I participate in a Yahoo Publishing Group—mostly absorbing valuable information from industry pros; sometimes contributing my two cents worth.
Recently a woman named Linda on the site saw the movie Julie and Julia which prompted her to pose this question:
“Is blogging worth it? For any bloggers out there, what is your opinion? It takes a lot of time away from the actual writing.”
I felt COMPELLED to answer Linda, as blogging has taken over my writing life. My “real” writing project, finishing Book No. 4 in the Percy Veerance Adventure Series, has taken a back seat in the caboose section of a very long “Now I’m Blogging” train.
My goal is to become a known author. I had to formulate a strategy as to the best way to accomplish this. I needed to evaluate my priorities. Would it best serve my goal to pump out another book and hope to gain recognition with a new title? Would the fourth book be the key that unlocks the door to my “author awareness?”
I don’t think so. First, I don’t have a marketing budget that can compete with books published by the Big Boys. Second, I know how hard it is to sell a book that no one knows about.
I’ve decided NOT to sell books for the time being. I’ve decided to SELL MYSELF. If I can become popular, I bet my book sales will pick up. I’m betting Big Popularity = Big Sales.
I’m using Susan Boyle as a model. She has a web presence on YouTube. Her most famous singing performance, “I Dreamed a Dream,” from the British TV show has over 82 million viewings. (Holy Cow!) That’s a pretty good definition of popular. Her album was released last month and she has sold over 1.5 million copies. Very successful debut CD.
Consequently, that’s why I think BLOGGING is THE ANSWER to Author Awareness. The internet levels the playing field. If I can produce a super-duper website and a blog chock full of well-written, informative, inspirational and/or entertaining posts on a regular basis, I expect to grow a reader base. I hope to turn the blog reading base into a book buying base.
As a result, my marketing strategy is NOT to try to get my books into bookstores. NOT to try to get into libraries. NOT to try to hard sell.
My mantra is: “Make them come to me.” One blog at a time. One after another. Until they catch on like a California wildfire in the dry season. Wait, that’s not a nice analogy. How about: until they catch on like chocolate and p-nut butter? Huh? It’s late….
My blogs showcase my style of writing. The content of my blogs mirrors the type of fiction I write. My books are adventure tales for kids and adults, written as a big spoof (satire) on life in America today. Similarly, my blogs are a commentary on life in America as well.
So to Linda, I say a big YES to blogging. I’m convinced that conquering the Kingdom of Social Media is the way to make a name for yourself and draw attention to your writing.
And you are right: blogging takes time! For me it’s a huge time commitment. But I think it will pay off in the long run. I have noticed a slight increase in sales on my website since the blogging began. I’m optimistic. Or insane. As Steinbeck said, “The business of writing makes horse racing look like a stable profession.”
I’m in it for the long haul. I enjoy blogging because I like to write. I like the fact that I can write something and lickety-split, it is out there for the world to see. There are some downsides to blogging. I’ll address those pesky issues in another blog.
The times have changed. Authors need to put themselves out there. I think if John Grisham, Stephen King, Dan Brown, et al were starting out today, they’d be blogging to find readers, too.
So what are you waiting for? Christmas?
