Self-publishing marketing w/out blogging?

Did you see the stickied How to Promote your Book Like an Intelligent Human Being and Not An SEO Dweeb

I think a blog (or a website/blog combo) might be useful because it's detached from entities you have no control over (ex. Facebook and Twitter). If your entire marketing plan revolves around social media, you might get into trouble when these companies change their terms or disappear completely (think about all the indie bands with huge followings on MySpace, or when FB changed their algorithms to make Pages less visible unless you pay to boost posts). If you have a blog/website combo tied to a domain name you own, then you'll at least have one constant venue for visibility that you'll have complete control over.

The other problem you might run into if you don't have a blog is (a) your inability to join blog hops and (b) your inability to reciprocate assistance. A lot of authors promote their books by doing "blog tours", which they can either pay a tour company for, or use their network to do for free. For the free version, one basically shouts into the world and asks if anyone has room for a guest blog or book spotlight and wait for responses to trickle in. Here's the thing, if you can never offer to host anyone, the arrangement becomes somewhat lopsided.

That said, mileage for blogging, blog hops and blog tours isn't really quantifiable. I participate in them on the assumption that it'll all eventually pay off (in a decade or so), but it could just as well be for naught.

I hate blogging. There, I admitted it lol But I do have a blog. It's linked on my website and I don't update it as much as I should. I use it mainly to talk about my self publishing adventures and any exciting things that happen in my life. Also I use it for cover reveals and announcements for my books. I don't showcase other authors or do reviews or anything like that. I use it so my readers can get to know me better and keep up on any news of upcoming releases.

Now blog tours are a whole other thing and I pay a company (Goddess Fish) to hook me up with that.

I've also been contacted by some awesome AW'ers, and bloggers who found me on Goodreads that have asked to interview me for their blogs and promote my new releases! That's been great.

But, does it actually lead to any sales. I really don't think so. For me I believe my sales come from writing more books followed by my Twitter followers, and Goodreads connections.

Hi misterl

Congrats on getting your first novel done! I'm at the stage of hitting "publish" on my first novel too, and I know how exciting and scary it can be!

Of course you don't have to have a blog to effectively market your books. After all, authors have been successful without blogs for years. But a blog is a very effective tool, and it's often suggested to writers because ... well, blogs are all about writing, and we write, so it's a marketing match made in blog heaven. As another poster said, they aren't controlled by another company (like Facebook), and they can be a very powerful way of getting you found in search engines (for example, I wrote a post 4 years ago that accounts for around 1/2 my blog traffic STILL, and I STILL get 1-2 emails a week about people who've read it. So I'm going to stick a link to my Amazon page at the bottom of it.

Don't discount social media sites as a great place to establish your online following. Just be aware when you do so that the rules can be changed on you without warning.

I've been blogging for years, and I teach community classes on blogging, so I'm a bit biased , but I always tell students that blogging isn't the ONLY way to do ANYTHING online, and just because something works for me, doesn't mean it won't work for them. One thing I often say is that you've got to strip back your idea of what you think a blog is. For example, lots of people are using blogs to "curate" content, instead of creating their own. So for a SFF author's blog, instead of writing articles, why not post pretty pictures of space and cool SF artists you like? One of my friends does a blog where he posts short, hilarious quotes and little stories from history. He writes funny historicals. Another guy I know writes these little "did you know?" style posts about Victorian mysticism, ancient steam-engines, etc. He writes steampunk. The stuff doesn't take long to write and is a bit different and very easy to build an audience around. Maybe think of something like this, a theme or gimmick, related to your books but not ABOUT them per say, that your SF audience would enjoy and that you might be able to churn out words or images for a couple of times a week? It's a "blog" but not the same as every other author's blog?

I find I get sales when I post something popular on my blog. But that's the trick really. If your blog sits there because you hate it, and you only post to it sometimes to say "Buy my book!" because you hate blogging, there's no point in a blog. You won't get sales simply because it exists and contains words.

It is useful to have a website though, as things people will look for are an about the author, your bibliography and details of your books. You don't want to make it hard for them to find that information.

I think a blog (or a website/blog combo) might be useful because it's detached from entities you have no control over (ex. Facebook and Twitter).

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If your blog CMS provider (eg, WordPress) decides to change things up or goes out of business, you're in the same boat. Unless you host you own site and create it from scratch, you're largely always dependent on other providers.

Polenth said:

I find I get sales when I post something popular on my blog. But that's the trick really. If your blog sits there because you hate it, and you only post to it sometimes to say "Buy my book!" because you hate blogging, there's no point in a blog. You won't get sales simply because it exists and and contains words.

It is useful to have a website though, as things people will look for are an about the author, your bibliography and details of your books. You don't want to make it hard for them to find that information.

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I wanted to highlight that because it became relevant just yesterday to me.

eMail lists. I know they seem daunting and believe me, I was so resistant to them at first.

But James Scott Bell has a new nonfiction book out. It came out a week ago. If I had been on subscribed to his list, I may have found out about it sooner. I am so willing to throw money at him that me not being on his email list delayed me finding out about it by surfing amazon for something completely unrelated.

I've fixed that. I'm on that list now.

The problem I find with email lists is getting the email through to the end user. Pretty well anymore you have to use a service like Constant Contact or Mail Chimp. Send out any quantity from your personal email and you risk being labeled a spammer and your email blocked. I also find people reluctant to sign up.

Personally I have moved more to Twitter and FB. Easy to sign up and drop.

JournoWriter said:

If your blog CMS provider (eg, WordPress) decides to change things up or goes out of business, you're in the same boat. Unless you host you own site and create it from scratch, you're largely always dependent on other providers.

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Or you spring for a domain that you can redirect at any time, and keep a backup.

Overall my feeling it that blogging is completely optional. An online presence can certainly be helpful but IMHO you should do it where you feel most comfortable. For example if it is a non-fiction book, being a helpful presence on a forum addressing the same subject will probably do you more good.

I'm completely new to this, so take it with a grain of salt, but I've heard your website should include examples of your writing but not actual pieces (ex- chapters) from your book. So basically like a blog, just don't include stuff your customers will get if they purchase your work.

misterl said:

Hi Everyone,

I’m about to self-publish my first novel and I’m looking for some advice. I’ve been reading tons of stuff online about how to market self-published fiction and build an audience, but there’s one thing that I could use some clarity on.

It seems like the overwhelming majority of articles I read talk about blogging as the key to building an audience online. For me, this presents a few issues:

First, I have absolutely no interest in blogging – I’ve had blogs in the past and they take a tremendous amount of time and effort to keep a regular flow of new content coming. On top of that, I write science fiction, and can’t imagine what I would blog about regularly to build a sci-fi readership.

My question is this – are all of these self-publishing marketing strategies putting all of their eggs in the blogging basket? What options are there (if any) for a non-blogging author to find an audience for their self-published work?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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I've never self-published anything, so don't take all my advice to heart.

If blogging isn't your thing, you could try other alternatives. Word of mouth is usually how most books get a wider audience.

If you've got some cash to spare try getting a TV commercial or add placed in a magazine that targets your audience. Book trailers are another thing to consider.

Other than that you could try using the radio to help spread the word, but again this costs money.

Do you have a preference for working with a different type of media? Instead of blogging, would you consider video?

misterl said:

Hi Everyone,

I’m about to self-publish my first novel and I’m looking for some advice. I’ve been reading tons of stuff online about how to market self-published fiction and build an audience, but there’s one thing that I could use some clarity on.

It seems like the overwhelming majority of articles I read talk about blogging as the key to building an audience online. For me, this presents a few issues:

First, I have absolutely no interest in blogging – I’ve had blogs in the past and they take a tremendous amount of time and effort to keep a regular flow of new content coming. On top of that, I write science fiction, and can’t imagine what I would blog about regularly to build a sci-fi readership.

My question is this – are all of these self-publishing marketing strategies putting all of their eggs in the blogging basket? What options are there (if any) for a non-blogging author to find an audience for their self-published work?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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For nonfiction blogging is great, but fiction writers should spending their writing time on the next book. Fiction author brands and businesses are built around catalogues, not blogs. Nonfiction is different. The best way to market a fiction book and build an audience is with the next book.

And build your email list on your website!!

Rinse, repeat.

AnthonyP said:

but fiction writers should spending their writing time on the next book. Fiction author brands and businesses are built around catalogues, not blogs. Nonfiction is different. The best way to market a fiction book and build an audience is with the next book.

And build your email list on your website!!

Rinse, repeat.

Click to expand...

There's a problem with that approach though, if you cannot find an audience for your first book, you are likely to still struggle with this on the next book.

Writing another book, while still not understanding who your audience is and how you're going to reach them will lead to frustration.

Without readers there is no business or brand, a catalogue of books with no readers/buyers is not marketing, marketing creates awareness.