This blogging thing

[christinenorris]

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

Comments

[jonstephens]

I've never looked at an author's blog before reading one of their books.

[jonstephens]

The book's cover is still the #1 thing that gets me intrigued in a book. There are certain books I assume are cheesy, not my type, based on the cover. I know, I'm a bad person.

#2 is word of mouth.

#3 is the impact it's had on society. I want to be on the in-crowd. In the know. I want to know what's up. To understand the conversations. It's why I read TWILIGHT. But not NEW MOON.

I think that's it. Those are my reasons for reading.

[christinenorris]

I think you're right, that it's usually that someone picks up a book and then finds the author. Unless you're a writer or someone involved in publishing or literature and have lots of author friends and know about their book that way.

I'm just trying to cultivate an audience and trying to hone in on what would draw people to the blog. Thanks!

Have you read Hunger Games yet? You should.

[jonstephens]

Hunger Games rocked

[christinenorris]

I think this is true too - that readers want to know that the writers behind the books they like are real people. I find that conversational tone to be the best kind of blog, rather than just 'articles' on craft or whatever.

Maybe there's a happy medium.

[jongibbs]

What draws me to a blog more than anything else is when the blogger interacts with his/her readers.

What someone posts about doesn't matter to me so much as the way they write. When I feel like they're talking to me (rather than at me), I'm much more inclined to read on.

Just my 2 cents' :)

[christinenorris]

Yes, conversational tone. I think that's the biggest thing. Proper form isn't as much fun as a good voice - just like writing!