by Anne R. Allen
Two weeks ago, I posted a helpful piece from children’s author Sarah Allen about using Substack. A Substack newsletter is the trendiest way for authors to communicate with readers right now.
But here I am, still blogging, with no newsletter, much less a fancy Substack one. In fact, this is my 16th Blogiversary! And I still think blogging is a great way to reach readers. Newsletters are a great way to reach readers you already have. But blogs are out there for all to read, able to snag new readers at any time.
There are still free blogging platforms. Good old Blogger.com, orphan child of Google, is still alive and well. It’s user-friendly and easy to navigate.
I started this blog on March 13th, 2009. Actually, it was Friday the 13th. Obviously I have a need to tempt fate.
I knew pretty much nothing about blogging. I simply wanted a place to put the unpublished columns I had written for Inkwell Newswatch, a Canadian writers’ zine that stopped publication in January 2009.
It’s amazing what you can do when you don’t know how.
I settled on putting up weekly posts on Sunday at 10 AM. I can’t remember why. Maybe I pictured my fellow writers relaxing with a cup of coffee on Sunday mornings and surfing the writing blogs the way I did.
Later I read that “the rules” of blogging say that Sunday is the worst day to post to a blog.
But this blog has never followed the rules. And that’s probably the most important thing I’ve learned over the years: blogging has no rules. Make your own.
The blog got a big “oomph” when Ruth Harris joined me in 2011. Her vast expertise in the publishing world — both as a Big 5 editor and a bestselling author — brought a whole lot more polish and knowledge to the blog. And I think she’s been as happy to break “the rules” as I have
Here are my own suggested guidelines for blogging. I posted some of these on my 10th blogiversary and again on the 13th. Not much about blogging has changed since then, except that blogging has lost its luster, and a lot of authors prefer to interact on social media. And then, of course, there’s Substack.
But I think a blog or personal website still provides a writer with the best web presence. And nobody will put you in Blogging Jail if you break some unwritten rule. 🙂
1) Question Authority
“The rules” will come and go. So will gimmicks and tricks for SEO, ROI, SERP, and LMNOP 🙂 . The only thing that stays the same is the value of good content.
When I started out, “the rules” said a blogpost should be 300 words long and you should blog at least twice a day. Yeah. How many successful authors do you know who do that?
We were also told that an author blog should follow the same rules as a blog about make-up tips for teens or how to make decorative pillows out of dryer lint.
And we were supposed to run advertising all over the site. I remember reading that the #1 failure of new bloggers was “failure to monetize.” (I had to look up the word “monetize.”)
How many successful author blogs are peppered with irrelevant advertising these days?
Also, you needed a niche. You could only blog about jelly doughnuts or training your cat to use the toilet. Otherwise, readers would get confused.
Rule-makers are always underestimating readers. I slowly found out an author can blog about anything. Authors blog to attract readers who will like our books. So we can write about anything those people would like to read about.
We simply have to make sure that what we say is honest, well-written, and helpful.
2) You Get By with a Little Help from Your Friends
My blog never would have taken off without the blogfriends I made early on. A lot of them are members of the Insecure Writers Support Group, which I think is one of the most useful groups in the writing community. Do check out the IWSG blog.
Friends who Tweeted my posts and shared them on other social media made this blog. I’d be nowhere without them.
Guest blogging for my friends got my name out there and brought in more readers.
And friends I made through blogging asked me to join anthologies and group promotions that raised the profile of the blog and made me a lot of money in book sales.
Ruth and I both owe a lot to our friend Barb Drozdowich, tech guru and social media whisperer, who saved our bacon when the blog almost died in 2015 after a tough move from Blogger to WordPress.
Nate Hoffelder, the Author Website Guy has now taken Barb’s place as Barb pursues her own career. Thanks, Nate!
3) Commenting on Other Blogs is the Best Way to Build Your Own Blog
Reading and commenting on blogs is the best way to start building your author platform. Commenting allows you to get cozy with search engines and make blogfriends.
The first time I made it to the first page of Search Engine Results (the SERP) was with a comment on a popular blog. Search engine spiders will find you on a popular blog much more easily than they do on your own — especially if it’s brand new, or doesn’t have much traffic. Because the Google spiders go where the traffic is.
Turns out one of the most important aspects of “SEO” is getting something called “backlinks”– and every comment links back to your own blog. I didn’t know that for years, but I did know my traffic grew when I took the time to read and comment on other writing blogs.
More on this in my post on How to Build Platform Without Really Trying.
And remember no blog is an island. You need to become part of the “blogosphere,” which is smaller, but still alive and well. You want to reach other bloggers and blog readers. They might just check out your blog too, if you have interesting things to say in your comment.
Most of the important contacts I’ve made in my career have been through commenting on well known writing blogs. Bloggers know who their commenters are, and if you say something smart, they’ll remember you. They may even ask you to guest blog. That’s how I get most of my guest bloggers.
Author marketing gurus recommend commenting on blogs about 5 times a week. It doesn’t take much time and it pays off in a whole lot more exposure.
4) Your Commenters are Your Most Important Asset.
A blog is nothing without readers. And readers who comment are giving you a lovely gift. Even if they disagree with you. (Politely. If you’re dealing with rude or obscene comments, see the following section.)
Answering comments quickly and honestly is one of the best ways for a blogger to get commenters coming back.
Responding to comments acknowledges your readers as your equals. You’re not supposed to be sitting on a blogthrone waiting to be adored. You’re exchanging ideas with your peers.
I met Ruth Harris as well as two of my publishers when they commented on this blog. Plus I get some of my best ideas for new blogpost topics from the comments here.
5) Trolls are Everywhere. Be Vigilant, but Don’t Engage.
Trolls are like termites. Sooner or later, you’ll probably have to deal with them. Unfortunately, I had an attack early on and didn’t have a clue what to do.
A swarm of Goodreads trolls hit this blog in 2011, complete with emailed death threats. Yeah. They threatened to “take me out” and included a photo of my house. All because I said Amazon treats a 3-star review as negative (which it does.) But my post somehow triggered the rage of what we called the Twitterverse. Which sent the trolls here.
I made the mistake of trying to defend myself. That’s when I learned you NEVER engage with trolls. We need to treat trolls like rattlesnakes. They may be blocking your path, but you need to find a way around them. Never get in a fight with a rattlesnake.
And as for Goodreads, don’t go there. Thar be dragons! Self-righteous, semi-literate dragons. I had an agent who said, “Go to Goodreads, link to your blog, and never go back.” As Buzzfeed said, they “weaponize the language of social justice” to attack pretty much everybody.
6) Own Your Mistakes and Learn From Them
Remember you’re a blogger, not the Pope. Infallibility is not required.
If you’ve made a mistake, own it. Don’t get defensive. We learn from our mistakes. I’ve have learned a ton from the people who have corrected me here. And I’m so grateful for all the readers who have caught typos, so don’t hesitate to point them out.
But when somebody criticizes you — or one of your commenters — in a cruel, obscene or irrational way, don’t engage. If they’re accusing you of something you didn’t do, you’ll be tempted to defend yourself, but don’t. They usually simply want to fight. People drink and blog, unfortunately.
It’s your blog. Freedom of speech does not apply to private property. If you’ve done nothing wrong, and the commenter is throwing rage around like a monkey throwing feces, get rid of the comment. Treat it like the pile of poo it is and delete it immediately so your readers aren’t subjected to it.
7) Piracy Happens. But Don’t Be Too Paranoid.
About five years into blogging, I had a major run-in with a pirate. He scooped the content of the entire blog, retitled it, and put up the blog with a ton of advertising in Portuguese. We figured he was in Brazil. I had to find a tech guru to get it taken down.
But this happens very rarely. Blogs aren’t trendy enough to steal these days.
And when somebody steals the content of one or two blogposts, and doesn’t link back to your blog, don’t panic. Ask them firmly but politely to take it down. If they don’t, send a DMCA to their Internet provider.
If they’re in some developing country where they can’t be reached, let it go. Maybe your words on their blog will inspire somebody who never would have seen it otherwise.
8) Guest Posting will Grow Your Blog Quickly
Guest posts — whether you post on another blog, or get somebody to guest for you — can be magic. Every guest has their own following. That guest will bring their friends over to read their post on your blog, and chances are they’ll look around a bit.
And a guest on your blog gives you a little time off.
When you visit another blog, you’ve got a whole new audience. Write something they like, and they’ll come over and check out your site. They may even subscribe.
9) Keep to a Blogging Schedule.
People like to plan. It’s in our nature. Let people know when you’re going to post and they’ll show up at that time to enjoy your company again.
That doesn’t mean you can’t write blogposts when you feel inspired. Just post them at the same time every week or month or whatever. It’s better to let them rest a couple of days and proof them again anyway. You’ll catch a lot more of your typos.
Keep posting to a schedule, because the blog isn’t about your needs: it’s about your readers’ needs.
So I’ll continue to blog on Sundays. They will be random Sundays, because, well, I’m old and tired. But expect at least one post from me on a random Sunday each month.
10) An Author Blog is Not a Business Blog.
Business blogs are for selling stuff. Author blogs are for communication. They’re simply a place for you to get in touch with other writers, readers and potential readers and exchange ideas.
So the most important thing is to be real and entertaining, not hype-y. A blog is a place on the Web where people can come and hang out with you.
Pushy, “buy my book” posts don’t get traffic. And following all those complicated business blog rules will exhaust you and drive away readers. You don’t sell books like cat-carriers or Ginsu knives. Hammering readers by endlessly screaming your title at them does not make people want to relax and hang out with your work. It makes them want to block you.
I’ve watched a lot of author-bloggers give up because they tried to blog so often it became drudgery. An author doesn’t need to blog more than once a week. You want people to read your books, not daily reports of what you had for lunch.
Have fun with your blog. and when it isn’t fun anymore, take a break. I did that last July.
11) Don’t Badmouth Fellow Writers.
And remember reviewers are writers too.
Dissing celebrities is a fun game people love to play. Hey, they’re celebrities. They’re crying all the way to the bank, right?
But writers, even famous ones, are your colleagues. You may not be an unknown forever. What if you get a big book deal and meet Famous Author at a party and you’re the one who made that Facebook meme, showing him as a chimpanzee pooping out a book. Do you want to spend your first big publishing soiree hiding in the bathroom to avoid Mr. Famous?
Plus you never know when you might be invited to participate in a joint marketing event or anthology edited by Publishing Superstar. Yes, it happens.
Do you want to be the one who Tweeted “@PublishingSuperstar is a talentless has-been. Who will stop him before he writes again?”
Good luck getting into that anthology.
If you’re a book blogger, I’m not saying you shouldn’t give negative reviews. But personal insults always backfire. I’ve watched it happen to some snarky authors (who have since disappeared from the scene.)
12) The Most Important Blogging Rule is the Golden One.
Be kind. Be positive. You catch more flies with honey. Yeah, all those things your grandma taught you are true.
Okay, I’m not going to pretend a little negativity in the header won’t boost traffic. We usually get more clicks on our “How Not to Write…” posts than ones labeled “How to Write….”
But you need to make the overall message of the post positive. Whining about how the publishing industry is “rigged” or how all agents are scammers will not win friends or influence readers. And dwelling on bad reviews and rejections makes you look like a loser. Do your mourning offline.
Aim to add a dose of hope to anything you blog about (yes, even in terrifying times like these), and readers are likely to come back.
by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen and annerallen.bsky.social) March 9, 2025
What about you, scriveners? Do you blog? Do you prefer a newsletter? Has either one helped your career? How often do you blog or send a newsletter?
BOOK OF THE WEEK
“This was a wonderful an instructive book written in a casual, conversational style easy for authors new to blogging to comprehend and digest. Anne R. Allen offers many tips on what to do and, perhaps more importantly, what not to do. I definitely recommend this book to any new writers looking for resources on starting a blog!” …Holland Kirbo
Only $2.99 for the ebook! And only $9.99 for the paperback
at Nook, Kobo, Apple, and Amazon.
***
featured image from FreePix
Heyyy! What a great surprise! Was flipping through PBS for a pre-slumber watch, found an old video of Stevie Ray Vaughn and, at the same moment, email pinged and voila! there you were! :O)))
Listening to Love Struck Baby and reading some Anne wisdom — now that’s a good time. And love hearing that blogging is still just fine…
Maria–I love the idea of my blogpost having a Stevie Ray Vaughn soundtrack!
A great article.
As for me, I started two blogs relating to retirement many years ago. I am somewhat of a lazy person and slowly let the blogs die. Yeah, I still at time regret not having become a full-time blogger on some topic.
Having said that, I really like what you said about trolls and Goodreads. Yes, the trolls are everywhere. I subscribe to four online newspapers and sometimes mention content that comes from my books and the titles of my books. That sure draws a lot of negative comments from the hounding habitual haters and the pathetic pathological critics who don’t like successful authors.
I got this in an email newsletter today from R. Paulo Delgrado a very successful ghost writer and book expert.
Dear Ernie,
Silencing someone you disagree with leads to tyranny.
Making sure your own opinions are heard (or read) leads to democracy.
If you disagree with what someone says, write a book.
If you write it well, your ideas will spread.
It’s impossible to silence ideas that make sense.
Best, Paulo
Also, recently from the email newsletter from one of my favorite authors;
“People will criticize you for your successes. They will criticize you for your failures. They will criticize you for acting. They will criticize you for not acting.
F*ck the haters. Do the thing.”
— Mark Manson (author of “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*uck”)
Ernie–When a government silences opposing views, that’s tyranny. But when a blogger deletes a comment that calls another commenter names or says “you’re ugly and your Mama dresses you funny” you’re being a responsible host. “Free speech” is about the public space, not private property. Trolls are always claiming “free speech” allows them to bully others. It doesn’t, as you have pointed out.
Serendipity lives! I have a little announcement to make on my blog, and seconds before I opened the page I saw your title here on social media. Fabulous as always Anne. I’ll be forever indebted to your kindness in allowing me to guest-blog here, and I’m sure it was one of the top three factors boosting whatever visibility I have now.
Let me try to keep these things in mind as I return to post for the first time in more than a year.
Will–I look forward to reading your return to blogging. We much appreciated your guest posts for us.
Happy Blog Anniversary, Anne and Ruth!
I’ve watched scads of social media platforms come and go. For a while, it’s the shiny new toy everyone has to grab. Then they discard it to jump on the next shiny new toy.
No thank you. I don’t have the bandwidth to keep up with “trends.”
Several years ago WordPress deactivated my ability to share directly. Grrr. That’s why I had to start a newsletter that sends recipients to my blog. An extra PITA step but does seem to improve traffic a bit.
Your blog remains my lasting source of writing ideas and wisdom. Always glad to see your names in my inbox.
Debbie–Many thanks! How awful that WP deactivated your ability to share directly. I’ve never heard of that. Yes, that would make a newsletter a necessity.
Good article, Anne. I’ve tried to embrace X or FB, but none of them are personal enough so I return to blogs. I hope there is always a place for us!
Jacqui–Ruth and I have used X to promote this blog, but now I find Bluesky works better. FB works for me, but it isn’t as intimate as a blog, that’s for sure.
But wait… a newsletter can be part of a blog, no? That’s what I do, only now I’m switching to Substack as my email list provider.
Harald–Of course you can send a newsletter as well as blog, but that’s more work than a lot of us can handle while still writing books. But if you can do it, more power to you!
Thank you for the benefit of your experience! This is a great post to pass on to new writers, regardless of what platform they are using. A real authentic blog, whether on Medium, Substack, your own website or whatever, is a face to the world. Be authentic and approachable, which doesn’t mean hang out your dirty laundry or surrender your privacy. The Golden Rule absolutely applies on the blog, but also when writing book reviews as so many writers do. The one thing I somewhat disagree with is focus vs expectation. If your blog is about everything and anything, don’t expect a mass following right away. Readers generally like to know what to expect, especially with attention spans being what they are now.
Carmen–The focus of an author blog can be anything that appeals to your target audience. If you write cozies set in a small Maine fishing village, you could write about fish, cooking fish, life in Maine, Maine history, sailing, etc. I think Chuck Wendig’s very successful author blog covers a lot of topics, but they’re all aimed at the same readership.
Great post,
I think any time this beleaguered world can be reminded of the Golden Ruler it’s a good thing. And one could argue that Guidelines 1-11 could all fit under the Big Golden Umbrella of Guideline 11.
Huzzah!
CS–Yes, in all things, kindness is the #1 rule.
Anne—Thanks for excellent, sensible, down-to-earth advice! At the risk of being obvious, I would add that writers *need* to read constantly, far & wide because — among other things — you never know where (or when) your next great idea is going to come from. Newspapers, magazines, & other blogs all provide free, easily available access to a wide range of facts and opinion. All grist for the ever-churning mill.
Reading is your most valuable source of fresh, new ideas and any writer who shrinks from extensive reading will soon find him/herself out alone out in the tundra with nothing to say, nowhere to say it & no one to listen.
Ruth–You are so right! Reading can give a blogger new ideas to write about. We need to keep up to date about our industry and anything else our readers will be interested in. And sometimes taking time to read is more important than getting that blogpost out every week.
Well said! That is why you are still going strong after all these years. (And I began blogging later in the same year you did.) I’ve always tried to remain positive and kept to a theme and regular schedule.
Thanks for mentioning the IWSG. That site blossomed because of your support!
Alex–What a long, strange trip it’s been, hasn’t it? But we’re still here!
Fantastic tips! I started blogging in 2006 and started publishing books in 2015, and started a newsletter a year later. Blogging and newsletters (which I combine whenever I can) are my favourite ways to reach readers. And I’ve rarely followed “the rules”, either… Including adopting a hard-and-fast rule of my own not to “monetize” my blog through ads. I recently discovered your blog, and I’m so glad I did. Thanks for a great post, and nice to meet you!
Talena–Great to meet you, too! I so much agree with you about ads. I get requests every day from outfits who want to place links or ads on this blog that have nothing to do with writing or our books. No thank you! We have to think of our readers and if they’ll stick around to read our content.
Hi Anne,
Well, yes. I do enjoy hanging out with you on your blog. This one reminded me of lyrics in an Eagle’s song, “I don’t know if we’ve had too much—or not enough to drink. But, we’ve got to get over this somehow.”
While trolls be bad—maybe really bad—sometimes regular people lay snares at our feet with rules to confine our voice.
One again, you got me thinking.
Lp
Londie–You’re right that stupid rules can be as constraining as trolls. Blogging can be anything you want it to be.
What an amazing post. I love the way you tell, is to break the rules.
I blog once a week. I can’t find time to do more, still write and have a life. My blog goes out on Tuesdays, with the occasional reblog of something interesting in between.
I am on Goodreads, but I never read the comments. I use it mainly to post my reviews of books I’ve read. Consequently, I’ve never come across the toxic stuff they said there. I also left Twitter (before Musk changed its name to X. Stupid name, anyway).
Vivienne–I don’t think authors should blog more than once a week. We don’t want to wear out our welcome. 🙂 I totally agree about “X”–stupid name for a platform and kind of an abusive thing to name a child. I feel bad for the little guy.
Great post today! And an important one. Thank you, Anne! Lots of people said blogging was dead but I don’t think so. Blogging is an important part of communication for an author. I started my Reading Fiction Blog back in 2012 featuring a weekly free short story by a famous classic or contemporary author (link to the online free short fiction already posted). I write a quickie introduction of the story to tempt the reader and add images. At 13 years now, I have a compendium of nearly 400 free short stories by over 150 famous authors in the Index.
My followers are a decent number, and I get between 50 and 80 hits a day (I use WordPress which has a high SEO for my landing page). Of course, I do post about my own novels and short stories from time to time and sales do happen (I don’t think any blog can beat Amazon for consistent sales though).
These days I’ve added audio short stories and sometimes a podcast. I created an Author of the Week with the author’s short bio, book titles, and often a YouTube interview. Growing your blog’s content is important in the long term. My blog has become educational for me and my followers because it keeps us not only reading fiction but also discovering short story writers and novelists. People comment or contact me by email so the engagement is pretty good. And I’m still having fun exploring new and old authors and their stories. This is key—the blogger needs to be entertained as much as the followers who read it.
Paula–It sounds as if you have a wonderful blog. I’ll have to check it out. You’re right that a blog should be fun for the blogger. When it stops being fun, it’s time for a break.
A really useful blog. I *think* we follow all your rules on our blog at Libertabooks.com where we’ve been blogging every week since 2015. And, like you, we blog on Sundays. Our readers seem to like to settle down with the blog and a cup of coffee as an easy way to start the day. So we’re not planning to change the routine any time soon. 😉
FWIW our most recent blog is about what happened when Amazon KDP terminated my account. And how I managed to get it reinstated. I did a lot wrong, but the blog explains what worked in the end. May be of interest to some of your readers. You can find it at https://libertabooks.com/blog
Joanna–It’s good to hear from another Sunday blogger. How awful that Amazon terminated your account. Congrats on getting reinstated. I’ll have to check out your blogpost.
Oddly, or weirdly depending on your perspective, I wrote a post this week comparing how easy it is to write a story than it is to blog. Also, strangely enough, 2025 marks m 17th year blogging about my trials and tribulations in writing and life.
I still keep on a consistent once a week posting schedule and it seems to work for me. I may not get the amount of commenters now than I did in the heyday, but I enjoy it just the same.
I follow most of the rules that you have listed, although I’ve reluctantly changed what I blog about now (one of my posts from years ago cause my FB writing group to gently tweak what can and can’t be posted for blog links). Other than that, it’s still the same old same old for me, but I am getting better in determining what topics get more views (hint, writing about my writing adventures no longer gets a lot of views).
GB–17 years! That’s impressive. Our readers usually let us know what topics work for them. I think in the early blogging days, we all blogged about our writing journeys, but it just got old.
I wrote a blog post linking to this post. I started blogging one month after you, and still try to blog once a month. And agree that blogging is the best way to reach readers. I don’t do any other social media programs as it is too much noise for me and dumped my newsletter list. Much less time consuming to blog monthly, then get on with the story telling.
DJ–Maybe it’s because we’ve both been blogging so long, but I agree with you that blogging seems to be the best way to reach readers–both old and new. I read your blogpost and I’m glad you survived the storm. I apologize if you ran into WordPress glitches this week. It’s not WordPress’s fault. Our webmaster has been sleuthing and discovered it’s a problem with the server, which he hopes to remedy today. Fingers crossed.
Thanks for this, Anne. I keep blogging because I love writing short essays and sharing anecdotes. I once posted about how to rescue a gecko stuck in a roach trap. After a tragic gecko death, I researched how to save them in such circumstances and told the sad tale of the gecko who dashed behind my refrigerator and into the sticky trap. The post was my way of making up for my failure to think of looking up this issue until it was too late. It’s been my most popular blog post ever, crowding out my tribute to the late mystery author James D. Doss. I’ve had comments thanking me. Geckos have been saved. To sell books, I advertise. To connect with people, I blog.
Amber–It sounds as if you have the creativity to come up with great topics for blogging. I’ve never had to rescue a gecko from a roach trap, but it’s a fascinating problem. 🙂
I agree! (If I’m going to promote anyone’s stuff on my site, it’s my own, or other people’s work I believe my readers would find value in who are, in that case, the subject of the content and all that.) But yeah, so many spam requests. Arg. We just get on with it, though. Happy Tuesday!
It’s me again. I received an email from a well known director.. with a movie adaptation interest… Is there a way I could contact you directly.. I have a novice question and would really appreciate/value/need your experience. You have my email.
I understand if this crosses some boundary.
Thanks
Londie
Londie–Run! And block the email address or phone number. NO Hollywood bigwig will ever contact an author who hasn’t even submitted a treatment. Even so, their people will contact your people. You’ll never get a direct call or email. But scammers contact authors every day, full of flattery. This is one of the most common author scams out there right now. Here’s my blogpost about it. https://selfpublishingsites.com/2022/06/book-to-film-scams/https://selfpublishingsites.com/2022/06/book-to-film-scams/ For more, read Writer Beware about book-to-film scams. This is a major industry in the Philippines.
Hey Anne, Lovely to see you back in the blogging chair again. Such great advice as usual. I’m linking to it in my weekly blog roundup. I am reposting my weekly blog on Substack as an alternative to RSS feeds and Google + ahhh the good old days… LOL. Congratulations on the anniversary! I am coming up on 17 years. Gosh we’ve seen some stuff haven’t we? How about that Kindle device? It took off didn’t it, along with audio books, graphic novels, and AI translation. I think we’ve seen more changes in publishing since we started blogging than publishing saw in several hundred years.
Maureen–I’m a big fan of Craicer! It will be cool to see this post get a mention. We sure have seen a major revolution in this industry.
Great post, Anne and very timely for me.
I write monthly blog posts, which I also send out as an RSS feed newsletter through my email service provider. It took me a while to find out what I wanted to write about, but eventually I settled on reviewing MG/YA books, which dovetails nicely with me being a MG/YA author. I like nerding out on structure, figuring out what makes books work.
I’m not a big fan of snark, so my reviews are constructively critical. I also don’t post about books I really dislike. I once received the advice to never post anything critical of another writer’s books. I think this is pure bunk. I’ve received plenty of constructive feedback in my life as a writer and haven’t wilted yet.
I’ve been struggling recently with social media, specifically Meta. I’ve decided to re-double my efforts in the blogging trenches. I’m going to use my social media accounts primarily as placeholders, with sporadic posts to announce events and the release of my monthly posts. But that’s about it. I can’t tell you what a relief it’s been to unplug, and I’m in no way a technological Luddite. I’ll be sure to check out the IWSG. The only thing that’s been holding me back from participating is having to hop around to 12 different blogs and having to write on a specific topic. However, they sound like an excellent resource.
Thanks again for a great post!
Linda–Thanks for being a book reviewer! You’re doing a great favor for your fellow authors. And yes! to being honest but not snarky. Once a month seems to work fine for a lot of bloggers. Glad to hear it’s working for you. I hear you about social media. It’s turned so negative that it’s hard to participate. Meta can be so weird. Some days you get porn in your feed, or political junk. And then you find out your favorite friend has been put in FB jail for using the word “hang” or posting a baby’s face that has too much skin. It’s like nobody’s in charge but the robots. I’ve pulled back too.
I debated for a long time about blogging. I desperately wanted to because as an editor, I have so many opinions about things as banal as punctuation and creating titles for chapters. And as a an author, I have all sorts of ideas about tropes and how to get material to my readers. I didn’t know what to do because all of the topics I was interested were directed toward writers. but everyone I talked to kept telling me to only write material that would increase my income or my bottom line. In the end, I just couldn’t stop myself. It had to be done. So now I randomly post something about things that I just can’t get out of my head. I feel like this article gave me some permission to do that. Cheers!
Heather–Absolutely. Authors can blog about anything of interest to their readers. An author blog is not a business blog, and you should not monetize the blog, but use it to bring in new readers of your books. Your books should be the focus. That means you can blog about the setting, plot, genre, characters, food, films, other books, anything that relates to your books. That’s the premise of my bestseller, The Author Blog, Easy Blogging for Busy Authors.