Writing a book can be a labor of love, getting the attention of a publisher can be a labor of a different sort. New authors today are taking advantage of several new technologies to promote their books, gain an audience and attract publishers. Book blogs, or blogs written solely to promote and advance a book, are becoming increasingly popular amongst new writers. From children’s books, to sci-fi thrillers, book blogs, along with Twitter chat rooms and other social media are changing the face of publishing.
Why Should New Authors Consider Blogging?
An untried writer, hoping to attract the attention of a publisher, may find that blogging is a natural way to hone their craft, and gain readers. A built in audience, who is enthused about an upcoming novel can be attractive to publishers, as it helps to build sales.
PV Lundqvist, a new author whose book, Not Just For Breakfast Anymore is being published in late fall of 2009 by Stick Raven Press, has started a blog to promote his book, because, “To attract a publisher, in today's climate, a writer has to show they have a market for their books. …you [also] get instant feedback about your material. Writing novels can be lonely work; it's nice to put thoughts instantly on the web and start receiving comments right away.”
Ways New Authors Can Use Book Blogs to Attract Readers
A new author can use a blog to help attract potential readers in multiple ways. A new author publishing a children’s book, for example, may join parenting networks and blog circles of parents with children in the target age group. Finding out what they may be looking for in a children’s book can be helpful to someone in the process of writing.
Additionally, a new author can gain trust and support from those interested in the finished product, encouraging those in the target audience to feel they have a hand in the book’s creation, and thereby encouraging them to purchase.
With the advent of Good Reads, and blogging technologies which allow bloggers to place books they are currently reading on their blogs, a new author can also seek out and follow readers whose tastes fall close to what they, themselves are writing about. The potential reader may then decide to follow the new blog as well, gaining interest in its finished product.
Promoting a blog and its content on Twitter can also help to gain readers and help spark interest in a new book. Social networking and media allow people of similar interests to find one another, which also allow new authors to find those people who may be interested in what they have to say.
Use Blogging to Promote EBooks and Internet Sales
A new author can also use a book blog to promote sales of their book once it has been published. Blogs can link to sales pages on Amazon or the publisher’s website, allowing potential readers to quickly find and purchase the book. Links to ebooks, as well as to ebook reader feeds of the blog can also help facilitate sales by placing the books directly in front of the target audience.
Social media is in many ways still in its infancy. Book blogs which allow readers to download sample chapters of books either to an ebook reader or to their computer, forums for publishers and writers to discuss ideas, and book blog circles are all up and coming methods of book writing and promotion. A new author who wishes to keep up with today’s changing publishing world will need to do more than write the book; they will need to write about the book as well.
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