Blogging as Book Promotion
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Blog for Your Book
Blogging is a writer's tool. Blogging places in your hands as an author the ability to promote your work in a passive, yet productive way. None of us write boring material. At least that is not what we set out to do. So why not take your subject and get people interested.
You don't want to write things like, "Buy my book." You write on a subject related to your book. I have a book on fatherhood, so I have a blog exclusively devoted to fatherhood issues. I also have a passion for fiction writing, so I have a blog I call Fiction's Footsteps . This blog can be anything from a serial work in progress to my thoughts and experiences with writing fiction.
There is a topic or subject related to anything you write. Use that topic. On your blog you will have links to your book(s) and website(s). Do not sell your writing in you blog. Make your blog writing so compelling people will want to check out your other writing. This is a simple formula.
In these days of internet social media, buyers are turned off by the 'hard sell'. Give potential buyers a piece of you. Let them see where your passion lies. Allow them to read what really excites you about your particular subject. If you hook them, they will definitely check out your links.
Too many authors want to push their books in people's face. The way you sell your book is to sell yourself. I don't care if you are online or in person. People will buy your book if you make a quality connection with them. The only way to do that is to be yourself. Some people will pass. Maybe many will pass. You are looking for those people who connect with the same things you connect with.
A blog is an informal medium. Originally called a 'weblog', the blog is nothing more than a diary for many. A savvy writer will use his/her blog as a promotional tool that allows them the freedom of journaling and still promotes the related material in their book(s). Connect with your audience and they will buy.
Blog your book by blogging related subject matter. Let your passion flow into it. Make sure you stay informal with your writing. The idea is to speak casually to your blog readers. Throw out your passive hooks and drive them to your book.
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One of the great things you can do with blogs is schedule them. I have a "blog" day where I write a month's worth of blogs. I then schedule them to post, one each Monday, for each blog. My blog day only takes up about 3 hours of my time, but I am able to put up "fresh" content each week. VERY small price to pay to draw people to your sites.
I am enjoying reading your hubs! I have been thinking about putting the first chapter of my book on a hub. The point would be to get feedback and to fire up my inspiration to finish the darn thing! Got a thought on that?
Hi resspenser. Thank you for checking out my hubs. I do have quite a number of thoughts on your suggestion. First, I am too new to Hub Pages to be able to judge the level of feedback you'll get. My experience and knee-jerk says everyone will be kind - which sucks. The feedback you need most is honest feedback. Even brutally honest. It's the only way to strengthen your work. There are a number of excellent critique groups online (although I'm not a member of one, I have writer friends who use them). Nothing can replace someone letting you know you are over-using the verb "to be" or that you have far too much exposition that would be better handled through dialog, or any number of a thousand things that your writing may need. I recommend a designated crtique group. Hub Pages is such a public forum, people would be reluctant to call it like it is in order to keep from appearing to be 'insensitive'. My view of a good critique is that when someone points out my flaws, they care enough about me to show me a mirror, not a fantasy. My two cents... If you've already had the first chapter well edited and want to guage response to it in a public forum, go for it! I'll check it out as well.
Thanks, Michael.
You are probably right on all levels. Now that I think about it no one is likely to tell me any hard truths. The only editing done to my first chapter would be my rewriting it several times so I guess it is not ready for that kind of scrutiny!
Checked out your web site after I posed the question and I am frankly surprised you had/took the time to give a detailed answer like this!
Thank you so much. I may post the darn thing anyway .....seems I read on someone's hub recently that there are no right or wrong ways to do this!!!
lol!!! Thanks for the laugh. I seem to remember someone hubbing that as well...
Hi Michael! Some good ideas here. When I get as far as considering selling my work, I will take your advice.
I've read through the comments as well. I'm a member of such a workshop, and what you say is absolutely correct.
Another interesting read ... I should be getting on with some writing :-)
All the best, Camlo
Thanks Camlo. Comments make my day. I believe every writer should put their stuff out there, especially in a way that will progress them further. I'm still learning every day. I appreciate your feedback.
Michael, we've had a few Hubbers who have posted not one, but several chapters of their novel both on HubPages and on other sites. What do you think of that as a promotional strategy?
Personally, I don't think it's a good idea. I can't see myself wanting to buy a book if I've already read Chapter 8, especially if I can see the author is posting chapter after chapter - so if I wait long enough, I'll get the whole thing free!
Hi Marisa, personally, I wouldn't want whole chapters on Hub Pages. George R. R. Martin puts entire chapters on his blog, but his books average over 1200 pages, so I suppose he can afford to do this. I might be inclined to place partial chapters, especially those parts that may entice a reader. I'd definitely shy away from exposition, but you shouldn't have large blocks of that in your novel anyway.
About the reading of the whole book for free. Our society is not patience oriented. Yes, there are those who might do that, but on the whole, people are bopping in and out pretty much like the frenetic paces of their lives. I believe you could get away with it.
I'm posting a 'serial' novel on one of my blogs. At this point I'm just writing on the fly hoping to catch an audience as an experiment.
Ultimately, I agree with you. I would not post entire chapters for consumption on Hub Pages, but it's more personal preference than 'knowledge' that this is a good or bad idea. Also, if I'm working on something, I do not care to expose it to the world until it's complete. This was an excellent comment, thank you.
Michael, how are you dealing with posting chapters of your "serial novel" so they present in the right order for late arrivals? By the way, it's perfectly OK to include a link to that blog in your reply, and you should also make any references to your blogs/websites proper hyperlinks on your Hub - it's allowed as long as there's only one per Hub, and it's a very effective technique to raise your blogs' search engine rankings.
Hi Marisa,
I'm getting where I look forward to your comments! The story I have going on my blog is something I'm building more off the top of my head than using anything structural. I always advise new writers NOT to attempt to write from page one to the end, but that's kind of what I'm doing with "Fiction's Footsteps" (http://dreadpiratedarkthorn.blogspot.com/ ) I'm creating on the fly. I enjoy it. The posts are in order, so if a person were to get interested, they can go back through the blog archive to get to the beginning. I wouldn't call them chapters either - more snippets or scenes. The working title is "The Cold Bite of Autumn".
Thanks for the tip on the link. I thought about doing that as I have seen others do it. My blog needs all the help it can get! My schedule has been crazy the past 48 hours. I hope to hop over to your hubs after I finish with the comments on mine. Thanks again!
Dolores Monet 2 years ago
Great tip but more time spent online, sheesh. Then you have to draw people to your blog! But you gotta do what you gotta do!