THE Group for Authors! discussion

Kevin wrote: "I have a book contract in which one of my obligations is to keep my own web page (which the publisher will set up for me) up to date. One thing I'm considering is blogging as I've read that it help..."

I have the same deal with my publisher... I had never blogged and didn't even understand what one was.. so i handled it like I do everything else.. I googled it. lol

feel free to check mine out. www.tsworley.com

T.S., I do like your page. I think I've come to the conclusion that if a blog I'll do it only when I feel the need to blog something.

Kevin wrote: "T.S., I do like your page. I think I've come to the conclusion that if a blog I'll do it only when I feel the need to blog something."

thats pretty much what I do... I read that people like to have access to their authors lives... so I add what I feel... personal but not too personal... It wasn't all that painful after I got started...let me know how your experience goes..

I'm still a way off I think, even though I have set up my social media pages. My book comes out mid 2012.

hey you could start building the buzz... whats it about?

It's all here - http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/91...

It was self-published for four months before I got offered a book deal for it.

I have a blog for my book, as I feel it is a good way of elaborating upon certain themes in my book which are not easily discussable in Twitter. Having a blog is also good for starting quizzes and other such things. While I'm still in the very early stages of everything, it will be fascinating to gauge reader's responses to the questions I pose, which might open up more discussion.

I blog. It's part of my continuing effort to reach out to new people, with the long-term view they might become my audience. It isn't a diary or a journal, but things I think are interesting to share. I freely admit I want to sell my books. Why do any of these things otherwise?

Does anyone here blog?
Yes, I have a blog. It's aggregated to my Goodreads profile so anybody here can check it out if you like.

If so, what do you write about?
I use it for guest posts from other authors and for when I have something blog-like to say. EXAMPLE. I am running an ongoing series called What Scares Authors where writers share their greatest fears along with information about their books, blogs, etc. If anybody reading this is interested in being part of that, feel free to drop me a message through Goodreads and I'll send you the details. It doesn't matter what genre your books are in or how you have been published (traditional, indie or self-published).

Is it a chore or a joy?
I enjoy blogging, but it's not a priority. Writing new stories is my #1 priority.

Has it helped you build a profile?
The number of subscribers to the blog is growing, so yes, I think it's helping a bit. I get more activity from Twitter and Facebook than from my blog, but I think having all are worthwhile.

I actually blogged for five years before I published my humor/sci-fi novel.

One blog is a humor blog, with some fiction, vignettes, discussions on pop-culture, etc. There's quite a bit of overlap with my book.

The other blog is about decorating using thrift store items. It's quite different, though I do still keep a humor element there.

I've blogged less lately because I've been devoting time to first, the book that's out now, and now the follow-up story. But I do enjoy blogging when I have a tale worth telling.

And yes, it has helped me build a profile. Since readers already knew me and knew the tone of my writing, they were very supportive when they heard about the book. They've helped me with retweets on Twitter, passing things along on Facebook, etc. They've been very kind.

Plus, it's really never too early to dip your toe into social media when you think you might want to publish.

I'm just curious about how people have built their blogging audience. Has it come about from searches, or more aggressive tactics?

For me it was joining blogger communities-- particularly ones involved in the niches I'm also passionate about-- and commenting on forums. Getting to know folks and letting them get to know me.

It's not speedy, by any means, but it does build good online relationships.

Hello everyone! So happy to connect with other writers/authors/bloggers. I, too, have been blogging for years and just moved my blog from Blogger to Wordpress. Not sure which is better, except that my new web designer strongly recommended it. I am in the process of having them get the bugs out of my RSS so I can feed it here. My question: Does anyone here use Wordpress? How do you like it? And does anyone feed their blog? :)

Thanks in advance.

Charles wrote: "Don't feel you must blog every day. But see it as keeping a diary.1) One day it may be publishable. 2) It's a valuable record of what happened to you in the ever-receding past. 3) It gets stuff off..."

This is such wonderful advice, Charles! When we write from our gut, we succeed in expanding our awareness even though we don't realize it at the time!

@S.B. I surf blogs if I have a few minutes. Just click that 'next blog' thing. They see you visited, and if you comment they may hit your blog. Also mention new posts on twitter and facebook. Make sure you have a good profile in the regular google search area. Tags will help this. My traffic is increasing. I just wish they all bought my book. Most blogs you comment on will feature your name in Red and if they click on it, they are redirected to your blog, so I like to comment on controversial places sometimes. Mises.org is a favorite of mine, but esoteric. Always sign in through your blog name if you can when you leave a commen.Fixing the non-blogger template with the blogger site was very scary, but I finally got it right. www.dittymac.blogspot.com

Hi. I have a blog which is fairly new...but I have kept it as a resource for writers so I post about writing and publishing processes. Even when I do author interviews, I try to keep the focus on the writing and publishing topics. You can check it at www.sabineareed.com

Virginia wrote: "@S.B. I surf blogs if I have a few minutes. Just click that 'next blog' thing. They see you visited, and if you comment they may hit your blog. Also mention new posts on twitter and facebook. Make..."

That's good advice. I looked at your blog. I like the name. What was the post that brought all the traffic? How do you track traffic, btw? I have a plugin on Wordpress which gives me some general stats, but I still find it confusing.

Jenn wrote: "For me it was joining blogger communities-- particularly ones involved in the niches I'm also passionate about-- and commenting on forums. Getting to know folks and letting them get to know me.

It..." That sounds like a good system. I just find it overwhelming sometimes because there are so many blogs to slog through. Do you establish feeds to ones you like and just stick with a few?

I'm planning on blogging, but want to make sure I'm doing it correctly (as in with the right community, IT connections, audience, etc.) And from what I've seen in the past, it's a slow process.

@S.B. The Spectrum of Bitterness Part Four. Thanks for visiting.I have a wordpress blog with a dashboard, but I am uncomfortable navigating the site and don't promote it or get many hits. Blogger has a stats tab and tells you who looked and how many times. People complain about Google and Amazon, but I have no problems with them. Find them both user friendly and fun. Also, if you blog with Google, they group them, like if a person is looking for art related or Thailand or Brazil or music, and you are surfing, you will find a bunch in a row of the same type. I think that is from the tagging process.

Thanks Virginia,

I will check your blog and definitely use your advice.

Kevin wrote: "I have a book contract in which one of my obligations is to keep my own web page (which the publisher will set up for me) up to date. One thing I'm considering is blogging as I've read that it help..."

I "blog" sort of. I have a website when I write about whatever interests me. Some of my articles concern the books I've written but that isn't my primary purpose. I tried to write about one article a week but with my disability and my other interests this is a difficult schedule to maintain.

Thanks Paul, again you've hit my main concern on the head. There is such a thing as real life. Unless there's a passion for it, then it becomes a chore.

Kevin wrote: "T.S., I do like your page. I think I've come to the conclusion that if a blog I'll do it only when I feel the need to blog something."

Kevin, my husband and I have just had our book "Prosperity Thinking" published and I have the same setup with our publisher. I just posted my second writing and plan to do this once a week probably on Monday to start the week. I'm sure there will be real-life events that may interrupt the schedule but plan to stick to once a week posting. With our book, there is so much content that would be relevant it won't be hard coming up with content, plus the fact that I like to write and expound my philosophy. I figure it is an easy way to inform and interest people in our work. At my last job I had to write an article every week for the newsletter so I got into the habit. However, I find that the whole area of social media is quite overwhelming. There are tools I didn't even know were available. So quite a learning curve for me.

Larry E. wrote: "Kevin, my husband and I have just had our book ..."

Agreed Larry on the social networking but I'm looking forward (as Summer here approaches) to start 'networking'.

There's an article in last Saturday's Weekend Australian Magazine by an English writer about the realities of your mid-40s which my partner and I so identified with - http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/... - I sadly couldn't find the journalist on twitter but it did prompt me to want to blog about a similar topic. As I don't currently have a blog it can wait until I have one, which I've decided, will only use when I have a desire to write something.

My main issue is, at the moment I'm working on the second draft of my second novel, so that really takes priority while the current creative juices are flowing.

(Plus I'm also job hunting at the moment as our department was 'dissolved' at the end of last year, and although I've had a relaxed year off, now looking through the job adds)

You're absolutely right about the necessity of prioritizing. I have times where things come up that pull me off my writing and when I get back to it even if it's only minutes, I have to reorient myself so when I'm on a roll I don't like to interrupt the flow. The good thing about a blog is that there is no deadline so you can do it on your time schedule. Good luck with the job search. That is a full-time job in itself.