Photo by Daniel Thomas on Unsplash

One of the hardest things for me as a writer and blogger is scheduling and managing my blog. After five years, I think I finally have a system that works, so I thought I would pass my successes and failures along. Maybe someone can skip some mistakes I’ve made.

When I started writing this post, I wanted to share how I schedule and organize my blog. I found something that really works and cuts out so much time and stress. But as I began to write, I found there was more I wanted to cover; too much for one post. So this will be the first of five.

This series will cover:

• Why Have a Website and Blog
• How Often to Blog
• Finding Your Niche
• Scheduling
• Guest Bloggers and How to get and keep them.
  (and a few extra tid bites I’ve learned)

Today we will look at why I think every indie author should have a blog.

Because we live in a time where the web is so important, we almost have to have a website as a writer. It’s the first question that most editors, publishers, and fans ask. The internet is here for the foreseeable future. It’s life. Everyone is going to the internet for information. This is both good and bad. People go to the web for everything.
The first thing many people do when they want to find out more information about anything, is do a web search. This can be anything from looking up information on their favorite potato chip to an actor in their most recently seen movie. People want to know everything about what piques their interest.

We need to have a web presence.

If ten people hear about you and your book, five will look you up on the web. If they find your website, they will look it over to see who you are. Most of these people you will never meet. Having a blog on that site is the way you connect with them. They want to know who you are and what you’re about. They want to know what makes you different from the next author and why should they buy your book. If they like what they see when they go to your site, and the more you can connect with them, the more likely they are to buy your books. A blog makes that connection. It goes deeper than an advertisement and further than an “About The Author” page. It shows them your soul.

I believe a blog is important for every author to have, including independent authors (indie authors.) In fact. I consider it even more important for an indie author because we have to do all their own promoting. We don’t have the luxury of a big name book house to promote our name; we don’t have a publisher to come alongside and help get our brand out in front of our readers. If we don’t do it, it won’t get done. But if the reader sees you… your passion and uniqueness, they will connect. And when they connect, they will buy your book.

Don’t let that scare you off.

A blog takes time and effort to get it set up and make sure everything is correct and running smoothly. But don’t let that scare you off. It doesn’t have to be hard. That’s what this series is all about. You need to find that sweet spot that works best for you, and I’m here to share all my mistakes to help you avoid them.

As a side note, keep in mind that many people believe that if it’s found on the net, it’s taken as gospel truth, so, there is a major responsibility for us as authors and bloggers, to double check our facts to be sure they are accurate. If you’re found to be unreliable, you will lose credibility not only as a blogger, but as an author as well.

Visits: 257