Blog Your Way to Self-Publishing Success

You’re still not convinced that you need to be blogging, especially seeing that you’re in the midst of finishing the book that your coach keeps nagging you about (that would be me, and I’m not letting up!). Okay, so you’ve been told you should blog, but you still don’t get the whole blogging thing. I bet you’re asking yourself one or several of these questions:

1. What’s the point of blogging?
2. What can I possibly blog about in itty-bitty blurbs?
3. Who the heck would read my blog anyway?
4. When will I find the time to blog?
5. How do I get started?

Okay, now that we have all of the obvious questions out of the way, let’s get to some answers: 

1. Blogging helps you practice writing regularly; it helps your peeps keep up with what you’re doing; it helps position you as the expert or authority on your subject matter.
2. You should blog about your journey of producing the fabulous book you’re writing; tease blog readers with excerpts from your book; introduce readers to the characters in your book; make them hungry for your bestseller before it’s finished. You can even blog about your frustrations with writer’s block, your success finding the right production team and your relief at finally finishing chapter 12.
3. Readers of your blog will first be people who know and like you. Take them on this marvelous journey with you. You’re the brave heart who is actually doing what everyone else secretly wants to do: write a book. Ask your friends and family to follow your blog and ask them to encourage their friends to follow you and to post comments. Soon, you’ll find that other authors, writers, professionals and entrepreneurs are following your blog (how cool is that!).
4. There you go again with the time thing. It’s only an excuse. You’ll find time to blog, trust me. Oh sure, you won’t have time every day, but that’s okay. When you have a thought or a rant you’d like to share, jot it down. Keep that all important note pad or voice recorder handy to capture random thoughts that will eventually become blog posts. Jot down what’s on your mind at the end of each writing session; that should make for some cool blog material.
5. Get started by signing up for either www.blogger.com or www.wordpress.com. I’m sure there are others; just Google "How to set up a blog." Expect to spend about an hour on the front end setting up your blog. Don’t stress about the design at first; just set up the thing and perfect it later. No one is going to blast you because you change the design two weeks after you’ve started it.  

Okay, no more excuses. Start blogging now!

Still have questions about blogging as an author? Ask me below (I’m sure other inquiring minds want to know). 

____________________________________

Anita Paul, known as The Author's Midwife, coaches aspiring authors to write a phenomenal book and helps current authors use their existing books to leverage their business. She is the author of Write Your Life: Create Your Ideal Life and the Book You've Been Wanting to Write, and is the creator of the Write Your Life program, through which she has created a dynamic system to Write Your Book in 90 Days or Less. She has owned The Write Image for 15 years, and has had her freelance articles featured in over 25 publications in the U.S. and Canada. Anita is also the host of "Book Your Success".