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Post by vrabinec on Aug 31, 2015 12:29:45 GMT -5
I dunno. I've destroyed every blog I ever built. I have a website up and almost fully functional (gotta finish putting the illustrations on there, get them password protected, and gotta get the mailchimp thing going), but I can't decide whether or not I want to actually blog. Every time I've written one, I end up looking back at my posts and saying, "What the fuck was I talking about? And why? That's boring as SHIT." My website |
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Post by Suzy on Aug 31, 2015 12:32:30 GMT -5
Your old blog was terrific. I loved it. But it's debatable if blogging actually sells books, of course. I don't think mine does. I haven't posted there for a long time.
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Post by scdaffron on Aug 31, 2015 13:12:47 GMT -5
I don't think blogging sells fiction much. (It can help sell nonfiction books though.) I think of it as more of a way to keep in touch with fans and a hub to point people to from social media. For example, I posted a request for dog adoption stories on my blog and posted about it on Facebook. I opened up comments just for that post, and the response was great. The people who gave me stories are very likely to buy the book now  Plus, if you set it up to feeds into your Amazon author page, it looks like you're still alive and writing which probably has value. I don't show dates on my blog posts, partly because I don't blog very often and partly because that way you can't tell how old some of the stuff is on my blog. I've been writing about pet-related stuff for more than a decade and it still gets traffic. It costs me nothing to leave the articles there and people who like pets might be readers of my books too. (It's a long shot but you never know--did I mention it costs me nothing?) |
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Post by Becca Mills on Aug 31, 2015 13:34:15 GMT -5
I don't show dates on my blog posts, partly because I don't blog very often and partly because that way you can't tell how old some of the stuff is on my blog. Smaaaaaart! |
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Post by lou on Aug 31, 2015 13:55:21 GMT -5
I sort of enjoy mine. It's a way to recycle all those hundreds of hours of research. (I'm an obsessive researcher.) I typically post once a week.
Does it sell books? I don't think so. Some person out there whom I don't think I know reprinted my post last week (without asking, but who gives a crap? when I'm this unknown, please, reprint all my blog posts you want if you just credit me!) and I got almost 150 new visitors to the blog, shocking me. (My biggest days are usually prepper article days, when I get 40 or so coming from google plus.) If I weren't blogging regularly, he probably wouldn't have found me. Did I get a spike in sales that day? Not that I could see. But what if that happened more than once? That might eventually do something for me.
I still wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it, though. I stay bland/journalistic in mine, but you have a strong personality that could be fun to read and reveals a lot about you, like Chuck Wendig.
I'd suggest you ask yourself these sorts of questions about blogging, twitter, facebook, etc:
Would you enjoy doing it?
Discounting the possibility of driving sales, would it help you in some other way? (developing a particular skill, for instance)
Would it screw up your writing time?
If someone read it, would they be more or less likely to buy your novels?
In short, ask "what's in it for me?" The rewards don't have to be financial. They might be something else.
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Post by carlos on Sept 2, 2015 12:33:15 GMT -5
I am the Hamlet of 'to blog or not to blog'. I haven't this summer--it was either too pleasant or too hot--but it's raining a little this morning. "Winter is coming." And maybe blogs, as well.
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Post by whdean on Sept 2, 2015 15:04:16 GMT -5
I liked what I read of your old blog.
No time for mine. Wish I did.
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