Building an author platform, is important if you want to reach out to more readers. A great way to grow your list of readers who are interested in what you have to say and your books, is to have a website where you blog on a regular basis.

This doesn’t mean you need to write every day or even once a week. Even if you only wrote something every two weeks, but did that consistently, you’d find more and more readers connecting with you.

If you are a writer who wants to continue to put books into the world, readers need to easily find you and your books. There are other ways, besides blogging, to connect with readers. I wrote a list of some different forms of content marketing for authors that help readers to discover you.

In my experience, blogging has been the most beneficial content strategy I’ve done to grow my relationships and connections with readers.

Do you need a blog as an author?

In a recent survey where I asked what readers #1 struggle was with marketing their book there was one question that came up the most. It was: Does an author need a website or blog to sell their books?

My answer to that is: I think the advantages of being a blogger outweigh the disadvantages, especially if you are a new author. 

But, I would also say that the writing journey and goals are different for each author. There is no ‘one’ way. I would venture to say that having some type of strategy for content marketing is vital so you can connect with more readers who want to read your books. This is important for all authors, whether you are traditionally published or self-published.

I’ve definitely benefited from writing a blog for the past 3 or so years. Writing a couple times each week has really helped me grow as a writer and at the same time has continued to grow my platform.

5 Ways Writing a Blog Helps Authors Grow Their Platform

As writers and authors, asking the question of why should you blog, or why be on Twitter or on Facebook, are important to consider. When you don’t understand your goals, you can’t make informed decisions on how to manage your writer life and get a great strategy – that works good for you – on how to market your books.

Here are three successful indie fiction authors that I know who have chosen to Podcast once a week instead of write blogposts. This is a unique content strategy that has worked well for them. Popular New York Times Bestselling authors like John Grisham or Stephen King, have websites where readers can find them, but as far as I can tell they don’t write a regular blog.

For non-fiction authors, it helps you network with other bloggers/writers in your niche and readers who are interested in your subject will find you. Two great examples of helpful blogs that have also grown the authors list of potential readers are goinswriter.com and thecreativepenn.com.

Personally, I’ve experienced so many benefits because of a commitment to regular blogging.

Here’s 5 ways writing a blog can help you as an author grow your platform:

1.It gives you a home base where readers can find you and opt-in to your email list. As your hub, your blog is your home base where you can direct people to as you surf the internet. When you post on forums, leave comments or guest post on other blogs, readers who want to find out more about you have someplace – your blog- where they can find you. As they read different blogposts on your blog, they can sign up(opt-in) to your email list when you have an opt-in form on your blog. This is a great way to have more conversations with your readers and it also helps you learn to really listen on how to give your readers more value.

2.Blogging gives you another place for creative expression. I have blogged every week since the start of 2012. This has not only given me an outlet but has encouraged me to create a publish what I write. I’ve learned to practice in public, which has helped me find the courage to also write and publish books. As a writer/author blogging helps you find your writing voice, and you learn how to tell a riveting story. All good reasons to blog.

3.Helps you grow content over time and test out ideas. Since it can be overwhelming to sit down and write a 80,000 word book, if you write 80, 1,000 word blog posts, that’s seems much simpler and do-able. Making the task of writing your ideas into small bites, can really empower you to help you meet your writing goals. Each blogpost, is also a awesome way to test out your ideas on a subject that you’re passionate about. Listen to how readers respond and what topics they would like to see you talk about more.

4.A place where other bloggers, podcasters, book reviewers and others can find you. It’s so important that people online can find you. Whether it’s other bloggers, podcasters or book reviewers, you need a place where they can ‘stop by’ to find out more about you and your book. This is also true for people who find you via social media – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, etc. – they can find you easily and if they read your blogposts, very often if they like what you’ve written, they’ll share it on social media. It’s good to have a place where people can find you online.

5.Helps you create and grow amazing relationships. This might be last on the list, but it’s definitely not least. One of the most rewarding details my blog has helped me sort out, is to create amazing relationships with other writers and authors who are in my niche. I now have close friends that I never would have had without my blog. My blog says a lot about who I am and it like it sends a signal to the world to reach out to like minds. I love that. As an author, there’s not more valuable to create relationships and to get into a conversation with your readers. Sometimes the comment section on a blog can be the most interesting part of a blogpost, where others weigh in with their own ideas and experiences. It gives great feedback and grows your community of readers… which is incredible.

I hope this post gives you food for thought on ways that a blog might be useful for you as an author.

By far, the most successful author blogs I’ve seen, are those where the blogger is passionate about their topic. They really listen and have conversations with their readers and are constantly thinking of new ways of how they could offer more content, value and resources to the people who subscribe to their blog.

If you’ve been sitting on the fence about whether to start a blog, I want to encourage you to start one today. You can start a blog for free at wordpress.com. It doesn’t cost you anything except time. At some point – later on down the road – you might consider switching to a WordPress blog that gives you a little more freedom. I talk about how to set up a wordpress.org blog and email list here.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed about writing a blogpost, you can make it super easy on yourself. You don’t have to write a post everyday or even every week. If you write a 500 – 1000 word blogpost every two weeks, about a topic you are passionate about and just have fun with it, and let people know you’ve started blogging, you’ll be surprised at how many readers you start to grow relationships with. And that’s a beautiful thing.

Do you have a blog? If not, have you considered starting one? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

 

 

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