Written by:  Serins

Blogging, as an author you know this is something you must do.  Unless you have already been on the New York Times best seller list, this is something your agent, publisher and editor will simply just expect of you.   These days Authors are expected to have a bit of marketing flair, in fact you are more likely to be signed up if you already have built a readership, just waiting for you to get published.  This is at least the advice that is out there.

What is all the fuss about blogging anyhow?

If you are an “indie” aka independent author, this is even more important.  Your blog is the highway to your readers.  Not only is it a platform to tell your readers what is happening with up and coming books or those already out there, blogging is one of the best tools in modern times to build an audience. The best is you can link your blog to your social network accounts, and let it all work seamlessly together.

Another aspect of bogging to consider is the huge market that are bloggers. 60% of bloggers enjoy reading.  Blogging is thus the best way to reach this market of people who actually read, in times where TV, Cinema and Gaming have taken over the free time of many people.  The sad truth is that not everyone enjoys reading as a pasttime.  So you need to find those people that do.

How to really build a readership using your blog

But let me just be honest, as a blogger and reader I’m not always going to be interested in only your books.  If you are blogging simply to promote yourself, your blog is going to be like a record stuck on repeat.  This is not the way if you want to build a readership.  And I think deep down inside you must know that, this is truth.   If you want to build a readership, you must blog like a blogger.  Your content must be awesome.  While I may love the occasional picture of your cat and readers defiantly want to know what is up with your books, these are not the only things you should and could be blogging about.  

So, what to blog about?

You are a writer. Your books take me on journeys into places my imagination has not yet envisioned.    If fiction is not your thing, your books teach me stuff I don’t know. When your muse has gotten hold of you, you can put down fifty thousand words within a week, easy peasy.  So then why is it so difficult when you look at an empty blog post in the “write a post” section of your dashboard?  

Come on author- entertain me.  Inform me. Teach me things I have yet to learn.  Let me connect to you and your life in a way your books alone cannot engage me.  Author, it is time to start blogging.  Oh no worries, I’m here to tell you how to beat bloggers block in a way that it will build you a readership.

Beating bloggers block in 4 easy steps

1.  Bring Book land into Blog land

So you have written a fantasy novel. One of your characters in known for her death by chocolate cake, so why as a blog post not give us this characters recipe?  You catch my drift?  There are many more examples of how you could bring Book land into Blog land, and recipes work notoriously well, because not only is a post like this entertaining it is useful too.

Other ways may be for you to embed a characters favourite song into a post or to post a list of said characters playlist.  You could also write a post about what songs inspired which character relationships or scenes in your novel.

Not only are these things entertaining, but they are a sneaky way to promote your book.

2. Speak your mind

As a human being with enough intelligence to have written a book, I assume that in life you have formed a few opinions.  Bloggers write about their opinions all the time. For authors this is open too.  You don’t like the way Amazon is treating Authors?  You think Goodreads has too many trolls?

Here you must however be careful.  Never slander or slam anyone.  And be respectful towards people of all ages, religions and genders.  Opinions, may lead to debate and trolling, so you need to know how to handle your trolls when they get there.

Check out this four part series written by fellow blogger Gene’o on how to effectively deal with Trolls.  

1. Yes, Trolling is a Thing.

2. Eight Indicators of Trolling

3. Here’s How I Handle It

4. Are You Vulnerable?

.

Most importantly of all when it comes to an opinion you need to be true to yourself. This must be something you are willing to defend.  I’ve recently written a post on Religion and Sex. It is an opinion of mine, one where I amongst other things state that Christian authors should not have to shy away from writing about sex.  This is my opinion, what is yours?

3. Don’t be a snob

Because you have a published novel out there, it does not make you too good to write let’s say for e.g. poetry.  Oh I know poetry is not for everyone. But if you think you are too good for some type of writing you are restricting yourself.  There could be whole new world just waiting to open up to you.

4. Get inspiration from Nature or your surroundings

Now if you are really stuck, get away from behind your PC screen and try this one.  Go sit some place where you can observe your surroundings.  Go sit in your garden. Go and have a cup of coffee all on your own at some café.  Go sit on a park bench.  Take with you a pen and a notebook.  Take a few breaths to clear your mind and just observe what is happening around you. After an hour or so, you may never know what you come up with.  Heck you may come up with 7 best coffee tips.  A leaf blowing in the wind may fill you with the inspiration or insight into some life lesson.  Write it down, and compose a blog post.

Nothing is too big or too small

In truth, there is nothing too big or too small which you can’t put into a blog post.  Here I am writing a blog post, about what to write blog posts on.  A good blog post is that which is useful, entertaining and inspirational, just simply put, keeping it real to you.  The best blog posts combine elements of all of these.  

An interesting blog has a variety of things to read about.  Variety is the spice of life.   Come on now author, it is time to spice up your blog. What are you waiting for?

What do you think makes a good blog post and gets you coming back to a certain blog for more?

About the author:

Serins is a blogger and aspiring (Pre-Published)author who blogs from Namibia. Her motto in life is: You can’t change the world, but you can change the world of one person. Should you like to know more check out her blog or chat her up on one of her Social Networks.

WordPress Blog – Tumblr Blog – Twitter – Google + – About.me

Facebook (Serins StarlightSphere) – Facebook (Personal Page)