This blogging thing
I've been doing this for awhile, and it came up in discussion the other day, about what works and doesn't when promoting our books. Some have click-through ads on Facebook and Goodreads, with varying success. I say that ads may work, but the best promotion is the stuff we do for free - tweeting, being on Facebook. Giving away stuff. Blogging.
And that got me thinking - what do the best author blogs have in common? What topics do readers want to see? I blog about a lot of things, not just writing, or my books, because personally I think if it's all about that all the time, it's like a 24 hour advertisement, and I don't want to read that. And I don't mean writing about the process of writing, or about rejections. I mean, I know people that only blog or put something up when there's a link to an award, or a review, or something. That's not my thing.
But I think I want to change the tone of the blog a little, I don't want it to get stale. I want to find out what READERS want me to blog about. Or rather, what you find to pique your interest in a blog that makes you return to read. I don't ALWAYS want to post about the process, because I think that gets boring too. What topics make you stop and read? Is there a certain tone that makes you read more than others? I think that a more conversational tone is nice, but don't know that everyone else does. Do you like reading about an author's life outside the words they write? Do you like multimedia more than straight words? Do you think an author's blog will make you buy their book, or do you already have their book when you look for the blog?
All opinions welcome thanks!
And that got me thinking - what do the best author blogs have in common? What topics do readers want to see? I blog about a lot of things, not just writing, or my books, because personally I think if it's all about that all the time, it's like a 24 hour advertisement, and I don't want to read that. And I don't mean writing about the process of writing, or about rejections. I mean, I know people that only blog or put something up when there's a link to an award, or a review, or something. That's not my thing.
But I think I want to change the tone of the blog a little, I don't want it to get stale. I want to find out what READERS want me to blog about. Or rather, what you find to pique your interest in a blog that makes you return to read. I don't ALWAYS want to post about the process, because I think that gets boring too. What topics make you stop and read? Is there a certain tone that makes you read more than others? I think that a more conversational tone is nice, but don't know that everyone else does. Do you like reading about an author's life outside the words they write? Do you like multimedia more than straight words? Do you think an author's blog will make you buy their book, or do you already have their book when you look for the blog?
All opinions welcome thanks!