Promote your writing through a website or blog or both

Writers need to put their writing before potential readers. Life for a writer is as simple as that. There are a variety of ways to do it. Today, we are going to talk about websites and blogs.

First of all, all writers should have a blog, and most writers need a blog and a website. The difference between a blog and a website is, for the most part, that a blog is dynamic and a website is static. A blog shows the reader what the writer has to offer in his/her own words. The website tells the rest: schedules, books, how to contact; where to purchase books; etc. The website takes care of business and the blog interacts with the reader and keeps the reader interested.

Make your blog interactive. Welcome comments and interaction with the readers. Write (talk) to the reader as if he/she were sitting in your office drinking coffee. As you chat with the reader, you give out bits of your life that they wouldn’t find in an announcement about your book. In other words, engage the reader. Readers may pick up your book for the first time due to the title, the topic, the genre, etc. The reader will pick up a second book due to your voice and what he/she has learned about you.

In many cases, the title of a first book is printed in a big font and the name of the author is printed in a small font. As the author grows in popularity, so does the font that is used for the author’s name. Why? Because readers are becoming fans of you as well as your writing. A blog moves this process forward. So, use the blog to engage with the reader by letting him/her get to know you. And, use your website to tell the reader about the business of your writing.

Promoting Your Blog

by Lou Belcher

If you write for your eyes only, you don’t need to worry about promotion. But if you write for a living, the promotion or marketing part of it can make or break you.

Before the marketing, your first order of business is to make sure your blog entry is worth reading. Do everything you can to ensure that it is interesting and valuable to your readers. Beyond that, you might shoot for it to be entertaining as well. That can’t hurt.

When preparing your work, pushing the snooze button on your ego will help immensely. Too many times we get in our own way. We think that what we have written is so wonderful that we can’t hear constructive criticism. Take the risk. Have others look at your work and give you ideas for improvement.

That doesn’t mean that you need to implement everything that your readers say. Instead, it means that you would be wise to give some honest thought to how your writing is perceived by others.

Once you post an entry to your blog, no one will read it if you don’t do some promotion. Develop a routine system of promoting each entry that you post. For example, you can establish a Twitter account, a page on Facebook, or join a social media network, or all three. When you post an entry, put a notice on each of your announcement sites that new work is posted.

Another way to promote your blog is to establish an email distribution list of those interested in your writing. Every time you post a blog entry, put out an email to your list (even if it only consists of one or two people at first). Be sure to add the addresses of those who express interest in your blog with care. Don’t try to remember later who they are and where you put their email address.

In your email to your distribution list, invite them to comment and get a discussion going about the topic. Also, invite them to forward the notice to someone they think will enjoy your column. And, don’t leave everything to chance. Give your readers some added reasons to visit your blog. For example, hold surveys of interest, run contests, and hold giveaway opportunities occasionally so they will want to check back from time to time to see what’s going on.

Please leave a comment and tell us ways you promote your blog...