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51 Ways to Blog as a Novelist
We all know that blogging is one of the best ways to get attention in today's Internet world. A blog is a godsend to your website, bringing it traffic, fans, and more. But you have to post regularly.
Stuck for what to blog about? Here are some tips for novelists, but the same tips can apply to writers of nonfiction, memoirs, children's books, business books, and more.
- Review other novels, especially from other lesser-known novelists.
- Write a blog post using the voice of one of your main characters.
- Have that main character tell some side stories not included in the novel.
- Write about the setting - time and/or place. Use some of the research you did to ensure that your novel was accurate.
- Invite your readers to review your book. Feature their testimonials on your blog.
- Interview some of your readers: via Q&A text or via an Internet radio show or via a teleseminar.
- Podcast your book, one section at a time.
- Write about trends in your genre.
- Write about your favorite novelists, especially those that write in your genre. Include their photos and a sampling of their books.
For the rest of the 51 ways, see: http://blog.bookmarket.com/2011/06/45-ways-to-blog-as-novelist-tips-for.html
If you like this list, help me add more. Email: johnkremer@bookmarket.com.
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Comment by Neil Ostroff on March 15, 2013 at 12:02pm
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Taking pause
As a prolific writer, I find it hard to take even one day off of working on my craft. In my mind, a day spent not writing is an unfinished day, as if I’d skipped exercising or went to bed without having dinner. But every now and then the unpredictability of life pops in and you have to take time to pause.
This happened to me recently as a family member was suddenly admitted to the hospital. After a long, unproductive week of experiencing torturous writer’s block, I had finally fallen back headstrong into writing my dystopian series, when a sudden, shrill phone call put a halt to everything. Instead of delving into my imaginary world of telepathic plants, domed cities, and half-man half-animal hybrids that make up make latest novel, I found myself once again sitting in a hospital room waiting for my mother-in-law’s test results. (Those of you who follow my blog know that several months ago I spent several days hanging out in the hospital while my wife recovered from cancer surgery).
When I was younger this sort of interruption in the novel-writing process would have driven me crazy. Back in my early writing days I was obsessed and starved for success. My first few novels were written with the “fever” and almost nothing could have dragged me away from the keyboard. From the age of eighteen until thirty, my novels took precedent over all else; friends, family, lovers; everything.
As I get older, life appears to throw more and more obstacles that a young writer hasn’t yet experienced and therefore can’t judge how to react, aging parents being the topper. Though the compulsive drive to write still harpoons me daily, I have also found a certain level of peace in dividing my time making sure those I care about can hammer through tough times. My books are and will forever be my “children” and I will never ignore them or let them fade away into cyberspace, but I’ve also come to realize that our mortal time on this planet is finite and there must be a balance between writer and human being.
One must spend time outside the imaginary worlds to be a part of real life.
So, as I spend another day in the hospital waiting room and not writing my latest novel, I find myself feeling not agitated and anxious to be away from my work, but actually calm and accepting of the curve balls that life sometime throws at you. Taking pause and helping others can be the best refresher any writer can enjoy.
My blog: http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com
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The virtual bookshelf
There is a riding wave of enthusiasm and excitement among indie authors that finally, after centuries of struggle, we can now put our books out there on the virtual bookshelf for the world to see and for all eternity. What an incredible concept that a hundred years from now someone might happen upon one of my books and my characters would rise from the ashes of time and thrill a new reader. Or is it?
What is the likelihood that a future individual will happen upon one of my books? If you do the actual mathematics, it doesn’t seem likely.
Ebooks have only been around for a few years and their rise in popularity is growing at exceptional and exponential levels. When I first started publishing in the virtual world, getting my books noticed was as easy as posting descriptions on social networks and threads. If you were lucky enough to afford a promotion on a popular reader’s website, you could draw dozens if not hundreds of new sales. Ereaders were a novelty that the next generation had to have and ebooks were golden jewels.
Well, the reading population bought both books and devices, and they bought them by the millions. You would think that is a good thing for indie writers like me, having a new audience who have a lifetime to discover my works?
With the new wave of ereaders also comes a new wave of writers. Writers who have discovered how easy it is to publish a book and try to sell their work. Many of these indie books are coming onto the market too soon. In a rush to get published, many writers are neglecting the basics of grammar, and characterization, and the importance of details in the setting. These quickly written books are coming on the market raw and unreadable, and flooding it in the process. Many novice writers are spamming the once mighty reader’s websites giving the legitimate indie authors little exposure and the art form a tarnished reputation.
It is true that the virtual bookshelf will exist as long as humanity and the internet do, however, being discovered on that bookshelf is soon going to be like trying to find a specific grain of sand placed somewhere on the largest beach on Earth. What can possibly set apart the great writers from the wannabe’s: Marketing? Promoting? An incredible tale?
I believe the only saving grace for the gifted writer will be word-of-mouth. Only if you write a great story will absolute strangers tell other absolute strangers about it. Like all things great, it will rise above the garbage and shine like a diamond. And there will be a lot of garbage out there, I predict billions of books.
As I continue to see mediocre books flooding the market (many free or at a price insulting to the art form) I can only wonder how long it will be before I, too, drown in this oncoming sea of mediocrity. Writers whose works are truly gifted are getting lost in a flood of new titles. A virtual bookstore where anyone can sell your work is truly a Godsend to the true storyteller, however, with virtual unlimited shelf space there may soon be more books than readers who care to read them.
ALWAYS WRITING - http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com
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Breaking Writer’s Block
I woke up this morning momentarily gripped by a fear and uncertainty that has plagued me as of recent. Would today be like yesterday and the day before and the day before? Would I spend the next fifteen hours walking around my office in a daze trying to rip free of this chain of boredom? Would today be the day I finally break this horrible bout of writer’s block?
For twenty-five plus years, I’ve woken each morning with my head crammed full of ideas. Imaginary characters start to converse with me and I find my thoughts drifting to other worlds and possible dimensions. However, for the last few days these comforting and familiar figments of make-believe have vanished.
I’ve never experienced a block before and find it both terrifying and strangely liberating. Being a writer is like waking up every morning for the rest of your life with homework to do. There’s always a chapter to be edited or a scene that needs tightening; a continuous mental itch to put down your thoughts that doesn’t ever get scratched or go away. To not feel that itch is as strange as cold-turkeying an addiction; like a smoker not being able to huff his first cigarette of the morning, or an alkie denied his early-afternoon sauce. I literally had restless tremors.
The first two days of my block was bearable, and my creative writing time was spent marketing my other novels (which is not necessarily a bad thing) and my usual marketing time was spent trying to find my creativity. Day three of my block was when I got scared. I spent two hours staring at the same page in front of me. My newest dystopian novel (the one I’d been averaging 1,500 words a day) was stuck on the glowing computer screen like a dead fish in mud.
Television and video games rarely exist in my life. Perhaps, that is the main reason I write. I’d rather create my own stories than watch someone else’s imagination unfold on the screen or become a pretend animated character in a programmer’s virtual reality game-world. I create my own virtual realities. I can disappear at will into a character of my own choosing and creation. That’s probably why I’m so sad that the ability went missing.
I find days without writing exceedingly long, believing hours have droned by only to realize the day isn’t even half over. I don’t know how normal, non-writers find enough stuff to do to fill the time (I know, those with kids are cursing me right now). Only after I’ve put in a good three or four hours of writing can I start my day feeling like I’ve accomplished something, and by then I’m racing against the clock to get my normal, human life activities done.
Happily, this morning I awoke with the tingles of creativity again sparking in my mind and the dreaded, creative dead-weight lifted. After four days of not “feeling it” my thoughts are again sharp, my worlds have returned, and my characters are speaking to me.
Stephen King describes the breaking-writer’s-block emotion best in his book ON WRITING. After years of drinking and drug addiction, Mr. King finally got sober, only to realize with this new sobriety he had lost his creativity. Finally, slowly, over a period of a few months, he found the beat again and the joy. He describes the feeling as this;
“I came back to it (writing) the way folks come back to a summer cottage after a long winter, checking first to make sure nothing has been stolen or broken during the cold season. Nothing had been. It was still all there, still all whole. Once the pipes were thawed out and the electricity was turned back on, everything worked fine.”
It’s time to continue with my novel.
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Comment by Kathryn Elizabeth Jones on March 1, 2013 at 12:35pm
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I'm new here, and am looking for readers to review my new book, Marketing Your Book on a Budget 2013. It's a short read full of tips for the new writer looking for ways to market their book without spending a lot of money. I would be happy to feature your testimonials on my blog with link(s) to your website(s).
Just let me know here if you're interested and I'll get the book to you!
Thanks in advance!
Kathryn
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Get read!
It’s the end of the month, which means my book sales stats will again be reset to zero. As I’ve mentioned many times before, it’s a little depressing to start each new month from scratch. Sometimes I think it would be nicer if they just kept the numbers going.
That said, I sold a pretty fair number of books this month. It helped that I ran two promotions and that Kindle Nation Daily gave me extra free publicity by presenting me with an interview by a fifth grader and then publishing it on their site.
I’ve also just finished up with my two-month long marketing frenzy and I am anxious, really anxious, to start back up on my latest Dystopian series. I finished the first draft of the first book back in January and have been letting it stew and simmer for the past six weeks. I’ve fleshed out the characters, setting, and plot and am ready to jump head first back into this one.
My marketing frenzy included downloading long samples of each of my novels to many popular writing sites. I don’t outright solicit my books, but do make mention at the end of the sample that the whole book is available. This seems to be working as my sales have continued to increase even weeks after my promotions ended. The sites keep a counter of readers and collectively, on all sites, I’ve had @ 9,000 reads in the last week. Not bad.
Here is a list of those sites. All of them are free, easy to download, and get great traffic. Do not spam the sites with self-promotion or you will be removed. These sites get readers, use them.
Nothingbinding.com
Scribd.com
Writing.com
Writers.net
Book daily.com
Published.com
Bookhitch.com
Writetobreathe
Worthyofpublishing.com
Wringroom.com
Bookmatchers.com
Writerscafe.org
Bookpleasures.com
Wattpad.com
ABCtales.com
Fictionpress.com
Shelfari.com
Authonomy.com
Ficwad.com
As I now plunge back into my latest book, I am still dedicated to placing writing samples on at least three new sites a week and will continue to update my existing samples. The more you update your samples the higher you will be placed on their new additions list. Good luck.
My blog: http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com
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Best interview ever!
Haha! Here is my first ever interview with a fifth grader. Please check it out!
http://kids.kindlenationdaily.com/2013/02/fifth-grader-interviews-k...
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Comment by Linton Robinson on February 21, 2013 at 11:39am
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FREE TODAY AND TOMORROW
A Fun Caper With Lovebird Bank Robbers
Bottom line: free on Kindle today and tomorrow.
Next to the bottom line: I’m cruisin’ hard for reviews and think you’ll enjoy this enough to give me some stars.
BAILIN’ started life as a screenplay. But if there is one thing harder to sell than a novel, it’s a movie script. So, on the advice of TVwriter.com guru Larry Brody, I started “reverse adapting” my scripts—novelizing the plays—and this one has worked out the best. What started as an attempt to get a quickie ebook blossomed out and I like the writing and augmented characterization a lot.
The cover subtitle “Comic Crime Romance” gives you an idea (though it’s not a “real romance” in the RWA sense—just two lovebirds working it out while robbing banks and trying to collect for the embezzler they rescued/kidnapped. Cole and Bunny, smooching their way across Texas and parts of Mexico with help from some rocket-flying bike bums. And much cuter than Bonnie and Clyde.
I’m seeing this book as a breakthrough thing for me, an attempt to get on the boards with something of wider appeal. And don’t flip out when I say this, because I’m a huge fan of the man, but I think BAILIN’ would go over well with fans of Donald Westlake.
My first task, of course, is building up a body of reviews and I hope you’ll help me out with that. Especially since you can get BAILIN’ for FREE today and tomorrow, Feb 21 and 22, on the amazon Kindle store: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AVZJXGG
Thanks for your attention. I hope you’ll grab a copy of BAILIN’ and enjoy it’s blend of wild action, financial hanky-panky. humor and lovey-dovey.
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Millions will see this!
I read a funny disclaimer on a website the other day. It was a site dedicated to posting samples of author’s writing. The disclaimer warned that any material posted may be seen by millions of people. I nearly burst out loud laughing.
If only that were true? Can you imagine if each one of my book samples got read by millions of people? If only a very small percentage of those readers purchased the book I’d be rich. The reality is the internet allows you the opportunity for millions of people to read your work, not a guarantee. And that’s if they know your book samples exist at all.
Today’s cyber exposure is limitless for authors, but it is up to the author to get noticed. I’ve spent thousands of hours marketing my books and I’ve estimated about 150,000 samples have been downloaded. That’s a far cry from the warning that millions may see this.
In an era when websites can easily manipulate an uninformed author into spending hundreds on advertising, one needs to check the rankings before hopping headfirst into purchasing an expensive advertisement. There’s no site in the world that can guarantee millions will see your ad or sample chapters when the site only has 300,000 lifetime hits. If anyone out there knows of a website that can guarantee a million people will see my promotion I’d readily spend a big portion of my budget for that exposure.
As of now, I have long samples of all my books on more than two dozen FREE sites and have collectively received a decent amount of hits (in the thousands) and that’s okay with me.
They key to getting discovered is not to place all your eggs in one basket, because no one basket gets that much attention. Spread your samples across the vastness of the cyber-world. Download to as many sites as you can find. Eventually, and with time and patience, you will get the millions reading your samples, and hopefully a few might buy the book.
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So exciting!
Please check out my latest sci-fi adventure, SILENT INVASION it is the first novel in a series of three. It is also Kindle Nation Daily’s ebook of the week for their new site devoted to kids and young adults.
Thank you.
http://kids.kindlenationdaily.com/2013/02/announcing-a-brand-new-ki...
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To all indie authors
I woke up this morning, checked my books stats, and nearly retched at what I saw. My Amazon ‘likes’ which took me two years to build are gone on all my books. At first, I thought it was a mistake and then I delved further.
Seems Amazon has decided to get rid of all ‘like’ buttons and tags for books and products. Why, you ask? I have a theory.
The rise of indie publishing and authors self-publishing and selling their own work has skyrocketed. And not just in the publishing world, in all aspect of the entertainment industry. This last Grammy Awards is a perfect example of how independents are taking over. More than half the awards went to artists who published under their own labels. Even the song of the year has no major label backing.
So, why is Amazon so afraid of independents when they appear to be gaining popularity, respect, and success? They’re not. It’s the big publishers who are.
Independent authors are usually also marketing machines and spend hours promoting their own books. And one of the best ways was by encouraging readers and friends to ‘like’ and tag. Which book would grab your interest more, one published by Random House that has twenty ‘likes’ or an independent book that has 300 ‘likes’? That’s what scares the big three. Getting rid of the ‘likes’ and tags greatly diminish the opportunity for readers to stumble upon a book just by searching random keywords. What was once a level playing field between indies and the traditionally published author has become greatly skewed. And that only hurts the reader looking for a good story.
All my books had many more than 100 ‘likes’ each and I think that definitely drew attention to the content. Think about it, if you had two books side by side, both with great reviews, one book with ten ‘likes’ or one with a hundred, which would you take a look at?
My sales have dropped since Amazon incorporated these new “indie buffers” so the big publishers can sell more books. What puzzles me is why Amazon would continue to try and keep the independents from selling thousands of copies? After all, royalties is money no matter who is selling. It just doesn’t make good business sense to hamper a segment of profit.
Though Amazon gives traditionally published books precedence over indies, as the recent Grammy Awards showed, there is no stopping the rising tide of new age artists. The internet will allow us to sell our books worldwide forever with no limit on the possible audience. Whether on Amazon, Smashwords, Nook, Kobo, or any of the thousands of other bookselling sites, a good story will always find its readership.
That said, I bid farewell to the combined 2,500 + ‘likes’ my books used to have and I thank all those that took the time to check me out and hit the buttons. I ask that you re-tweet and repost this blog to as many sites and social media as you can to let Amazon know that the indie author is here to stay and we can all work together to share our stories with the world.
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