Supernatural Fiction Readers discussion

Authors have to sell their work, obviously. In this group, we have quite a few self-published & small press authors. I've been pleased by how well most promote their books & group reaction to the sales pitches seems to be good, overall. That's not the case in all groups. Some are frankly hostile to an author with a sales pitch.

Recently, another group made a topic similar to this. Some interesting tidbits came up about author self-promotion & I thought it would be helpful to discuss them here.

What can an author do to get you to read his/her book?

What shouldn't an author do?

Have you seen any wonderful or horrible examples of author behavior that have made you decide to buy or not to buy a book?

I get a little turned off when I see the same self promoting blurb in multiple threads of similar groups. Some of the threads that I've seen these blurbs show up in have nothing in common with their book. That's what I like about this group so much, everything is so well organized.

That sort of promotion has never been my style. I prefer to follow threads and contribute to them, and mention my books in that context if it is relevant to do so.

When an author just drops into a group, leaves a promotional message & disappears, there's very little chance that I'll buy their book. If they haven't taken the time to create a profile picture (are a brown head) that's another mark against them. If they can't bother to engage fully, why should I engage with them?

If another brown head comes along shortly afterward & claims their book is great, I get suspicious - a very bad thing. I'll generally check the author & the other brown head's profiles & when I see very similar messages posted in multiple, similar groups by both just a couple of hours apart, it makes me suspect the other brown head is a sock puppet. I don't need proof. It's just a negative mark against the new author & they can't afford that.

However, if an author hangs around & occasionally reminds me they're an author, there is a much better chance I'll get their book. They have to walk a fine line, though. If they tell me too often, it turns me off. (Marc, I think you do a good job of it.)

Authors have to realize that there are a LOT of books out there clamoring for my attention. If I didn't buy a new book for a year, I'd still have plenty to read. Any new author needs to give me a really good reason to read them, to spend the extra money.

IOW, I don't really want to buy their book. I have too many & see a new author pitching their book daily in one of the groups I belong to, so the new author has to come up with a way to make me want to read their book. Some of the ways they can do that are:
- Hang around & contribute to the group.
- Read similar books with similar ratings or give me a good reason to rate them differently. A well formed difference of opinion is a real plus, IMO.
- Never appear in a negative light. An author who whines or takes offense is playing a losing game.
- Makes at least a portion of their book or writing easily accessible to me.
- Has their work professionally & well edited. Poor writing is a total turn-off. (Using 'decimate' to mean 'obliterate' is another. With a root of 'deci' I don't care about sloppy modern usage. It means 1/10 of & any author who uses it in any other way ticks me off. OK, it's a personal pet peeve & irrational. Tough.)
;-)

I'm sure there are others, but I've rambled long enough.

Jim wrote: "If they tell me too often, it turns me off. (Marc, I think you do a good job of it.)"

Thanks, Jim, unfortunately neither of us is in the majority it seems. I will say though, that I would never deliberately tell you, or any particular person, anything more than once (unless I forget that I told you already). I dislike repeating myself, and saying the same thing to the same person, even in a different thread, qualifies. I will say the same (mutatis mutandis) thing to a different person, especially if I haven't seen them before. If we're all in the same group you may hear me say many of the same things to different people.

BTW, the first chapter of St. Martin's Moon was posted by a book-friendly blogger here:
http://dreneebagbypresentsfirstchapte... and it just went up on Kindle as well!

Jim, when I first joined Goodreads (back in 2008), I was a "brown head" for quite awhile --not because I wasn't committed to Goodreads (it was love at first sight!) but because I didn't know how to create a profile picture for the longest time. (I don't have a scanner, and I'm a bit of a computer klutz!) But I see what you're saying; I don't believe a person should join a group unless he/she honestly is interested in it for itself, not just as a place to plug a book.

I'm delighted to have this thread! As an author, I'm hoping it may give me some insights and pointers on dos and don'ts!

Werner, I certainly understand not knowing all the ins & outs of GR & computers. I don't & I play with computers for a living. There are so many features on this site that it is bewildering & many of them aren't very intuitive. (I'm a lifetime member on Library Thing, but never go there any more since I found the interface too clunky.) Still, an author has to make a good impression every time, especially the first time they're pitching their book to me.

Marketing, presenting that perfect public face in just the right places, the right way, & at the right times is an area where publishers could be a huge help to writers. Instead of book stores that are rapidly disappearing, publishers should be booking authors on tours of reading sites like this one & helping them prep for the occasion. The big boys are not doing much of that from the little I know. I expect they will, eventually. They're slow to take to the new technology, but that's not surprising since huge corporations aren't known for nimbly changing their business plans.

There are a lot of problems with the publishing industry right now. Publishers & agents' inboxes are saturated by every person with a word processor until they're so overloaded that it takes a miracle to get their attention. The big publishing houses are taking way too big of a bite of authors' profits & too long a time getting their work out on the shelves which are disappearing even as the number of books is increasing.

The increase has led to some real gaffs on their part. I almost tossed the last Dresden Files book I read for poor editing & I rarely see any marketing being done for any but well known authors. And then, as I pointed out above, I'm not certain they're doing it in the right places.

At present, their old way of doing business doesn't make a lot of sense to a lot of people, including established authors. Barry Eisler just turned down a huge deal with a regular publisher to start publishing his books on his own. He & J.A. Konrath have a couple of conversations out there that are well worth reading.

On the flip side, I read about a gal who started as a self-published author & has now accepted a contract with a regular publisher because she wants to have a life. I think it was Cory Doctorow that tried self-publishing a book, then went back to regular publishing saying it was a train wreck & he'd never do it again - too much like work. He wants to write, not do all that other stuff.

"All that other stuff" is where a lot of authors shoot themselves in the foot & it doesn't surprise me. Writing is a full time art, but so is editing & marketing the result. In a perfect world, authors should write, publishers should edit, market, & get the finished goods to the market. (Me! I want to read!) Everyone involved should get a fair profit while I pay a fair price.

It's not happening now & technology has forced huge changes so it's a mess. It will work itself out eventually, but it's going to be interesting times for the next decade or so while it does.

Hey Jim, thanks for bringing up this topic. I’m new to Goodreads, partially to promote my book ( unsolicited book trailer here) and partially because I’m intrigued by the fact that there seems to be a horde of likeminded people on here. I’m looking forward to both connecting and pitching. You bring up a good point about the balance. Happy reading…
Chris

Welcome, Christopher. Neat trailer, although I don't normally watch them & have never bought a book because of one. I'm probably old fashioned, but I prefer to read some of the book. I can usually tell within a few paragraphs if I like the writing style & all.

Great, Jim. I’d be happy to send you the first chapter and see if it’s up your alley. I’m working on getting Amazon’s “look inside” up and running.

Thanks, but I think the preview needs to be right there with the book or I'll have to remember to get it later - a bad thing, relying on my memory. Hopefully you'll post the book elsewhere, too. I have a Sony, not a Kindle.

This is a topic about what an author has to do to get me to read their work, so I'm just pointing out stupid hurdles that have stopped me from getting a book before.

If it seems silly, let me list what I'm reading now & what you, as an author & person new to me, have to contend with:
- I hopped on GR this morning & have a free SF short story, an award contender, to read today for another group.
- I'm already reading a novel by David H. Burton, an author friend of several years, on my PC at odd moments during the day.
- I just started a series (Furies) by Jim Butcher at the recommendation of my wife & I enjoyed the Dresden Files.
- I'm listening to an audio book by Lawrence Block during my commute.
- I have a directory full of stories & books that I need to put on my Sony & it's a mess. I looked at it over the weekend & swore I had to clean it up. I haven't yet nor put them on the ereader.

I met David, a self-published author, here on GR & liked his first book, so getting my attention isn't impossible. I nominated it for a group read in another group & it wound up winning, so I think it's worth the effort. The flip side is, if I see too many promotions for a book, I get turned off, so there is a fair amount of luck involved for the poor author in getting my attention at just the right time. That's so unfair to the author who has devoted so much time to their art, but that's the reality.
:(

Wow. You have a packed reading schedule. It’s good to see someone taking reading so seriously… And thanks for your no-nonsense advice.

You're welcome & as you can see, the competition is fierce. You also bring up two other points: My 'scheduled' reading & work reading - some is for fun & some is serious. Over the past week, I spent several hours at home reading up on tracing Windows boot processes specifically concentrating on svchost.exe, dealing with Excel sorting messing up named ranges, & spinning wheel construction. I'm at work now reading GR, but it all works out except that I just can't find enough time to read all I want to. Well, it's something to strive for. Keeps me from getting bored.
;-)

Christopher wrote: "Hey Jim, thanks for bringing up this topic. I’m new to Goodreads, partially to promote my book ( unsolicited book trailer here) and partially because I’m intrigued by the fact that there seems to ..."

Incredible COOL and scary trailer. It gave me goose bumps. It might be too scary for me but going to recommend it to my hubby as he can hack this stuff.

Weird thing is, that I sold more these last weeks, without any effort in promotion.

I think good promotion is to make your name known and doing it in such way that you don't piss off too many possible buyers.

For a writer there comes a time when he needs to drop promoting and start writing, because you can get sucked into promoting and spend most your time doing only that. What really sells is writing, the more you write, the more you end up selling.

I saw another author irritant today that I thought I'd share. An author belongs to a group, but the only contact he has with it is to stop by, start up a new topic & put in a link to his blog. There is no way I'll ever bother clicking on that link, even though it's his GR author page. In fact, I doubt I'll ever consider reading anything he wrote because he spammed me.

I agree that constantly pushing the same book time and time again is very irritating. I have had similar experiences with double glazing and, believe it or not, vacuum cleaner salesman. My answer to that is to either put the phone down or close the door as soon as I realise what they are selling. All hard sell annoys just about everyone, so why do self published authors do it? Clearly some just think that if it’s in your face you will eventually buy it (I don’t think so). With some others I think it is pure ignorance and helplessness. When I first released my book, (a novelette) I nearly started down the same route. That wasn’t because I thought it was the right way, it’s just that I didn’t know how to go about it and lots of other authors seemed to be doing that way. So therefore it must be right - WRONG. However it didn’t take me long to start discovering better ways of going about it. This discussion is a good example of what to do and what not to do and if I can find it then surely others can to.

I think another problem is one of managing your marketing. It is all too easy when you’re new to it to try and join too many groups and spread yourself too thinly. If you keep the number down it is easier to take part in them and readers will get to know you as a person who writes rather than an author who hassles.

Jim and everyone,

I wanted to get back with you. http://www.amazon.com/Unnatural-Truth...
Amazon has the read inside option for Unnatural Truth now. Let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Chris

I'm in seven groups, and have posted direct notices of my book/e-stories in four of them. But I have a problem that most writers probably don't: I'm a pseudonymous writer, and while I'm pretty active here on Goodreads, it's under my real name, not this one. I mostly use this persona just to promote my writing in this name, or to share a comment where it's appropriate to use my writing or experiences as an example. So, even though I'm interested in the groups I've joined, it probably looks like I'm only spamming to promote myself, and ignoring everything else. I'm aware of the problem, but not sure how to correct it. Any other authors out there have this same problem?

A 'sock puppet' is an account that is used by someone to promote an agenda, often to show support for their position - just in case you're not familiar with the term. Some authors use such accounts to promote their books. I think it is dishonest & will never read a book by an author that uses such methods.

It's often hard to distinguish between a sock puppet & a newcomer. They're often 'brown heads' (don't have an avatar), have few books, & they tend to gush about one. In another group, I recently saw a moderator put a newcomer down for being a sock puppet when I was fairly sure she wasn't. The moderator never came out & said the person was a sock puppet publicly, just made snarky remarks. (The moderator told me her feelings in a PM.) I don't care for that either. I'd rather be open about it &, if I'm wrong, I can then apologize.

So here's the deal. Recently in the "What are we going to read in this group?" topic of this group
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5...
we've had 2 nominations for Hour of the Beast by C. Michael Forsyth. Now I don't KNOW that George
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/60...
& Bianca
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/54...
are sock puppets, but they only have a few books & ALL of their few messages are promoting this book in pretty much the same words in pretty much the same groups. Bianca has been on GR since May of this year, George just joined this month. Neither has any friends & they make all their promotions in their groups one after another, then go away again. Very suspicious behavior for real people.

Forsyth has also been a member of this group since May of this year & made only 1 comment in the group & that was to promote his book. As I've stated previously, I'm not interested in helping out an author that just drops by to promote their book & never contributes to the group, either.

So, everyone is free to draw their own conclusions.

If the two folks in common aren't sock puppets, I'd suggest they prove it to the rest of the world by becoming more active & do something besides promote one author's work.

GR technicians have determined that George & Bianca weren't real people. The accounts have been deleted. Definitely a con for Forsyth. Hopefully other authors will learn from this - be real & don't try to fool your prospective readers.

After much discussion, Werner & I decided that C. Michael Forsyth's actions warranted deleting him from the group. I didn't like doing it without some discussion directly with him, but he will not accept PM's (from me, anyway) nor does he have an email address readily appparent, just a Twitter feed. Neither Werner nor I twitter.

We encourage authors to self-promote reasonably & interact with the rest of the readers here. We don't have a lot of rules & I don't think we need them. We're not lawyers, so even if we write them, they'll likely never cover all the bases. The Golden Rule should cover it. We'll probably try to update the 'About this group' topic with something to address this issue a bit, though. If anyone has any thoughts or comments about this, please let me know.

Jim wrote: "After much discussion, Werner & I decided that C. Michael Forsyth's actions warranted deleting him from the group. I didn't like doing it without some discussion directly with him..."

That's too bad, since I actually have his book. He was at the SC Book Festival in May, and both he and I had werewolf novels just out. We traded. It was a fairly straightforward werewolf horror novel. It had some original touches to it but some of the 'twists' were pretty obvious. At least to a professional 'twist' spotter like me.

Marc, thanks for sharing your insight on this. We don't have any plans to delete his book from the read shelf, and if it finds readers who enjoy it, I'll be happy for them and for the author. But deliberately setting up phony membership accounts, to make it look like multiple readers were praising the book when they were all fronts for the author, crosses a line into dishonesty that violates our trust as a friendly community of readers and reviewers sharing our honest opinions. It's a shame that he didn't choose to follow the ethical standards that responsible writers do --it only makes it look as if his book can't stand on its own merits, which isn't necessarily true!

Werner wrote: "But deliberately setting up phony membership accounts, to make it look like multiple readers were praising the book when they were all fronts for the author, crosses a line into dishonesty..."

Indeed it does. I'm perfectly willing to let my flood of real fans stand up for me.
Anyone?
Anyone?
Bueller?

Actually, I've recommended your books to several people, Marc. Or was this a movie reference that I didn't get? (Sorry, I live under a rock. It's a nice rock. I like it.)
;-)

Jim wrote: "Actually, I've recommended your books to several people, Marc. Or was this a movie reference that I didn't get? (Sorry, I live under a rock. It's a nice rock. I like it.)
;-)"

It was a movie reference (Ferris Bueller's Day Off) and an attempt at humor. Word of mouth may be the best advertising but it doesn't seem to be reflected in my sales. Which is better than the alternative, that it is.

Bueller. I knew that name sounded familiar. Couldn't place it, though. Never saw the flick so that wooshing sound you heard was the reference flying by my head.
;-)

I never saw the whole thing either, in spite of the fact that I have the DVD. I also have the DVD of Titanic, never watched that either. But the 'Bueller?' thing has become sort of iconic.

How do you all feel about authors starting their own blogs? I've never had one (and as busy as I am already, I suspect that if I did, I wouldn't post on it very often!), but my publisher is encouraging all of their authors to start one. (Sigh.) It's apparently not prohibitively hard to do even for the technologically-challenged (like me!) and can be done free; and it's touted as a good way of connecting with fans and publicizing your work. On the negative side, I have to wonder whether my thoughts, news, experiences, etc. relative to writing are apt to be interesting to enough people to make posting them worth anyone's while, including mine. (True, blog posts don't always have to be strictly about your own writing; and there is the phenomenon of allowing guest posts --which my publisher also encourages.) The question of how interesting it would be assumes more relevance on Goodreads, because anytime you're officially a fan of a living author, the program automatically sends you, in your regular e-mail, links to all the posts from the blog, if he/she has one. (I get blog posts from about five writers that way; I don't mind it, and sometimes read and like particular posts, but I don't have anywhere near time to do any one of those blogs justice.) That's been one of my main reasons for not taking the plunge, besides the time element; I don't want anyone to think I'm spamming them!

I'd be grateful to read any thoughts you all have on this. Feedback from authors with experience in this area will be useful, but also the opinions of ordinary readers, as to whether you see author blogs as pluses or minuses. Thanks a bunch!

I rarely read anyone's blogs, Werner. Most I've seen are BS, but I'm old school like that. I don't have a twitter account, either.

Blogging is a good idea but I think most bloggers tend to post pretty much the same content, so most blogs tend to sound pretty sterile. Wordpress.com makes it pretty easy to set up.

http://authorguy.wordpress.com is mine

Thanks for the link, Marc! Well, I think the main theme that I'm hearing is that blog content tends to be fairly blah and uninteresting. On the other hand, those who find it so can always skip and delete those particular updates in their inbox. And depending on the blogger and the blog, I suppose some posts can be useful or interesting to particular readers --I've learned things from blog posts, and enjoyed reading a number of them. For some people, too, I think it can make them aware of books or events they might not hear of otherwise. So there are arguably pluses to the idea. Later on this month or next month, when I have more time, I might take the plunge, if only to please my publisher! (So if anybody who'd be on the list to be notified of my blog posts wants to say, "No! Please don't add to my spam quotient!" now's your opportunity.... :-) )

Another question, also prompted by my publisher: when authors have threads for their work in groups like ours, how do you all feel about mentioning sales, giveaways, etc. that their publishers run, and which include their work? Probably nobody would object to it once in awhile (and doubtless nobody would quibble if they listed it as a comment or event on their own homepage); but my publisher seems to be revving up to make offers of this type a more frequent thing, and I'm fearful that sort of thing could get old quickly. What do you think?

I think blogging is as tricky as self-promoting. It's not easy to find just the right mix and keep it fresh without beating someone over the head with information.

I've not been on Goodreads for very long, but I love it here. I find the groups interesting, the topics discussed entertaining and I always come away with new books to read.

As an author, I think the best way to promote your book is to promote yourself. If you interact with people and share insightful comments on the books you read, it will make people interested in what you write.

Well said, Bridget; I agree with that approach!

This is kind of a rant, but I am getting so tired of authors posting a free book with a link only for the Kindle format. That means those of us without a Kindle are stuck reading it on our PC or are just out of luck - unless it is not locked with DRM, but I've yet to see an author say that, either. (Calibre will convert a non-DRM locked Kindle file.)

I have a Sony ereader, which cost about $300 & is only a couple/few years old. A lot of my friends have Nooks. Just how many ereaders can a person justify? I HATE proprietary formats, DRM, & companies that bully & buy their way into a monopoly. I've seen what happens when they get on top. Their prices go way up, service & quality way down. Just look at what Microsoft has done to software 'purchases', which they were in the early 90's & haven't been in years.

There's a good article here about Amazon & what they're doing in the ebook market right now.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/...

If an author wants me to read their book - & a surprising number do - they have to provide an alternative format, something non-proprietary or DRM locked, for me to read. This isn't tough to do, but I get tired of asking for it. Authors should provide that info up front. If I'm asking, there are probably a dozen others who are just skipping over it.

Jim wrote: "This is kind of a rant, but I am getting so tired of authors posting a free book with a link only for the Kindle format. That means those of us without a Kindle are stuck reading it on our PC or ar..."

I think because we hear so much about Kindle that platforms like the Nook and, certainly for me, the Sony e-reader are over looked.
But, I agree with you. There are other platforms out there and it only makes sense to make a book available to readers.

I love my iPad but use the Kindle app predominantly. I've never warmed up to reading a book via Apples book app.

Thank you for your post. I've updated my calendar to publish my book to the Nook this Saturday.

Jim wrote: "This is kind of a rant, but I am getting so tired of authors posting a free book with a link only for the Kindle format. That means those of us without a Kindle are stuck reading it on our PC or ar..."

So much of this right now is KDP Select's doing. Now, I am testing the waters with KDP Select myself at the moment, but I *really* don't like how Amazon is monopolizing the market, either. I doubt I stick with Select for good. I didn't personally sell very many on other platforms, but I did like at least having that option available to readers without Kindles if one did come along.

To answer the initial question posed, my biggest turn off from an author has nothing to do with Goodreads groups; it's when you follow them on Twitter, and they immediately send a DM advertising their books. GAH!! That drives me up the wall!

The best way to get me to buy your book is to interact with me. Talk to me about things that aren't your book. Or blog about interesting topics that aren't your book. Then, I'll check you out as an author.

Jim wrote: "This is kind of a rant, but I am getting so tired of authors posting a free book with a link only for the Kindle format. That means those of us without a Kindle are stuck reading it on our PC or ar..."

Hi Jim,
I wanted to follow up on your earlier post and let you know that I've published my book for the Nook.

Hero - The Unknown Territories

It's interesting to hear from authors on why they publish Kindle only. Thanks, Jennifer.

Good going, Christopher.

Jim wrote: "It's interesting to hear from authors on why they publish Kindle only. Thanks, Jennifer.

Good going, Christopher."

Oh yeah, I don't think any authors are deliberately trying to screw over anyone without a Kindle. :P It's just Amazon has just about killed an author's exposure if they don't sign up for Amazon exclusivity with Select. *tisk tisk* I hardly had any sales in the time between when Select was launched and when I finally buckled and signed up for it.

So not cool.

Sheesh! They're leveraging everyone aren't they? I can't blame you, Jennifer. You need to sell.

amazon's ridiculous demands that their data API only allow them as a reseller & NOT be used for any portable devices caused GR to drop them. They might be a 900 lb gorilla, but I hope that a lot of people figure out they're not indispensable & do dispose of them. Maybe B&N will come up with better competition.

Jim wrote: "Sheesh! They're leveraging everyone aren't they? I can't blame you, Jennifer. You need to sell.

amazon's ridiculous demands that their data API only allow them as a reseller & NOT be used for ..."

And the GR/Amazon split has caused a lot of authors grief, I know. I'm not sure what B&N is up to! I feel like they're really dropping the ball here. They absolutely have the power to compete with Amazon in the indie publishing arena, but I feel like they aren't really doing anything about it. :/ I'm hoping they come up with something, if for no other reason, so that they shake up the playing field a little bit.

I've just signed up with KDP Select myself. I'd prefer to diversify but B&N and other distributors offer very little to non-US authors as you have to go through Smashwords to be distributed to their online stores and then your book just tends to get buried out of sight. I'll still be releasing new books to B&N as I did pick up a small and loyal group of readers through them but it's nowhere near enough to justify staying there unfortunately unless they give more support to indie authors.

Recently signed up with KDP Select myself after distributing eBook formats to all vendors since September. As others have mentioned, KDP Select requires exclusivity for 3 months, but the promotional opportunities are just too nice to give up right now.

As for blogs, I keep two of them: a reader blog and a writer blog. The reader blog is my sounding board for whatever. I do movie reviews and post silly pictures/videos, discuss motivations for writing a particular novel, and just try to engage other people.

My writer blog is for discussing my writing-related journey. What are the benefits of KDP Select? How much does it cost and how easy is it to interact with Lightning Source for POD paperbacks? Why should you get the best editor you can get your hands on? That kind of thing.

All that being said, I'm not sure I've gained a reader from my efforts on my blogs or Twitter, for that matter. But I have gained some friends, and that's more than enough for me to keep doing it.

You have to make a living. Whatever forum drives up your sales is good. I wouldn't think GR would be good for instant sales, but probably would be for the long run. Once you've gotten a group of loyal readers, the word will spread.

I do get quite a few free books from authors here on GR. I don't go looking for them, but I'm fairly active in some groups & have a pretty good reviewer rating, so I guess that's why they pick me to offer books to for review. (I've never asked... weird. I should.) Maybe I'm just approachable?

That can't be it. Anyone who has read my reviews knows I'm a grump.
;-)

I turn down quite a few & don't read much of most of the rest, because they're just not to my taste or well written enough. Most self-published stuff isn't well enough edited to be published, IMO. (Actually, some of the Big 6's stuff isn't meeting my standards any more.) I think editing is even a bigger stumbling block than marketing for most.

I ran across this article on social networking for the indy author. Thought it might be of interest to the authors here.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/...

I've seen that a great many authors blog, tweet, Facebook, & do other forms of social media. I wondered how successful it was & how much time they actually spent doing it. 80/20? Wow! That's just crazy.

Good, informative article, Jim; thanks for sharing it!

Werner wrote: "How do you all feel about authors starting their own blogs? I've never had one (and as busy as I am already, I suspect that if I did, I wouldn't post on it very often!), but my publisher is encour..."

I think readers really like to read authors' blogs though I agree that finding the time is so hard. I set a goal of posting weekly (which is not considered ideal), but lately I'm lucky to do every ten days or so. What I do that saves me time, is to alternate writing about my writing experiences (and flubs) with book reviews. My soon-to-be released novel is ghost fiction, so I do reviews of other ghost works. My idea is that people who want to read my reviews are predisposed to liking the subject matter of my book. The good news is that if you write and post reviews on Goodreads, you can use the same posts on your blog, a built-in two-fer.

As far as the technical aspects go, I recommend reading Teaching Yourself Visually Wordpress. I'm a real technodufus. (It took my six months to learn how to turn off a pc. "It says 'start' not 'stop,'" I protested.) But even I managed to start a blog using the information in the Teaching Yourself Visually book.

I think there was a lot wrong with that article I posted. The more I thought about it, the less I liked some of it, but it made me think. There's another gal, Kris Rusch that seems to know the publishing business better. Her view is more writing is the best promotion. She has a lot of good previous blogs, too.

http://kriswrites.com/2011/04/06/the-...