GUEST BLOGS, INTERVIEWS AND EVERYTHING ELSE
So one thing I have learned over my years as an indie author is that it never stops. There is always something more to do, and today I'm going to be talking about guest blogs and interviews and everything else that will help get you exposure, make connections and all that jazz. One thing I learned early on when I started my blog was that people want content, and sometimes that content shouldn't be from you. They like the variety of hearing from similar authors, and discovering new books and blogs. And although it took me a while to get a proper flow started, I think I'm there now.
So, how do you get that content? I mean it has to work both ways right? Other people are going to be wanting your content for their blog and you're going to be wanting theirs for yours. The problem is it's not easy to get started with that. When you've just set up a blog, whether you have books already published or not, you're now an unknown. If you do have connections or friends who are also authors in either the same genre or style of writing as you, then yay! You can get started. But for the rest of us, we have to make those connections and find a way to both bring traffic to your blog, and find people whose content is suitable. There are a few tips I can share with you and hopefully they'll be helpful for you.
#1 - KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
This is the most important thing I could say. If you don't know who you're reaching out to, then how do you start to get the right kind of content? Once you know who is reading your blog, whether they be readers of your genre or fellow authors looking for advice, you need to be sure that your posts are right for that. It will take a while for you to get a good idea on who your readers are, and it may be that you have to try a few different things before you find that sweet spot. But when you know, start looking for other authors, readers, bloggers, and reach out to them for both guest blogs and interviews. That way when your post their pieces, it's not going out to people who have no wish to read about it.
#2 - BE CONSISTENT WITH POSTING
Now I fell into this trap for a long time. I started my blog in 2012 and for the first year, as a newbie I only posted about my books. Big mistake. My second mistake was that when I did start posting advice pieces and the like, I wasn't consistent about when they'd be on my blog. If you need to set a schedule, then do so. But stick to it. Unless there's an emergency that prevents you from posting, or you go on holiday, then make sure that if you say you will post new content every Monday and Friday, that you actually do post it then. I found that choosing Mondays for advice pieces and Friday for guest blogs, reviews and interviews, worked really well with my own schedule, but you need to find one that works for you.
#3 - VARY YOUR POSTS
Again, I fell into this trap too. I didn't post anything for the first year except about sales and new sites having my work. While you should make sure you have information about your books and where to buy them, you should also have other posts too. If you're gonna talk about your books, leave it to sales and release days, along with cover reveals if you choose to do that. You also want to be sure that the people you choose to guest blog are going to be talking about different kinds of things. It's no good having one guest blogger do a post about writer's block if the next week someone else does a similar post. That's only going to annoy and/or bore your readers and you don't want that.
#4 - GENRES MATTER
If you're, like me, a young adult author, then it's gonna make a lot more sense for you to be having guest bloggers who are also young adult authors. If you're a crime writer, the same applies. So long as there is some cross over - like I have YA fantasy interviews coming up and I don't write fantasy, but I do write young adult - then it should be okay. You want someone who is going to appeal to your audience and is also going to bring readers to your blog who might also enjoy your work. It's all about making sure that both your readers and theirs are gonna be happy with the content.
And finally, #5 - RECIPROCATE OFTEN
I can't stress this enough. If you're asking people to host you on their blog, then it should go both ways. Even if it's later down the road, you should be planning for them to have a spot on yours. Now this doesn't always work. Sometimes while the genres do cross over, it's just not a good idea. I've hosted crime and mystery adult authors, and while their readers might like those elements in my work, they will probably not enjoy the fact that they're young adult books. However, that's not always the case and it is possible that the majority of the time, it should go both ways.
So those are my tips on guest blogs and interviews and everything in-between. It's something that you'll find you come across often in both the indie world and in general. I am always getting emails asking me to help with promotion from both indie and traditionally published authors. It's all about the exposure and if you work well with others, then you'll find that they are just as happy to help you, as you are to help them. Good luck and keep going!
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MAKING A NAME FOR YOURSELF
So, you've written your book, you've edited it, you're proof-read it, it has a cover and a release date and all of that jazz. And now what do you do? Press publish and hope for the best? That's the problem you see, once you hit publish, people will buy it right? Well, no. If they dont' know it's there, then how will they know to look for it? Classic paradox and a mistake a lot of writers make. We've talked about promotion and you have a lot of options, but if you're indie (and even if your traditionally published) you're gonna have to get out there and tell people about your book. The hard work has only just begun. Welcome to the after process!
Now, I know people say that the hard part is writing the book, and it's definitely not easy, but well, there's that part and then there's the whole editing process and then well, there's this part too. Basically writing and publishing a book is a lot of hard parts rolled up into a cliff of hardness...or something. There's a metaphor that got away from me! My point is that now you're published, more hard work begins. You're always going to be promoting and the hard part is that you'll also be writing too. Yes that first book is a lot of blood, sweat and tears, but unless you plan on being a one-trick pony, you're gonna write a second, and a third and so on. So how do you juggle doing the writing and the promotion when there's always another big thing to aim for? I may only be a small fish in a very big pond, but I have some tips of what I've learnt over the past fifteen or so years.
#1 - CONTACTS ARE USEFUL
One of the things I learned first was that it's not always what you do, or how you write, sometimes it is who you know. I don't mean that you'll sell tons of books just because you're Facebook friends with a best-seller, your book will have to be the best it can be for that to happen. However, having contacts means that you can ask for help, and they can, hopefully, reciprocate and spread the word about your release. This is true for your first release all the way up to your last release. Having contacts who are also authors makes it so much easier to know which promotional companies are worth your time and money, which things work and which things don't and it's always good to have some contacts in your own genre. That way you can all cross-promote and everybody is happy.
#2 - THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS TOO MUCH
I say this meaning that there's no such thing as too much promotion when it comes to a new release, whether that be in other writer groups, reader groups, adverts of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and all the rest. It's true, though you do need to be careful not to spam the same group of people over and over because all that does is annoy and get yourself unfollowed, or reported to Facebook or the like. Engaging with a promotional company, running a release day event and doing a blog tour? That's not too much and can be the difference between getting noticed and your book passing people by, so in that regard it's better to go for as much as you can, than to tone it down. This is your book we're talking about! The thing you've been working on hard, and you want it to do well, so you gotta do the promotion to get it noticed.
#3 - BLOGGERS ARE YOUR FRIENDS
One thing I wish I'd known earlier on in my career was about the wide net of indie authors and the book blogs who support them. There are a bunch of bloggers who will take that chance on a new author and will help promote you. Whether that's with a review or an interview or anything like that. These bloggers are listed on a number of sites. The one I've found that works best is here. Now I'm not going to say that it's not hard work contacting them, nor will I say that everyone you contact will say yes, but it's a daunting task, and the ones that do say yes, because there will be some, they will possibly be the difference between visibility and being passed over.
#4 - RESEARCH IS YOUR FRIEND
Yeah, I know, you *just* finished researching all that stuff for your book, and then you had to research editors and cover art and all of that, but it holds true for promotion too. Basically it holds true for every step of the writing journey. Yes, sometimes your contacts will be able to help you find a promotion company, but first you gotta be sure what companies and what kind of promotion works best for your chosen genre. Adult books are marketed differently than young adult. Crime is different than fantasy and so on. You need to be researching to make sure you're looking in the right places to make your mark otherwise you're going in blind and that's never a good idea.
And finally #5 - WORK WITHIN YOUR BUDGET
Yeah, it's boring and yeah money is always tight, but that's why you need to know your budget and make sure your money stretches as far as it can. There's no use not doing your research and landing on the first promotional company you find if they do something that costs all your budget when if you'd shopped carefully you'd have been able to stretch it to more. The idea is that promotion will cost you some money. It's just a fact of life. You can only get so far on the kindness of friends and the like. Knowing how much you can spend, helps you consider your options better. It's just that simple.
So those are my five tips for how to get your name out there. Some of them work better than others, but the majority of them work well together. My advice is just that, advice, born from my own experience in the writing world. Your mileage may, of course, vary, and that's okay.
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Firstly I'd like to thank Kerry Kijewski who invited me to join her on this blog hop. She introduced me last week on her blog here. Here's some info about Kerry!
I was born blind, but have never allowed anything to stop me from doing what I love. I love to write. It is how I express myself and attempt to make sense of the world around me.
I have a Certificate in Creative Writing. I participated in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and am working on my first book. I also write short stories, memoir, and a blog. My motto has always been to share my view of the world with others through my writing. You can find Kerry on her blog or on Facebook, or Twitter.
Now onto the questions!
1) What am I working on?
Right now I'm working on two different books - approaching the end with both. One is a standalone about four teens looking to end a string of attacks and murders within the LGBTQIPA+ community and finding that they themselves may fall victim to them. The second is the sixth in the DYING THOUGHTS series. Tara, having recently gone through a trauma of her own is learning how life changes. She's out of school and in college with her dad rising back up to fame.
2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
All of my books are young adult fiction and while they don't always stick to the same pattern, they do have their own uniqueness about them. One reviewer of my work has likened me to Judy Blume, where another says my books are little snippets of teenage life. I feel that I have a different perspective to bring to young adult crime and paranormal fiction. I like to go different places than other writers.
3) Why do I write what I do?
I write YA because I love the period in life when you're faced with all these different opportunities but don't have the know how or life experience to make them and know they are the right ones for you. I love being able to send young teens on an adventure and allow them to get to know where they draw the line between right and wrong. How much is too much? When do the risks stop outweighing the benefits? I've always also been interested in some aspects of the paranormal and my writing allows me to explore some of that.
4) How does your writing process work?
My writing process is complicated and easy at the same time. I don't have any set days where I write, I am a uni student as well and that always takes precedence. Some days I'll write for hours, others I'll sit and type a bit here and a bit there. I set myself four chapters a fortnight - two of each book - and sometimes I'll manage them as well as bonus ones, other times it's like pulling teeth to get the words onto the page. I write because I love it, I love creating and I love knowing that people read and enjoy my work. Some days I just have to remind myself to breath, that the words will come and the story will be told. It just takes time.
Now, I've passed the torch to three other talented authors. Their profiles are below.
First we have Amber Skye Forbes, author of "WHEN STARS DIE"
Amber is a dancing writer who prefers pointe shoes over street shoes, leotards over skirts, and ballet buns over hairstyles. She loves striped tights and bows and will edit your face with a Sharpie if she doesn't like your attitude. She lives in Augusta, Georgia where she writes dark fiction that will one day put her in a psychiatric ward...again. But she doesn't care because her cat is a super hero who will break her out. Check out her website, her blog, on Tumblr, or follow her on Facebook. You can also add her book on Goodreads here.
Second is Erin Rycer, author of "MARKED FILE"
E.J. Rycer lives north of Boston in Massachusetts’ Merrimack Valley with her husband. With his support and the support of her close friends and family, E.J. finally decided to follow her life-long dream of becoming an author.
For updates on upcoming work and to follow E.J.’s continuing journey as an author you can find her online in the following places: Facebook, her blog, and Goodreads
And finally is Angella Graff, author of the "JUDAS CURSE" series, as well as the "ALEXANDRA FRY: PRIVATE EYE" series. Her books can be found on Amazon here.
Angella Graff was born and raised in the desert city of Tucson, Arizona. She married and became a mother very young, and after getting started with her family, began her University studies where she found her passion for creative writing, history and theology.
She now resides in Tucson with her husband Joshua, three children, Christian, Isabella and Adia, and their two cats, Archive (Ivy), and Lasciel. She prefers to spend her days writing, gardening, and reading non-fiction theology theory books. Angella is also an avid, if not fanatic fan of Doctor Who and BBC Sherlock, which tend to dominate her dry, sarcastic humor, a lot of which is apparent in her writing.
Currently Angella is working on an Urban Fantasy series called The Judas Curse, involving extensive research into Mythos, Christianity and history.
You can follow Angella on Facebook, her blog, or her official website.
Remember to check out these three awesome writers next Monday for their own pieces on their writing process!
