Ask Thomas Mullen discussion

Thomas,

I absolutely loved your first two books and am excited to read your latest. My question is: should an unpublished author create a blog and website in hopes of building a following and attracting an agent and an eventual publsher, or should an unpublished author wait until s/he has obtained an agent and publishing contract before creating a blog and website? I've always been amazed at the number of unpublished authors with writing blogs dispensing pubishing and writing advice when that author can't even get published. What are your thoughts?

James wrote: "Thomas,

I absolutely loved your first two books and am excited to read your latest. My question is: should an unpublished author create a blog and website in hopes of building a following and a..."

Thanks for the compliments, James! I really have no clue how to answer your question, though. I do think it's hard to "build a following" for a blog if you aren't already relatively famous or something, but really I'm FAR from an expert on this sort of thing. I think a lot of people blog because they love it, so if you love it, do it. But don't do it in hopes of landing yourself a book deal. If you want a book deal, focus on writing a great book, not all that peripheral stuff. When I went to sell my first novel, I didn't have a blog (there were no blogs then), didn't have an MFA, and didn't have any contacts in publishing. It's hard and the odds are against you, but it can be done. All a publisher or agent really cares about is whether they love the book. Take care of that, and the rest should fall into place. Good luck!

Thank you for answering my question and offering your advice and encouragement. It means a lot. The Revisionists is next on my reading list.