A QUESTION FROM ORION FOR AWers RE:BLOGS

ORION · Jul 22, 2008

I have been involved with an ongoing discussion with other authors as to whether online efforts - specifically blogging - actually sell books in enough numbers to warrant the time investment. I'm hoping my AW buddies will help me out. I'm curious.
Have you bought books because of a blog or was it something else? Did a blog bring a book to your attention that you otherwise would not have known about?
I put this in the 'writing novels' thread as it seems to be legitimately connected. As a writer I participate on AW because this is where I started out. Blogging seemed a natural extension of this.
Why do I blog? To let readers know about me and have a venue to help other writers. For a connection. But am I naive?
What say you?

IceCreamEmpress · Jul 22, 2008

I've certainly bought books because they were recommended in a blog (or in the comments on a blog).

DeadlyAccurate · Jul 22, 2008

Yes, blogs have caused me to buy books. I'm probably statistically more likely to buy a book by a new author with an active Internet presence than without, all other things being equal.

ORION · Jul 22, 2008

Interesting...I know I always google an author if I enjoyed their book and feel short changed if I can't find anything...

cletus · Jul 22, 2008

I have bought books after reading an author's blog.

JA Konrath and Meg Gardiner are the two that come to mind, but there may be others.

Bubastes · Jul 22, 2008

Count me in the minority: I haven't purchased any books because of a blog. Also, even though I do like it when an author has a website, I don't view the lack of a blog as a big deal. I figure they're busy writing their next book!

Dawno · Jul 22, 2008

Would you mind if I cloned this to the Blogging forum? I think you might get some interesting answers there, too.

For me, I have bought a number of books because of blogs. If I read a blog regularly, I think of that person as someone whose opinion is meaningful, like a RL friend's opinion would be. If they recommend a book, I'll give it a try. I also have read e-versions or e-excerpts on blogs and then gone and bought the hard copy (John Scalzi's work is a prime example, and I also heard about him originally from a blog).

jennontheisland · Jul 22, 2008

Holly Kennedy's blog is the only reason I heard of her. Not only did I buy her books, I went to two of her readings in my town. (She would know me as Seeley)

III · Jul 22, 2008

I've bought books based on recommendations in blogs, but never based on the author's blog. If I'm interested enough to check out an author's website I look for basic info in a clean format and writing samples. If I like an author well enough to read their blog I'm already going to buy all their books anyway.

ORION · Jul 22, 2008

Yes Dawno - It would be a good idea to clone this in blogging also - I wanted to hear from posters in Novel Writing as I thought their input would be enlightening- interesting about Holly Kennedy- I think she's a perfect example...

Sheryl Nantus · Jul 22, 2008

I've blogged about books I've loved and encouraged others to buy them.

I've never purchased books based on an author's blog. Usually I look them up AFTER I've enjoyed the work and then read the backstory, if there is any.

I've never heard of anyone buying *my* book because they read my blog.

Claudia Gray · Jul 22, 2008

Though I personally have not used blogs as a major source of fiction recommendations, I've heard from more than one reader who first learned about my book via blog. Same goes for MySpace. Of course, I write YA, and I think an online presence is much more important for that market. For adult readers -- no clue.

Jersey Chick · Jul 22, 2008

I've never bought a book because of a blog. I don't know if anyone's bought mine because of my blog (though I kinda hope so!

)

I read a few author blogs, but not many - so whether or not an author has one has no bearing on whether or not I'll buy their books.

lkp · Jul 22, 2008

I've learned about new books and new authors from blogs, and I have bought their books solely for that reason. I haven't bought books by an author because I read their blog, though I do read some author blogs quite regularly.

So I guess the answer is to blog about other people's books, and hope they'll blog about yours too. I do write reviews of new books I've enjoyed (see link if you're interested) and I hope I am introducing some new authors to people who'd like them.

WendyNYC · Jul 22, 2008

Patricia, I bought your book because I read about it on a blog. (Well, first on AW and then on a blog review.) I've done the same with other books, and I've had at least one reader of my blog go out and buy a book I reviewed (and I've only reviewed two books).

ORION · Jul 22, 2008

So really it may be not the the author has a blog but that another blogger mentions or recommends their book?
Interesting...

Fillanzea · Jul 22, 2008

When a blog makes me feel like I know and like an author, I'm more likely to buy their book. When a blog has an all-self-promotion, all-the-time feel to it - or an OMG, I'm a published author!!!!! feel to it - that turns me off.

Deleted member 42 · Jul 22, 2008

Yes, I've bought books both because of something someone else besides the author wrote on a blog, and because of something an author posted.

But.

The real question, should you blog or not -- blog if you want to blog. Don't blog if the main purpose is PR or sales.

If that's why you're blogging, then use the Amazon author blog feature. Amazon will generate traffic and link to various places on Amazon, with the goal of driving sales.

WendyNYC · Jul 22, 2008

ORION said:
So really it may be not the the author has a blog but that another blogger mentions or recommends their book?
Interesting...

Yes, it feels less sales-y to me, especially if it's a blogger I read often.

Nateskate · Jul 22, 2008

Yes, yes, and yes.

I've bought books advertised on Blogs. I've made constructive changes to my story based on tips from Blogs. And a Blog did help me find a publisher.

Kitty Pryde · Jul 22, 2008

Yes! I was skeptical about John Scalzi's books, but after reading his blog I was motivated to buy his books. And it's a good thing I did because he's a great writer. I saw a book at the library with a really cool cover (Ragamuffin by Tobias Buckell), but I didn't know if I wanted to read it. I went home and checked out his blog. He writes about interesting stuff in an interesting way so I was motivated to start reading his books.

I have also enjoyed authors giving away some of their work online for free, which has motivated me to read more of their (non-free) work. For example, Rudy Rucker has the novel "Postsingular" on his blog for free, and Peter Watts has a whole bunch of awesome books online for free.

That said, I've read some other author blogs and decided their writing didn't hold any interest for me, so I decided not to pursue reading their books.

Kryianna · Jul 22, 2008

I've bought many books based on recommendations from blogs. I've also heard an author's name someplace, googled them, found their blog, liked the writing, and bought their books because of it.

I've googled a favorite fanfic writer from many years ago to see if she has any new fanfic out, and found that she is now has a well-respected book in her genre out (Sandra MacDonald's The Outback Stars -- check it out!). Obviously, I snapped her book up immediately.

Now, I've also found blogs for authors, and immediately scratched their books off of my list. The reason for this has varied, but generally it was because the author shared too much, be it about their personal beliefs, the background of a novel, or writing process.

Maui Author · Jul 22, 2008

I have found some author's blogs and because I liked their style of writing, I have gone out and bought their books. So the blogging definitely worked because I might not have been introduced to their work otherwise.

Linda Adams · Jul 22, 2008

No. In fact, the only time a blog (or in this case, a comment) influenced me was to NOT read a book. When I kept a blog, I posted a link about a plagiarism lawsuit that had been decided in favor of the author who had been sued. Guess who posted a comment to my blog? The author who lost the lawsuit. For a link to a news article, he vented about how the judge was wrong, etc. I kind of got the impression he spammed a lot of blogs that reported on the case. What he didn't know was that I had picked up a copy of his book and if I liked it, I would have gotten more. After his comments on my blog, it went right to the thrift shop.

~grace~ · Jul 22, 2008

I bought books by both Rachel Vincent and Justine Larbalestier b/c of their blogs. I don't remember how I found their blogs...

A QUESTION FROM ORION FOR AWers RE:BLOGS

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