# Blogging and getting noticed



## MJCaan (Jan 1, 2013)

Are blogs still a good way to get the word out about your WIP?  It seems everyone is writing a book.  How do you get noticed?


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## Ilasir Maroa (Jan 3, 2013)

Blogs are still a good way to get noticed, but you have to keep in mind that a blog to gain visibility is going to be an entirely separate thing from your novel.  Also, a lot of author bloggers are saying they think group blogs might be the newest thing, and that individual author blogs are not as useful or attractive to readers as they once were.

If you're going to use a blog to gain readers, then you need to have a clear plan.  A great blog may not get you readers, but a lame blog, provided people can actually find it in its obscurity, is definitely going to turn people off.


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## Interrobang (Jan 24, 2013)

For a blog to have any measure of success it has to deliver information that's useful to the reader. The better blogs are all 'about' something, not just random comments. Pick a subject connected with your writing, develop some expertise in that area and write about it regularly.


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## shadowwalker (Jan 24, 2013)

I've always wondered about the logic behind blogging to bring attention to one's book. Seems one would have to spend as much time and effort getting the blog noticed as they would getting the book noticed. Or maybe I'm missing something...


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## Jon M (Jan 24, 2013)

shadowwalker said:


> I've always wondered about the logic behind blogging to bring attention to one's book. Seems one would have to spend as much time and effort getting the blog noticed as they would getting the book noticed. Or maybe I'm missing something...


... because if you are smart and do it right, you accomplish both of these things simultaneously.


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## Woodroam (Jan 27, 2013)

Who reads Blogs? That is the question. If blog people are the kind of people who would also like your book then Blogs are a good way to promote if you can get people to your Blog, which is another problem -- Can you drive people from Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter to your Blog?

There is a book: How I Sold 1 million eBooks in 5 months by John Loche. He talks about using social media to drive sales.


I don't think that many readers of my genre would read a blog and I'm too busy with new writing projects to invest the time.


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## PiP (Mar 23, 2013)

Many writers I know have successfully used social media (twitter, Facebook etc) to promote their books. Their blogs provide a platform to interact with people, attract followers which in turn provides a ready made base for promoting their books. A new idea is gradually evolving through the blogosphere where authors help to promote their "buddies" book through a virtual book tour etc  This is especially useful if you for example live in the Domincan Republic but your book is released in the USA/UK These interviews receive tweets and retweets, likes and various other "shares" so you are expanding your reach.

IMHO A blog is not always about helping "YOU" but interacting with people. I think of blogging in terms of "You reap what you sow"

Here is a link to an authors website which shows a virtual book tour in action and how you can use bloggers etc to help promote your book:  http://mentalpause-thenovel.blogspot.pt/2013/02/mental-pause-virtual-book-tour-schedule.html
This lady is an American who lives in Thailand. This is her blog http://www.anne-writingjustbecause.blogspot.com/

Hope this helps?
PiP


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## Ilasir Maroa (Mar 25, 2013)

Blogging is not about promoting your book.  Blogging is about blogging.  You can certainly have an informational site about your book with blog features, but if all you're doing is posting about your book, no one's going to read your blog.  John Scalzi has one of the most successful blogs out there by a writer.  But his blog isn't about promoting his books.  He had a blog before he had books, and most of the posts are not his-books-related.  The same is true for most other famous bloggers.


You can absolutely promote your book(s) on your blog, but that should not be its main purpose.


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## TWErvin2 (Mar 30, 2013)

Ilasir Maroa said:


> Blogging is not about promoting your book. Blogging is about blogging. You can certainly have an informational site about your book with blog features, but if all you're doing is posting about your book, no one's going to read your blog. John Scalzi has one of the most successful blogs out there by a writer. But his blog isn't about promoting his books. He had a blog before he had books, and most of the posts are not his-books-related. The same is true for most other famous bloggers.
> 
> 
> You can absolutely promote your book(s) on your blog, but that should not be its main purpose.



This is accurate. Ask yourself how much you would read/follow/return to a blog, or be tempted to try a blogger's novel(s) if all and author did on the blog was advertise his/her novel(s)?


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## empresstheresa (Apr 9, 2013)

Nobody will ever notice your blog.  They have to be led to it.

You can get your friends to look it up, but if they're not absolutely fascinated by everything you say they won't get other people to look at it.  So it stops there.  The millions will never hear of your blog.

I have a website:  empresstheresa.com  It's named for my book Empress Theresa.  
I happens that there was an Austrian queen at the time Austria was part on an empire.  She was called Empress Maria Theresa.
It appears that some people look her up by doing a web search on the keywords Empress Theresa.  When they do the search results list my website near the top, often the second or third item.  The result is that my website has one or two visitors a day, sometimes several on the weekend.

Did I plan it that way?  No.  I just said all this to show what you're up against in attracting people to your blog.


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## word (May 17, 2013)

Ilasir Maroa said:


> Blogging is not about promoting your book.  Blogging is about blogging.  You can certainly have an informational site about your book with blog features, but if all you're doing is posting about your book, no one's going to read your blog.  John Scalzi has one of the most successful blogs out there by a writer.  But his blog isn't about promoting his books.  He had a blog before he had books, and most of the posts are not his-books-related.  The same is true for most other famous bloggers.



Blogging for blogging sake is it a good way to make some extra cash. If so how would you go about it?


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## JamesOliv (May 23, 2013)

empresstheresa said:


> Nobody will ever notice your blog.  They have to be led to it.
> 
> You can get your friends to look it up, but if they're not absolutely fascinated by everything you say they won't get other people to look at it.  So it stops there.  The millions will never hear of your blog.
> 
> ...




Ahh, traffic for traffic's sake. 

You can put your book on a website located at Free Mortgage Quotes & Interest Rates | Mortgages.com. Our probably get a lot of traffic from people searching the word "mortgage." The problem is that if I'm searching for an Austrian Empress, I am likely not going to stop and be intrigued by a website about a book of a similar name. The days of hit counting have long since passed. Now, thanks to google analytics, we can get a much clearer picture of visitor engagement (time spent viewing the site). I know that I get at least 10 hits per month based upon people googling "James Olivieri, Montana." They visit for less than two seconds. These people stumbling upon my site don't really help with anything. 

When you promote a website, you want people to be interested in your subject matter to be visiting you.


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## marina (Jun 13, 2013)

Ilasir Maroa said:


> Blogging is not about promoting your book.  Blogging is about blogging.  You can certainly have an informational site about your book with blog features, but if all you're doing is posting about your book, no one's going to read your blog.  John Scalzi has one of the most successful blogs out there by a writer.  But his blog isn't about promoting his books.  He had a blog before he had books, and most of the posts are not his-books-related.  The same is true for most other famous bloggers.
> 
> 
> You can absolutely promote your book(s) on your blog, but that should not be its main purpose.



Food for thought - I haven't got a book yet to promote; I've just been experimenting with off-the-beaten-track travel guides plus a few (what I hope are interesting to other people) personal posts.  I guess once I have my book ready to go I will carry on with my blog as it is and have an advertisement at the foot.


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