doofus.
*Note: If a strange blogger asks permission to link to your blog, be wary. All bloggers want “backlinks” because links boost SEO, so asking permission is overkill. These people generally want to open up a dialogue with you to perpetrate a scam.
4) Use Networking, not Gimmicks, to Build Traffic.
Learning how to manipulate Google (otherwise known as “SEO”) will help you get a higher ranking in search engines. But when you’re starting out, your traffic is more likely to come from networking and social media. A new blog will get most of its traffic from posts and shares on social media or other blogs, not Google searches.
People will come back if you are engaging and fun. It’s much more important to be friendly and have something interesting to offer than it is to have the right keywords, post frequency, or word count.
Networking with other bloggers is probably the number one source of traffic for a new blog That means making friends, not tricking people.
5) Content Really is King.
Some techies may have to game the system to get readers, but that’s because they don’t have the writer’s skill set. For a writer, good writing is more important than SEO.
A friend once told me about an impressive guy who was going to dominate the book world because he was a major expert in SEO and had bought up a whole lot of book related domain names. So I went to Impressive Guy’s website, which had the great domain name of books dot com or something like that.
There was nothing on the site but about 300 clunky, repetitive words about how to choose a good book. It boiled down to: read the New York Times Book Review.
In other words, the site was worthless. Nobody was going to visit it twice. Manipulating the algorithms may get short-term results, but it’s not helpful in the long run.
Good writers don’t need gimmicks. We only need to entertain and inform: content really is king. Be accessible and be yourself. Nothing else matters. (Well, correct spelling and grammar help too. 🙂 )
6) Keep Control of Your Blog.
Simple, low-tech blogging is better than fancy tech-heavy stuff you can’t do yourself. Your blog is the face you show to the world. You’ll be held responsible for whatever happens there.
I should have taken at least three months to learn to use WordPress dot org before we moved from Blogger, but I let fear and tech experts talk me out of my comfort zone.
My expert help almost immediately became unavailable due to a family tragedy. And I almost ended up as a tragedy myself.
None of that would have happened if I’d insisted on keeping more control.
7) Never Sacrifice Your WIP for Your Blog.
I listened to business blog gurus who called me a slacker because I couldn’t spend eighteen hours a day blogging. Novels meant nothing to them. Publishers’ deadlines meant nothing to them. Nothing mattered but blog stats and subscriber numbers.
When it was finally over, I realized all the advice I was getting was irrelevant to my needs and just plain wrong for an author.
An author doesn’t have to post more than once a week. (Some bloggers call this “slow blogging.”) You can post less when you’re on a tear with your WIP.
8) Use Your Author Blog to Make Friends, Not Sales.
The sales will come. The more friends you have, the more sales in the long run. But treating a friend as nothing but a sales target is always going to backfire.
9) When You Need Help, Ask for It.
A number of readers offered to help me early on during the disastrous monetizing experiment, but I was afraid to admit defeat.
Our blog only exists because of the wonderful people who stepped up and made the offer again. We are now at a different self-hosted WordPress dot org site, with a simpler template, and we are not monetized.
Our generous host is Bakerview Consulting. I will forever be grateful to tech-wizard Barb Drozdowich, the owner of Bakerview. Barb believes authors shouldn’t monetize, and now I realize she’s right. Do check out her books on blogging and social media.
I also need to give a shout-out to the knights in shining armor at TechSurgeons, who came through with an emergency rescue in my hour of need.
10) The Most Important Marketing Rule is the Golden One.
A whole lot of contemporary Internet marketing is based on a false premise: the idea that a marketer’s job is to bully and trick customers into giving up their privacy and personal information so they can browbeat them into buying. (Some of my most relentless email spammers now have my Facebook address and DM their spam to me on Facebook, too. Grrrr.)
I don’t know if they sell more vitamins or underwear that way, but it sure doesn’t work for books.
A book is a world. It’s something you’re going to spend time with. If the author makes a reader feel bullied or stalked, they won’t want to go there. A reader needs to be enticed, not pushed.
You’ll have a much more successful blog—and writing career—if you put the customer first and ignore all the other “rules” of marketing.
***
I know blogging isn’t for everybody. But it can be a fantastic marketing tool and it’s the best way to get Google’s attention. So ignore most of what you’ve read about blogging and consider starting an easy, friendly, low-stress author blog. My book The Author Blog: Easy Blogging for Busy Authors will tell you exactly how to do that.
In the long run, a relaxed author blog will sell your books better than all the aggressive, money-making blogging tactics in the world. Plus it cuts way down on your advertising expenses.
An author blog will give you a secure place to interact with your fans and draw new readers. And for a lot of us, it’s just plain fun.
by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) December 3, 2017
What about you, scriveners? Do you have a blog? Have you tried to monetize it? What do you consider successful blogging for an author?
You can read another post on author blogs from me on December 4th at the Author Marketing Experts blog.
And next week, we’ll have our annual Christmas visit from the hilarious Irish humorist, Tara Sparling. Don’t miss it!
BOOK OF THE WEEK
Cover reveal!
Yes, it’s really happening! My book on easy blogging for authors will be available later this week. Everything you need to know to start your own author blog–without the help of a tech person or even a resident teenager. Learn what to blog about and how to get traffic to a new blog without taking too much time away from your WIP.
Only $2.99 for a limited time at Nook, Kobo, Apple, and Amazon.
Also available at Scribd, Playster, 24 Symbols
If anybody would like an advance review copy, either epub or Kindle, contact me at annerallen dot allen at gmail.com.
OPPORTUNITY ALERTS
Nowhere Magazine Travel Writing Contest. $1000 prize and publication. They’re looking for Fiction or Nonfiction with a powerful sense of place. 800-5000 words. And previously published work is okay. Entry fee $20 Deadline January 1, 2018
EVERYTHING CHANGE CLIMATE FICTION CONTEST NO ENTRY FEE. Submit one piece of fiction up to 5,000 words using the impact of climate change. The winning story will receive a $1000 prize, and nine finalists will receive $50 prizes. Selected work will be published in an anthology by the Imagination and Climate Futures Initiative at Arizona State University. Deadline February 28, 2018.
Virginia Woolf Prize for short fiction. $3500 first prize, $1000 second prize. 3000-8000 words. Also winners get a read from the Sobel Weber Literary Agency. Plus publication in LitMag. Fee $20, Deadline December 15th.
10 Major book publishers that read unagented manuscripts. and 20 Literary Journals that publish new writers. Both lists compiled by the good folks at Authors Publish magazine.
Angry Robot the SciFi publisher is taking unagented SciFi and Fantasy novels for a limited time. The want completed novels between 70K-130K words. Guidelines and submission forms are here. Submissions open 1st November, close 31st December 2017
I love this post Anne (which of yours haven’t I?). But the blog is near and dear to me, poor neglected thing. I’m trying to dust it off this quarter as I finally approach the end of a WiP and what will most likely be a milestone for my writing career.
I particularly like your notions at #3 and #5, and have found the blog makes me more productive overall. Not everything I feel inspired to write goes into the plot (maybe less than half sometimes!). The blog is the perfect vehicle for writing that does what the books do (making me happy) and which bring me to new places with new thoughts.
Will–I think blogging DOES make you more productive. When you have a regular blogging practice, you can explore all those things that may not work in the book, but will be a lot of fun in bite-sized bits on the blog. Then those things can often lead to new and creative things to add to the book.
Your blog is always helpful and informative but this post speaks to my relationship with to blogging like nothing else I’ve ever read. Just your one simple piece of advice to “write several posts ahead of time so you have them scheduled in the queue” lifted an enormous burden of stress from my shoulders. I now spend one day a month creating memes and writing posts for my author blog. I think of you and Ruth as a combination of security guard (warning of scams), teacher, and cheerleader. Congratulations on the new book. I can’t wait to read it. Thank you Anne!
Eldonna–I would never be able to write if I had to stop the WIP every week to blog. So I usually write the posts early in the month in three days or so and have them ready to go.
I like thinking of us as security guards. Haha. I hope you enjoy the book!
Do onto others always works. Because otherwise it comes back and bites you in the butt.
I’ve never even considered putting ads on my site. What I advertise in my side bar are my friends and great sites.
Slow blogging has helped me maintain my sanity. I’m not really writing much, but I do have more time for the IWSG – and life!
Alex–It’s true. Karma tends to do some butt-biting. Your blog is a perfect example of an author blog that works It built your career (and the IWSG). It sure doesn’t need ads on top of that.
Anne—Such sane advice and so necessary in the too-often frantic publishing race! Your new book is just what writers need to hear—and heed. So helpful and *that* cover! It’s just great! 🙂
Ruth–Isn’t that cover great! I said I wanted it to look like the blog–but a little more techy and modern. And somehow they did it –and surpassed my expectations. I love the positive icons and texturing.
Hey Anne — Love the cover! Brava! And thanks – once more – for great information.
CS–Isn’t that a fun cover? I’m so pleased!
Thanks for the encouraging post! I switched from a pen name to my real name, and started a new blog, because I’m writing in a new genre, and so far I haven’t done much with it. I’m finding it hard to get going. I’m looking forward to your book!
Tammy–Good for you to use your real name. You’ll find it’s so much easier for social media and everything else. I hope my book inspires you to get that blog going! I think my publisher will be offering it at a discounted introductory price. Watch this space!
Anne, I was one week away from monetizing my blog when you went public on your experience, and I am SO glad I pulled back! Still, I get people pushing me to do it. “Why are you giving away all your comedy?” they say. Well, I’m not exactly giving it away, in that I was paid to write it the first time. I’m simply reposting.
But the lesson here: I’m a slave to my books, my publisher, my dog and sometimes my kids. If you monetize your blog, you’ll become a slave to that too. I’m not in the blog business. I’m in the comedy/fiction business. The blog is simply a way to show my beloved products to the world.
Melodie–I didn’t know that! I’m so glad I saved you from my fate. It was truly slave labor. I worked so many hours, my pierced ears closed up. That long without going out anywhere to put in earrings. (I’m sad when I look at my earring collection every day.) Monetizing was signing up for slavery to the blog for me!
I think you’re absolutely right. The purpose of the blog is to showcase the author, not to spring surprises on his or her readers. Pop-ups should be banned.
My dilemma is on the book review side of things. It’s part of ‘paying it forward’ to review other people’s books. But do I do too much of it? Reviews mean taking time away from writing to read the books in the first place. On the other hand, it’s good for me to maintain a healthy level of reading. Ah – the key words are ‘healthy level’. My books (writing, editing) should take priority over other people’s, not the other way around.
And in many ways, my blog should be relaxation from the graft of writing! Just as I said earlier today about another activity in my life – if it’s no longer enjoyable, why am I doing it?
Jemima–On behalf of all writers, I want to thank you for reviewing! I know it can be a thankless job. And right now Amazon is cracking down on book bloggers for no reason I can see. I’ve just heard they’ve removed ALL reviews by many book bloggers because they got ARCs. This is bad news for everybody, but especially bloggers like you. If you feel the need to cut back, then do. Your own WIP should have top priority.
You just got me checking my reviewing profile. It was hard to find some of my online reviews, but I did find them in the end. I suspect I don’t do enough for them to get upset with me, and also because there are a good number of verified purchases among those stated as library books or as Net-Galley/ARC. It’s a strange world we’re living in.
Anne, a great post as always! I have been blogging for about 5 years as a way to promote fiction and it is probably the best thing I’ve done. IThe blog is my behind-the-scenes invitation to readers to see my research, come along on my travels, read what i’m reading and meet my author friends. The stories I tell on that blog help readers connect with my books in a way that advertising never would. The posts that have resonated the most are the most heartfelt.
BUT another component of blogging is the ability to promote keywords that your audience is looking for. Static websites don’t get as much Google love as dynamic ones so a blog keeps it fresh and discoverable. That blog is your billboard on the Internet highway and you get to change what’s on the billboard whenever you want.
Carmen–You’re doing it exactly right: Offering “behind-the-scenes invitation to readers to see my research, come along on my travels, read what i’m reading and meet my author friends” is the best route for an author blogger. (Do what I say, not what I do. Haha.)
And one of the big points I made in the book is the importance of having a dynamic website that gets noticed by Google. A blog is the best way to make your website Google-friendly. I love the image of the blog as a billboard!
Great post Anne. However, I have one pressing question today: I have followed your advice for a while. I have been a slow blogger for a long time. I do not monetize my blog; I don’t use it to sell my thrillers (two were published 20 years ago, am still working on the third) I try to write interesting/engaging blog content. Mostly, I have found a following among other writers.
I was rolling along happily building readership and page views UNTIL last week when views plummeted. I am wondering if that’s because it was Thanksgiving weekend or whether my subject matter was totally boring (I didn’t think so because it was advice as to how to keep writing during the holiday season.)
Do you, or any other author bloggers who read this blog experience reduced views and readership in this holiday season????
Joanna–I think every writerly blog’s stats went down last weekend. Not only is it the biggest travel weekend of the year in the US, it’s also the end of NaNoWriMo. Everybody was madly trying to get to the finish line with 50K words.
Generally the holidays are a slow time for blogs. Holiday travel, shopping, parties, etc cut into writing and reading time. Plus traditionally, the publishing industry closes doors on everything but sales. Many agencies don’t read submissions between Dec 1-Jan1.
Slow time. Nothing to do with your blog. Look for a spike after the first of the year. Those New Year’s resolution to finally get that puppy published will work in your favor.
Wow! Thank you so much Anne. Your reply is an enormous relief to me. My tendency always is to look inward, and assume the fault lies with my post. So, this is comforting. I will look to do better in the New Year. In the meantime, I did email for a review copy of your new book for bloggers. I am always looking to learn and improve. Onward and upward!
Anne I really appreciate your thought on blogs. After a ‘fail’ blog I started again on WordPress after about a year and a half without blogging. I too remember reading about all the advertising I should do as a blogger and wondered how I would ever do that. The I too read your blog about the pitfalls of blogging and that “slow blogging” was an OK thing to do. No I feel quite comfortable with my blog. I do like the idea of writing ahead of time would ahve saved me a lot of grief during NaNoWriMo. Thanks for all your good advice. Looking forward to your book.
Marie–You didn’t “fail” at an author blog. You were just misinformed about what an author blog entails. I’m so glad you’re comfortable with your blog now. Definitely you want to pre-write your blogposts. A blog is like your own magazine. Magazines survive because they plan their content way in advance. We need to do that too. Especially in NaNoWriMo, and during the holidays. (And it’s okay to take a holiday hiatus.)
I’ve been reluctant to start an author blog because I already have a visual artist blog that is lagging. All in all I often struggle to find enough time to work indepth in either discipline. I look forward to reading your new book. It may give me the new start I need.
Eve–It is hard to maintain two blogs. There’s a lot more work for the multi-talented. 🙂 Maybe you can add a page for your books to the art blog. I hope the book will be available very soon. Even tomorrow! So watch this space….
Been blogging for an ungodly amount of years (since 2008), and I’ve seen the ups and downs and cyclical perils of blogging. I shot myself in the foot with my 1st blog ’cause I decided to start a 2nd one after becoming burned out with the 1st (and thus eliminating the steady subscriber base that I had). Eventually put all of my Blogger blogs on archive status because Blogger was taking too long (about a week) to give me an answer about duplicating content from a blog hosted on another platform (they never did answer my question).
So now I blog once a week (stream of conscience tied together by my adventures in writing) and I share the link on my FB pages and in my writer’s group. It is what it is and I’m a happy miser in doing it.
G. B.–Back then, people were starting new blogs all the time. We didn’t realize how valuable our old URLs were. (I don’t think you ever would have heard from Blogger. They have no tech support. You have to go through their forums, which aren’t all that helpful.) I’m glad you’re enjoying your blogging now.
Advertising cost bucks. The wrong kind of advertising can frustrate and confuse your potential reader. What could be better than talking directly to your readers and paying for it by doing something you love. Blogging is a win-win-win solution for me.
Thank you this article, Anne. I’m promoting it on Twitter.
Leanne–Thanks for sharing! I’m with you. I think blogging is win-win. 🙂
Great tips, Anne, and you’ve verified my thoughts in regard to blogging. I’m just a little blogger, but I get enough pageviews to keep me happy that someone is reading my posts. I have been stalled in my novel writing due to hubs becoming very ill, but have managed to keep writing with a flash fiction challenge in which we publish on our blog on a theme every couple of months. This keeps people reading my short writing and keeps me active with my writing in general. (The challenge is Write, Edit, Publish and is hosted by Denise Covey, an Aussie who is great at encouraging us.)
DG–Authors can be “little” bloggers, because we don’t need to reach the whole world–just the target audience. Denise is awesome! We’ve been “blogfriends” since the old days. But I didn’t know about her new flash fiction challenge. I’ll check it out!
Your post is very timely. I just finished the first draft of my first book. Before starting on a round of editing, I was thinking of ‘slow blogging’ on the topic my book is about and came across words of advise on relentless blogging to make an impact. It had almost scared me off since I want to be spending most of my time editing my book and not get sucked into the kind of blogging I was hearing about. Your post clarified everything beautifully. Thanks a lot.
Savita–I’m so glad this is helpful. There’s so much misinformation about blogging out there. Yes: Editing your WIP should take priority. Good luck with it!
Anne – I love this post. Finally reason prevails. Ah. Bless you oh learned one.
Brad–Thanks! Now to get this book out there!
Thank you for giving me permission to just be myself on my blog. You have reduced my stress one hundred fold. I thought I had to write to educate people on a topic that I didn’t even really have a lot to say on. I didn’t know the focus was to connect with readers. I was taught to position myself as an expert and then people would buy. Wow! I have missed the mark. But, today is a new day and like you said, I am in charge of my blog. I can start fresh.
Wanda–“Just be yourself” That’s exactly what successful authors do on their blogs. No stress. (We get that from reviews. Haha. 🙂 ) All that advice is for people who write how-to books and sell them from their site.
Congrats on this book. From your post today, I agree with everything you said. I blog once a week, unless things like holidays intrude. I work to provide good content. I check and double check spelling and grammar. This has my name on it and it has to be perfect. Some weeks I get few hits, others more. My blog helps me frame my ideas and keeps me sharp. When it’s written, I can go back to my WIP and often bring more zest to that. Changing up your content keeps you from getting stale. Thanks, Beth
Beth–You have a great author blog, Beth! I think you’re doing it right.
Seems I’m right on track with my blog Anne. I love your articles, they force me to do a stop and check on things. 🙂 I also have quite a few of both yours and Ruth’s books on my Kindle. Reading time has not been ample this year. I’m taking a 2 month winter escape in February and plan on having a readfest
and catching up on books I want to read, and minimal visiting of my blog. 🙂
Debby–I need to carve out some reading time, too! Hoping to do that over the holidays. Especially on the train.Taking the train is a great way to get reading done. So peaceful compared with airplanes. Have fun on your winter escape!
And yes, your blog will survive. 🙂
Thanks Anne. 🙂
Amazing spot on advice!
When it comes to amount of time spent blogging, I vary it with need and time. At first I blogged a lot, just to establish myself, and my content library. After that, I tried to keep up with two posts a week, but was always willing to bow out for one if I had a lot of writing to get done. My one post a week is always a poem, which is easy for me, low stress, and seems to be enjoyed by my followers. : D
Meno<3
Meno–It is smart to blog often when you’re establishing the blog, if you have the time, because it does get you into search engines faster. But two posts a week is usually too much for an author with a WIP (and usually a day job and family.) One post a week seems to be ideal. I’m glad to hear it works for you, too. And writing a poem keeps those creative juices flowing.
Blogging for authors is about engaging with our readers and potential readers. It’s about building our brand. We are not doing it for money, sales, or SEO. We blog because we love it.
In my case, blogging has help me develop my author voice.
Excellent post, Anne!
Ingmar–Exactly! And very good point about how blogging helps you develop your voice.
Hi Anne,
Many thanks for this great post and for putting out the e-book which I will finish reading tonight. While I am waiting for my beta-readers to get back to me with their feedback on the latest draft of my first novel, I’ll crank open my website and get back into creating some (hopefully) entertaining posts.
Your post also seems to touch on a lot of points raised by big-league blogger Seth Godin on one of his most recent posts which he titled “The minimum critical mass.”
My take on his ideas is that once enough readers read and engage with your book, it’s no longer up to the bookstore to push it… people talking to people are the engine for your growth.
“People talking to people” = my idea of a good Author Blog
When you hit the right number of conversations, the buzz creates its own buzz, popularity and usage creates more popularity and usage.
By way of example Seth takes the success of moleskins. How many people needed to be journaling in their Moleskins before you decided you needed one too?
I think of my blogging as a way of carving out a path to my critical mass. Promoting my brand in a way that people find engaging.
cheers
Richard–Congrats on finishing your first novel! Working on your website is a great thing to be doing at this stage. Seth Grodin is right about critical mass.
What sells books–and has always sold books–is “word of mouth”. No amount of advertising works if people aren’t talking about your book. And a blog (plus social media) are the best ways to get them talking. The Moleskin thing is a perfect example, isn’t it?
Thanks for this post Anne. I have to admit I do struggle with No.7 and have been sacrificing my writing sometimes for my blog. As much as I enjoy doing both, I think I tend to put off writing when I hit a bit of a snag or I need to tackle those re-writes. I’ve been slow blogging for years and will continue to do so.
Congratulations on the new book! I just bought myself a copy and look forward to reading it.
Debbie–I confess to letting the blogs get in the way of my WIPs at times. But this blog has taken on a life of its own. And sometimes when you’re stuck on the WIP, writing on a blog will get your juices flowing again. Thanks much for buying the book!
This blog post was timely for me as I was seriously considering putting ads on my blog.
Marg–I’m so glad you read it in time. Not everybody will have the disasters I had when I tried to monetize, but mostly, it’s not worth the hassle.
Anne, you helped save my skin, too.
I never wanted a dozen ads running down the sidebar, tripping all who dared scroll! Yet I had joined a women’s bloggers group for our state, and thought I’d find that connection you said was so important, but alas! I was not monetized, had not put on my big girl pants, yet.
Pffft.
I was sure. Except when I wasn’t. I’d found several really great writer sites that were still “wordpressdotcom”, as in, no private domain name, even! How could that be?! I was overflowing with questions when a good friend, Jim B at sowrite linked me to your site, here, just a few days, I suppose, after you woke up from your nightmare. And there was your post, forerunner of this one, and I saw the light.
I do thank you for being so transparent, for GETTING IT, and for knowing how to make a fence-rider like me get off the fence, already, and calm down and write on! <3
Katharine–I’m so glad you got steered to my blog just in time. And many thanks to Jim B. Because 90% of the info on blogging is for business bloggers, book writers don’t get the message that none of that stuff applies to them. We’re professional writers, but NOT professional bloggers. So none of the greed-based advice applies to us. Enjoy your writing!
Greed-based. Perfect!
Hi Anne, having read (and reviewed) your excellent 5-star how-to book on author blogging, I am curious: you say not to worry about slow growth of subscribers, and say you only had 10 for the first six months so I’m wondering what was your breakthrough blog/feature ? Why do you think it suddenly took off?
I seem to get a fair number of visitors to my site, but it looks like they read it without signing up for the subscription.
Joanna–Thanks so much for the review!
I thought I harped on it too much in the book, but obviously I didn’t. 🙂 My big breakthrough was a guest blog spot on Nathan Bransford’s blog. That’s why I stress the importance of guest blogging.
I think everybody’s oversubscribed these days. Inbox overload. But if they’re coming by often, they’ll subscribe eventually.
Got it! Thank you, Anne. I must have read right over that.That’s why i have several key chapters marked for re-reading.
I have just entered the self publishing arena. And what I have found is that everyone monetizes everything. On every level people want to sell you something. While I am not against paying for help and guidance, when does it end?
John–It ends when you realize that the really successful indies do a whole lot of the work themselves. Also that there are more people making money FROM authors than there are authors making money. So use your noodle and don’t let anybody talk you into paying for something you don’t need. You can take a blogging course for $80-$200 bucks, or you can buy my book for $2.99. 🙂 It tells you how to blog for free.
Anne, I read your eBook and got a lot out of it. Been blogging since 2008 with some prolonged and unplanned pit stops in posting along the way haha.
Have been thinking about your views on author newsletters versus a regular blogging schedule that includes a way for followers to get an email with the latest weekly post.
There seem to be many book marketers and indie authors who recommend building a list as a key component of getting reviews using ARC teams, street teams, segmented email lists and so on.
In the comments to this 2016 post below, it looked like you were interested in the possibilities of using email lists to help increase book reviews. Is that still the case?
https://selfpublishingsites.com/2016/09/email-marketing-5-things-authors-should-never-do/
At this stage, I am in two minds whether to drop my (quarterly) email newsletter idea and just use (bi)weekly blog posts with an email notification when released plus social media announcements to spread the word, get the google juice etc. (I am in the science fiction genre and with no books out yet but 3 planned for release in 2018.)
The ‘pull’ of the email list’s alleged ‘buying power’ is strong and I find it hard not to argue with success stories of how they’ve helped indie authors with launches, gain visibility via newsletter swaps etc. But I wonder if that’s just a minority among a sea of struggling writers looking to somehow leverage lists of readers trained to respond to email notifications from their fav authors.
Sample size of one here – but none of my friends own up to buying any books because of emails from authors. It’s a big indie world out there, I suppose.
Best wishes for 2018.
Mark–If you’ve built up a strong email list and you’re about to launch 3 books, hang onto that list! It will be very valuable for your launches. I think email notices of launches do get results. (It’s the desultory “Christmas newsletter” type of newsletter that really annoys me.)
They may even get reviews, although I don’t know what gets reviews these days. Free ARCs and promises of reviews usually result in nothing.
My quarrel with emailed newsletters is that I hate getting them so much. I hate it when some author who commented on my blog once expects me to do their marketing for them, read books in a genre I have no interest in, and demands this as their RIGHT because they’ve managed to cull my email address from the blogosphere.
But if you have genuine fans who love to hear from you, by all means, keep it up!
Best of luck with you 2018 launches!
Hi Anne I am stepping into this at the moment by responding to blogs. I e-published my first book six months ago and have been blogging for a while, but don’t have my own. I don’t have access to the Internet on a lap top so I am at a bit of a loose end as to where to start. I don’t know if this is a silly question or not but I haven’t lost the battle before I have even begun it so to speak.
Tom
Tom–Guest blogging and commenting on blogs are a great way to break into blogging and get your name out there.
If you’ve got a book published, you really need a website and a blog is a free website.
But if you don’t have access to the Internet, it has to be tough going. I think there are some pretty cheap computers out there you can get second hand. And I know you can get a bluetooth keyboard for a tablet. I don’t know about a phone.
You might want to invest in a device with a keyboard you can use on your phone connection. Since I’m not awfully techy and I don’t know what kind of device you have, I’m not able to offer very useful advice. But I think Best Buy has refurbished devices for pretty low prices.
Best of luck!
I have a bit of info that might help. Yes, you can get Bluetooth keyboards for mobile phones. They are folding and pretty nifty. You can pick them up on Amazon relatively cheaply. Just type ‘folding keyboard for phone’ into the search bar and they’ll pop right up.
Katia–Thanks!
This is great advice. I’ve had a blog for a couple of years but have only recently started taking advantage of it in preparation for publishing my writing. Your post pretty much echoes my thoughts on the subject. I see my blog as a way of getting my name out there before publication, allowing people to become familiar with me, my personality and my writing.It is also a way of me putting something back into the writing community through blogging on things that have helped me get to where I am at the moment. If one person reads something I’ve written and thinks, ‘that sounds like a good idea’, or ‘I’ll not make THAT mistake!’, then I will have done my job as a community and reader friendly writer, and if they are entertained through the process even better.
Katia–My thoughts exactly. As Ruth and I say ‘We made the mistakes so you don’t have to.”
This is excellent, thank you. One question for you regarding WordPress dot org. You stated that you should have taken 3 months to learn, and that you had tech emergencies. My question is this: would you have had this stress and these issues if you were still an invisible writer? Basically I have several stories that have never left my hard drive but I love writing and would like to start a blog. I know there will be a learning curve going to WordPress but I feel like I can take that risk as I have nothing to lose at this point. Would you agree?
Ingrid–The problems with moving from Blogger to WordPress.org had to do with differences in formatting and cleaning up the blog after it was moved, plus learning the tech, which is much more complicated in WordPress than in Blogger.
It had nothing to do with my success as a fiction author. If you’re a tech wiz, you’ll have no problem with WordPress.
There are two kinds of WordPress. .com, which is free and .org, which requires buying a domain name and paying for a host. It’s quite a bit more techy.
Paying for a .org site allows you to sell products from your site, plus you can get more security and a large range of plug-ins that a business needs, but generally a writer doesn’t.
If you want to know more about how to start an author blog as opposed to a business blog, do check out my book: The Author Blog: Easy Blogging for Busy Authors. It tells you everything you need to know.
Hi, Anne —
I’m in the same situation as Katia (above), currently transitioning my nine year old blog from parenting/family/everyday life to a useful tool for my writing career. Thank you for sharing your experience and advice!
Rebecca–Sounds like a great plan. What a lot of bloggers don’t know (and I only found out from a reader) is that you don’t want to discard an established blog, because it’s going to rank a lot higher with Google than a new one. So you can change everything but the url and transition to a whole new type of content, but still benefit from all those years of blogging. Your established audience and Google presence will put you way ahead!
Anne, Thank you for sharing your blogging experience in your book “The Author Blog – Easy Blogging for Busy Authors”.
I think I read your book within 4 days, just couldn’t stop. I filled pages in my notebook with “how to organize myself, blog, and a lot TO DO notes, etc….”.
I agree with you that using WORDPRESS has a steep learning curve in store for many people. When I looked into WordPress years ago I found it so very user unfriendly that I went with “Weebly” for our church website.
Now that we are self-publishing our book “Digging Deep into the Revelation of Jesus Christ – A Study Guide” with WestBow Press, and they are preparing a Website for us with WordPress, I had to dive into learning to use WordPress. It’s not too bad but takes time! I started a blog on WordPress to later merge it with our Website. I blogged twice a week but am taking your advice to become a “slow blogger” starting this week!
Your book is a GOLDMINE and great resource of practical advice and mentions specific sources to check out. I recommended your book to the members in the Author Circle of the Author Learning Center I joined when we started our publishing journey with WestBow Press.
Thank you again, Blessings, Elfriede
PS: I tried to put a review on Amazon.com but it wouldn’t let me do that. So, put a review on Amazon.ca. Hope it’s helpful!
Elfriede–What a day-brightener! It’s so great to know my book is helping you. WordPress is a steep learning curve. It nearly drove me batty. But it is doable. If I can do it, anybody can. Weebly is fine for a beginning blog, and it helps authors get into the blogosphere. My webmaster tells me that Blogspot, which I love, is no longer getting the Google love it used to get, so you should be very happy you’re getting a WordPress blog.
Thanks a million for putting a review on the Amazon.ca site. Amazon now makes us stay in our own countries for reviews. Kind of annoying, But it does mean a whole lot in getting Canadian readers!! Thanks so much!
Anne, thanks for sharing your mistakes and for the tips and info. For me, it feels freeing.
Donna–I’m so glad I helped you feel more free. Happy blogging!