Blogging for a dummy

Mondo · Jun 26, 2017

So I am not a user of the Net socially. I use it for research, I know my way around a forum, and I have an orange belt in Google-akida. But no twitter, Facebook, etc.

OK, the amazon author's forum (a rough neighborhood as forums go) universally touts blogs as the way to go to keep your books in the limelight.

So I started a blog, and linked it to my books and author page. I have a few loyal fans of my works following me.

The thing is that I have no idea what to post. I'm like the teenager who finally talks his girlfriend into the bushes and then realizes he had never thought the entire business through.

I've posted updates on my various projects as I have several trilogies and series going, but that's a post or two a month. I look at other bloggers (not authors) and they are cranking out stuff every day.

Can someone tell me the basic expectations of an author's blog? Keeping in mind that I have never followed a blog in my life.

I've googled this various ways, and gotten nowhere.

randi.lee · Jun 26, 2017

Hi Mondo. The blogs I find to be most successful are the ones that offer something - not just updates about your publishing journey, but articles and advice that can help your reader progress with their own writing and publishing.

What are you really good at? What do you know a heck of a lot about? Character development? Plot and structure? Compelling dialogue? Start a posting series about that subject and sprinkle informative posts into your rotation. Post updates about yourself one week and informational posts the next.

Also - try not to ramble. 500-800 words is a good benchmark for an informative blog post that will not send your readers elsewhere mid-way through.

Hope this helps. Good luck on your blogging journey!

stephenf · Jun 26, 2017

Hi
If you google ' Writers Blogs' you will get a selection of them . Have look at writers that you know, and like . You can learn a lot from the ones you enjoy reading . The popular ones have a good understanding of their readership. Connecting with your audience, knowing what they are looking for , and delivering it in a concise and entertaining way .
Like most things , it's practise.

autumnleaf · Jun 26, 2017

Mondo said:
OK, the amazon author's forum (a rough neighborhood as forums go) universally touts blogs as the way to go to keep your books in the limelight.

This is not a universal rule. Plenty of successful authors don't blog. It probably doesn't hurt (unless it's taking up too much time that could be spent writing other things), but it doesn't necessarily help either.

I do think it's a good idea to have a web site where you list your books, provide excerpts, background information, etc. But this needs to be updated less frequently than a blog.

Mondo said:
I've posted updates on my various projects as I have several trilogies and series going, but that's a post or two a month. I look at other bloggers (not authors) and they are cranking out stuff every day.

Is it good stuff? Cranking out poor quality material is counterproductive.

Mondo said:
Can someone tell me the basic expectations of an author's blog? Keeping in mind that I have never followed a blog in my life.

This is a bit like wanting to write a book even though you've never read one. Why not try following a few blogs for a while before deciding if blogging is for you?

pschmehl · Jun 26, 2017

Blogs, Facebook and Twitter can all suck up every second of your time. You have to decide how valuable your time is. Blogging every day is a chore, even if you have something to say. Far too many blogs that I see are regurgitating someone else's work. If your blog isn't original stuff, it's really not worth doing unless you are dying to repeat other people's stories.

On my blog, which is really my book website, I post reviews of books that I'm reading. i did post once on life advice, but the rest have either been announcements about my book or book reviews.

Rule number one: Blog what interests you. It's the only way you're going to keep blogging. And it's surely the only way readers will keep reading.
Rule number two: Don't blog things that will turn off your readers. IOW, stay away from controversial subjects such as politics or religion (unless that's what you write about.)
Rule number three: Don't let the blog rule your life, unless you want to stop writing books and start blogging full time.
Rule number four: You don't have to blog every day, but you do have to blog regularly - at least once a week.
Rule number five: It's all about content. If your content is interesting and readable, people will come.

The same thing goes for Facebook and Twitter.

I setup a Wordpress blog as my book site. Then I tied in Facebook and Twitter to the blog so that each time I blog something, it gets posted to my Facebook book page and my Twitter book account.

If you need to know how to do that, I can help you offline.

Mondo · Jun 26, 2017

pschmehl said:
Blogs, Facebook and Twitter can all suck up every second of your time. You have to decide how valuable your time is. Blogging every day is a chore, even if you have something to say. Far too many blogs that I see are regurgitating someone else's work. If your blog isn't original stuff, it's really not worth doing unless you are dying to repeat other people's stories.

On my blog, which is really my book website, I post reviews of books that I'm reading. i did post once on life advice, but the rest have either been announcements about my book or book reviews.

Rule number one: Blog what interests you. It's the only way you're going to keep blogging. And it's surely the only way readers will keep reading.
Rule number two: Don't blog things that will turn off your readers. IOW, stay away from controversial subjects such as politics or religion (unless that's what you write about.)
Rule number three: Don't let the blog rule your life, unless you want to stop writing books and start blogging full time.
Rule number four: You don't have to blog every day, but you do have to blog regularly - at least once a week.
Rule number five: It's all about content. If your content is interesting and readable, people will come.

The same thing goes for Facebook and Twitter.

I setup a Wordpress blog as my book site. Then I tied in Facebook and Twitter to the blog so that each time I blog something, it gets posted to my Facebook book page and my Twitter book account.

If you need to know how to do that, I can help you offline.

I don't have a personal FB account and I don't understand how Twitter works and am not inclined to learn, but thanks for the offer.

Thanks for the advice, it helps.

How is Smashwords working for you? I tried it, but switched to Amazon because the sales were radically higher, at least back then.

AW Admin · Jun 26, 2017

Mondo said:
So I am not a user of the Net socially. I use it for research, I know my way around a forum, and I have an orange belt in Google-akida. But no twitter, Facebook, etc.

OK, the amazon author's forum (a rough neighborhood as forums go) universally touts blogs as the way to go to keep your books in the limelight.

So I started a blog, and linked it to my books and author page. I have a few loyal fans of my works following me.

The thing is that I have no idea what to post. I'm like the teenager who finally talks his girlfriend into the bushes and then realizes he had never thought the entire business through.

I've posted updates on my various projects as I have several trilogies and series going, but that's a post or two a month. I look at other bloggers (not authors) and they are cranking out stuff every day.

Can someone tell me the basic expectations of an author's blog? Keeping in mind that I have never followed a blog in my life.

I've googled this various ways, and gotten nowhere.

You might want to look at this thread: How to promote your book like an intelligent human being and not an SEO Dweeb

You absolutely should have a Web presence; but you might be better off writing your next book then thinking about blogging for promo purposes.

You might find a quarterly or bimonthly newsletter works better for you and your readers.

pschmehl · Jun 26, 2017

Mondo said:
I don't have a personal FB account and I don't understand how Twitter works and am not inclined to learn, but thanks for the offer.

Thanks for the advice, it helps.

How is Smashwords working for you? I tried it, but switched to Amazon because the sales were radically higher, at least back then.

Here's the thing. You can setup a Facebook account and a Twitter acount for free. You can then post to them when you blog, so you don't duplicate the work. Then, you check in to each account once a day and see who's following you and engage with them if they want you to. It's another way of getting exposure for your work at the cost of your time only. Something to consider.

I found Smashwords easier to complete (process-wise) than Createspace, but I will use both of them. I've only had one sale so far, so I can't really say what the impact will be longterm. My book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble (print and ebook) and most ebook retailers (Apple iBooks, Kobi, etc.). Half the battle is distribution. The other half is marketing.

Keep in mind, I wrote a 23K Christian fiction novella. That's like starting out with a weak (sales) category and a size that's not very popular and then hoping the world will notice. I may end up using the novella as an enticement for my first novel (still in process), by offering it for free (as an ebook only) if you buy the novel.

The suggestion for a montlhly or semi-monthly newsletter is a good one. It requires much less of your time than blogging, Facebook or Twitter.

Mondo · Jun 26, 2017

How do people find your Twitter?

And if the same info is on your blog, what is the point?

Mondo · Jun 26, 2017

pschmehl said:
Here's the thing. You can setup a Facebook account and a Twitter acount for free. You can then post to them when you blog, so you don't duplicate the work. Then, you check in to each account once a day and see who's following you and engage with them if they want you to. It's another way of getting exposure for your work at the cost of your time only. Something to consider.

I found Smashwords easier to complete (process-wise) than Createspace, but I will use both of them. I've only had one sale so far, so I can't really say what the impact will be longterm. My book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble (print and ebook) and most ebook retailers (Apple iBooks, Kobi, etc.). Half the battle is distribution. The other half is marketing.

Keep in mind, I wrote a 23K Christian fiction novella. That's like starting out with a weak (sales) category and a size that's not very popular and then hoping the world will notice. I may end up using the novella as an enticement for my first novel (still in process), by offering it for free (as an ebook only) if you buy the novel.

The suggestion for a montlhly or semi-monthly newsletter is a good one. It requires much less of your time than blogging, Facebook or Twitter.

Yeah, novellas are a tough sell. I've gone exclusively with Amazon, and am liking it. I've moved about 5k books a year so far; and sales/reads are staying pretty steady. I liked having my work in Barnes&Noble and such, but they didn't sell there.

pschmehl · Jun 26, 2017

Mondo said:
How do people find your Twitter?

And if the same info is on your blog, what is the point?

If you're on Twitter, people will find you. Trust me. Within one week of me opening my account, I had almost 60 followers. The only thing I did was tweet an annoucement about my book. Suddenly people who sell authors' services descended upon me like a plague of locusts. I also got a number of authors, including best-selling ones, who followed me.

The point is, people on Facebook and Twitter might not follow your blog. Think of them as the neighborhood bar. When you enter the bar you will always find the regulars there. They're there all the time. There will also be passers by and occasional visitors. You want to "stop by", let them know about your book, maybe have a drink with them, and then leave. Some will follow, and buy your book. Some will buy your book but not follow you. Some will do neither.

It can never hurt to open another sales channel.

Mondo · Jun 26, 2017

pschmehl said:
If you're on Twitter, people will find you. Trust me. Within one week of me opening my account, I had almost 60 followers. The only thing I did was tweet an annoucement about my book. Suddenly people who sell authors' services descended upon me like a plague of locusts. I also got a number of authors, including best-selling ones, who followed me.

The point is, people on Facebook and Twitter might not follow your blog. Think of them as the neighborhood bar. When you enter the bar you will always find the regulars there. They're there all the time. There will also be passers by and occasional visitors. You want to "stop by", let them know about your book, maybe have a drink with them, and then leave. Some will follow, and buy your book. Some will buy your book but not follow you. Some will do neither.

It can never hurt to open another sales channel.

Interesting. I will have to think about this.

But the limit is 140 characters. Doesn't seem like much.

pschmehl · Jun 26, 2017

First, Twitter forces you to condense your thoughts to the most relevant information. That's never a bad thing for a writer.

Here's a couple of my tweets showing how you can promote your work:
https://twitter.com/plawrencebooks/status/875428561599025152
https://twitter.com/plawrencebooks/status/878383916926808065

Those I tweeted directly.

And here's a tweet that was made by Wordpress when I blogged a book review:
https://twitter.com/plawrencebooks/status/878327530276536321

Mondo · Jun 26, 2017

pschmehl said:
First, Twitter forces you to condense your thoughts to the most relevant information. That's never a bad thing for a writer.

Here's a couple of my tweets showing how you can promote your work:
https://twitter.com/plawrencebooks/status/875428561599025152
https://twitter.com/plawrencebooks/status/878383916926808065

Those I tweeted directly.

And here's a tweet that was made by Wordpress when I blogged a book review:
https://twitter.com/plawrencebooks/status/878327530276536321

Interesting.

But giving away free books is not IME a viable promotion strategy.

Laer Carroll · Jun 28, 2017

I second the post about reading How to promote your book like an intelligent human being and not an SEO Dweeb if you want to know how to promote your presence on the Web. It's short, clear, practical, and wise. I'm a computer professional who extensively researched Search Engine Optimization when I got interested in promoting my own books. I never came across better advice.

This topic was covered recently in this forum - twice. Neither post has even aged off this front page. I'm puzzled why you thought to ask the very same question again when your question would have been answered there.

Getting Started Blogging (Help?)

a little vent about blogging

Mondo · Jun 28, 2017

Laer Carroll said:
I second the post about reading How to promote your book like an intelligent human being and not an SEO Dweeb if you want to know how to promote your presence on the Web. It's short, clear, practical, and wise. I'm a computer professional who extensively researched Search Engine Optimization when I got interested in promoting my own books. I never came across better advice.

This topic was covered recently in this forum - twice. Neither post has even aged off this front page. I'm puzzled why you thought to ask the very same question again when your question would have been answered there.

Getting Started Blogging (Help?)

a little vent about blogging

Didn't see them.

I'm a 'get in the middle of it fast' kind of guy.

Blogging for a dummy

Mondo

New and suspicious

randi.lee

Certified Non-Genius

stephenf

autumnleaf

practical experience, FTW

pschmehl

Mondo

New and suspicious

AW Admin

pschmehl

Mondo

New and suspicious

Mondo

New and suspicious

pschmehl

Mondo

New and suspicious

pschmehl

Mondo

New and suspicious

Laer Carroll

Aerospace engineer turned writer

Mondo

New and suspicious