Friday, September 2, 2011

To Blog or Not To Blog

(From timbarcz.com)

Blogging has become a very important part of an author's career. It's a way to put a little of ourselves out there so we can connect with readers, other authors and industry peeps.

I don't think of myself as all that interesting, so coming up with blog posts and figuring out a way to do so consistently made me nuts for a while. After much thought, and reading a lot of blogs, especially the wisdom of Kristen Lamb and others, I've finally reached a happy, workable solution that works for ME over at my main blog. I do a Mashups on Mondays (Mind Sieve), photos on Wednesday (Picture Kaleidoscope), movie reviews on Fridays, and throw in the occasional extra post.

One thing I've noticed by the doing the mashups (since it means I need to go out there and read a lot of entries) is a pitfall of the social media push for us to blog - mainly posts that rattle out a topic but don't actually tell you anything. (No, I'm not going to point any virtual fingers. I'm sure you've probably run across some of these yourself out there.) (I'm also not trying to make everyone paranoid, just aware!)

The worst thing about these posts, in my opinion, is that rather than help the authors build their brand and gain followers, they become off putting and actually get an opposite reaction than intended. If the blog posts don't have substance, why would any readers then believe that the stories or novels by this same author would have them?

If we're going to put ourselves out there, let's do it right. So rather than post every day or just blast the bloggosphere with a half thought, make sure if you bring up a problem, try to throw in a solution or suggestion or two. If you bring up a question, try to give an answer. Like any story, a blog post should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. (Dredge up those memories of having to write short papers for school.) Don't leave the readers hanging. They need some meat to chew on. They won't come back if they leave dissatisfied. And what better way to intrigue them than to get their synapsis firing.

Let's put some care into our blogs and stimulate those brains!


(From ebaumsworld.com)

What are your thoughts on this? Have you experience what I'm talking about? Do you think I'm full of it? How about sharing any hints and tips you use when creating your own posts?

Let's get blogging!

Gloria Oliver
Unveiling the Fantastic
http://www.gloriaoliver.com/

4 comments:

  1. You're so right, Gloria. Some blogs I visit two or three times a week because I just can't wait to see what they post. I love to read good news about contracts, books, contests, etc. Book reviews interst me, as do giveaways. Love to win books.

    I'm not always consistent on my blog, but I try to post a review on Mondays. Or if I don't have a review, I'll just mention books I've recently read. I usually post on Wednesday, just whatever comes to mind. I know. That's not so good. Friday's the same.

    Note to self. I must get organized and be consistant.

    Good article.

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  2. Margaret, Good post. I blog every day and several things I've learned, one is to keep the post short. I read somewhere that 300 to 750 words is a good length for people to want to read. The other thing is to have theme days. What you've done is good. I blog seven days with a different theme for each day. Monday is the week behind and the week ahead. Tuesday is Inspirations books or things that inspire me, Wednesday is some aspect of writing. I've done months on characters and now plot, Thursday is interviews with other authors. Often allows you to gain members. Friday is a writing tip. Lately I've been ocncentrating on revision. Saturday I post a chapter from one of my books and Sunday I visit three blogs and let others know which ones I've visited. Janet who for some reason can post blogs here but not comments.

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  3. Exactly. I try to blog when I can. For sure I do blog every Friday with my Friday Five and I'll also host other authors on my blog. But most of my time is spent writing, editing, rewriting, reading, reviewing, homeschooling...
    Sometimes you have to stop and remember what is most important. For me it's writing.

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