I'm not going to give away all of my secrets, but one that I feel all new writers need to know is ... learn the art of blogging.
Blogging helps you connect with your readers. It's a valuable tool to help you build your online presence which will hopefully lead to book sales - and if not, then it will definitely lead to making some new and interesting friends who may have the same take on the world as you.
What should you blog about?
Well, that's the interesting part. You can blog about anything at all. It doesn't have to be about your writing all the time, or your latest book/story/poetry collection release - although you certainly should keep your readers informed of those things. It can be about a disasterous day, thoughts as you do the work/school run. Interesting people you've met. People you'd like to meet (Richard Gere springs to my mind ...). Places you've visited. Holidays. Sports events. Buying shoes! Get the picture?
One thing you should do of course is look at some of the more successful blogs out there. Like Neil Gaiman for example. Neil writes about all sorts of things and his narrative is very engaging. Or if you are looking for an example of a specific topic or theme, then try David J Howe's, Howeswho blog on the Doctor Who TV series (as well as writing and horror films and other subjects).
So what are you waiting for?
Get to work and keep in touch with loyal fans, friends and anyone else who comes across your page! You never know, they might all be waiting for you to speak your mind.
1 comment:
Another option is what Warren Ellis does. He has an email list, where you sign up to receive these mass-messages that he sends out. Often interesting, occasionally incoherent, little details about whatever is going on in his life, or what he's thinking about. I've been signed up for a couple of years. I don't know how many others are subscribed, but that's a good way to connect with people on a personal level.
I didn't know about Neil Gaiman's blog, but I just signed up for that. Did you see that post about making out a Will? I thought that was very interesting, and just linked it to my page.
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