Fragmenting Social Media Creates a Problem for Book Marketing
By Anne R. Allen
I know how it is: your readers started fading from Facebook all through 2022, disgusted by invasive advertising and slimy tactics that spy on your every move. They are also fed up by those bizarre, arbitrary algorithms that send you to Facebook jail for posting a picture of your cat, but do nothing to stop the Russian propaganda in your feed.
Speaking of propaganda — nobody knows how much of your information and content will be used by the Chinese government if you post on TikTok, and recently the US has banned government workers from using it. Soon there may be a country-wide ban on the app. Even if there’s not, publishing guru Jane Friedman predicts TikTok will fade from the publishing world this year. (See the Hot Sheet, January 4th, subscription required.)
And now book people are leaving Twitter in droves, as the once-essential venue self-destructs.
These defectors leave messages saying they’ve gone to Mastodon, Post, Counter-Social, HiveSocial, Spoutible, BookWyrm, Friendica, Mobilizon, Pixelfed, Amino, Cohost, Gettr, Plurk, Discord, WT.Social, and, at least for now, TikTok.
So what are we supposed to do? Join every one of these pieces of fragmenting social media?
I suppose you could try.
Or give up the Internet altogether — where most books are sold — and hawk mimeographed copies of your work on street corners?
Too pathetic.
But there’s an alternative: start a blog. Or revive that one you’ve been neglecting. If you’re still on Twitter, like me, if only to watch the train wreck, do tell people your blog address. Twitter has banned links to all those new fragmenting social media sites, but not WordPress or other blogging platforms. If you’re still on Facebook and/or Instagram, post your new blog address there, too.
Here are some other reasons to start an author blog this year:
1) An Author Blog is Easier Than You Think
Blogging has faded as a get-rich-quick scheme in the era of TikTok and Instagram. But that doesn’t mean blogs are any less important for authors.
Author blogs are easy, fun, and only need to appeal to your target book readership, not vast hordes of consumers. They’re a venue for entertainment and information, not a hard-sell advertising machine. And they don’t need to take much time. Posting once a week or less is fine for an author blog.
It can take a lot less time than social media, and allows readers and potential readers to communicate with you in a more private setting.
Even beginning authors can benefit from an author blog, and blogging will pave the way for your future career.
2) You Need a Website — and a Blog Can be a Free Website.
Sending out a query when you don’t have a website can be a waste of time — whether the query is for a book review, guest blogpost, or a publishing contract. Some publishing professionals reject on that alone.
If you’re getting form rejections on a polished query, this may be the reason. Stop revising the query for the millionth time and start blogging.
Yes, you’ll hear a lot of people saying you need an expensive, self-hosted blog, because OMG what will happen when you get ten million hits an hour and your blog crashes?
Don’t worry. It’s not going to happen. It’s an author blog. You’re going for quality readers (ones who might buy your books) not quantity.
Google’s Blogger (blogspot.com) is still chugging along on autopilot, and it works fine for a lot of authors. When our blog was there, it got up to 5000 hits a day—and never crashed.
Setting up a WordPress.com free (non-self-hosted) blog is a little techier than setting up with Blogger, but most authors can do it on their own. And I know people who find Wix and Weebly user-friendly.
3) A Blog Gets your Name into Search Engines
An interactive blog gets more traffic than a static website, so the search engines will notice it more quickly. The more active the site, the more likely the search engine spiders will find it.
A “spider” or” web crawler” is a software program that “crawls” through websites and reads information to create entries for a search engine index. Spiders begin with a popular site, index the words, and follow every link found within the site.
A blog that’s getting hits and comments and people share and link to will get noticed by the spiders.
4) A Blog Allows You to Interact with Fans and Attract Readers, Just like Social Media.
Author blogs are one of the best marketing tools out there, even if you don’t have anything to market…yet.
That’s because a blog is a fantastic place to make friends with people who may later buy your books. If you’re blogging about a topic, historical period, or setting of your book, you’ll attract people who’re interested in the place, period, or situation in your book.
These connections are pure gold.
It’s not that you want to hard-sell your book to everybody who wanders by. These people can become contacts who introduce you to corners of the Internet you might never have discovered otherwise. They can also introduce you to agents, editors, writers’ conference directors, and other professionals who’ll make all the difference in your career.
5) Other Platforms are Subject to Fragmenting Social Media Syndrome, Too.
We live in an era when any self-centered billionaire can buy up a company and run it into the ground, just for the LOLs. They are mostly above the law and accountable to no one.
Right now, the only platform that seems safe is clunky old LinkedIn, but it has a problem of mostly reaching middle-aged office workers and job seekers. Goodreads seems safe enough from fragmenting at the moment, but it’s a nasty place full of malevolent trolls, so you need to find a safe group, which isn’t easy. And who knows when Bezos may get bored and chuck it? And of course, TikTok may be banned everywhere in the US if the hardliners have anything to do with it.
Facebook is not a safe haven for authors. It has made maintaining an author page much more difficult in the past year, and it’s tougher for people to see your posts if you don’t pay to boost them. I used to post to my author page several times a day. Now I don’t jump through Zuckerberg’s hoops except on Sunday to put up a link to this blog. Then I’m always confronted with a demand for my phone number so they can sell it to robo-callers to harass me unmercifully.
And we don’t want to forget GooglePlus, MySpace, Friendster, or RedRoom…oh, whoops, I guess we already have.
6) Control of your Brand
Every author needs to protect their “brand” — which is a jargon-y way of saying “your name.” “Stephen King” is a brand. Ditto “James Patterson” and “Coleen Hoover.” People buy a brand because they know what they’re going to get.
Unfortunately, social media is infested with trolls, hackers, rage addicts, and spammers who can ruin your brand.
On Facebook, your posts might be surrounded by ads for scam agents or phony publishers. On Twitter, your Tweet will very likely be squeezed between an anti-Harry and Megan rant and a Nazi screed.
But on your own blog, you can defend yourself from stupid. A troll, spammer or furious fool shows up and you can click the “send to trash” button. All gone. When you first start a blog you’ll probably get a lot of random spammers advertising real estate in Mumbai and magic spells to enhance your genitalia. Make sure you mark them all as “spam” so your anti-spam elves will learn what to block. After a bit, your elves will learn and you’ll have much less spam.
On a blog, you can also create your own look and tone that will attract the kind of readers who are most likely to be interested in your work. And nobody will send you to jail for posting a photo of your cat.
7) Establishing Yourself as a Professional
A blog is your online calling card. It’s like your own newspaper column. Writing to deadline and coming up with a topic once a week (which I recommend if you’re starting a new blog) is great for building your writing muscles and impressing others with your professionalism.
Plus writing for a blog teaches you to write online content.
By checking your stats, you can see immediately what posts are getting the most traffic and learn what works for a Web-based audience.
You’ll also learn to use SEO (Search Engine Optimization) keywords, bulleting, sub-headers and white space to draw the eye through a post. This is useful for composing any kind of content for the Web.
When you have books to sell, you need to know how to write guest blogposts (one of the best methods of marketing your book) as well as other Web content. Practicing on your own blog, even before you’re published, gives you a big advantage.
8) Practice Improves your Writing.
Blogging is writing. This is your medium. If you’re a fiction writer, you’ll learn to write nonfiction — and develop copywriting skills — which you’re going to need when you’re marketing your books.
Writing for an immediate audience is different from writing alone in your garret. Comments and shares give you the boost of adrenaline that actors get when there’s a real audience as opposed to acting in rehearsal.
That boost will take your writing to the next level.
9) A Blog is a Solid Plank in your “Platform.”
Whether you’re planning to self-publish or you’re going the traditional route, every author needs a “platform” sooner or later.
Sooner is better.
When should you think about your platform?
As soon as you’re ready to send out a story or submit a manuscript to an agent, or get ready to self-publish.
How can an agent or reviewer tell if you have a platform? They Google you.
The results are a good indication of your platform.
Self-publishers especially need to work on platform building. Many book marketers say authors should spend most of their social media marketing time working on platform rather than selling books directly.
Build that platform and the sales will come.
Blogging is one of the fastest, easiest ways to do that.
10) It’s Hard to Join the Afore-Mentioned Fragmenting Social Media
Even if you want to join Mastopost-Social and Gettrplurk-Discord, they may not allow you in.
I tried to join Post, but they put me on a waiting list where I’m number 76 million or something. I’m not expecting to be welcomed into the fold soon. Mastodon seems awfully complicated, and I’m not sure it’s worth the hassle, others are the opposite of user-friendly, and TikTok may soon be banned in the US.
And none of them will have the reach of the old Twitter. Plus, if you tried to follow your readers on all those other sites, you’d never get any writing done.
But I Tried Blogging and Failed
If you’ve tried to start a blog and ended up abandoning it after a few months, you’re not alone. Most blogs are abandoned after 3 months. But you can succeed if you realize that an author blog is totally different from a business blog. And 90% of the advice on blogging is for monetized business blogs. It doesn’t apply to you. Author blogs can be “slow” (once a week or less) and FUN.
For more on how to have a successful author blog check out my post on 10 Tips for Successful Author Blogging. Or, um, buy my bestselling book, named one of the best blogging books of all time: The Author Blog.
by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) January 8, 2023
What about you, scriveners? Are you bothered by the constant fragmenting of social media? Have you joined some of these alternate sites? Have you been able to connect with readers there? Do you have a blog? Did you start one and give it up at some point?
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I agree. Blogging is a good thing. And big thanks for the opportunity of shameless self-promotion. I blog about words at Perryess.com — the Wordmonger.
CS–Your blog is a wonderful source for writers (and readers) interested in word origins. Check out the Wordmonger, everybody!
Thanks!
Anne, I SO needed this post right now. I blogged steadily in the early part of my publishing career, which helped get some traction with readers, but gradually tapered off in favor of posting on Instagram. I found myself glued to my phone, losing concentration, and growing a following of bot/troll accounts based in Nigeria. WTF! Talk about wasting time with little to show for it.
I was holding my phone so much my handwriting suffered, too.
My blog is still there, getting a few hits now and then and ready for a new lease on life. With your post as an excellent prod, I plan to refocus on my blog’s “content buckets,” be more intentional about posting, and use social media sites far less. By this time next year, I think I’ll be very happy with the decision.
Thanks!!
Carmen–It sounds as if this did come at the right moment for you! It’s so discouraging when you find you’ve been wasting your time on bots, isn’t it? By making your blog the hub of your online presence, you’ll keep more control over your platform and have a lot fewer bots in your life!
Agree with all of that! My blog is my website, so it’s free and fun to maintain. The connections are more meaningful here than anywhere else. And I can post what I want – no going to jail for speaking my mind as we’ve seen the past couple years on other platforms. (I admit, I am enjoying the insanity on Twitter right now. Nothing like watching so many have meltdowns.)
Alex–You’ve got one of the best author blogs around. It draws in people with varied interests and introduces them to your books. And yeah, no jail for posting cat pictures or whatever the algos have their panties in a bunch about this week.
I’m still on Twitter for the same reason–it’s amusing to watch the chaos. And it may revert to normal after he gets bored and sells it.
Anne—Great post with so so many excellent points!
I’ll add a few words to #8. As a long-time blurb writer, I want to point out that your blog is a fabulous proving ground for learning to write a grabby headline or a come-hither copy block — essential elements in what Amazon calls the Product Description aka the blurb.
Every sub-head in Anne’s post draws the reader through the post and each copy block expands her point — which is exactly what you need your book blurb to accomplish. For more on how to write the d*mn blurb here’s my post on — guess what? — how to write the d*mn blurb. https://selfpublishingsites.com/2021/08/how-to-write-blurb/
Ruth–That’s so true! Blogging teaches you to write grabby headers and breezy copy. Thanks for including the link to your great post on blurb writing.
While I agree with your point about blogging, Anne, I respectfully disagree with Jane. If the politicians don’t ban TikTok, I highly doubt people will stop using the site. More folks watch TikToks than Netflix! If Jane actively used TikTok, her prediction may hold more weight with me. My 2c, for what it’s worth.
Sue–I really appreciated your post on how authors can use TikTok. But it is a little scary that in the US, the ultra-right want to ban it entirely. For the sake of all the writers who have worked to establish themselves there, I hope TikTok continues to sell books.
Hi, Anne,
I’ve had a blog since 2000s. One of the things that I’ve discovered, at least for fiction writers, is that it’s very hard to come up with content that draws readers. The early advice was to “be an expert,” which fit non-fiction better and could be silly for fiction writers. At the time, I was writing a fantasy set in Hawaii, and I knew I’d get tourist-types, not readers if I did that. A lot of fiction writers veer into writing craft posts for beginning writers (and unfortunately, often with misinformation). These do draw a lot of visitors, but all beginning writers and not readers. Sterling and Slone used to have extensive writing content years back, but discontinued it because the writers were screwing up their Amazon algorithms (i.e., buying a mystery when they didn’t read the genre).
So I think of my blog not as something a reader will use to discover me, but a place the reader might go after they do. And I still don’t really have a clue what to blog about. It’s ended up being writing topics, but not at the beginner level and not how-to. I see to be drawing the crowds that follow Writing into the Dark but find it doesn’t quite work for them.
Linda–A whole lot of the early advice given to bloggers was aimed at business bloggers, not author bloggers. Fiction authors don’t have to become expert in anything but their stories and characters. I advise fiction authors to write about anything that appeals to their target audience. Alex Cavanaugh does a great job of combining a lot of eclectic topics like film, book news, and dozens of other topics that appeal to sci-fi readers. For more of my advice on the topic, put “what should an author blog about” in the search window to the right.
Great information, Anne. I have a blog on my website at kaydibianca.com where I post a monthly interview with some of the most interesting and informative people in the writing world. I’ve had the good fortune to host James Scott Bell, Randy Ingermanson, Steve Laube, Renne Browne, Dave King, John Gilstrap, and many others who share their wisdom and experience with the rest of us. It’s a delight, and it’s also an opportunity for people to converse with some of the greats in the industry and see what they’re up to now.
I hate to say it, but I’m kind of glad Jane Friedman thinks TikTok will fade this year. It’s been on my list to look into, but never had the time. Now I won’t have to!
Kay–Interviews are one of the best things for an author blog. It sounds as if you’re doing it right. I have to admit I don’t have the skills for TikTok. I’ve never been good at film-making. I hope to attract the kind of people who read books rather than get their entertainment on TikTok, but they may be fading away.
Everything I learned about author blogging I learned here. I’m approaching my third year this spring. Just wanna say thanks.
Rich–I’m so glad I was helpful! Congrats on three years of blogging!
Anne, it sounds like you’re really a fan of that particular billionaire (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). Seriously though, it won’t go away and neither will he.
In general, blogging is a good thing. The only solid piece of advice I can give is to not fracture yourself by going off on so many tangents (e.g. starting new blogs due to burn out) that you lose a loyal readership. Start that blog, and stick with that singular blog until your presence is permanently required elsewhere.
I’ve been blogging going on 15+ years, and I honestly don’t know if I’m going to continue doing it in 2023. But I do agree that blogging is the easiest way for a newbie or even a not-so-newbie to reach the masses.
GB–Excellent advice!! Don’t fragment yourself, either. One blog is all you need. It can have different pages for different topics, but you only want one url for readers to remember and bookmark.
(I’m hoping my favorite billionaire will get bored and sell it. But that doesn’t mean some other moronic billionaire won’t jump in and make things worse.)
Excellent points, Anne, especially # 8. I’d add that the ability to post on other sites provides yet another opportunity for self-promotion.
Mike–Yes! Guest blogging is probably the #1 best way for an author to get their name out there! Get a guest gig on a blog aimed at your demographic, and you’ve got sales!!
Exactly . . . and we all need fewer bots.
I can’t tell you how welcome this post is today! I’m about at the end of my tether with social media–and it’s good to know that the conventional wisdom about selling books with social media has changed.
I deleted my Twitter account a couple of months ago once I realized that I was spending hours on it with no impact on book sales or useful connections, such as editors who wanted me to submit a story or interview me (which happened when I first got my account). The Musk nonsense just made me do it sooner rather than later.
Today I’m fighting with Instagram to delete two fake accounts impersonating me. They’ve refused because they’re too busy dealing with other complaints, and the bot thinks the fake accounts are just fine.
Facebook has become impossible to navigate, and I spend very little time on it anymore. I’m still on it to send people to my website.
On the other hand, my blog engagement keeps building (even though I post only twice a month), and my followers support me and buy my books. It’s all about being part of a community, which I greatly enjoy. I also love how the blogging medium has fed my own creativity in countless ways.
Thanks, again!
Liz–It’s great to hear that your blog is doing so well! You can drive more traffic through guest blogging and ignore all the chaos of social media at the moment. Blogging can get you into some wonderful communities.
That’s terrible that you have two bots pretending to be you on Insta. I had that happen about 10 years ago on Facebook, but some threats got the fake site taken down. Of course FB had more real people working there in those days.
As always great, practical advice! Thank you!
Social media can be fun and it can be toxic. I’ve long been aware that having your own website is important for any creative outlet but it is very hard to not be disheartened by low traffic and no comments…and yes that’s my site! I lost heart a little towards the end of 2022 not posting regularly. It seemed a bit pointless. But this post has reinvigorated my desire to keep writing on my blog. As you say it’s such great practice for writing.
On a slightly different note, what are your thoughts on re-publishing your blog posts on Medium to try and boost readership? I also add pins to Pinterest whenever I have a new post to share.
Tanya–Reblogging on Medium is a great way to promote your blog. I did it for a while and didn’t have enough time to continue, but do try it. Pinterest is good too. For more tips, put “traffic on my blog” into the search window. Or you could spring for $3 to buy my book. 🙂
Well said Anne. Social media options are shrinking for us authors. In fact, I know quite a few authors who have stopped paying for ads and using their blogs solely for everything they do. The internet is definitely, people behaving badly. Like you, I don’t bother with my FB author page, because nobody sees it. The only thing that goes up there are my blog posts too. As for Twitter, I’m with you. I don’t go there to get involved with the horrendous nonsense going on. I share posts there and mingle in my groups. But with the following I’ve built over the years, I don’t plan on leaving – until it does, lol. 🙂
Debby–It’s tough to use social media to directly sell our books anymore. Social media is better for keeping in touch with friends and readers, but so many keep leaving. I can stand Twitter if I just avoid clicking on “Trending”–thar be dragons! The Twitter world seems divided between people who hate the LGBTQ community and the ones who hate Harry and Megan. Ick. Facebook groups still seem to work if there’s good moderation. But you have control over your blog. 🙂
I do have a blog! Several actually. My writing and book review blog is one of my most active ones (worldofmyimagination.com), but I’ve also started others. My biggest concern is there aren’t as many blogging communities (i.e. online forums) as their used to be, so I worry getting my blog found isn’t as it used to be.
Nicole–Authors need bloggers who review books!! An author blog can also be a writing blog and a review blog. It can also be a lot of other things, since there are many pages. I recommend authors keep to one or two blogs in order to avoid fragmenting your audience. Bloggers need to know more about SEO than they used to. And even though it’s harder to find communities, that’s one of the best sources of traffic.
I think if I lived in the city I would have volunteered for a literary magazine or small press. Living on a remote island, I didn’t have that opportunity. So I made my connections through my blog. And now I’m excited to share my writing with a global readership. Blogging works.
Leanne–I don’t know how easy it is to get an “in” with a literary magazine, no matter where you live. But blogging is one of the best ways to connect. You also want a website when you send your work out to those literary magazines, and a blog serves as a website. It can be the hub of your online presence, no matter where you live.
Thanks for the nudge! I used to blog regularly on my fiction author blog site and do interviews and host guests! But my interests and time commitment faded and I turned the blog into occasional news announcements that would replicate what I’d send out in my author newsletter. But just reading the first few paragraphs of your blog post post today got me inspired!
I went to my blog and saw a half dozen draft posts. I resurrected one and now it’s up!
https://author.bethbarany.com/blog-2/
I’d say some other blogging ideas for fiction writers include:
– your fandom interests, as long as they relate to what you write (hint: they probably do!)
– tidbits of research that’s evergreen and timely
– new locations where your books are available
– theme exploration related to your stories
Overall, I’d advise keeping your blog posts short and passion-focused. We write for the reader to have an emotional experience. So do the same in your blog posts, just way shorter.
Lastly, I have to say that 16 years ago when I was starting my business as a writing coach and teacher, I poo-pooed blogging. I was a novelist! I wrote long form! But then I collaborated with a marketing teacher and we taught blogging to local business owners. I’d walk them through a timed writing exercise and soon, every month, I was writing blog posts along with our attendees. I would write a 500-600 word post during our 20-minute timed writing sessions. This blogging thing wasn’t as hard as I thought. I’d edit it, create an image, and get a nonfiction post up in 1-2 hours. Worth it to me! That blog has now been running for years and has expanded to included lots of guests. If you’re curious, you can check out Writer’s Fun Zone here: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/.
Thanks Anne for being a shining light about blogging by word and deed! Checking out your book now!
Beth–Great to see you here! Most writers have let their blogs languish in these days of frantic social media. But now it’s time to revive them. How nice to have some posts already written. Blogging does teach you to write for an online audience.
Great suggestions for blog topics for fiction writers! I list many more in my book. A blog is also a great place to put all that research that you had to cut from your novel because it didn’t further the plot. But it’s still fascinating stuff. Now it’s not wasted!
Hi Anne,
I’ve been missing-in-action for a while in adding to my blog, but now that I’m getting non-writing things settled down, your post has inspired me to get back to it.
As has been mentioned, it’s tougher for fiction writers to come up with content for a blog.
My solution has been to write humorous articles based on true-life experiences that didn’t go the way I expected.
Hopefully this will entice folks who enjoy my style to give my books a shot when they appear this year.
If anyone wants to take a look, I blog at philcobbauthor dot com.
Phil–My favorite things to put on an author blog are chunks of research that don’t go into the novel, plus outtake scenes–your darlings–you don’t want to kill. But anything funny is golden. Nothing brings in readers better than funny stuff. Sounds like you’re doing everything right!
Heh, that’s funny, I just blogged about the Great Social Media Implosion, myself, with the same conclusion: blogging is where it’s at, folks! We were told ten years ago that blogging was dead … who said? Oh yes, social media said it. Funny, that. If you do a web search for, say, a recipe, you now are confronted with zombie blogs that are SEO farms and nothing else. Because blogs still make money, no matter who says they’re dead. I look around at all my friends who built their whole author platforms on social media and now they’re watching it all collapse. And I’m like, Blogs! It’s where it’s at!
Kessie–Blogging never died. Only blogging about products for money. That migrated to Instagram. But the author blog has never diminished. An author blog is for promoting your own books, not selling make-up or hot pots. And yeah, social media is a mess. Counting on it can get leave you in deep doo-doo.
I have your book, Anne, and it’s well worth a (several) reads.
I have had a blog for a few years now. I’ve met some amazing people through it. People such as Sally Cronin and Chris Graham ( The Story Reading Ape) who go out of their way to help authors.
I also discovered your blog via my blog, and many others who are so helpful.
Then there are the others with whom I have fun, nothing to do with writing.
I didn’t meet these wonderful people on social media, but via my blog. Twitter did nothing for me. I resigned my account just before the Musk fiasco. I am still on Facebook, largely because of my real life friends who are on it. And I’m still on LinkedIn because my blog posts to it, and Goodreads. (I’ve been lucky not to have met the Goodreads trolls!)
But my blog is my number one account. I only blog once a week, but that seems to keep me in front of people. And my followers are growing, if at a slow pace.
My email list isn’t doing much. People don’t seem to want to sign up for it even with a leader magnet of a free and exclusive story.
Yes, my blog has got me a few sales, and the help I receive from the people I’ve met is amazing. That alone makes it worth while.
Oh, and I’ve found some great books to read.
VM–You make a very important point here. Authors are told they must have a newsletter. Only no reader wants one more newsletter in their inbox. But a blog can be just like a newsletter except anybody can access it–without making a commitment. Plus everybody can read the comments and respond to them. That way you can create community. It’s all about networking. Getting to know major author-helpers like Sally and Chris is a big plus. It’s about making friends in the book community, not individual sales. Those will come when people say, “I know her! I’ll have to check out her book.”
Good morning Anne & Ruth. Sorry I’m late to the table – not sure where I was yesterday.
Re: Blogging. Best thing I’ve ever done. I’ve been at it over ten years – post once every two weeks on Saturday mornings – and it’s opened doors to rooms I couldn’t have imagined.
Scriveners: I highly recommend Anne’s book “The Author Blog”. My takeaway on blogging is you’ll get back what you put into it, and this book shows you what to do.
Garry–Thanks so much for the recommendation! And for letting people know how a blog “opens door” for authors. This blog got me my last two publishers and it’s how I get reviews and readers.
I agree with all you said Anne. SM is best for staying in touch and sharing the work of others. 🙂
Debby–I don’t want to give up my social media. Have good friends there I’d hate to lose. I hope Twitter will survive all the nonsense.
I like to blog but I haven’t seen much interest in my blog in years. Pretty much any comments are from people whose blogs I read. No randos show up to comment even though I do talk about a variety of topics. A lot of people whose blogs I used to read no longer actively blog. One person who occasionally still blogs has a list of other blogs on his site and one day I counted that more than half of them hadn’t had a new post in a year–and most even longer than that. Even Alex Cavanaugh only blogs 1-2 times a month since I’ve been following.
Rogue–Blogging may have been eclipsed by newsletters in recent years, but I think that’s changing back. And of course the big change is losing Twitter as a reliable social medium. I think you’ll find authors are moving back to their blogs. There’s nothing wrong with posting once or twice a month the way Alex does. That’s normal for an author blog. Don’t try to follow the old rules for business blogging. Google no longer favors short, frequent posts. You may find you need to up your SEO game and write some more enticing headers to get more traffic. Check my archives for more tips. Put “traffic on my blog” in the search window.
Thanks for the kick in the seat of the pants that I needed, and I just ordered your book (so blogs do work).
Michael–Yes! Blogs do work. And they are less likely to disappear or get taken over by self-destructive billionaires. Thanks for buying my book. I think you’ll find it enlightening.
Post may surprise you. I was recently invited in, so they are sending out invites. (So far I haven’t posted there though) However, you convinced me that I should start blogging again. I did blog for several years but eventually just could not keep up with both blogging and fiction writing. But there are so many historical issues to discuss which,, of course,relate to my historical fiction, that I am going to give it a try.
JR–The beginning of this comment may have been lopped off. Nice to be invited to a group blog if that’s what happened. I think we all need to put some of the energy we were putting into newsletters and social media into blogging instead. I know how hard it is to maintain a blog while you’re writing a book, but it’s worth it. Don’t set goals too high to achieve, though. Posting twice a month or even once a month is fine. Best of luck!!
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, with the changes at various social media sites, and instances I know of where people have lost their social media pages due to hacking. Even just reading down a social media feed can be time-consuming and take me places I don’t want to go. A blog is something I have more control over than an account on social media. When people visit my blog, or I visit theirs, we see the kind of subject matter we expect and want to see, rather than needing to scroll through other distracting content.
Barbara–I’ve just been hearing about all the hacking at Instagram. What a nightmare! And you’re right that social media can be a rabbit hole that pulls you away from the task at hand. A blog is just what it’s advertised to be. No infuriating political asides or distracting silly cat videos. (Those get me every time. 🙂 )
Thanks Anne – I shall buy your book!
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Thank you for this post, Anne. I’ve followed your blogging advice since I set up my website/blog in 2016. Since then I’ve pretty much posted once a week (more than 260 blogs to date!) I stopped during the pandemic, and more recently I’ve slowed down when checking on my page views.
However, you are so right about a blog/website being one’s own little corner of the internet; and that a blog is like your very own newspaper column (which I also know about having been a mainstream media journalist.) I never really lacked for subjects to write about. And, it’s something neither Bezos, nor Musk not Zuckerberg can take away from me. I loved posting my blog every Monday morning. But very depressing numbers for page views taken with very depressing sales of my latest thriller have had me thinking about chucking it all in. Your post today may prompt me to continue. You’ve always been my go-to blogging advice maven. Thank you.
Joanna–We’ve had a decrease in traffic, too. No more 5000 hit days! But I think slow and steady wins the race. Nobody can join all 25 of those new social media sites, so a lot of writing-advice people are telling writers to get back to blogging. As you say, it’s the only place that’s safe from greedy billionaires. 🙂
I’m with you. 🙂
I’ve been saying for years that SM does not sell books… our blogs do. I find most of my reads on the blogs. Twitter is a time suck, and so is FB. These sites are good for keeping up with author friends and family, but spending hours thanking people for re-sharing a post they never read is a waste of good writing time. Put your time into your writing and your blog. It will come back to you. Thanks so much, Anne.
Colleen–I couldn’t agree more! That’s why I wrote a book about it. Thanks for coming over and weighing in. Blogging actually is less of a time suck than social media. And it’s better than a newsletter, because new readers can find it with a quick Google, without signing up for something. Blogging rules!
I’m convinced my blog is essential to my books. But I rarely attract new visitors let alone readers, and had a discussion with one of my best readers about this last night. It comes back to discoverability – how do we get the right audiences to find our blogs? It’s just as bad as trying to find the right audiences to present our books to!
But many of the commenters above are in similar situations. Maybe I should visit them and we start a new feedback loop!
Jemima–It’s good you’ve kept your blog going. Now that we’re losing our social media followers to all these different platforms, it’s time to direct people back to your blog. There are a number of ways to do this. I go into lots of detail on this in my book The Author Blog (only $3!) and also in posts on this blog. You might want to read my post on how to get more traffic on your blog.
I have had a blog now for many years but to be honest it takes a back seat to other things. Mainly twitter. Plus, as my websites have developed, I have tended to migrate blogs. I can’t even remember where I started my first blog but then it was blogger then word press but although still open it is wix now. But to be honest it is more of an advertising thing for me. Having read your words and all the comments I think that I need to change that and make it more interesting and more informative. Thanks for the help.
Ray–It’s best to have one blog–either on your website or with links from your website. (Unless you write under different pen names) Too many websites confuse your readers and makes them work too hard to find your content. And yes, more people will read your content if it offers more than “buy my book.”
The whole Twitter meltdown was such a big wake up call to really make my website my online hub, and to publish most of the content I create on my website rather than social media.
Over the years I created so much free content for platforms like Goodreads, Twitter & Facebook when they could all dwell on my website instead.
Recently I found out about the IndieWeb movement and found out about the POSSE concept – Publish (on your) Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere
It is SO logical yet it took Twitter melting down for me to realise this.
I’m a comms professional and this is what we preach to our clients and stakeholders, yet I don’t know why I never practice it myself!
Elizabeth–Hi there! I haven’t heard about the POSSE concept, but it makes so much sense! Especially right now. Yeah, Twitter going downhill fast is making everybody rethink social media.