Support for Indie Authors discussion

My writer's blog has been a love hate relationship I can't seem to quit. Some people insist I have one, others don't think it helps. What I do know, it's time consuming, along with keeping up with Facebook and Twitter. It's like standing in the middle of main street, directing traffic. Or at a crowded party trying to make small talk with strangers.
My main concern and question, is what to write? Putting down every moment in my writer's life seems both tedious and boring. I'd understand if I were a famous writer with a following of millions. But it's just little ole me.
If you have blogs (that you love) I'm desperate for a bit of advice. What in the writing gods do I write about weekly, monthly or even yearly. Short of putting up my family summer vacation photos, I've run out of ideas. Any help is appreciated.

I'll tell you what I do - but say right away it might not work for you.

For me, a blog serves several purposes:
1) organizing my thoughts on various topics
2) practicing my writing skills in a different way than writing a book
3) sharing my writing progress
4) talking about what I like to do

I try to write three posts per week (and am mostly successful in that the past two months) but won't force it. There are those who do just weekly and some even with no rule to it at all. I have it easier by not using any social media so I am rid of some other load.

What I write about is a mix: book reviews (longer than on GR where I keep them to 2-3 paragraphs), errant thoughts sparked by my writing/reading, inspiration for writing, retelling of my hiking (with some photos) and some other things that are relevant to my main three hobbies: writing, reading, hiking. I keep the posts around 400-500 words.
The main thing is that you should find a joy in it and do it for yourself, or not do it at all. If you force yourself to it, it'll suffer - and it's possibly better to give up on it. I started my blog as a way to exercise writing when my creative part was slumbering. Writing about random thoughts or retelling moments from my life does not need so much creativity but works to practice writing.

If you'd want to have a look (and see what I write about), the link is in my profile.
Also, I will say it outright: my daily views are in the range of 0-20 (most when I actually post something) so I am no expert. Then, again, I am doing it mostly for myself.
I hope I helped at least somewhat. Good luck finding what works for you.

If you'd like to know what bloggers I follow (it'd be a short list), contact me (either PM on Goodreads or through my web). I'll not be able to respond tomorrow, though.

If you're writing non-fiction, you'd be blogging about that topic.

Blogs about all aspects of writing and publishing abound. But that it translates into readers of your books, I don't think that claim can actually be made.

I subscribe to a few blogs but I don't read the books of those authors. What does that tell you?

If you have limited time and nothing fresh to write about, I'd say don't write one, focus on other ways to sell your books: great cover, great book description, good writing (use Beta readers for feedback), the right categories and keywords, getting reviews by doing promotions like free days.

If you write a blog, you now have to promote that AND your books.

Spend your time and effort where it counts.

I can write about a lot of things, usually in a humorous way :), but if I do it takes away from novel writing, and that is where I am concentrating now. I also read only a few blog posts a year. They tend to be too long or they rant and I'm not interested in either.

I would much rather (and do) follow someone on Twitter and see an occasional comment. Often the comments are concise versions of something on their blog and that works well. :)

Unless you are doing something like hiking the Appalachian Trail and you want to turn it into a book later, blogging can be a waste of time. Alfred Hitchcock said that a movie/novel is life with all the boring parts cut out. As writers we need to find issues of value to our readers and write about those.

Had to deleted a couple of comments. Jill is asking for advice about blogging, not for us to show her our blogs. Tomas has the right idea. If you really think Jill would benefit from seeing your blog or someone else's offer to send her a PM.

Thanks.

I don't blog, but I do post my weekly flash fiction to my website, as well as my goodreads blog, I also post it on Facebook on my author page and in my reader group. I don't get many views on my website, but I tweet the goodreads blog a couple of times throughout the week and usually get between 50 and 100 views. My reader group is where I ask for my readers to give me prompts for the next week, I usually get at least five readers giving me prompts plus other readers liking it. Its a great way to be interactive with your readers and I often do ongoing stories that last a couple of weeks and my readers get really invested in the characters and stories. The person I first started doing flash fiction with did it from her blog so thats always something you could try out

I would find a topic or hobby that you love. I am a recent cancer survivor so I wrote about my journey. I am also a Christian and I question everything. So when I have a question, I try to find an answer to it and then write about it.
A blog is sort of like a short story. I am not out looking for followers. But my blog is linked to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. At first I didn't have many followers but I am finding that I am picking up quite a few.
Just write from your heart and pick topics that interest you.

When I returned to writing fiction (after having two thrillers published twenty years ago) I was told that these days an author needs to blog and be on social media etc etc. So, I launched a blog and joined Twitter.
I don't know what good it does for selling your book because I haven't finished mine yet, but I do enjoy blogging. I've been a writer, journalist, TV producer, so writing is not that difficult for me.

I post strictly once a week at the same time each week, and I blog about different topics : for writers who follow me, I post about tips and advice I've picked up from various writer workshops, seminars, wrting boot camps and how-to books, sometimes I write about my own writing process. For non-writers, I'll blog about interesting TV series in my genre (thrillers) or interesting books I've read (like Tomas above, those books that I feel rate a longer review than just in Goodreads.) Also because I do not have a Facebook account, I sometimes use my blog to share lovely photos of places I've visited for pleasure and for research.
On those weeks when work on my manuscript has not gone so well, I find that posting a blog means that I have at least produced something. I've found that it takes a really long time to build up a readership but it does happen slowly and steadily over time - especially when you're not paying attention to your stats!

I was thinking of blog-only per the OP, but in terms of a an actual website, yes, I read those and they tend to be focused on one topic with different aspects. So for a crime writer, I think focus on crime, research, reviews, would be interesting. Or recipes, too. :)

And flash fiction.

I just thought of something. Maybe you're already doing this. Since Maggie and Odessa have a bakery you could have their favorite recipes. There is a crime book with a Christmas theme, short stories by a number of authors, and recipes are interspersed. You could add pictures of cakes and stuff, candy. :) That would be fun. Distracting but fun. :)

I blog once a week, and while I do not have a huge number of readers, my book sales did improve significantly after I started and got established. Still not huge sales, though, and what has happened does not prove causation.

I write non-fiction that is genuinely fresh science, and fiction that ranges from techno-thriller to science fiction with political-economic background that is also in the thriller mould. Accordingly, why I try to do in my blog is write articles that are informative about the background. For example, now I am commenting on the IPCC recent report, the purpose being to show my scientific credentials and also comment on economic impacts. The more general purpose is to show credibility for having informative backgrounds to my novels.

My view is that a blog that establishes, or at least tries to establish, credibility for your background, etc, is worth having. However, a blog on writing experiences, etc, is in my opinion simply entering an oversaturated field. Perhaps try whatever you feel like, and if it doesn't do any good, you can always give it up.

Tomas wrote: "I'll tell you what I do - but say right away it might not work for you.

For me, a blog serves several purposes:
1) organizing my thoughts on various topics
2) practicing my writing skills in a dif..."

Tomas,

This is very practical advice and I will take a look, thanks.

I'm not a prolific blogger as I can't ever come up with what to write about. Go figure. I can sit and come up with viable ideas for novels but not what to say in a blog. The end result is I try to blog once every two weeks. My best results have been when I post a Pinterest pin I've made. I put them on Pinterest, my author FB page and website with links to the website. As to Twitter and Instagram, pllfftt. I've better uses of my time, such as writing. As to my pins, they range from upbeat messages to things like What makes a character. They are geared for readers, but I've discovered a lot of writers also like them. The pins are fun and most of them I can get 500 words about them.

John wrote: "You may access my blog here:"

John didn't read message 6.

If blogging does improve sales, to me it's worth it. Gonna set up my own soon enough. As indies, we don't have a PR company to advocate for us... we have to do it ourselves. I think that you could probably keep it simple... book links, summaries of each of your novels... fire off like, one post a week with some quotes or some discussion of your upcoming work. It should be enough for reader engagement.

Tomas wrote: "I'll tell you what I do - but say right away it might not work for you.

For me, a blog serves several purposes:
1) organizing my thoughts on various topics
2) practicing my writing skills in a dif..."

A very helpful response, Tomas! Thank you for taking the time!

Blogging works for me in three ways:

1. It's a means of gaining exposure and discovery for my writing.
2. It allows me to comment on topics I'm passionate about, independent of my writing.
3. It channels feedback on others perspectives.

Many people have posted excellent ideas here. I'll try to add my two cents:

In Goodreads I only have three followers at the moment, but I've gotten more than 150 views in some of my blog posts. From where do they come, I don't know. I have tons of things to speak about, but I usually write about it in my books, not in blogs. Doing what other people do, like putting pieces of related content and having to think about it, would be mortally boring for me, so what I post is my artwork. Related to my books, of course. Art skill is of no matter: I have seen blogs with pics made in all levels of art skills, and by all levels, I do mean all levels.

That said, I have been doing my best to finish my second book before the end of this month (which I won't be able to; I'll need more time) and haven't blogged or posted or anything, devoting my energy to it and it alone. Writing comes first!

So my advice would be: writing first, blogging in spare time. But it shouldn't be hard!

I have a blog because a long time ago, I blogged and met a great little community of bloggers. One of those bloggers is still a good friend of mine (and a fellow author) and she encouraged me to start another blog which I did, about one month after I published my first novel through KDP. For a time, I kept up with it, blogging about issues relevant to my genres as well as some fun stuff. But it was a chore to keep up with,so I mostly stopped

And then I bought a domain, thinking it would encourage me to write more. It didn't.

I'm a sporadic blogger at best, but I agree with you. Writing about writing is kind of tedious and I find that I'm not even jazzed about those types of posts. Every once in a while I'll post about some generic aspect of writing, but I've found using my blog as more of a "what's going on with me" every now and then, peppered with some more "fun" posts (I have a "mascot" who occasionally posts his disdain for humans while begrudgingly giving "awards" to books I've enjoyed) keeps me somewhat relevant.

I'm pretty sure I'm not selling books based on my posts, but keeping the blog is comforting, especially now that I don't pressure myself to adhere to any schedule.

I've found people that make very helpful posts when it comes to writing. Not just about the process itself but covering things like character traits and some others that I found helpful. Yes, for someone who's experienced writer, these might hold less value. For someone who's still not at the top of the learning curve, every little thing helps. Especially if some of those people are up for a short conversation on that matter and comments on some of those posts can be inspiring too.
I try to do it in a way that combines the way I see something both as a writer and a reader. Combining those factors in hopes of seeing it from a different angle.

In the past I've tried to use blogging as a way to get in the habit of writing. As some people have said, it's a way to experiment with your writing and try out new methods and genres.

The more I write, the more I want to write. That's what blogging is to me. Now I'm lucky if I can write a paragraph in my journal before my kiddos start yelling for me. :)

But I agree that forcing it can have the adverse effect of making you not want to write anything. There has to be a happy medium in there somewhere.

I love my blog. I share my victories and failures. I also post about any writing challenges I'm working on. (I might be addicted to IG writing challenges...) I also share book reviews I write here on Goodreads. I was writing five days a week and dropped it back to three because it really is time consuming. It was taking me 2 hours to write posts each day and I don't have that kind of time.
Enter Blog Plannher...which I just started using to plan out my blogs ahead of time. It's helped relieve the pressure so much! I don't usually share my blog posts to IG but Weebly allows you to share to Twitter and (in a roundabout way) Facebook. I am getting ready to make the switch to Squarespace, though, as Weebly hasn't been able to offer me the full range of services I need at a price I can afford.
Also, if you hate blogging, then don't. I would suggest keeping it as a place people can go to find your bio and books with any links directing them where to purchase or read, more like a 'website'. Don't waste time on something you hate, though.

I'm inspired by what most people here are saying. I have a website which I'm not consistent on because I'm not sure if people find what I write worthwhile and it's honestly time-consuming.

I give writing tips and write shorts on it, but I'd really like to do more.

I've read a lot of blogs that say as a writer you should have a website and post regularly to gain subscribers. I started blogging before I read up on things like this, but I'm not sure of the accuracy of the statement.

I guess I want to know if it's ok not to blog at all as a writer or if I'm fine not blogging often.

To Chio: if you go self-published, it's all down to your decisions. That's the beauty of it. There's no agent or some other PR person that'd be like, you must be on FB, twitter, GR, blog, Instagram, DeviantArt and whichever another platform comes to your mind. You choose which you focus on - and where you feel yourself the strongest.

Tomas wrote: "To Chio: if you go self-published, it's all down to your decisions..."

Thank you Tomas. I have gone 'self-published' and basically making all decisions for myself.
Sometimes I feel there are right or wrong answers, but being reminded that the ball is in my court really helps me stay level-headed.

Sure, there might be ways that work better than others for most. The point is, if you do something you don't want to do, the result will suffer - not only you'll hate doing it but it won't be done genuinely. It's why I plan to focus on Goodreads and my blog when I actually finish my story and ignore social networks I have an aversion towards.

Reading through all the above comments was an answer to a prayer . I've published just one novel , and was all at sea about the importance of blogging in an author's life . The comments are frank , informative and confident , giving both the positive n the negative aspects of blogging . Ultimately I have to examine my own mind , n decide whether or not I want to start blogging , n when . Thanks to all who posted their comments .

Call me anti-social or something. I don't blog because, first of all, it's a huge commitment that I know I'd never be able to fulfill.

Secondly, I've never understood why anyone would follow a blog. I mean I've seen some good ones, but reading blogs is not how I spend my online time. When I'm online, I'm either 1) catching up on the news, 2) watching videos, or 3) shopping. Mostly watching videos because I'm in entertainment mode.

The only time I really read for pleasure is when I'm reading a book. Period.

I'm also not a fan of social media at all. I'm on FB and Twitter ... I've looked at FB maybe once in the last 30 days, and Twitter? I bet I haven't posted anything in over 6 months, maybe more. Social media sucks the life out of me and makes me feel depressed. Feeling pressure to write a blog would probably make me feel just as miserable.

How do I promote my writing and get sales? The secret is ... I don't. (And consequently don't have sales! Although publishing something again would probably help that.) Holding down a full time job and getting any writing done is hard enough for me without feeling like I need to publish a blog every week or two or four.

I'm probably the odd man out on this, or am just old and disconnected from the eWorld enough to not give a damn. If it works for you, then kudos. But personally I don't think it's worth the effort.

Micah, I am with you when it comes to social media - never signed up for FB or twitter and don't plan to. Blogging, however, feels different for me. Closer to writing and a way to express my thoughts. Of course, it does not mean it should be the same for everyone, what I want to say that it might or might not work even for people staying away from social media.

I'm one of those who post a couple of times a month on FB. I don't do twitter since I'm not one who is that social. Same with instagram. I am on Pinterest as I love making informative or inspirational pins.

My problem is time. I work full time in one job and part time in another. Playing around on line isn't conducive to getting things done. I've learned to schedule time to update my website and FaceBook. I don't really blog since I don't have time for a regular blog.

Hi Jill,

If you were an international best-selling novelist with a following of millions, you'd probably have someone else controlling all of your blogs, tweets, FB, and instagram posts. LOL Wouldn't that be a nice problem to have?

I realize I'm a day late to your thread, but wanted to add: I'm with you, and many of the others who have answered you. How to deal with social media without having it take over your life?

I can feel overwhelmed by social media, too. So I have opted out of Twitter and Instagram. But, while I don't necessarily enjoy it, I do believe a blog is important. At this stage (i.e. not rich and famous) I consider my blog and website as a way to let readers and industry professionals sample my material. I don't have very many blog entries yet, but I am treating them like little essays. In fact, I have an essays link in my blog I am considering converting to blog entries - they'd probably get read more.

Two things I have done: Converted some of my FB Notes to essays - I like telling stories and thank goodness I have a store of them on my personal FB page. Another is I have linked my blog to both my Goodreads and my Amazon authors pages. New blog entries automatically upload, and any clicks on either site lead back to my website. I am assuming all these clicks make a difference somewhere in analytics-land. I've seen where people have posted they are, for example, "number 4 on Amazon for sci-fi." So if I can cull some numbers that can be used as a marketing tool, that would be great.

As to what to write and how often: I think you have some wonderful advice upthread. I'd just ask myself: who I am trying to reach? What do I want them to see? Pick a posting schedule that works for YOU. Use whatever feature you can to multi-task those updates for you. Make it about quality, not quantity - make people want to read, so that when you have the problem of needing to provide them more frequently (because you have a million followers!), you'll have an assistant who helps. :)

Blogging is one of those things you should do but probably don't want to because it feels time-consuming or because you can't think of what to write. If you are a writer you should have a blog but it's up to you as to when you should post on it, not all of us can dedicate to it everyday or weekly so like Tomas suggested, here's a list of how you can configure a blog and see if it works for you:

-Think of 5 topics that interest you or that you have a great deal of knowledge about(they don't have to be what you write your books on)
-Set a time to write them(daily, weekly, bi-weekly, etc)
-500+ words is ideal and reasonable, you can go over of course
-Check out other people's blogs to get an idea
-Feature guest bloggers
-Title them accordingly and properly

The social aspect of writing has always been a sore point for me. The advice given has helped a great deal. It's a definite personality shift for me. Finding things to write about that are personal, but not TOO PERSONAl!!! I like the idea of guest bloogers and will look into it.
Kay, your post was very helpful.
Thanks

I like the idea of blogging and I get that it's essential. I know I need to do it but sometimes when you have other things to do that are more important blogging takes a back seat.

Truthfully, blogging is the last thing on my mind when I've just finished, several hours of writing. While other people love it, often can't find the enthusiasm.

I hear ya Jill. I have way more important things to do but some say it's necessary so I keep it in mind.

Where does one post one's blog???

Elisa wrote: "Where does one post one's blog???"

I am not sure what exactly you mean by the question. Do you mean to ask which platform/hosting to choose? Or something else?

Sorry about that: Let me explain ~ other than one's website (which I do not have, yet), where can one post a blog?

You can post a blog on your Goodreads author page.

Hi,
My name is Ron Thomas. I post a blog on my website - not sure it does any good. Am new to Goodreads. How do I get an author page?.
The answer is probably staring me in the face.
Thanks

To Ron:
You need to already have a book published. If you do, just look it up (by ISBN or ASIN) and there should be something like "I am the author" or "this is my book" or something like that somewhere. Click that and... well, follow the instructions. If you do everything correctly, your user page should get converted to author page in a few days.

Note: You need to have your Goodreads username spelled precisely the same way as it is on your book's cover.

Also, I believe for those who have an external blog, it should be possible to connect it with GR and have the posts appear on your GR page - no idea yet how that works.