Using your blog to market your book 101 by Chris Keys

USING YOUR BLOG TO MARKET YOUR BOOK 101 by Chris Keys
The author of “Reprisal! The Eagle Rises!” Due out summer of 2010


It’s been a reoccurring theme lately on several sites I belong to; ” Can I use blogging to advertise or market my book?” The answer is easy, it’s yes. In fact, if you don’t, you may as well not bother blogging unless you just want to blog. That’s ok! But if you’ve got a book coming out or already out, you had better be blogging.

The first step in blogging is setting up a blog site. This can be done quite easily. You can go and sign up with Google, Yahoo, Fan Box, Hub Pages and/or dozens of other blog sites. Most are free, some might pay you something, usually not enough to do anything for you except complicate your taxes, but only if you can generate paying fans and some even get you some exposure with the public.

I, myself, am on three blog sites and I have had a total of three visitors, one on each site. MMMM! I know there are things I can do to increase the number of hits I receive, like advertise, and many of the sites will help me, for a fee, but I haven’t the time or the money at this point to it. So, I have thirty two alternative blog sites I use, their called social networking sites.

Yep, almost every social network gives you an opportunity to post comments, stories, poems, or join discussions. Many even have separate blog sections. So I have thirty two of them. I can mention, “Reprisal! The Eagle Rises!” thirty two times. Now I know, you’re wondering how can I handle writing thirty two blogs? Well, the truth is, I don’t. I write one blog and then share it between the sites. Occasionally, I get industrious and I’ll write two but then I just share them on different days.

Either way you chose to go, you need to remember its all about exposure. You want as many people as possible, to have a chance to see your writing. After all, this is your showcase for your writing style and your chance to pitch your book(s) to your readers.

Listen to me, I’m writing like I’m such an old pro at this and I am. I’ve been a blogger for almost three whole months, but I’ve been sales for twenty some years and your blog is a short sales presentation. It used to be called social networking for business. Sales trainers made small fortunes teaching sales people and accounts, how to talk to people and make a positive impressions in short quick conversations. They were quick to point out that you needed to work your product into the conversation without making the other person feel, they’ve been trapped in an infomercial. There is a good chance that if you do it wrong, you’ll never get that person as your customer (book buyer). If you do it right, well the odds go up dramatically but you still have to overcome price in the end. I like to sell value and not price. It’s easier, as long as the product your selling has some value. But I digress. I’m here to help you promote your book. Like I promote my book, Reprisal! The Eagle Rises!

So you now know it’s a very good idea to use a blog to promote your book. Ok how? I’ve put together a few ideas I stole from other blogs, sales trainers, social climbers, politicians-only the good ones though-there’s an oxymoron for you. How about reformed politicians? Well maybe another day, we’re talking about blogging and selling your book.
You want to write your blogs as well as you can and you want the subject to be of interest to people. There are six quasi-official categories of blogging and I’ll throw in my own category at the end, just to mess with you.

These are in no particular order and they don’t get ranked one better than the other, except my choice is far superior to the others and you’ll see why in the end. So, ok you can blog about other authors and their books. This would be “The Review Category”. If you chose to use this category you review things. You could actually interview other authors for the blogs. It is certain to keep the blog fresh and interesting because every one wouldn’t be about your pet or your extended ear hair that needed electrolysis. Next, you have “The Commentary Category”, where you could blog about the latest happenings around the world or in your own back yard. Then there is “The How to Category”. This is where you tell everyone, what you know and how you do it and then how your way is the best way to do it. Then you have “The Guest Blogger Category”. You can invite other authors to post a blog so you can take the afternoon off. It’s a great way to keep your blog fresh and keep the public interested, while you get a break from having to figure what to write about next. I don’t recommend you do two much of the Guest Bloggers cause after a short period of time; your followers know the name of every other book, like “Reprisal! The Eagle Rise!” by Chris Keys, and not yours. Next, you can write “The Short Story Category” blog to fill blog space. Now be careful because you don’t want to give your best stuff away. So make sure it’s good but hold back a little for the paying customers. Be sure to ask your followers to respond to your stories. It creates an interaction that will make you memorable and thus giving you a better chance to sell your book to them. The last of the quasi-official blogs is “The Series Category”. I recommend that you keep the series to two or three Blogs. Too many and the followers may give up on ever getting to the point.

I also don’t recommend that you jump right in and declare to the world that you’ll be writing blogs daily and twice on Sundays. It can be difficult to find something to write about, so let yourself get used to writing blogs before committing to writing them on a deadline or a schedule. So there you have it, the six quasi-official, semi-definitive blog categories. Developed from minutes of painstaking attention to the broad generalizations and completely missing the details.

Oh yeah, I did threaten to share or rather I promised to share,(writing is all in the words people keep telling me), my sixth absolutely incredible blog category. It is “The Musings Category”. Musings are simple attention getting, short conversations, where you are free to range over several subjects or just one. Where you can interject your opinion or allow some other hack would be, authors, you so magnanimously agree to let hang on your coat tails, to promote his sad little book like, Reprisal! The Eagle Rises! Thus making the few followers aware of your book and your blog see how kind and generous you are, so they properly choose where their time and money should be spent. On your book! Musing incorporates all six of the quai’s and allows you leeway in the structure and content and context. So I like, Musing for my blog style.
Just remember don’t over due the plugging of your book. Some blogs you won’t mention it all and others, maybe once or twice, but it has to be context and not some random blurb about your book. Reprisal! The Eagle Rises! Debuting summer 2010! By Chris Keys! See how that sticks out like a sore thumb, and it so tacky, most readers wouldn’t give you as second chance, if you did that too much.

Well, I hope this was almost clear and sort of easy to understand, leaving you as confused as the writer is. I’ll try to help provide clarity on any subject I have to master, as I become a writer or rather an author. (Remember, it’s all in what words you say and how you say them)

Chris Keys-“Write what you know, write it with passion-set the world on fire with your dreams!”ChrisKeys2010@ Don’t forget Reprisal! The Eagle Rises! Debuts this summer!
Too much? You think?