A couple weeks ago, I posted a tongue-in-cheek video on YouTube that talks about Blogging for Book Promotion. Near the end, the heroine notices she’s being instructed to spend more time blogging than working on her novels and as much time promoting her blog as her book, even though she only started a blog to promote her book…
It can definitely feel like you’re spending so much time worrying about marketing your book that you don’t have time to write the next book. And, in the end, will all those efforts pay off? Do you need a blog or does blogging fall onto the less desirable side of the Pareto Principle? The side where 80% of the efforts account for only 20% of the returns? (Ideally, we want to identify and expand upon the 20% of the efforts that account for 80% of the returns!)
I can’t imagine not doing a blog, because it’s been my day job for years. It just seems natural. But, despite the links to my books and the covers in the sidebar, this blog isn’t ultimately about selling stuff. It’s not that I’m against people here buying my ebooks (really, go right ahead), but, for the most part, I’m writing for other folks interested in e-publishing, most of whom probably don’t read fantasy. If it was 100% about selling the books, I’d be writing about things that would appeal to fantasy readers.
I’m maintaining this blog because I love learning new things and sharing what I learn with others. But the argument could be made that my time would be better spent writing and publishing new novels and pursuing only the most effective means of book promotion (for me that’s been advertising, giving away a free ebook, and appearing on other people’s blogs via interviews, blog tours, guest posts, etc.).
Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case may be, I have writers’ ADD and have trouble focusing on any particular project for long, so I like being able to turn to this blog when I’ve grown weary of writing snarky dialogue and monster battles.
But is a blog something every author must maintain? Is it worth the effort?
For the last month or so, I’ve been tracking book sales that originated either here or at Kindle Geeks, and the number is in the neighborhood of (prepare to be underwhelmed) 10. That’s not many for all the time and effort that goes into maintaining a blog.
As much as it pains me to say it–and as much as it goes against prevailing wisdom (establish a platform, OMG, even if you don’t know what one is!)–a blog probably isn’t a requirement for a writer of fiction. The whole build-a-platform mantra comes more from the non-fiction realm. Over there, it’s important to establish your authority in your field because anyone can give advice, qualified or not. With fiction, you just have to entertain folks and the proof is more likely in the novel than on the blog.
This doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t maintain a blog or that you won’t sell any books through your blog (though it’s better to create a blog that targets your fan base rather than fellow writers, so do as I say, not as I do), but if I was pressed for time and I really had to choose carefully where to spend my one free hour a day, I’d pick working on the next novel over blogging. I’d save up some coins for advertising, get more books out so I could give one away free, and I’d do guest posts for other people’s blogs now and then.
Your thoughts? Have you tried and abandoned blogging? Do you have one you feel guilty about because you don’t update it often enough? Or have you actually created a popular blog that attracts your target audience and sells a lot of books for you? And, if you did the latter, did your blog become popular after your books did, or do you believe your blog was key in selling your books from the beginning?
Related posts:
- Take Your Ebook on a Blog Tour
- Authors, What Should You Blog About?
- How You Can Make Money Promoting Other People’s Ebooks on Your Blog (one of the reasons I keep updating the Kindle Geeks blog is I’ve sold quite a few ebooks for other people!)
I’ve been struggling with this concept for a year now. It used to bother me to spend my time writing blog posts, query letters and synopses instead of writing and editing the actual story. But, it’s all necessary. I’ve come to accept it and only devote a small amount of writing time to the business side. The greater chunk is for creativity. After all, if the pages are crap, it’s all pointless anyway.
Zoe Winters, indie who sells really well, did a post a couple weeks ago about how her books written under her pen name, which has no blog or social media presence, sell just as well as her Zoe Winters books. Makes you think!
You’re right, of course; I guess my website is more for readers than the blog. Your have to become mega-famous to have readers hanging on your every bloggy word.
But I mostly write once a week, so it’s not too time-consuming.
Your blog: useful information embraced by many.
My blog: mindless drivel embraced by people who already have my books.
I wrote blogs for years, both for the newspaper and for my personal stuff. For a time, I got incredible traffic – the people who ready my weekly column, for the most part. It was fun but it really didn’t serve any purpose. The people who were hanging out on my blog were regulars and just about all of them had already bought my books. The blog wasn’t attracting a wider audience because it was hyper local. In the long run, it was a giant time waste and I gave it up. I guess you need to evaluate whether your blog is reaching your target reading audience or just collecting barflies.
I started my current blog as part of my promotion for my WIP.
I’d already created a book site with a blog within it and it seemed the blogging part of the site was malfunctioning. Finally, we figured out the malfunction was in my modem, which died.
While it was slowly dying, I created the new blog and now publish the same posts to both blogs.
Thing is, the new blog became a new Space for my head to swim in and it’s now my “portal” for the book site.
It’s also become where I write six days a week–each post being instigated by my Muse just before I write it.
So, blogging is definitely a part of my “platform-building” but is also, now, a loving discipline…
Thanks for all the comments, guys! I think blogging is worthwhile if you enjoy it and have time to maintain it, but I know a lot of authors feel inundated with all the stuff they’re supposed to do to promote their books. As if they don’t have families and day jobs already! 🙂