I spoke at the Publishers Publicity Circle the other week about blogging. As I don’t see myself as a blogger I spoke very much from the viewpoint of someone who writes about the industry. There are better and more interesting people out there doing the real blogging. The PPC asked for my notes – I didn’t have any – but I sent them a summary of what I said. It may be of interest and is both advice and opinion about authors in cyberspace. And yes, I guess that means this page is a blog. Darn. I have been found out!
I write about business and branding, as well as other media, and as a result, I think there is a lot of rubbish talked about blogs, and publishers need to think carefully before sending your authors down that route. It involves a lot of work, and not necessarily for many readers. As with most things in publishing, it should be a thought out strategy, not a last resort because none of the papers will interview them. It also has to be something that fits with the author and is never a chore. A good blog is one of teh few places where an author is able to brand their personality and establish a relationship with readers. If that doesn’t interest them, their publisher should think about a different web-based strategy.
So here goes…DK’s top tips on putting yourself out there:
1. Think carefully about an author’s audience audience/market: if they have a defined niche with obvious appeal to a defined community then a blog may be appropriate (if they don’t already have a blog). If you go down this route, you need to set up the blog with a few articles and then email the groups/blogs that are relevant to that writer and ask them to check out the site. You also need o keep it up to date at least twice a week to drive traffic and build interest (not go away for three weeks, break your leg and be unable to get to a computer, as I did!)
2. Don’t expect to sell books through a blog. The click through rate – as both the other speakers said – is very low on these sites. They are all about marketing.
3. Website interviews with an author may be far more successful as people will often search out an interview after reading a book or after reading about a book.
4. A blog is about branding. The brand is not the host publication or publisher, it is the individual. You are attempting to market the individual as an authentic voice. Beware: the net community hates inauthenticity, and if you set up a blog cynically, then it will generate bad word-of-mouth and will have a long term negative effect – netheads do not forget or forgive. They also hate anything that looks blatantly commercial.
5. Far more important now is for publishers to be thinking how they can use social networking and developments in Web 3.0 and viral email, webasodes/You Tube etc. Again I am cynical about the ability to sell books in this way, but – and I have written about this and spoken to heads of major worldwide ad agencies about it – this is a VERY IMPORTANT tool in creating a long term community around your writer. It is about creating a “village of readers” who will evangelise on the writer’s behalf.
6. Again it is about an authentic relationship, not cack-handed blunt advertising. Sticking a cover on MySpace and saying “read this book” will do nothing. I am equally unconvinced about a lot of the social groups set up for authors on Facebook, but if you can create a relationship with readers and the author based on a genuine dialogue, you could be successful.
7. I think Second Life is a waste of time in this country.
8. Use the success overseas – the US especially – of a book to generate publicity here. This was in response to a woman who said she had a book that had been a blog hit in the US but failed to sell. In contrast over here it became a bestseller without much web activity.
9. If you are looking for reviews, I would push books at blogs that are respected and independent. Lynne (the marvelous Dovegreyreader) may not have a million readers, but her readers are very loyal and buy books based on her recommendation. That is gold dust. Her readers will tell friends about her books.
10. Blogs based on big corporate websites have far less power because they are seen as commercial and – rightly or wrongly – open to influence by advertisers. They are also just another voice within a slew of other opinions. Think of it as being in a crowded restaurant with lots of people speaking loudly, all at once.
11. Professional critics are less trusted now than in the past. There has been an democratisation of the critical community. What Richard & Judy has revealed is that now everyone thinks they have a right to an opinion and professional critics’ opinions are seen as both elitist and irrelevant by a large proportion of the population. Bloggers like Dovegreareader are those wonderful people who set the train rolling when a book becomes a word of mouth hit and are very powerful and respected because they are seen as totally independent. Publishers should be sending them books – but after reading their sites, understanding their tastes and responding appropriately.