One of the most effective ways of promoting your book online is with a blog. It’s free, it’s great for search engines, it helps you sell books (don’t forget an ordering link), and it involves writing – something we’re all doing (or aspiring to do) anyway. But how do you get started?
There are various free tools available to enable anyone to get writing in minutes, with no technical knowledge required. The main options are Blogger, WordPress and TypePad.
One thing you need to decide is whether you want your blog hosted by the software provider (easy) or on your own server space (more difficult). All three will host your blog for you – and Blogger and WordPress will do it for free. If you’re just starting out with blogging, it’s fine to use a hosted service. The important thing is to get writing. It can look a little less professional than hosting it yourself and using your own domain name. But many successful author blogs use a hosted service, including Belle de Jour which is hosted on Blogger. Wife in the North also uses Blogger, but is hosted elsewhere, and uses a web address that matches the title.
The advantage to hosting your blog on your own server space is that:
1. you can choose whatever domain name you like (so long as it’s available), rather than having .blogspot, .wordpress or .typepad in your web address. Depending on the focus of your blog, you may want your domain name to be the same as your own name or your book’s title – think about what people are likely to search for.
2. you’re not restricted by the software provider’s server space limits – important if you’re thinking about including audio or video in your blog
3. you can customise your blog to look however you want
4. you have more control over the features and functions you use.
You do need to be a bit techy to do this – or know someone who is. But if you’re already published, it’s worth speaking to your publisher, since they may be able to set up a blog for you on their server space. In fact, they should be helping you with this sort of thing. If they need some persuading, start with a hosted option so they can see the benefit of what you’re doing. And make sure they link to your blog from their own website.
WordPress offers a lot of flexibility for the first-time blogger. You can sign up for a free account and be up and blogging in no time at http://wordpress.com/, without any technical knowledge. Later on, if you want, you can pay to upgrade to an account that allows you to have your own domain name, more space, and a customised look and feel. Or you can go to http://wordpress.org/, download the software yourself, for free, install it on your own server, and customise it to taste. That’s the part you may need help with – but the flexibility of WordPress, including a vast number of ‘themes’ (design templates) and ‘plugins’ (extra functions) that can be installed for free, make it a very powerful option.
As with all things social media, start small, test things out, and see what works for you. Don’t worry about the technology – it’s the content you create that’s important, and how you encourage people to find and share it. And you can have some fun with it and hone your writing at the same time. So what are you waiting for? Go on – start a blog!
Jon Reed is a social media consultant who specializes in social media. He previously worked in publishing for 10 years, including as publishing director for McGraw-Hill. His blog can be found at http://www.publishingtalk.eu/blog/
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