Author blogging: why and how

Do you want to increase your presence online and build a community around your books? Many authors have found that starting a blog is just the way to do that. At BookPros, we have quite a few tech savvy authors. We also have a few not quite there, but definitely excited about getting started. Because of this, we get quite a few questions on author web sites and blogs. Our past web site articles can be found here and here but today we’ll focus on blogs. 

Author Blogging

We have posted about author blogs in the past. Our first article was a guest post by author Jayel Gibson, in which she shared her feelings on why blogs are great for preparing authors for public appearances:

Today’s authors must be excellent promoters of their own work. Regrettably, many authors are inherently shy and reclusive, which makes self-promotion difficult. The art of blogging is a great way to “get out there,” even if you hate public speaking. After all, blogging allows time for formulating thought and editing what you say before going public, unlike those personal appearances.

She also has some great tips on what to do (make it useful, post photos) and what to avoid (long or infrequent posts). Read the rest of Gibson’s post here.


Our second post on blogging, Are You Blogging Yet? goes into a little more detail on what makes good author blog. As with most blogging tips, posting frequently and having a personal rather than distant tone are some of Philip’s recommendations.


If you have an author web site, a blog is a great way to make it more dynamic and fun for readers to return to. An interactive web site helps to build a community around your book, and having a blog with open commenting or a wall/discussion board can help you get feedback and ideas from readers that might be useful in future books.  Check out one author/reader’s perspective here on Steph Bowe’s Hey! Teenager of the Year blog.


Getting Started

There are a number of blogging services out there. We use Google’s Blogger. Two other popular platforms are Wordpress and Typepad. Each of these sites has simple tutorials on how to get started.


Before setting up your blog, you need to come up with a name for it (especially if it is a stand-alone site, and not a page on your web site). You should also add a bio so anyone who stumbles upon it will know why it’s a page they should bookmark. Be sure to add links to your book web sites. If you have a Twitter account, you can also add Twitter updates to your blog via your specific blogging platform.


Once you are ready to start posting, try to post consistently. If you don’t post for a week or more, you could lose readers who get tired of checking a site that is not updated. Create a few posts ahead of time so that you have something to post last minute if necessary. And don’t think your posts need to be full articles each time. Short but sweet works most of the time, and an occasional post linking to an interesting article, video, etc. is always fun and a nice change of pace. For writing tips, I suggest checking out Copyblogger. It contains tons of useful tips including this article on powerful post openers and another on getting your audience to read past the headline.


If you thirst for more blogging knowledge, Problogger is the place to go with tons of articles archived here. Tips range from choosing a domain name to post length to placing ads on your blog.


Happy blogging!