So you’re a writer and have started a blog because everyone has told you to do so. Now you’re wondering how to go about it.
1) Pick your theme. With themes it’s a good idea to check what they look like on phone and tablet as well, as some themes translate better across devices and people may read your work on their tablet rather than laptop or pc. Personally I like clear uncluttered layouts. The theme used on this blog at the moment is sketch.
2) Choose interesting and related topics. 1)How you researched or created your book (really interesting for historical books) 2)Typical days in your writing life 3) Interview with a character or expert in your field 4) Interviews or reviews of works in your genre that you admire 5) Great news you want to share (be humble though). I currently have a memoir focused blog, a poetry blog and my After Yasi blog. I appeal to different readers on each blog, and feed it back into a homebase blog (via reblogs) to people who like to follow all I’m getting up to in multiplatform storytelling.
3) Think about your readers. Often writers new to blogging wonder who will read my blog? Key groups are: readers and writers of the genre, potential future publishers, other bloggers and people following a tag online (wordpress, twitter). ie topic of interest #cricket #wellbeing #diet #australianhistory #youngadultwriter
4) Adhere to WordPress Advertising Guidelines. Don’t create a blog that is just a book tour blog consisting of already written publicity material to just sell books, but do feel free to blog about your book (as above) and link to where to buy it.
Read these WORDPRESS ADVERTISING GUIDELINES. You absolutely can share the journey and views on your own original book and reviews. The key to this is that you are not sending people off to just buy the work of others (running a publicity business) all the time or doing anything terrible like promoting pirated books and get rich schemes.
On the After Yasi blog I have a wide variety of material, how the book was created, extensions of stories in the book, interviews, and any interesting news.There are side links to resources people reading the book will find interesting. It is as much a resource as the ebook.
5) Edit. Considering who will read your blog, always try to edit your work well before putting it up on line. Although I also like to share drafts of work to give insights into the creative process.
6) Keep it short and regular. Be aware most people don’t read a post over 500 words. If you are going to write something longer (which I do sometimes), you need to keep the reader hooked in with techniques like placing interesting images throughout the post, or posting it in parts.
(c) June Perkins
(Future posts to cover- innovations in blogging- blogging as an art form – legal and ethical considerations, blogging for a daily writing habit )
June Paisa Perkins 