Why writers should blog
As I always say, I totally get that writers just want to write. Once a book is published they usually just want to get on with the next one! So thinking about promoting their writing on social media is not high on the list of priorities. That’s where I usually come in.
But most writers accept that it has to be done. Some take to it like a (brilliant!) fish to water and others have no inclination to start. The reality is that, whether you are traditionally published or self published you will need to market your book at some level.
To then think about writing a blog seems almost a step too far! However, there are a lot of positives to blog writing and I’m going to tell you why:
It’s a perfect way to connect with your readers and is a great place to showcase your writing. You can go into more depth and detail than you would in a social media post so your readers feel they are getting to know you better.
It gives you more confidence for marketing because you are writing in a different way, talking about yourself as a writer and your craft and the blog will give you more content for social media.
A blog gets you thinking more broadly about writing and is the perfect place to position yourself as an authority or expert, particularly if you are writing non fiction. Potential agents and publishers will be able to see your commitment.
There is more scope for opinion in a blog than on a social media post so you can share your thoughts and feelings about subjects you may feel nervous about sharing elsewhere.
WHERE DO YOU START?
Have a plan! You need to establish the goals and purpose for your blog. Don’t do one if you really feel you have nothing to say. But I can guarantee you will have plenty to say and loads of experience to share if you are on the author journey!
You will need to decide a realistic frequency to write and post blogs. There is no point attempting to write one a week if your schedule does not give you time. You can vary the blogs between short form (500 – 750 words) vs long form (1500-2000 words). It will depend on what you are writing about and it is a good discipline to learn how not to waffle. Concentrate on writing something that you would find interesting and want to read yourself.
WHAT CAN YOU WRITE ABOUT?
Share your writing journey. Most non-writers are fascinated by how writers write. So share what your routine is, maybe including a picture of where you write, talk about your inspirations.
Talk about what you are reading at the moment – who are your favourite authors and why?
Promote any talks, books signings or events you’re attending – makes it look like you’re really immersed in the whole world of writing.
Describe your characters and how you developed them – readers are intrigued by the process!
Ask for input – get your readers involved by asking them to suggest character names, place names etc.
Invite opinion or run a poll on a book cover or title. This is particularly useful for non-fiction books. Show a couple of covers and get people to vote on their favourite
Do a Q&A with other writers – invite someone to write for your blog and hopefully they will reciprocate!
Post the reviews you receive and comment on what you found interesting (or not) about the comments. Elaborate on some of their critique.
WHERE TO POST
The best place is on your own website. You can then take extracts from the blog to post on social media with a link back to the blog encouraging people to read the full article.
LinkedIn also has an article facility where you can post the whole blog then give a link from your main LinkedIn post.
Make sure you’ve got some quality images that are appropriate to the blog title. You won’t always want to post a picture of you or the book cover. You can access free images from sites like Pixabay.com or freedigitialphotos.net to illustrate it which makes it more eye catching.
Most importantly, keep it real and make sure your blog is in your own voice. Tempting as it may be to use the services of ChatGPT or other AI support, your readers and followers love your writing because it’s you – same applies to social media and blogs!
Steve Couch, one of my clients, has got blogging down to a fine art and, more importantly, he loves it! He is using it very successfully to promote his two books; one which was published last year and he’s creating a buzz already for the latest one to be published at the end of July. You can take a look here.
If you’d like some support getting started with blogging, call me on 07702 808137 for a no obligation chat.