When I wrote the Sheridan and Blake books, my blog was the linchpin in my content marketing.
The great thing about blogging for writers is you do the thing you are going to do anyway… write… and at the same time are marketing your work without even realising it!
This contributor content resonates with me, sharing some top tips:
Why All Fiction Writers Should Have A Blog
You might find, when looking at others’ blogs, that many of them are writers. Predominantly, bloggers are non-fiction writers. These bloggers might be promoting their financial help book, their self-help book, or their recipe book. But there are plenty of fiction writers running blogs, too, whether traditionally, indie or self-published.
Running a blog can be as easy or as difficult as you like. You can do it alongside a job, childcare, or, in this case: writing a novel. You can use sites to ease your burden, like ones that find you the best website builders.
The reason you should run a blog as a writer is manifold. Essentially, blogging can help writers. It hones your writing skills, gives you a frequent outlet, and can help you sell more books.
But we’re moving too fast. Let’s go into more detail on those points. Why should all fiction writers have a blog?
Hones your writing skills
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A blog requires you to write regularly. As with any skill, regular practice will always make you better. Plus, blogging requires you to be concise, a necessary skill for fiction writing (that people often forget!).
Plus, you’ll get used to writing for an audience – fitting to your demographic, so they want to read on. This is a transferable skill for fiction writing, as you need to get the right tone, depending on if you are writing for adults, teenagers, or children.
Gives you a frequent writing outlet
When you write books, you only get to put your words out into the world every few years or so. This can be a little disheartening when, for the tenth time that day, you have to reply, ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ when someone asks when they can read the book you’re working on.
With a blog, you get to write and publish your writing regularly. Sure, you aren’t posting a novel every week, but your posts are a kind of writing too. Plus, you can always publish short stories if you want to communicate creatively with your audience.
Helps you sell more books
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It’s true. Writing a blog will help you to sell more books. Why? Because, going into publication, you already have an audience of people wanting to read your book.
Through blogging, you accumulate a bunch of people who are invested in you and your journey. When you then announce you have a book coming out, they will want to read it. Think about it: a bunch of relative strangers, all wanting to read your book. Sounds good, right?
If you are considering traditional or indie publishing, advertising that you already have an audience of so many will make you more desirable to the publisher. They can look at you and your book and already know they can sell so many books. Plus, your audience is more likely to pre-order, and pre-orders are great in traditional publishing, as they convince bookstores and libraries to buy more stock of your book. Who knows, the existence of an audience could be the tipping point to convince the publisher to take your book.
When it comes to self-publishing, having an audience of your own is essential. You are responsible for your book’s marketing in self-publishing, so having an audience already is great. Plus, having a platform like a blog to reach new readers can change the game.