Support for Indie Authors discussion

Hi all,

I'm really curious to hear what you guys think of blogging. Once upon a time, blogging and newsletters and even Twitter and Facebook were considered indispensable for authors to promote their work and build their brand.

But the more I read, the more I'm sensing that this maybe isn't the case. It seems like a huge time commitment (time that could be spent writing another novel, for example), and there's so little return if you're not getting any readership (which I know takes years to build). Even social media seems to be a dud. No matter what I post on Twitter and how many hashtags I use, I'm having a hard time engaging potential readers.

Do you guys have any thoughts on whether blogs are still viable? If Twitter really is the big promotional vehicle we think it is? And if not, then what do you think are the channels we as authors should be using?

Thanks!

Personally, I find blogging to be a great way to not only keep your skills fine tuned but it also provides fresh content for your audience. I find it as a great way to do cross promotion and build my audience for new projects.

I blog because I wrote something and I need somewhere to post it. I don't expect anybody to read it.

I'm just getting into Twitter, but I can give you some advice from my wife. She has 10 times the followers as I do because she follows other people and retweets what they say. It seems to work a lot better than what I've been doing, which is just posting things and hoping somebody will like it.

Ulises wrote: "Hi all,

I'm really curious to hear what you guys think of blogging. Once upon a time, blogging and newsletters and even Twitter and Facebook were considered indispensable for authors to promote th..."

Hi All:
There is nothing the reader appreciates more than the opportunity to talk directly to his author. This element is absolutely critical to "platform." You can have a FB, twitter, Pinterest, Google etc. presence, but if you don't have some means by which your reader can send you a direct email, you don't REALLY have a platform.
To discover this myself, I created a FB fan page, then I started to realize the benefits of a direct connection to my readers. Now I can see just how vital that direct connect is to more sales.
So now, I'm not only going to keep my FB page, I'm also going to launch a blog. Hopefully, I will get a double-whammy with 2X the exposure.
One thing I'm learning about marketing books; you have to learn what doesn't work before you discover what does. It can be a very long and frustrating process.
Selling books is basically just making friends.
John

Ulises, you hit the nail on the head. If it comes down to if you only have time to write and edit, or spend time blogging about what you haven't been able to write because you're too busy with social media, shut the world out and write.

Once you have two or three finished books, then budget time in say, three social media platforms. Everybody wants to know the magic bullet for success.

If I've gleaned anything from other authors, successful and unsuccessful is this:
Get an awesome book cover, get a professional editing job, and be willing to runs sales and pay for ads, maintain an author's website.

Rule of thumb I second and third books sell your first one.

Morris wrote: "Ulises, you hit the nail on the head. If it comes down to if you only have time to write and edit, or spend time blogging about what you haven't been able to write because you're too busy with soci..."

Hi Everyone:
I'm tried FB, Twitter, Bookbub and Kindle ads, not to mention ENT, Pixels of Ink, Fussy Librarian etc. To date, I have found that FB works best, but you have to spend some time experimenting.
Like all Indie writers, I am always caught between dividing my time between writing and marketing. The creative writer in me tells me I don't have time for selling books; the greedy capitalist inside me says I'm going broke until I do more marketing.
Over the past few months, I've tried to divide it up. Mornings for writing and afternoon for marketing. It's a constant struggle. Such is the life of an Indie author.

Hi all, thank you for your insights. I appreciate the discussion and you've definitely provided some excellent food for thought.

My takeaway from all this is that, yes, even though there's no silver bullet or platform that will help you generate instant sales, it's important nonetheless to always keep the light on, so to speak. That to keep a presence online and give your readers something to find in case they're looking for it is better than to do nothing.

Alex, great points on creating that distinction between what you want to share with the world and what you don't.

Morris, I love your point about how it's your second or third books that sell the first. By that math, I'm one away :)

John, great point about how selling books is essentially about making friends.

These are great perspectives, everyone. Thank you!

I'm hoping to create a blog schedule today and just keep going on Twitter even though most of my tweets go into a black hole. Writing for a blog has been fun in the past; I tended to just get discouraged by the lack of engagement. But I guess I think of it now as necessary marketing. as you say, John. Not the most fun thing, but a definite capitalist evil :)

To be honest, I was the reader who'd read a book and that's it. I never sought an Author out on any kind of social media platform even with an eReader. I never checked out blogs or left reviews on sales pages. I just read the book, and looked out for the next one by checking the sales page on B&N, Amazon, or BookAMillion a few months later. I didn't know how important ratings & reviews were.

Now that I'm an Author, I made all of those social media pages as well, but I'm not sure it's helpful yet. In time as I write more, it will probably be beneficial. It's just so time consuming.

FB and Twitter has been okay at times when I promote, but I never checked Twitter or FB for books when I was a reader searching for my next book. I usually found books by doing keyword searches on Amazon or B&N.

Is blogging useful? It's probably helpful to have it available for those readers who do search you out online. When you build that large readership, it will be helpful if you already have a site in place where people can check on what you're writing or check on behind the scene things about past books.

I find that paying to be featured and put in an email/newsletter to be the most effective way to get my books downloaded during a promotion. When not promoting? I would say to go to forums, groups, or websites that focus on your genre. Reach out to a book review blogger. The best way to be found is to be visible. The more lines you cast for your book, the better chance you have of a reader finding it.

Quick note: let's not turn this into yet another discussion on what marketing tactics work best. We have a whole folder for chasing that elusive beast known as financial success.

As for blogging, you really need to ask yourself if it is something you enjoy. Alex hit the nail on the head. Readers are likely to simply want book updates. Blog readers want more, but may not care a lick about your book. A lot of authors seem to blog at authors and I sure can see why a reader might pass that up. Heck, I'm an author and I pass up author oriented blogs.

Personally? I have a blog. I have a very neglected blog where I occasionally interview fellow authors, rant and rave over technology, and occasionally give my pitch for the stuff I do. Does it sell book? Hardly. Do people engage? Rarely. Do I post regularly? Hell no. But I post enough and enjoy doing so enough that I won't give it up. It's simply another outlet of artistic expression.

@Ulises: First things first...

*waves happily*

Hiii and nice to meet ya! Okay, I just wanna comment on the newsletter thing cuz I've personally found it's my most effective "tool" or whatevs when it comes to launching books annnd this does go hand-in-hand with my "blogging" cuz I email my subscribers on a weekly basis (I realize this seems too often and it might be but I'm not stopping LOL)

Aaron wrote: "Personally, I find blogging to be a great way to not only keep your skills fine tuned but it also provides fresh content for your audience. I find it as a great way to do cross promotion and build my audience for new projects."

Totes agree with all this goodness.

Well, minus the fact I don't technically "blog" haha just post random flash fiction, sneak peeks, etc. on a weekly basis. Kinda sorta the same-ish, though, right? Maybe? Anyhoo, I like having them suggest prompts from which I write scenes/fiction/etc. cuz 1) I love interacting with readers, and 2) I just wanna give back something extra to the lovely peeps who always support me, ya know?

So, yeah, I think it depends on what you're trying to achieve with your blogging. Like, if you're looking to engage existing readers, then anything interactive is fabulousness. If you're trying to build a readership, then blog posts that will be searched for on Google by your target audience might be a better bet...?

Just my random thoughts, obvi. Best of luck!! ^_^

Hugs,
Ann

Christina wrote: "Quick note: let's not turn this into yet another discussion on what marketing tactics work best. We have a whole folder for chasing that elusive beast known as financial success.

As for blogging,..."
Great post, Christina. Your experience & experiment with blogging is almost my exact experience. Haphazard - sure. Creative outlet - absolutely. Thanks for sharing.

Ulises wrote: "Hi all,

I'm really curious to hear what you guys think of blogging. Once upon a time, blogging and newsletters and even Twitter and Facebook were considered indispensable for authors to promote th..."

Should is a very relative term. luck, demographics of each media, the author's skills in each, etc. All must take a place in our efforts. I've banks of "friends" & "likes" & "communities" of authors. Each has a different version, as well as success rate, in the media they use. I figure you have to have a certain amount of charisma and a demonstrable allure/personality over time to gather interest. Nothing is indispensable & everything is indispensable. I'm trying to be persistent and flexible.

Best of luck. And please share any wisdom you gleam on your journey.

All good questions, which I should imagine we all ponder at times. I have a blog, but don't post that frequently, and find that it attracts little more than spammers offering SEO or 'fresh content'. The golden piece of wisdom dispensed by many self-published authors is that the mailing list is the key to your success, but if nobody visits your blog anyway, how do you build up a mailing list? Blog pieces that I've done for fellow authors have probably been more worthwhile.

I spend a lot of time on Facebook, having joined many interest groups which overlap with the kinds of fiction that I write. These aren't specifically aimed at fiction, and many of them aren't linked to fiction at all, but I can post a promotional message on a handful of them from time to time if it fits with the interests of the group. Even then I do so sparingly, as I don't want to be perceived as a spammer, and I post content fairly regularly which has nothing to do with my writing.

Does it work? Is it worth it? Time will tell, but engagement with Facebook has certainly raised awareness of my existence as an author, and a number of downloads and purchases have resulted. I would caution against paying for Facebook advertising though, as even a post with a reach of several thousand is unlikely - on its own - to yield a sale, as I know from the extensive reach of a number of my posts. As for the blog, I'm not aware of it having generated anything other than spam, much of it of a very surreal quality.

With respect to Twitter, I haven't quite figured out how to use it given the absence of a mailing list, so I really can't say how effective it is. That said, there will be others of a longer standing in this group who will be able to offer you better, and more seasoned, advice, as I'm only ten months into the indie author adventure. As John says, marketing can take up a lot of your time and potentially detract from your writing. It's a tricky balance to maintain. Good luck!

Ulises wrote: "Hi all,

I'm really curious to hear what you guys think of blogging. Once upon a time, blogging and newsletters and even Twitter and Facebook were considered indispensable for authors to promote th..."

Thus far, the best results I have had is with FB ads. John

Blogs are useful, from what I've seen, for things like posting blog tours and promo posts for other authors and building networking that way. I use mine to post quick updates about what I'm working on, and to share other indies' news. I find it's a good supplement for other social networking, but it's not the bread and butter of my networking presence.

It's just like writing in general. It's important to figure out what you want to say, what interests you. Write about things you want to share, ideally things that relate to your writing, and that will eventually build you a following.

Admittedly, I have a pretty laid back attitude toward this sort of thing, so take my advice with a grain of salt. Blogging is just like everything else. It's what you make of it, and it will only work if you can find a way for it to come from the heart and interest you.

I think in the overall it will depend as everyone says, for me blogging is about helping authors and books to get more audience or to be best known about readers circles so more people can recommend a book if they have liked it or even just peek tjeyre interest. now for me everytime I do this is a new friend I gain, very personally I can see authors as just bookmakers as other people seem to do, but as good friends that make great books for everyone to read and as friends I want to help them as much as I can so what else can I say. and there are people out there that love to connect with authors, sometimes I see instagram usually is better for this since theyre pictures and such. hope this helps a little.

Thanks so much everybody for sharing. I don't have anything to share yet as I'm just figuring things out, having just self published my first book. Your discussion is super helpful. Just wanted to say thanks!! :)

First of all, let me say i've never blogged so my comments must be seen from the point of view of a consumer rather than a creator.

From what i see, the net is stuffed with blogs - almost every website claims to have one and they generally suffer the same malaise: nobody reads them so they gradually fall into disrepair. Most of the blogs i stick my nose into were last updated one, two, sometimes three years ago and for very understandable reasons. They're hard work. Thinking of something new/funny/interesting to write/say on a weekly if not daily basis, on top of your day job, is a very tall order indeed.

Unless you gush words and they're words worth reading, i'd say an out of date blog will do more harm than good to your standing. It's a sad fact that, as everybody writes more and more words and makes them universally available, fewer and fewer people take the time to read them. We'd rather look at pictures and will grudgingly read words only when they're written by a celebrity we've heard of.

I know my views sound cynical but my shilling will always go on writing more books and better books. Leave blogs for those who can't.

As a reader, I think author blogs can go either way. I used to not care much about authors, but sometimes I loved a book so much that I would look up the author.

One author in particular whom I admire much has a website with additional material to complement his books (high resolution maps, for example). He is also active on facebook and engages with his fans.

I used to comment on his posts, but then went traveling for a while. When I started commenting again, he replied to my comment saying "Hey Kat, good to read you again." It was a small gesture, but I can tell you it went down like honey. Also, we live on opposite sides of the planet, so I cannot (ever) get to a book signing of his. He solved that by sending me some autographed bookplates to stick into the front of my novels, so I can have "signed" books as well.

I'm now a die-hard fan not only of his books, but also of him as a person and will buy anything he publishes.

An example to the opposite effect was another author with a blog, who wrote a trilogy I devoured and wanted more of. Her books were great! Her blog - not so much. She kept going on and on about how great an achievement it is to have published books, and how much time she spent researching the clothes her female lead character was wearing.

I think it went to the extent that she spun her own wool to weave her own linen to then make a model of the tunic her character was supposed to be wearing. Only that the character's clothes were not mentioned in her books even once, and the picture she posted looked like a million other tunics from any of a million medieval-style generic fantasy. All the while congratulating herself on how great she did.

That was such a turn-off that I don't want to stroke her ego any further and won't be reading any more books by her, even though I initially loved them.

Both of these experiences are very personal, and other people might dislike the first author for his facebook posts and love the detailed research of the second one.

As an unpublished wannabe-author myself, I have a blog. I posted about once a month, about my writing experience, about what I'm reading myself, and a couple of fairytales I wrote. I have to admit I let it slide and haven't posted anything for ages because I'm busy. However, somehow I have acquired 52 followers without linking or advertising anywhere, and none of them is my mother.

I think if I started posting again, even just once or twice a month, it might attract a few more people. If I advertised the blog, maybe even a dozen. Some might buy the book if I ever finish it. Most might not. But if I DO finish my book some day and I get asked "Do you have a website?" I want to have something that I can point to that hasn't been set up in a hurry 2 weeks before publication and only contains 2 posts.

My 2 cents :-)

i decided to start blogging for two reasons:

1. Preview chapters to new releases. It helps stir up interest, obviously (Staying well within the KDP guidelines of no more than 10%)
2. Someone asked about how I came up with my ideas and I thought it would be fun to post about that. Stephen King did that in one of his short story compilations (Everything's Eventual) and I thought it was a fun addition to the stories.

I know I was introduced to a number of authors in my genre who posted blogs about how to write/publish.

I keep going back and forth on whether to start a blog or not. I see there are great reasons for both sides here, but I feel like if I do start a blog, I'll feel guilty if I neglect it, or if I post regularly, it would be taking up precious time I could spend working on my next book.

Peri wrote: "I keep going back and forth on whether to start a blog or not. I see there are great reasons for both sides here, but I feel like if I do start a blog, I'll feel guilty if I neglect it, or if I pos..."
I hear ya! I felt the same. I didn't want it to zap my creativity or always feel pressured about writing something outside of my characters.

But I have found that I enjoy guest posting. It feels somehow fresh and new each time and I enjoy that they occasionally throw a topic my way. Then I don't have to think so hard. ;)

I slap the content as a link on my own website, and then my readers can get to know me better if they want to. It feels like a better win than if I were to not do anything at all.

Everyone has opinions on this.

If you like blogging, go for it.

For me, I have highs and lows on SM energy and sometimes I hide for a while... I can't keep a blog regular, and if you don't keep it regular, you'll never have regular readers.

If you know you can maintain and enjoy the work, do it!

Me, I don't read blogs so I figure I shouldn't bother writing them. Just my opinion!

I actually do have a blog where I only update on events/things that matter to my actual writing career/books coming out/appearance, etc.

Not blogging?

Considered hot air balloons writing in the sky?

This from a woman who only blogs on Goodreads and has only had a Facebook page for a month. LOL

Why not smoke signals and drum-rolls too?

I haven't blogged much but you guys have inspired me to start! :) Maybe once a week, don't want to overdo it! lol

I think blogging is a good thing for an author to do. Yes, it can be difficult, especially when you're up to your eyeballs with a writing project, life itself, or just have that dreadful "WB" (writer's block). But overall, it's worth it. I've learned that people do read it, even if they don't actively engage/comment on things. And you really don't have to do it that often to keep an audience - at least once a week at least usually keeps people coming back for more.

Amie wrote: "Peri wrote: "I keep going back and forth on whether to start a blog or not. I see there are great reasons for both sides here, but I feel like if I do start a blog, I'll feel guilty if I neglect it..."

Guest posting seems like the best of both worlds at this point!

I have a blog and I have a Facebook page and I can't say for sure if either one is helping me out with sales. What I can say, at least, is that for me, personally, I find Facebook easier to work with since it's not as time consuming as trying to come up with something to blog about.

With Facebook I can post a few funny words, a quick book rec, or a book-related meme I may come across and I'm done for that day. But coming up with something to blog about is like pulling teeth. My brain just doesn't want to do it. My blog I mostly use to post story snippets, art work, and announcements.

Mileage varies with all of it, though, and at the end of the day you should go with whatever seems to be working best or whatever platform you enjoy the most.

I work as a digital marketer in my day job and I know the amount of effort required to make a blog successful, which is why I haven't started blogging to support my author's website. I enjoy writing fiction and have only so much free-time to get writing in. I know I should focus on it more, but maybe once my next book sells 1 MM copies I'll be able to quit the day job and focus on the website/blog full-time... (I dare to dream)

Blogging is great. It's a chance for authors help each other and share promotional tips. It's like any business - you have to support your peers and network. Sharing comes back to you in the end anyway, so do it!

I have gone back and forth about blogging a lot. I ultimately decided to start one next month. I really want to write about a topic that is not directly related to my work writing fiction. Its more of a creative urge than for promotional purposes. Does anyone have any experience with doing this? I am curious if I can effect any cross-over; get folks who follow my blog to become interested in my novels? Thanks in advance!

@Cay: I have a Goodreads blog. It is totally randomly fuelled and I very rarely use it to promote my books, but it's slowly gathering a little following....

And that IMHO is what any kind of blog is for.

So just do what you want. There isn't a magic bullet.

Jane wrote: "@Cay: I have a Goodreads blog. It is totally randomly fuelled and I very rarely use it to promote my books, but it's slowly gathering a little following....

And that IMHO is what any kind of blog ..."

Thank you! Its great to learn from your experience.

Blogging requires a consistent, coherent approach - hats off to those dedicated bloggers who manage to do this, but my gipsy lifestyle and my incessant travelling do not permit this kind of literary adventure - so in my "spare" time I write books. I understand that each chapter could be published as blog material which often arouses the curiosity of readers to turn them into potential buyers of the book, complete with front and back covers.

Cay wrote: "I have gone back and forth about blogging a lot. I ultimately decided to start one next month. I really want to write about a topic that is not directly related to my work writing fiction. Its …Does anyone have any experience with doing this? "

If you just run a personal blog, rather than a 'themed' one, then you can write about anything :) So that can include any animals you may have, gardens, books (reviews), holidays/travel, where you live, politics (!), local history, walking, etc. My last post was about how one of my dogs looks like the Egyptian god Anubis. Today's will be about Gib, a quick follow-up pic to Anubis, and a review.

I do read a lot of writing/book blogs but I find personal blogs more appealing. Can you get people interested in your novels? If your blog is well written and sufficiently interesting, yes. If it's dull and boring …

I've heard it said that you don't want to focus on writing/your book only. Instead focus on other things, things you are passionate about.

My blog currently is mostly writing-related and I am considering starting up another blog for non-writing stuff and using that instead.

Alex wrote: "I've been struggling with my blog recently, I put anything and everything on it as my fancy is struck but the last few weeks I've found it difficult to find the interest to do anything with it.
Hop..."

I've been posting limericks

Jane, I second that. Sounds like fun. :D

Seems to be slowly gaining a bit of a following....

John wrote: "Ulises wrote: "Hi all,

I'm really curious to hear what you guys think of blogging. Once upon a time, blogging and newsletters and even Twitter and Facebook were considered indispensable for author..."

Great way to look at it!

Update! Well, I took the plunge and launched my blog through Tumblr - on a techie's advice! I am retiring and am going with this as my running theme. So far its been a lot of fun to write - and I am glad - at least after a month - that I am doing this for my own self-expression if nothing else. Thanks for all the comments and thoughts - it helped me move ahead!

Blogging has advantages you don't get from any other promotional strategy I can think of. It gives you a way to put out content you don't intend to professionally publish, a platform you control, and something of value to offer other authors. Also, it's free or nearly free.

For example, Facebook used to be a great way to sell books, but Facebook's constantly changing their algorithms. Now it's hard to get your posts seen even by your followers. But that kind of change can't happen on a blog you control.

Yes, it takes time to build a following, but you don't have to pay to get followers. And if you review (honestly but kindly) other authors' books on your blog, you're helping them get seen and hopefully building the kind of industry relationships that pay off in the long run.

Plus, it gives you a website! As a reader, if I can't find a writer's website, that's a red flag.

I don't blog regularly or about one specific thing but I enjoying having the option to blog. I think it comes down to personal tastes and whether you wanna do it.

I think I might be getting a proper blog and I'm crapping myself. But would it be helpfu, if and when, if I detailed how and what happened.....

I've been blogging for nearly 8 years now, sometimes more regularly, sometimes not. I've found it more of a way to connect with other writers than with readers, for example my beta readers have mostly come from blogging connections.

My main blog is more of a personal blog. There are writing-related posts there - progress & updates, writing advice (e.g. visual tools and writers block) - but also family posts, news, vacations, pets etc. I also have other themed blogs that are nothing to do with writing.

Many authors incorporate their blog into their website. I kept mine separate (although linked to each other). My website is specific to writing and art, and includes worldbuilding and other background material as a supplement to the books.

In this game, I don't think there's a "should" or "shouldn't". It's all a matter of what works for you, and what you want to get out of it. Above all else, if it feels like hard work it may not be the right avenue for you.