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| Is Your Blog Capturing Your Audience? |
I think I heard a big collective gasp from many of you.
Well, immediately after reading it I knew I had to compose my own post about why I agree - and disagree - with Kristen Lamb's idea of blogging on topic.
First, why I agree: Kristen Lamb is totally spot on right. She says she doesn't do marketing besides what she does for authors. My background is in marketing and it is exactly what I have thought from the very beginning of my endeavor to get published. If you want people to buy your book, draw them with a blog on a related topic.
Think about it. Do regular, reader people care about the craft? Not really. They pick books based on subjects they like. When they go searching online for the author, they usually want to either find personal author info or more stuff like in the book. The reverse is true. If a reader is interested in fiction and 17th century art and you blog about artists of the 17th century, the reader may find you, like your blog, then want to read your book.
Roni Loren who was on my site this last Saturday said it about her own pathway. She wished she had started a blog for her readers from the beginning. Her author blog is now geared for readers. It is all about romance and flirtation and sexiness. A few years ago I went through a real romance reading phase. (If you do the math you might find it was when I conceived my youngest, but I'm not saying anymore than that.) I searched online for leads to new books I thought I might like to read. A blog like Roni's would totally have drawn me in. And then I'd see that amazing cover and want to read her book.
Now I write children's books. So most of my thoughts on this subject are related to children and preteens. That means my main readers are children. It is hard to imagine children following blogs, but it's not impossible. My first book that I am currently querying is about a 12-year-old super spy. So imagine I started a blog with weekly "spy tips and tricks". If I included some cool interactive things or secrets, it's exactly the type of website my 9-year-old would visit. And if she visited it, believe me she'd tell me she wanted whatever book that blog was advertising.
And you don't have to be exactly so literal with your "on topic" blog. The trick is to think about who your reader is, what they like, what they search for online. Here's some examples I came up with from well-known children's books:
- Harry Potter - a blog about magic tricks
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid - a blog about real life stories of sibling rivalry
- Lemony Snicket - a blog where Snicket answers reader's questions about the book/life in general (in Lemony's voice, of course!)
- Judy Moody - a blog about potentially awesome summer activities
These aren't great, but you get my drift, right? This works for adult books too.
Now before you completely dump your writer blog or think that I'm telling you to dump your writer blog just stop. I'm not dumping this writing blog, after all. Because although I strongly agree with Kristen's "On Topic" philosophy, I also kinda strongly disagree.
But you'll have to come back Friday to find out about that.
Speaking of Friday - I have come to the point where I don't feel like Facebook Friday should be an every week event. Yes, I will still include Facebook Friday as an occasional series, but I have other things to talk about and I think other things you might want to read. So come back Friday for the conclusion to this.
Meanwhile, what are your thoughts on blogging on topic? Can you think of some books and blog ideas to go with them? I'd love to hear what you come up with!
