Are you a published author? Want to be one? If you’re not blogging on a regular basis, you’re missing out on a prime opportunity to bolster your following and get more readers not just of your book, but of your blog. Think readers don’t care about author blogs? Then you’d be wrong! Readers want to know more about their favorite authors and having an author’s blog is a great way to give them what they want. These five reasons are not the only reasons you need an author’s blog, but they are certainly five of the most important in my opinion. So if you’ve thought you didn’t need a blog or that an author’s blog wasn’t important then let’s hope I can change your mind!
1. An author’s blog is a great way for readers who haven’t read any of your books and are not sure if they’re going to buy one of your books to check out your writing style. If you offer free short stories, or excerpts, or anything like that, then this gives these readers something to check out and hopefully to encourage them to buy one or all of your books.
2. Having an author’s blog gives you an opportunity to build a mailing list of interested readers. Make sure you have a way for readers to subscribe to your blog, that way when you announce new and upcoming releases on their blog they’ll be some of the first people to know!
3. Blogging is fun! Blogging offers much more than a way to interact with readers, it can be plain fun. The whole idea is to be creative. You don’t have to write a blog post every day. But do consider sharing fun videos and photos of you, your dog or even a cute video you found on YouTube. See how many comments you get and how many new people subscribe to your blog. That’s part of the fun of being an author, having fans, and followers, as well as, readers.
4. You can try out story ideas on your blog. Ever had an idea for a story that you just weren’t sure you could pull off effectively? We’ve all had them, the weird and strange, or peculiar idea for a story and the fear that maybe your reader base might not like it—especially if it’s a story that is unlike your others. So, post a few paragraphs of the story, or write out the blurb as you think it would be (this is also good practice when you have to write your own blurbs!), and ask for comments. See what your fans and followers think. Ask them questions like “would you buy this story?” You might be surprised, and you’ll probably bring in a few new people as well.
5. it’s an opportunity to share your other interests and hobbies. Do you also paint watercolors? Here’s your opportunity to share your art. Like to bead? Again, great opportunity to post photos and share. Did your daughter just graduate from college and you want to shout it to the world? Again, great opportunity, and the more you come across as a real person the more readers you’ll get for your blog and your book.
So, there you go, five reasons you need an author’s blog. If you aren’t versed in blogging or setting one up, Blogger is a great, easy platform and you can be blogging in mere minutes!