​​If You’re a Fiction Writer, You Absolutely Should Be Blogging

Pixabay.com

 A guide to marketing yourself and your work 

By Shaunta Grimes 

Every fiction writer should be a blogger.

There. I said it.

Here’s the difference blogging made for me: When I sold my first book to a major publisher, I wasn’t blogging, I didn’t have an email list. I believed the narrative that fiction writers don’t need a platform.

And, to be honest, I was relieved by that idea. I didn’t want to market. I wanted to write. I bet you’ve heard that before. In your own thoughts.

So, I trusted that there wasn’t anything I needed to do to sell my books, except for write them. Only problem was — that book didn’t sell very well.

I sold another book a few years later, and this time I knew that creating my audience was my responsibility. No one else was going to do it for me. So, ahead of that book’s release,  I started blogging and building an email list.

That book went out into the world with about 1000 pre-sales. That’s a big deal. It made a major difference.

If you’re a writer, you should be blogging.

Blogging gives you the chance to publish regularly . Monthly. Weekly. Maybe even daily. It also puts you in control of the content, something that might be a pleasant change if you’re used to relying on the subjective tastes of various gatekeepers.

Until they’re relatively well known, even the most prolific fiction writer doesn’t publish often enough to really build and engage an audience. Even if you’re one of those hyper-productive indie-published authors who’s slamming out a novel four or more times a year, that’s a fraction of the amount of connection you could have with your audience via blogging.

Blogging gives your audience the chance to get to know you personally, which is how you build a base of fans for your body of work. And blogging  is one of the best means for building an email list full of those fans.

Truly, blogging is really a no-brainer for fiction writers. We’re already storytellers. We already enjoy the base activity–writing. There’s a learning curve for the technical aspect, but once that’s overcome, the activity itself is easy and fun.

Blogging is  a lower-stakes version of our main occupation that allows us to publish super regularly and connect directly with readers.

Plus, with a little extra work, it can bring in some income. Maybe even long before fiction writing does.

I hope I’ve convinced you: fiction writers should be regular bloggers. But we have a problem.

Because lots of people are telling non-fiction writers how to blog and how to build an email list and how to reach their audience. But what about novelists or short story writers or poets or artists of any kind? There’s so much bad information out there, when there’s any information at all. Most of the time we’re left trying to scramble to figure out how to make information fit our needs, when it wasn’t really meant for us.

I got so excited several years ago because one of the big online writing advice guys was advertising a webinar promising that he had the answer. He was going to teach fiction writers how to blog. So I signed up and I logged in. And his big idea?

Fiction writers should be writing book reviews, he said. Write a book review every month. That was it. The entirety of his advice.

I wanted to reach through my computer screen and strangle him. Or at least send some kind of message to all the other writers listening with bated breath.

Because that’s not how this works. That’s not how any of this works.

This is a bad idea on so many levels. The biggest one being that he was encouraging writers to venture into turf that isn’t theirs.

Repeat after me: Book reviews are for readers. 

Once you become a writer, they aren’t your business. If you’re reviewing books similar to yours, you won’t be able to really be critical because you’re talking about your colleagues (even if you don’t know them.) So they’ll be weird, stilted reviews at the very least.

And, like I said, you’ll be inserting yourself into an arena where you don’t belong. Because–one more time–book reviews are for readers. Not writers.

I promise you, building a blog around book reviews if you’re a fiction writer is a bad idea.

This guy has helped fiction writers do some pretty amazing things, it’s true. But not this. What he’s done in the past is help expand on the success of  fiction writers who already have a platform. Which is a whole other animal from being a brand new, aspiring creative writer with no platform at all.

Writing book reviews will not build an audience for a specific writer. And, the real problem is that you’re setting yourself up for critiquing your colleagues, which wouldn’t be good advice in any other industry. It’s not good advice in ours either. 

What I’d like to do today is take a look at a better way.

It starts with figuring out what you want to say.

There are two things that I feel very strongly should not be the foundation for a fiction writer’s blogging venture:

• Critiques of fellow writers. (AKA book reviews.)

• Our own writing.

No one cares about our cover reveals or our writing processes if they don’t know who we are. Truthfully, they wouldn’t care about our writing process if we were their favorite writers.

I can prove it to you. Ask yourself how many writers you follow because you’re riveted by their processes?

Uh huh. Exactly. You follow them because they entertain you or they teach you something. You aren’t doing them a favor. It’s all about you.

I’m going to say that one more time, because it’s really important.

Your readers aren’t doing you a favor. They’re reading your blog for themselves. Because readers are human beings and human beings are all about themselves. Maybe your mom or your best friend is reading to do you a solid, but random readers aren’t. Again, ask yourself how often you spend your time reading because you want to help the writer out.

I do have some good news, though. 

If you do two things, you’ll be able to build an audience that will love you and follow you and buy your books: Introduce your readers to you and then make it all about them.

The reason why that’s excellent news is that it means that It doesn’t matter what you blog about. 

Whatever interests you, whatever is interesting about you, whatever you’re good at, whatever you want to be good at. You’ll find people who care about those things, too.

And when you write for those readers, they’ll care about you. Which means they’ll care when you publish a book. It becomes a whole circle of life thing. It’s beautiful.

For the record, just because you’re a writer, doesn’t mean that you have to write about writing, either. You can write about anything. You’ll find readers who are interested in the topics you want to write about.

And as those readers become fans, they’ll get excited with you when you do talk about your fiction. Which you will, sometimes. Just not exclusively, or even most of the time.

Let’s talk a little about blogging.

There are really two things you can do as a blogger: teach something you’re an expert at or learn something you’re not an expert at.

When I write about writing fiction, I put on my expert cap: I’ve been a fiction writer for more than 20 years, I’m traditionally published, I have an advanced degree in creative writing.

When I write about writing fiction, I’m teaching readers what I’ve already mastered. I’m a sherpa who already knows the way.

When I write about my ongoing effort to be more organized, I’m most definitely learning out loud. I hope no one comes to me looking for expert advice about how to be an organized person, because I am not your girl. I might be able to inspire you to try, though. We’ll figure it out together.

When I write about organization, I’m taking readers along with me as I do this thing I’ve never done before. I’m a stumbler, just like you.

See the difference?

So, start here: Take an inventory. 

Get out a notebook and make a couple of lists. One quick rule, though. Don’t limit your list to the the things you think you should be blogging about. Go wide here.

Start with things you’re good at.

Now list things you aren’t good at, but you want to be.

Next think about your most interesting life experiences.

Finally, what are you interested in?

What you’ll end up with is a list of things you can mine for ideas. I find that this list is a good place to look for intersections. 

Like: how does creativity (one of the things I’m interested in) fair when you’re part of the sandwich generation (one of the things that’s interesting about me)? Or why should fiction writers (one of the things I’m good at) watch a lot of television (another thing I’m good at)? Or can you be a writer (one of the things I’m good at) and a poor single mother (one of the things that’s interesting about me) at the same time?

Put it all together.

Take a look at your lists and decide which ones resonate the strongest with you.

For me, that’s: writing, starting a business, marketing, creativity, productivity, body positivity, weight loss, personal finance, poverty, autism, dementia.

Then start paying attention.

What questions do people ask about the things that matter to you?  Write the answers in blog posts.

What have you observed about your topics? Write about those observations in blog posts.

What ideas do you have that relate to your topics? You guessed it–write about them in blog posts.

I also like to keep books related to my favorite topics near my desk. When I’m stuck for an idea, I just flip one open and I’m nearly always inspired by what I find.

Finding time for it all.

It helps to see blogging as part of your job. Not a side project you work on when you have the time, but an important part of your writing career.

Finishing your novel is a big deal. You need to do it. So you don’t want blogging to take over and push fiction writing out. But when that novel is finished, when you’re ready to publish it, you’ll be glad you took the time to build a little platform for yourself.

Seth Godin said, “Everyone should write a blog, every day, even if no one reads it. There’s countless reasons why it’s a good idea and I can’t think of one reason it’s a bad idea.”

Nearly daily blogging is a big part of my life and I agree with Seth. There are countless reasons it’s a good idea. As long as it’s not shifting you away from fiction writing, I can’t think of a single negative.

But if you can’t swing a daily blog, commit to three times a week. Or even once a week. Just show up for yourself and your readers when you say you will.

Here’s my favorite tool for keeping myself accountable to both fiction writing and blogging.

Now, get out there and write. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

A Writer's Legacy

You're invited to do a guest spot, or maybe you're asked to write several posts for your book tour. Instantly, doubts slaps you in the face. Your heart pounds. Your stomach lurches. Maybe not quite that dramatic but you still worry: What will I write about? I have nothing to say, nothing worth reading. I'll make a fool of myself. Or worse, I bore everyone to tears. What can I possibly say that's never been said before? Who am I to tell anyone anything about writing? Nothing--I know nothing!

Really?

You're writer. You've learned a thing or two.

Let me tell you a story...

The Prince George Regional Library invited me to do an evening reading. For two days prior, I spent my usual time in the washroom vomiting. I dragged my husband away from the NHL playoffs so I wouldn't have to face them alone. After the reading, a mother and daughter approached. I could see that the girl was nervous. Her mother kept whispering in her ear and patting her on the back until finally they were next in line.

"Hi," the teenager squeaked.

"She loved your book," the mum said.

The girl blushed. I gave her my best motherly smile.

She stuttered, "I-I loved your book. I-I always wanted to be a writer, but I-I'm just a small town girl. Real writers live in big cities like Montreal and Toronto. They don't live in Prince George. Then I heard you on the radio. I read your book in two days; I loved Valerie. Now I read your blog. You explain stuff I never understood in school. And you live here! Thank you, Mrs. Butler. If you can live here and write about characters who live here, then I know I can too."

That was eight years ago. I think about that young woman often. She'd be about twenty-three. I don't know if she's still reading my blog, but sometimes I write specifically for her.

Please don't under estimate the power of your words. You may have already met the equivalent of this young woman, or maybe not. But know that even if she's never been brave enough to leave a comment, send a personal email, or show up at a reading, it doesn't mean she's not paying attention to every word you write.

Guest Blogging Steps and Tips

I just finished a three month blogging tour for my book, Dragon of the Stars. There were twenty-eight stops total, which meant a lot of planning. And a lot of writing! Coupled with the fact this tour was for my fourth book, plus I do a lot of guest spots for the IWSG, and I’ve racked up a lot of guest blogging miles.


I’d like to pass on to you a guideline for getting the most bang out of your guest posts.

Select blogs to approach – You want to hang out at the right sites. Whatever you are promoting with your post, the people you are trying to reach should read that blog. It helps if it is a popular site – look at the followers and comments.

Become familiar with the site – Follow and comment. Interact with the blog owner. If it’s a personal blog, you don’t want to look like you’re just looking for free advertising and that’s it. Get involved and become a friend.

Check their guidelines – Many bloggers post guest post guidelines. This will tell you very quickly if you fit with what they seek. Plus you’ll know if you can actually deliver the goods.

Send a proposal – Send an email. Let them know you are interested in doing a guest post and why. From their guidelines, suggest a couple topics, or let them know what you’re open to doing. Be sure to send a link to your site and to whatever you are promoting.

Confirm date and topic – Assuming they say yes, of course! They might have a word count, so check that as well. And don’t forget to ask when they need the guest post.

One stop per day – Try to keep your followers from being torn between two sites, Sometimes it can’t be helped, but one a day is fair to your hosts. They are counting on you to bring traffic to their sites.

Follow guidelines – They want snark? Give them snark! Follow those guidelines. It makes it easier for everyone. Ask how they want to receive the post – html formatted, with hyperlinks, or with full web addresses. Send it before the cutoff date and don’t forget jpg images plus your bio and links.

Post tours – If you’re doing a full blog tour, post it on your site.

The day comes, now tell the world – Post it on your blog, Tweet it, and share on other social media sites. Spread the word! Let people know where you are that day and why they need to visit your guest post. This isn’t just for you – you owe your host the courtesy.

Visit often and respond to comments – Interact! Your guest post isn’t a freebie. Check back many times that day and several days later.

Send an email of thanks – Just a comment won’t do. Send the host an email. You’ll be one of the few.

Those are the basics. Follow them and you’ll have a great experience!

Any other tips you would like to share?

7 Ways to Grow Your Blog

Most of us have recovered from the frantic, sometimes exhausting, challenge of the A to Z Blog hop. Hopefully during that time some new readers found your blog and you found a number of interesting sites to follow. But perhaps the numbers on your blog have stagnated. Are you picking up new followers on a regular basis? If not, what are some ways you can do that?

1. Bring readers to you. Announce your post on Twitter, Facebook and on Google+. Remember to use an attention-grabbing title on your post. (Use those numbers.) And add a short description to your link so readers want to check it out.

2. Another way to bring readers to you is to join in smaller blog hops that are a one and done or a monthly or weekly happening. (Like IWSG!) Recently I joined in The Then and Now Movie blog hop. Not a huge group and easy to visit everyone during a really interesting hop.

3. There are other ways to go out and find some great blogs. Most of them will follow you back. Check out the sidebar of your favorite blogs. Chances are they will have a list of their favorite blogs there. Click on them and you'll find some blogs you might want to follow. You can meet some nice people from my sidebar on Susan Says.

4. Many times when you're reading your favorite blogs, the poster will also be guesting on another site. Follow those guest post links to find other interesting blogs.

5. And when you're posting your announcements on Facebook and Twitter, don't forget to click on the links other bloggers are sharing in those same venues. They're searching for soul mate bloggers too.

6. Read the comments when you're commenting on someone's post. If you see a comment that is insightful, supportive or perhaps just entertaining, find that blog. You might meet someone interesting.

7. And remember all the rules of blog etiquette. Return comments, post regularly, make your content interesting and relevant to your blog theme.

Don't forget, Wednesday is the monthly posting for IWSG. A great time to grow your blog audience. What suggestions could you add to the above list? Have you found interesting blogs through Facebook or Twitter? Do you have an interesting blog hop that isn't the massive event of A to Z that works well in introducing you to new bloggers?

Don't forget IWSG Wednesday!

Susan Gourley writes epic fantasy and romance as Susan Kelley. Find her blog at Susan Says.

What is Good Online Author Etiquette When it Comes to Blogging, Twitter, Comments, etc.?

If we’re online, no matter how much we try to hide, we are in the public eye. Our words are forever and there for all the world to see. One wrong move and we’ll become one of THOSE people – Authors Behaving Badly.

Before you run and hide, afraid you will say the wrong thing, maintaining proper author etiquette online isn’t difficult. If you exercise proper manners, a positive attitude, and a generous and thankful heart, you’ll be fine. Really!


Here are some tips that will help you avoid becoming one of THOSE authors:

• Don’t respond to bad reviews. It’s a war you can’t win.
• Interact with fans and commenters. If you’re doing a guest post or interview online, interact with those who leave comments. If someone sends a Tweet, leaves a comment, or sends an email, respond. Those people took time out of their day to contact you – be thankful and return the favor.
• Spread the word when someone features you. Send out Tweets and post it on your social sites.
• Don’t run down others, especially other authors. Never leave a negative comment.
• Don’t be a constant ad for your book. Don’t send out endless Tweets with links to purchase your books. Don’t fill your blog with nothing but sales rankings. Be a real person and talk about other things besides your book.
• Don’t spam. Don’t spam with emails, Tweets, or comments.
• You’re not the king and everyone else your follower – return follows on social sites.
• Give back to others. Share in the success of others and pay it forward. Find a way you can show support – highlighting others’ books, buying books, reviewing books, etc.
• Have a thankful heart. Be gracious in your responses. Send a word of thanks for reviews, blog features, guest posts, etc.

See, that’s not so difficult, is it?

Hot Tamales for everyone!

Seven Lessons Learned from Blogging

Navigating the publishing landscape can be likened to exploring a major city without a tour guide. Landmarks abound, but not all of them carry the same weight in terms of history or importance. Whether you’re with a publisher, have self-published or you’re still mapping a path to publication, there are ways to make the journey less lonely and stressful.

  

Start Promotion Early each time you’re publishing a book. I’ve been caught flat footed time and again, so I know it’s important to keep potential readers and blogging buddies aware of what’s happening with an upcoming book. Lead up activity is important in that it creates awareness and gives people time to get on your bandwagon for blast off day.

Don’t be Afraid to Ask for help. Many of us in the blogging/writing community can relate to not wanting to be a bother when we have something to promote. Over the years, I’ve learned that writers do want to see others succeed and will help if given a chance to do so.

Be a Beacon to your fellow bloggers/writers. Even if you have a small following, you do have the power to help someone else. Ever come across a post with great information but little response by way of comments? Give it a tweet. You never can tell who might need the information or what connections you’ll make. I’ve picked up Twitter follows from influential writers simply by sharing a post.

Build Goodwill through your actions. I’m sure you can think of people who are kind and helpful, just because. I’m also sure that you find it easy to return favours when these persons call on you for help, because they freely give encouragement and support. A band of authors who share the same genre can help each other through cross-promotion of books, with good results.

Share the Love by following other people’s blogs and commenting. You might say ‘Duh!’ to this, but I had no clue what to do when I first started blogging. I wondered why I was the only one visiting me. When I did visit others, I didn’t follow. Instead, I’d lurk and not leave footprints. Over time, I learned that most bloggers would follow back if I left a trail to my blog, and they liked my content.  

Be Approachable. Each of us started with a single follower or perhaps a handful. I continue to be amazed by super-bloggers like Alex and Arlee, who take time to respond to comments, or if they don’t respond on their blogs, they make visits. A blogger who doesn’t respond to comments in any way is a turn off. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you is a good rule to live by.

Use Nifty Tools at your disposal. I feel like a hypocrite saying this as I don’t make enough time to pre-schedule my messages. Don’t be a random tweeter. Save yourself the hassle of tweeting manually by using one of the many auto tweeting services now available. I’ve tried several and have started using HooteSuite again recently. Triberr is a really cool site, basically it’s Twitter on steroids. Check it out and make use of it if you can. It gives bloggers a massive reach in combination with other people. 

Here’s something extra. ‘Brawta’ as we say in Jamaican Patois. Write things down. I can’t endorse this enough. As you become more serious about your writing, it’s important to be on top of all the obligations that you will take on in terms of promoting your work and that of other people. Apart from Google’s nifty calendar, I use one of those calendars from Microsoft where you can see a month’s activities at a glance. That way, I know where I’m supposed to be guest posting when, as well as the dates I’m supposed to be sending the post/interview over. I also know which blogger/writer I’m hosting and the date.

So, d’you feel any more informed and secure about some of the things you should be doing on your publication journey? Have any advice to add?

Don’t forget to enter the IWSG contest, which closes on December 18. Enter here to help us spread the word about the site. We have some fabulous prizes!

I Promise...

... we've all had this happen: you upload a post on your blog, then go about the business of writing and waiting, working and waiting, eating and waiting.

Two hours pass and there's no visitors. Not a single comment. Maybe you wait two more hours, check after lunch, dinner, before bedtime, first thing the next morning, but ...

Nada.


So what do you make of that?

You sent it out on all the wires, right? Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Goodreads ....

Receiving no comments is not personal. They aren't ignoring you. They're caught up in life's dramas, just as you are. They may have even read your post, loved it, but (for reasons that probably have nothing to do with you) didn't have time to comment.

Writers care. That's why you're on their Twitter, Gather, Facebook, or Farcebook, as Penny the Jack Russell dog and modest internet superstar likes to call it. That's why you're on the wedding list, maybe even in the wedding party. It's why you're invited to dinners, baby showers, barn risings, to the neigbour's to see the slide presentation of their trip to Roswell, to your brother's-in-law colonoscopy party, or any number of other events you sometimes wish you weren't invited to.

Nobody thinks they're the only one who can't respond at that precise moment. They're expecting that if you don't see a comment from them, you won't notice because you'll be swamped with comments from all your other blogroll buddies. How many times have you thought that same thing yourself?

There are always reasons for a lack of response. You're new. You have no one on your blogroll. Your timing is bad. Something momentous is happening at work, or on the news. Your blog post was swallowed up by the bigger picture. Or they planned on sending you an email and forgot.

Again, trust me, it's never personal.

For whatever reasons your post didn't receive a comment or at best only received a few, it doesn't matter. It shouldn't stop you from ever posting again. Simply lift yourself up, brush yourself off, and next time someone on your blogroll broadcasts a post, take a moment and check it out. Even a simple and sincere: "That was interesting, thanks" goes a long way.

Besides, it'll say volumes about you, the blogger.

If you ask our Ninja Captain how he does it, receives hundreds of comments every post, I bet he'd say it's because he takes the time to reciprocate. It's all about fellowship. In other words, it's that wonderful old saying, "Do unto others..." my blogging friend.

I promise.

 ~ ~ ~

Now for an all-important message:

The first Wednesday of the month is coming up and that means our official IWSG Day, Insecure Writer's Support Group is upon us. IWSG is a group dedicated to supporting and encouraging all writers of all genre. If you'd like to learn more, if you're tired of crying in your soup alone, click here. 

If, like me, you live a solitary and sometimes insecure writer's life, you'll meet some terrific like-minded writers. It's definitely made a difference in my life.

~ ~ ~

Joylene Nowell Butler lives in Cluculz Lake, BC with her husband and three cats, Garagee, Marbles, and Shasta. She is the author of mystery thriller Dead Witness and winner of the IPPY awards 2012 for her psychological thriller Broken But Not Dead.  You can learn more about Joylene at her blog.