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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Writers' Self-Promotion - Using Your blog

We writers keep hearing it's tough to promote fiction on a blog, tougher than say, non-fiction.  Well don't despair, it may be a bit more difficult to get your message across, but it's not impossible, and actually it can be fun.

So, how do you, as a writer and blogger, promote your fiction on your blog?  There are lots of ways.  I'll suggest a few here, but once the seed is planted I have no doubt you'll come up with lots of other ideas. Some of those below I've used here, others I'm planning to.

You might think about posting short articles on your blog about trends, past present and future (?) in your genre.  Do a bit of research, talk about it and perhaps provide some sales statistics.

Don't be shy about reviewing books written by others on your site.  Books that are in the same genre as yours or in some way related to yours. This can also lead to cross promotion with other writers, a very good thing.

When you have a few followers initiate a contest of your own devising with a free copy of your book, Electronic or print version, as the prize.  Be sure to promote it and announce your winner with some fanfare. You  might consider having such a 'giveaway' on a regular basis. You might consider offering a copy of your book as a 'prize' to another blogger you form a relationship with.

Ask your readers to endorse your book.  It's always fun the comments you get back from fans when you make this request. Oh, and when you do, make your post more about the reader who gave you the endorsement than about yourself. Ask a few questions of them, focus on their taste in reading or something interesting they may tell you about their lives. Do a sort of a mini-interview with the person who endorses before you just slap their endorsement up on your blog.

Encourage your readers to ask questions of you, then post the answers. You may find your readers want to know even more about your characters and this will give you the opportunity to flesh them out even more - for your readers and for yourself.

Got another book in the works?  Talk about it!  Are you putting out a new edition of a published book such as Electronic or talking book?  Talk about it! Not just your book, but the area it's being released in.  Expound on Electronic books and their exploding popularity or Talking Books and how great they are for travel...think of new angles. 

Don't forget to have a post where you open up the door for your fans to give their opinions.  You'd be amazed at how much information you can accumulate for your next novel doing something like that and what a better relationship you can build between you and your fans. .

If you want to get really creative you might consider posting a short story of sorts - using the voice of one of your main characters in your book you could tell a story - about your book!  And while they're at it they can mention the title and you can provide a link.
Readers sometimes enjoy seeing a new angle, a fresh story from the characters you've created.

Thre are lots of other ideas out there, but you're the writer, get creative, think of new angles: what would you, as a reader, enjoy or benefit from as a blog post?

And if you don't do a blog yet, keep the content on your website fresh.  Update regularly whether blog or site and keep your readers coming back.

2 comments:

  1. Good advice. Just being generous, will have others wanting to help get the word out.

    ReplyDelete

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