Blogs...Does Anyone Blog?

[CherokeeDem]

I have finished my first novel, a sci-fi murder mystery, and am feverishly working on the %$# query letter. All the information regarding publishing tells me I need a blog in addition to being on social media. (I recently opened a Facebook account after resisting for years and the first person to contact me was my ex-husband… that was fun.) I would like to know if any of you have a blog, had a blog, or ran screaming instead of creating one.

I am conflicted on content… while I love science fiction, not all of my writing is sci-fi, and I don’t want to restrict myself. I keep thinking I’d like to do a blog that chronicles my journey from dreaming about writing a novel to accomplishing it. Maybe, my story along with others might prompt someone to write for themselves.

If anyone has some advice, I would appreciate it. Also, I am considering WordPress as a platform but if anyone has a better suggestion, I would appreciate it.

Thanks!!!

[DavidDvorkin]

1. I have a blog

And of course I always announce my new books on there.

The problem with the advice to an author to have a blog is that ideally you should have one already, and you should have been posting to it for years. It takes a while to build up a following. Do start a blog, but don't expect an instant flood of people reading it or commenting on it.

General advice: Don't limit your blog posts to your new book or even just your writing career. Talk about lots of different things that interest you -- politics, social topics, movies, etc. My blog tends to get the biggest response, and is linked to the most often, when I publish a negative review of a popular new movie. (Of course, a lot of the responses are rather negative!)

Also, sign up for a free account at Sitemeter or some similar service, so that you can track hits on your blog and see what search terms bring people there.

Also also, follow and comment on other people's blogs. That's one way to get people to your blog. But do it out of genuine interest in what they're saying and a wish to contribute. Otherwise, it looks cynical and manipulative. (This advice also applies to commenting on other people's Facebook pages.)

Also also also, put your blog link in your signature, as I did.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. I got three

One is my political blog, most actively used. I have a photog blog, which I really need to pay more attention to, and a writing blog. The writing blog is confined to writing. Also it needs to have content added.

The last one, you can also do posts on how you write and what software package you use. Myself these days Ulysis with Daedalus, or scrivener wiht notebooks. I really am waiting for Lit and Lat to finally get it's act together with the IPAD version. Ulyses is seamless, the other one, not so much.

[mainer]

3. I think your time is better spent writing the next novel.

Every novelist is told by his agent to blog, do social media, etc., etc. If you're productive enough and it doesn't slow down your actual novel writing, then maybe that's fine. But the most important thing of all is to write the next book and the next and the next.

I used to blog fairly regularly until i realized it was eating into my productivity. Now I hardly post to it at all and it's a huge relief. Most novelists I know who started blogging eventually let their blogs die away because they were devoting too much energy to blogging and not enough to their primary writing.

I don't think blogging actually sells books --certainly not novels. What does matter in the long run is your backlist and the real estate you take up in a bookstore.

[SheilaT]

4. As a reader,

I really don't care that much about blogs a writer might have. I've checked out the blogs of perhaps three writers that I like a lot, and I don't read them regularly by any means.

So for me, a reader, blogs simply don't matter. I tend to find out fast enough if a new book has come out by a writer I like, and I'm not honestly interested in knowing too much about them. Unless I meet them at a con or workshop of some kind, but even then I'm not reading their blogs. All three of the unnamed writers mentioned above I've met personally, but that still doesn't inspire me to follow their blogs.

But if you're comfortable blogging, absolutely do it.

[Johonny]

5. I have a blog

I write about whatever. I put things I might be writing. Political rants. Stuff about sales on my books. I sometimes put up say 3 pages a day of the current project I'm working on. You can attract a small crowd rather easily. But blogs are like books. It is easy to do but hard to hit it big. If you get a few people to read it then you're doing better than most. If you can get 100-150 people to read your book than you are doing better than most. There is a lot of material out there simply not read by anyone.

[Brainstormy]

6. I quit

I blogged for a bit after my first book. I didn't find it particularly helpful in terms of marketing my book and I can tell you for certain that the time spent blogging is time you won't be spending on your next book. It really became a burden for me and I had to re-design my website to get rid of the blog. Facebook and google ads did help a bit. And although my book came out in 2009 I'll still have a Facebook friend now and then post something nice about my book which inspires a little flurry of other sales. You can also create a FB page just for your book. Take advantage, too, of Author's Den and Goodreads and the other sites that you can promote on without spending a fortune

Good luck with whatever you decide.