Writers blog and blogs of writers

Writers are still blogging. There is no question about it. Many other career-minded individuals have fled the blogosphere, but not writers.

So if the matter is not, are writers blogging, but rather, what are writers blogging, then let's look at that.

In my opinion, writers always have a lot to say about blogging. Here is a short list:

1. Writers write about writing
2. Writers write about their stories, books, poems, etc.
3. Writers write about what jazzes them (might be political, religious, etc.)
4. Writers write about books they are reading
5. Writers write about the places they travel to

I think that reading a writer's blog is the most fun of my entire day. (I am the WRITER GROUPIE, remember?) The reason? I always learn something from a writer's blog.

The thing is, so many writers use their blog to allow readers into their world. They blog like it is a big electronic diary. That's great, but sometimes, we do not want to know what you had for dinner and how many times your dog tried to bite the UPS guy.

Sometimes your readers WANT GOOD STUFF!!

Yes, we are selfish. We want food for our own life. Sorry, writers.

So here is a short list of some good food for writers to use on their blog to feed their readers.

1. When writing about craft, give us good titles. Sometimes we think we are getting one sort of post but end up getting another and if we are not writers-well, we usually hit the exit rather quickly.

2. Posts about your books need to be given warnings beforehand. Let us know in advance that you are going to be posting up the buy links, excerpts, etc. before you actually post them. Some of us want to BUY that book and so we don't want to miss any SALES!

3. Finally, if you are a writer, but you only have reviews of books, interviews with writers, and info about book blog tours for other writers, we may never find out the thing you want us to know--info about YOUR WORK. So mix it up. Give us a whole week once in a while of stuff about YOU instead of somebody else. (I do not follow book bloggers but I do visit them occasionally, so that should tell you something)

In conclusion, i.e. getting off my soapbox, I hope you will check out some exciting things coming to my blog in the near future...including some sort book tour stuff I am involved in. Fun June ahead!

Blogs: What are they good for?

BLOGS AND BLOGGING
In today's Facebook-fueled world, some folks are saying that blogging for writers is dead.


That it was a great way to connect five years ago, but now? Not so much. Well, I am of the opinion that blogs by and for writers are still viable. I am of the opinion that blogging and the world it created is still pretty relevant in the 21st century and here's why:

1. Writing Warm-up
For a writer, blogging counts as your word count. How many times have we decided to turn out 1000 words a day and can only muster the blog that day? It counts in my opinion. Everything we pen counts. So look at your blog as your writing warm-up.

2. Feedback
When we blog, we can get input from our subscribers. They leave comments and suggestions on what we need to do about whatever the blog topic was. I hope you will leave one for me today on this subject. I love comments and feedback.

3. Marketing ops
Today, the world wants content. Yes, and they want it in a variety of ways. We consume ebooks, and Youtube videos, and listen to podcasts like maniacs. But we sure do get a lot of information that way!

4. Networking ops
Blogs are still the best way to connect with our group of friends and fans. As writers, we need outlets to find others with our particular bent. I follow a number of blogs and try to visit them once a week to say hi. Writers need to connect with others and blogs are great networking tools.

5. Availability
For our readers, blogs are a way to reach our audience. Readers can visit our blogs and learn all about what we are doing. They can also find out personal stuff like where we are going to go for dinner, who's babysitting our children, and what our pets look like.

6. Book Promotion
And finally, at least in my mind, is our blog is still our best way to promote our books. We can post excerpts, cover art, buy links, and talk endlessly about our books and stories on our blogs, because, well, they are OURS.

Leave me a comment and let me know what else you think blogs are good for. I am sure there are more!
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Kim Smith is the much beloved hostess of Writer Groupie Podcast and the author of An Unexpected Performance. She can be found at http://www.kimsmithauthor.com