Gone are the days when the publisher would do all the marketing for your books, and you just have to show up and sign books. These days, the author has to put in much effort in marketing their books. This is usually done online through social media networks such as Facebook or Twitter. One of the most effective ways of marketing your books and ensuring a loyal following is having your own blog. Blogging regularly will keep your prospective customers interested and will ensure that they read your books in order to discuss with you or other fans. In this article, we look at how you as an author can become a better blogger.
1. Give your blog a focus
If you plan to blog in order to garner an audience for your books, then your blog should focus on the different topics related to your work. If you are a writer in a genre that requires plenty of research such as legal fiction or historical fiction, then you can share your research on the blog. Another simple but effective way of promoting your books is to save your unedited manuscript and share parts of it that never made it to publication. Fans of books will always be on the lookout for extra material on their favorite stories, so such topics would be of great interest to almost anyone who follows your blog.
2. Be mindful of content
Another way to improve your blogging is to keep an eye on the content. A few personal posts can help you connect better with your followers, but if that’s all you post, you might quickly lose your readers. What you ate or where you travelled and other such personal snippets might just not be relevant to this sort of blog. While some people are interested in personal information, it should be released gradually and only after gaining a good following. Take care to intersperse any personal posts with other topics of interest to the reader. Remember that your ultimate aim is to connect with the reader so that they would want to read your books.
3. Do blog tours
If you have a new book coming out, try blog tours to promote your book. Blog tours are a relatively new concept of marketing that are very useful to a budding author. The idea is that you will post a different post on different blogs for a certain period of time. This will increase your readership by a large percentage with immediate effect, as your posts will be read by the readers of all the other blogs. The best way to attain this facility is to be an active member of the blogging community and network with others who have blogs on similar themes. In short, it’s just like a traditional book tour, except that it’s online.
4. Build a community
One of the reasons people blog is to build online communities and be a part of it. It’s like an extended online friend circle where people come together to share ideas and help each other. So when you start your own blog, you need to focus on building a community. And for that to happen, you need to interact with your followers, readers and other bloggers. A blogging network is a really powerful way of having a strong base for you to discuss ideas and opinions. Start by responding to any comments you get on your blog. You can also visit other peoples’ blogs that you find interesting and leave any thoughts you might have on their posts. Link your blog to your Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms to increase its reach. Never fail to respond to comments or questions.
5. Blog regularly
One thing about blogging is that you really need to be regular. Without a regular blogging schedule, you might find that readers have fallen away gradually. The ideal is to post twice a week, but this is not possible for everyone, especially since you also have to write your book! Even if you post once or twice a month, try to schedule your posts so that they show up at regular intervals. This ensures that your readers are kept on hook, anticipating a post on the day they know it is due. This is a huge incentive for them to actually check out your blog. The more people visit your blog, the more chances there are for your posts to get shared around.
Ultimately, blogging is all about content, networking and timing. If you can find great material to share, respond to everyone in a friendly manner and post on a regular basis, you can be a great blogger.
Image credit: Pixabay
Kavitha is a freelance content writer and French translator, and has been working in this field since 2008. She has degrees in computer applications and international business and has a background in business and international trade. She enjoys learning languages and is currently learning Japanese. Her interests vary from books and writing to travelling and history.