Blogging every week provides an opportunity for readers to find you on Google and other search engine result pages. It also helps authors drive more traffic to their Author website and build a book readership. In this article, you will learn the benefits of blogging for authors, how to sell a book by blogging, and blogging tips for authors.
Book Marketing Doesn’t Happen Magically, Unfortunately…
If you have already self-published a book, you probably know it takes more than just a good book publishing platform to reach your target readers. Today, a new book is published every minute. So, with so many new things to read, it is pretty overwhelming to find interested readers for what you write.
One thing that has consistently proven to increase book sales is blogging. An author blog site can introduce new readers to your book in different ways.
What is an Author Blog Site?
A blog is a part of an Author website or a dedicated blog site that contains a series of articles related to your industry. The articles are designed to inform and engage people who have similar interests as you or the genres/topics in your book.
Author blogs can take several forms, like Vlogs for YouTube, articles for LinkedIn, guest posting on authority platforms like Medium or Forbes, or an individual blog site like ours (www.blog.writat.com). You can do a lot more with an author blog site to increase book sales, such as:
- Share high-quality, informative articles
- Promote new book launch
- Start conversations with your readers
Benefits of Blogging for Authors
- Clearly titled articles and high-quality content will appear on the search engine results when your readers use the exact keyword or matching phrase for the search query.
- You can entice prospective readers with your content, and they will gladly buy your book.
For instance, if you have self-published a management book, your blogs on leadership tips, managerial efficiency, business ethics, etc., will impress the readers.
- The more often you post articles, the more traffic your author’s website will receive. Hubspot statistics show that blogging once a week increases your chance of attracting new users by 75%.
- The comments section in the blog post can promote two-way discussion between you and industry experts, readers, and fellow writers, which can help you build a powerful network of support.
- Sharing your blogs on social media platforms can open doors to new opportunities, such as guest speaking offers, interviews, and TED talks.
Writing blogs on trending topics can attract the attention of event organizers, media, reporters, etc., as they search Google to find good news and stories.
- And finally, one of the underrated benefits of blogging for authors is that it helps you hone your writing skills.
You can use your blogs to develop your story and character and promote products and services. And the better you write, the more books you sell.
Do read our most viewed article this year: Why Do You Need an Author Website?
Exclusive Blogging Tips for Authors
Since blog traffic doesn’t increase overnight, we recommend a steady and consistent approach. We have mentioned the steps to market a book by blogging and sell more books.
Create a Website or Find a Blogging Platform
The best way to promote your book through blogs is to host your blog site on your author website. If the readers enjoy your blog articles, it will be easier to explore your books, discover more about you, and look at other products and services you offer on the same platform.
While we recommend creating your own blog or author website, WordPress, LinkedIn, Medium, and other established websites that offer guest blogging are also good places to start blogging for free before self-publishing a book.
If you need help establishing your blog site affordably, Writat offers website design and development solutions for authors as a standalone, fully-customizable service. Click here to learn more about it.
Come Up with Blog Ideas
Writing random blogs wouldn’t help you, as unrelated articles might confuse your readers. You need to have a structured plan and design your content that relates to your book.
For example, as a book publishing platform, our blogs contain information, tips, and guidelines about book marketing, self-publishing a book, and writing and editing books.
To attract your ideal readers, come up with blog themes, ideas, or topics that connect with your book.
Alternatively, you could write blogs that may interest your niche readers.
For example, if you have self-published a children’s book on English grammar learning, you could blog on topics like “how to teach English grammar to your toddler,” “best YouTube channels that improve communication skills in children,” “How to improve children’s handwriting,” etc.
Research Your Selected Topics
It is important to write blogs that provide additional information to your target readers. For this, we recommend researching the selected topics before writing. We suggest two types of research:
- Internet Research: Identify the problems your niche readers currently face and try to solve the problem by providing content that does not exist. This will not only improve your search engine rankings on Google but also tell your readers that you have something better to offer other authors or bloggers.
- Keyword Research: Writing on unique subjects or trending topics isn’t enough; you must also use keywords (e.g., Book publishing) or key phrases (e.g., Benefits of blogging for authors) that your ideal readers use to search the topic.
An SEO expert can help you find how popular a particular topic, keyword, or title is through keyword research & analysis.
How to Sell a Book by Blogging
- You must include the following elements in your author blog site to fulfill book publishing and marketing requirements:
- Author’s bio and professional photo
- Link to the Author website if it is different from the blog site
- Email address or ‘contact me’ button
- A list with links to articles, reviews, and media coverage of your books
- Link to your book purchase page & social media
- If you have a Newsletter option, add CTA (Call to Action) button so that people can easily subscribe
- Here are the digital marketing tips that will help you market a book through blogging
- Hook your potential readers with a catchy title so that they click on the article and keep reading. Use a keyword research tool to choose a good title
- Use subheadings to improve the engagement and readability rate of the article
- Focus on writing small paragraphs and shorter sentences. Include bullet points so that readers can scan the content without skipping
- Use a lot of examples to articulate a topic or point clearly
- Add links to your website or other blogs written by you wherever feasible
- Improve blog searchability and ranking by adding well-optimized keywords and alternatives
For example, if ‘benefits of blogs for writers’ is the main keyword, alternative keywords can be ‘benefits of blogging for authors’ and ‘Blogging benefits for authors.’
- Write a gripping introduction paragraph and mention the contents of the blog in the first paragraph
- Video blogs must be short and filled with graphical representations of the topic. Remember to add a human connection, such as your voice or face
- Things you must take care of to increase sales on the author’s blog site
- Hire an SEO expert to optimize the blog site for search with on-page and off-page SEO solutions and content marketing
- At the bottom of each blog, mention your books and add a link to the purchase page
- Share your blogs across all your social media networks. Describe the content of the article in the caption with a link to it
- Use captivating blog banner images and graphics, which can be used on social media posts too
- Post consistently. Ideally, you should update at least two blogs a week
- Make it easy for readers to promote your blogs by adding a social media sharing button
- Share your blogs with existing readers personally, either via email or text
The benefits of blogging for authors are many to pay attention to. The more you write and post, the more you’ll understand its importance in book marketing and increasing sales.
As an author, writing blogs shouldn’t be difficult as it is for the rest of us. If you don’t have the time, we recommend working with a ghostwriter.
And if you found this blog helpful in your self-publishing journey, share it with a fellow author and help them float their boat.
Are you catching up with the trend and self-publishing a book? Looking for ways to promote your book besides blogging? Schedule a call with our book publishing consultant today here, or take a look at our professional services offered at the best value.
