How to Grow Your Author Blog

Image via Flickr Creative Commons, courtesy of Mike Licht

Image via Flickr Creative Commons, courtesy of Mike Licht

I am a huge fan of writers having a blog, but one of the first arguments I get is, “But I did have a blog and it did nothing.” I hear your pain. We live in a world of instant gratification and often it is why we are more inclined to post content on our Facebook or Twitter instead. Instantly we can see other people sharing and responding and it feels oh so good.

The blog? Meh.

The problem, however, is that any “benefit” from Facebook or Twitter evaporates almost as soon as it appears whereas the blog (if we stick to it) will keep giving us rewards for years to come.

Reframe Your Goal

Original image courtesy of flowcomm, via Flickr Commons

Original image courtesy of flowcomm, via Flickr Commons

I will give you tips for growing your author blog here in a minute, but a simple mental shift will help keep you pumped up in the meantime. My tips can’t help unless you keep blogging.

Instead of focusing on number of followers, I looked at my blog as my author training. Writing is a tough job and most people won’t make it because of one crucial factor…they want a job. Writing is not a “job.” We don’t clock in and out and have some authority figure who tells us what to do.

We can work when we want and how much we want. No one is going to write us up and fire us if we spend all day looking at kitten videos instead of working.

Most adults have been trained in structured environments like school or the workplace. Thus, when they step out into something where they are their own boss? They struggle. It’s why most entrepreneurs fail as well. They never reach their potential because they lack the critical ingredient necessary—self-mastery.

Thus when I began blogging, I knew I had a lot of bad habits. Blogging would teach me to be beholden to deadlines. Perfect is the enemy of the good, so I would learn to let go and ship. I could relax. It didn’t have to be worthy of a Pulitzer. It was just a blog. Blogging could help me learn to write leaner, meaner, faster and cleaner.

Posts that once took half a day now take an hour. Instead of chasing followers, I focused on becoming a stronger writer.

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Blogging would help me stretch those word count muscles. I used to panic at the idea of 1000 words a day and now I can knock that out in about 45 minutes. Blogging taught me to process, analyze and then articulate my thoughts seamlessly (useful for writing books, too). No amount of sharing or liking on Facebook would give me this skill.

Blogging made social media mentally active, instead of me lazily camping out in passivity. Blogging strengthened the muse and made me a better storyteller.

It taught me that content and ideas were literally everywhere. 

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But while there are countless benefits to writers, we do still want to eventually gain traffic. Duh.

Simply blogging into the ether forever was not exactly a bright plan. So, when I kept blogging and getting nowhere, I began to study blogs. What blogs did well? What blogs garnered hundreds of comments? What blogs had tens of thousands of subscribers? What were they doing that I could learn from?

Elements of a Great Blog

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Countless people start blogs that just get left abandoned in cyberspace, yet the elements of an excellent blog are pretty simple. If your blog is not doing well, often some small changes can make a huge difference.

Simple is Best

Content does matter, but packaging is key. We could have a blog so brilliant angels weep, but if no one reads it?

Yeah.

We must always remember that a blog is for the reader and not for us. When I started out, I became far too fascinated with all the cool layouts and color-schemes. When I was writing my blog, I was in the dashboard area which is, of course, black letters on a white page.

Though I thought that black page with red lettering was so edgy and dark and cool, I might as well have been tossing my readers’ eyes into a digital iron maiden.

Simple and clean is best. Our content is what should be the focus, not a bunch of colorful doodads. Remember to also test how your blog looks on a smartphone. Get an idea of how the post looks on any number of devices your reader might use.

The background we choose for a computer, might be a nightmare when trying to read on a phone.

Break Up that Space

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Many people don’t truly read blogs, they scan them. Yes, my blogs go longer because often I also give examples (I.e. the post about great description). But, because I use bullet points, those who simply want to scan can gain plenty (and the examples are there for folks who want more).

But I have seem comparably short blogs (500 words) that appeared more daunting than my 1300 word posts simply because the writer failed to break up the text. They left NO white space.

Bullet points, white space, headers, and photographs are key. When we have huge blocks of text in 10 point font? Many potential readers will just move on.

Keep Blogging

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Many people start a blog then quit before they ever get to enjoy a harvest. Blogs take time. We can either keep pouring our energy into instant gratification (Facebook) or we can be patient.

Eventually a blog that is generating thousands of hits per day is not generating those visits off the post for that day. Rather, search engines reward attendance. Additionally, evergreen content (content that is always salient) is being picked up through web searches. This is why building archives is extremely valuable.

I still gain new followers from posts I published years ago.

And the truth is, when my blog started being successful was right about the time that I’d accumulated a substantial archive (around 200 posts). Then I was no longer at the mercy of catching attention with the one post just published, I was beginning to gain ROI from the other 199 posts. I started enjoying compounded returns.

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Blogging is about appreciating the long tail, but frankly so is being an author. Just like most bloggers aren’t going to get fame and success with one post, most writers won’t hit it big with one book. We must learn to keep our heads down, to keep putting one foot in front of the other and trust the process.

There is so much more to having a great author blog, so I hope you will check out my Blogging for Authors class!

What are your thoughts? Do you see posts written on wild backgrounds and weird fonts and just run away? Have you ever run across a great post, only to realize the blog had been abandoned?

I LOVE hearing from you!

To prove it and show my love, for the month of AUGUST, everyone who leaves a comment I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly. I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less).

Check out the other NEW classes below! Now including a log-line class! Can you tell me what your book is about in ONE sentence? If you can’t SIGN UP.

All W.A.N.A. classes are on-line and all you need is an internet connection. Recordings are included in the class price.

Upcoming Classes

Blogging for Authors  (August 26th)

This class will teach you all you need to know to start an author blog good for going the distance. Additionally I would also recommend the class offered earlier that same week (August 22nd) Branding for Authors to help you with the BIG picture. These classes will benefit you greatly because most blogs will fail because writers waste a lot of time with stuff that won’t work and never will and that wastes a lot of time.

I am here to help with that 😉 .

Bullies & Baddies—Understanding the Antagonist September 2nd–September 2nd

All fiction must have a core antagonist. The antagonist is the reason for the story problem, but the term “antagonist” can be highly confusing. Without a proper grasp of how to use antagonists, the plot can become a wandering nightmare for the author and the reader.

This class will help you understand how to create solid story problems (even those writing literary fiction) and then give you the skills to layer conflict internally and externally.

Bullies & Baddies—Understanding the Antagonist Gold

This is a personal workshop to make sure you have a clear story problem. And, if you don’t? I’ll help you create one and tell the story you want to tell. This is done by phone/virtual classroom and by appointment. Expect to block off at least a couple hours.

Your Story in a Sentence—Crafting Your Log-Line

September 7th

Log-lines are crucial for understanding the most important detail, “WHAT is the story ABOUT?” If we can’t answer this question in a single sentence? Brain surgery with a spork will be easier than writing a synopsis. Pitching? Querying? A nightmare. Revisions will also take far longer and can be grossly ineffective.

As authors, we tend to think that EVERY detail is important or others won’t “get” our story. Not the case.

If we aren’t pitching an agent, the log-line is incredibly beneficial for staying on track with a novel or even diagnosing serious flaws within the story before we’ve written an 80,000 word disaster. Perhaps the protagonist has no goal or a weak goal. Maybe the antagonist needs to be stronger or the story problem clearer.

In this one-hour workshop, I will walk you through how to encapsulate even the most epic of tales into that dreadful “elevator pitch.” We will cover the components of a strong log-line and learn red flags telling us when we need to dig deeper. The last hour of class we will workshop log-lines.

The first ten signups will be used as examples that we will workshop in the second hour of class. So get your log-line fixed for FREE by signing up ASAP.

For those who need help building a platform and keeping it SIMPLE, pick up a copy of my latest social media/branding book Rise of the Machines—Human Authors in a Digital World on AMAZON, iBooks, or Nook

 

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  1. Yep, even before you said it, I was thinking about books and having a back catalog… It’s a long game, and the more content you have, the more points of contact. I think, also, people forget that it’s meant to be fun… There are tumbleweeds blowing across mine at the moment, but I moved country last month so I’ve got lots to tell people! Thanks for constantly reminding me to get back on it 🙂

  2. Thanks for this! This is it in a nutshell: make your blog useful, break up the text chunks, and most importantly of all, don’t give up. I’ve been blogging for about two years now and I’m finally starting to see an increase in traffic 🙂

  3. I started a blog just for the discipline of writing fast and posting once a week. I also wanted to create a landing page.
    But I’m not good at sharing personal thoughts and don’t have enough author knowledge to blog about it. So sometimes the well is dry and I feel like slamming the keyboard and posting the resulting jibberish.

    1. Well I imagine you are good at observing the world or you wouldn’t be a very good novelist, LOL. Writers tend to think too much and have unrealistic expectations and so the brain gets vapor lock. Relax and have fun. Take my class or get my book for ways to give boundaries to your voice and spark the imagination.

  4. Great post as always! I’m very interested in taking your August 26th class, but here’s one problem. It’s high school football season here in OK! Will this class be offered again soon? Thanks!!

    1. I will offer it again I am sure, but the entire class is recorded and you get the recording with the purchase price. All video audio, etc. is delivered right to you and this kind of class is not one that lack of you “being there” will hurt. So if you want to take it, take it. I can give you access to a live class at a later date 😉 .

      1. Thanks! That sounds perfect! 🙂

  5. Always great advice. I will use long tail in place of shortsighted.

  6. I have taken your advice and started to blog . . . because after all, you are my Kristenji. One would think it would be easy to find a good WP plugin to share said blog on Facebook and twitter. But one would be wrong. I’ve tried and deleted several after they post double or post my images upside down. Which one do you use?

    1. Hmmm, I just hand-post to Facebook. I had the same experience and most of the apps were disappointing. But by hand posting on FB I can type in questions and calls to action, so there is that.

      1. And don’t forget google+ It doesn’t send a lot of traffic, but it does help the rankings for the subject. Create a new content lead-in of at least a paragraph and don’t forget hashtags 🙂

          • Eloise McInerney on August 22, 2016 at 6:59 am
          • Reply

          Good tip – I don’t tend to think about Google + as being a thing!

  7. I loved the message of this post. It rings so true in every way. As always, your guidance and words of encouragement is greatly appreciated!

  8. Thank you for great advice. I’ve been telling the fellow writers and bloggers in my crit group these things. I’m sharing your blog post with them. Hopefully they will listen to you.

    Thanks for sharing your numbers, too. I’m just starting to see some real SEO driven growth. Someday I hope to make it into the thousands for daily views, but I’m happy with a steady increase.

    I might add, that besides, all these tips, using keywords help you blog be found. I personally use YOAST plug-in the tell me if I’m on the right path.

    My biggest problem (I think) is conversion. Getting those views to follow or join the mailing list. Th top of the mountain is soooo far away. Hell, the bottom of the mountain is so far away. Thanks for helping on the journey! 🙂

  9. Thank you, Kristen, for encouraging us to keep blogging. I also needed the discipline of a deadline that blogging provides. It’s amazing what our muse can pull together when we allow it time to create content. I love the cat meme you included; it’s purrfect.
    Blessings ~ Wendy

  10. Breaking up the space is my favorite tip. I love the photos you use – don’t see it that often on “instructional” blogs. I’m a compulsive bullet-lister in everything i write that’s non-fiction (ie email to my mother) – and that’s where my eyes always go when reading a blog.

    One thing that concerns me about being a VERY inexperienced blogger and starting up my first blog is that my initial posts will be so bad that I’ll be embarrassed about them later. I have nightmares that someone will find an old article through a search and think “God, this is lousy writing – her fiction is probably also lousy”. I’ve actually had an experience where I read something about 4 years old by a writer who now does how-to articles and seminars, and I have to admit it colored my confidence in her advice.

    I’ve thought about a “practice” blog in an alias that I’d use to practice writing (write, write, write) AND also get the hang of blogging before starting one with the intention of building followers and “putting my name out there”. Maybe you would consider a post on that concern??.

  11. Great post, but a lot of people get half a year into blogging only to realize they need to narrow the focus of their blog. What advice do you have for those people? Do you tell them to keep their old posts up even if it doesn’t fit their current blog focus? Or do you tell them to start over?

  12. I’m taking your class next week on blogging, and I’m excited to learn more. I’ve been blogging for approximately eight months and recently hit my 100th blog post. I’ve been diligent in the Monday, Wednesday, Friday postIng and am thankful the blog lets you write ahead of time and schedule the blog. It allows me to write when inspiration hits and post according to the schedule.

    As for blogs I read, white space is crucial. I read some blogs and skim others. If I’m skimming and it’s interesting, I’ll read it. A solid wall of text is a huge turn-off. Of course, a solid block of text is different when I’m reading on the iPad versus iPhone, so something to be careful if.

    Yes, please keep the text easy to read. Honestly, black and white is totally fine! I care much more about what is written than color of the text. Please also keep the font easy to read. Swirly font may look artistic, but it’s hard to read on my phone.

    Keep pictures small so the site loads quickly on my phone.

    Humor helps. I’m not funny, so I fail on this, but it keeps my attention more

  13. I enjoyed this, thanks very much. This is my blog about my first year of Blogging, which echoes some of it –
    https://tomhocknell.wordpress.com/2015/12/28/my-first-year-of-weekly-blog/.

  14. Devil’s advocate here.

    I agree with you about owning your content. You own your blog, Facebook owns Facebook, so a blog is better in that regard.

    But, as far as I’m concerned, the only reason to blog is to sell books, and blogging has never helped me in that regard.

    I blogged faithfully for something like six years, and nothing much happened. I got some followers, and people still read my backlog ( I do have the requisite over 200 posts, and my blog looks nice), but, so what? My book sales remain terrible, even though I have more books out there.

    One of the reasons I gave up blogging was that I spent more time writing blog posts and thinking about writing blog posts than writing books. That’s backwards. Writing the books should come first.

    Someone said a blog was supposed to sell me. Well, people might like me and still not buy my books.

    I don’t put original content on Facebook or Twitter. They’re for sharing other people’s fun posts, and for promo. The Facebook book promo groups are one of the few promo things I’ve found that actually does sell a few books. But, it’s only a few books. Twitter is worthless.

    I think six years of blogging is long enough to know that it doesn’t work for me.

    What to do? I don’t know. But I’m not convinced blogging is the answer.

    1. I don’t know your situation, but did your viewership increase in those years. Were you seeing 1,000 daily come to you? The number of blog posts is a ball park, (right Kristin). If you have bad SEO and do not promote you blog, no matter how long you’ve been blogging people cannot find it, thus, no click-thru to your sales.

      With my plug-in, I can see daily how many people click-through to Amazon. Sorry you did not find success with your blog. I still think it worth while for all those other reasons Kristin suggested.

      Best to you on your sales! 🙂

      1. No, I never saw 1000 daily. Yes, I promoed the blog. I always put keywords on my posts. Didn’t help.

    2. But did you ever get professional help regarding your blog? It is a unique form of writing and there are small changes that make a big difference. Just like novels, we need to deliver content other people want to consume. If the blog revolves around us and our goals, people sense that. Y’all don’t come here for what I have to say about me, rather what I have to say about YOU. Sure, a benefit of writing this blog is hopefully people buy my book, but my first goal is to serve and entertain. The book sales are gravy. I am here to serve the audience, not the other way around.

      In the beginning my voice was stilted and my blog wasn’t appealing to readers, so I looked at blogs I liked, that I clicked on and that other people seemed to enjoy and then I reverse-engineered them. The same goes for our books. We can write a novel we love, but if it isn’t selling, we not only need to write more, we are wise to look at what consumers are gravitating to.

      If blogging isn’t working for you, it isn’t working. But if you have already had the habit this long, it would be a shame to give up before maybe seeing if it was something about your SEO, the types of blogs you are writing, your titles or maybe your voice. If those are things you could fix and it would be of benefit? Worth trying.

      1. Thanks for replying.

        • ratherearnestpainter on August 20, 2016 at 7:55 pm
        • Reply

        Kristen, I have never met you, but I imagine in my head that you have a slightly raspy voice from years of being a cheerleader (literal or metaphorical) and talking with enthusiasm. It’s so nice to be encouraged. Thank you for being born.

        1. Awww, I appreciate it. And I have your pages! Looking forward to them 😀 .

  15. I love when you speak directly to me.
    Also, I still haven’t added in the call to action at the end of my posts. Why did I seek out your brilliance only to not follow your advice?
    Grrr.

  16. Wonderful blog post! While I do want more followers and views for my blog, I am enjoying the connections I’m making with my readers. Everything takes time, so I’m going to enjoying being that small, unknown blogger for now.

  17. Wonderful post, this. I’m still a blog newbie, partly because the technical stuff confounds me. I’ve learned much from your posts, and I do read the entire article. You’ve pointed out some of the issues I need to address: write faster and shorter and include illustrations. As a kid, I always gravitated toward books with pictures as well as text. I guess most of us haven’t grown up – we still like pictures, especially if accompanied with funny captions.
    Thanks for another timely tip, Kristen.

  18. I did wonder why I hit over 300 today on my blog and once or twice went over 1,000. I was like, what happened?” You’ve cleared up the mystery. I do have almost 200 blog posts up now. Thanks for this, Kristen!

    1. Yeah you are starting to hit that Golden Window. Good for you! Keep going!

  19. Thanks for another great post, Kristen. I needed to see this and so do my other newbie followers, so I am going to re-blog this on my site. The problem with my blog is inconsistency. I review books of debut authors. I am not able to blog often as my reading has taken a backseat to researching my own novel and trying to plot and outline. I’ve been blogging for a few years. I do have a decent following, not thousands, but a couple of hundred, but no one seems to comment. I don’t get many hits. I still keep blogging, but sometimes I wonder why and think what’s the use? I need to blog more content obviously, but I’m not sure what to blog about in between my reviews. Thanks for your help! 🙂

  20. Reblogged this on Becky's Book Notes and commented:
    Are you having traffic problems to your blog? Check out this great post from my friend, Kristen Lamb! Tell me what you think and how I can improve my blog for you!

    • Candace Williams, author on August 19, 2016 at 3:07 pm
    • Reply

    This is so timely, for me, and anyone else who’s new to author-blogging. I had a blog ages ago, but I wasn’t writing then. It was just general stuff, with some politics thrown in during election years. Yesterday I wrote my first blog post on my brand new website and wondered, now how is this gonna work? Thank you for pointing out that it’s about the *content,* first, like a build-it-and-they-will-come strategy.
    Btw, I’ve been lurking here but never commented before. I LOVE your posts, and the pix are hilarious! Yep, it’s the content. 🙂 Rock on!

  21. Reblogged this on Jeannie Hall Suspense.

  22. Thanks for this post, Kristen.
    I often get discouraged — I’ve blogged for over four years now and I often wonder why I keep it up. But I’ve learned all the same lessons you have.
    I mentioned your post on my blog in the comments to one of my post, at https://mthupp.wordpress.com/2016/08/03/more-odd-search-requests-that-pointed-to-this-blog/
    I’ve also posted a link to your post on the Write Brain Trust Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WriteBrainTrustPage/. Write Brain Trust is a group of writers helping each other learn about marketing and publishing in the digital age.
    Thanks again for the encouragement.
    Theresa Hupp

  23. Reblogged this on Mystery and Romance.

    • Kathy on August 19, 2016 at 4:04 pm
    • Reply

    I also find that commenting on other people’s blogs may increase traffic to my own blog. I just bought your book We are not Alone, because I can’t make the course time…

  24. I’m just about to launch a picture book (WHO’s the CAPTAIN?), appropriate for adults and kids, alike. It’s a humorous cartoon book of a family sailing vacation. Anyways, I’ve been creating a series of posts for FUN HAPPENS! Kidlit and Post with Attitude! They are geared towards boaters with a good sense of humor. Your advice about keeping the content going on a continuous basis is so true. I post on Tender Tuesdays. It is such fun when one starts to get those emails- YOU HAVE NEW FOLOWERS. I love it! (I also thoroughly enjoy your posts and actually keep them for reference. Thanks Kristen! http://www.twocandobooks.wordpress.com

  25. Thank you, Kristen for an encouraging blog post (as always). Blogging can be quite daunting sometimes. And I guess, it’s easy to lose focus as you go along the process of blogging. The focus becomes gaining followers, likes etc. I see those aspect are important too, but it easily becomes at the expense of what I think is equally important, if not more – namely the writing and content.
    Thanks for sharing your insights which I’m sure I’ll take with me on my blogging journey. 🙂

  26. Well, I’m blogging regularly, I’ve got hundreds of posts in my archive, and my page is clear and readable with plenty of paragraph breaks and pictures. And after three and a half years of blogging, I seldom get more than fifteen views in a day. So I guess it’s the content that’s the problem 🙁
    What am I doing wrong?

    1. Just glancing at your blog? Work on your titles. Study magazine copy. We have to intrigue people with the title so they click but your latest three posts the titles give me no real clue what the blog is about. If I saw it float past on Twitter I would not feel compelled to click. Beyond that? Look at keywords and SEO but titles are a BIG deal. They need to be emotional. Instead of “Round 2” which I have NO clue what that would be, why not “Is Clutter Ruining Your Life?”

      1. Thanks! Will do 🙂

  27. I only started a blog a few months ago & I think I may have chosen a topic a little too narrow (Writing Critique Groups.) But I’m still in the early stages of it and having fun.

  28. Reblogged this on writerscritiqueblog and commented:
    Found this interesting blog post I thought I’d share.

  29. this is some great advice, i’ll use it to revamp my blog.

  30. ???

  31. Wise words on blogging. I too, have begun to see ‘self-mastery’ results from my persistent blogging. As an editor I couldn’t agree more about white space.

  32. Reblogged this on Siobhan Daiko and commented:
    Some good advice here.

  33. Thanks for sharing, Kristen! Just what I needed to read this morning.

  34. A positive for me with blogging it writing coherently the first time out, or at least more of the time. 🙂 I do go back and read older posts and clean them up when I find typos, misplaced commas, or some other problem. I think that helps me to in perfecting my writing. The posts I write now need less cleaning and fixing.

    OMG! Did you really have red text on black! *naughty* 🙂

  35. Reblogged this on Don Massenzio's Blog.

  36. Reblogged this on Matthews' Blog.

  37. Thanks for this post. I have been blogging for over two years, and it’s only been in the last 3-6 months that I have been taking my blog to the next level so to speak. Like blogging once a week, commenting on other blogs, in other words being more social. My readership has gone up, and so has my views. I still have other ideas that I want to try out. Reading this post encouraged me that I am on somewhate of a right path. Thanks!

  38. Thank you, Kristen, this is really great advice.

  39. Nice horns. I write stuff. I wrote about a Viking Pep Talk.

  40. Thanks Enjoyed this. When my life finally gets back on track and I can devote more time to blogging, editing and writing LOL I will put this into practice.

  41. Great post! As someone who has blogged before (not author blog; just learning about that), I tell newbie bloggers to think very carefully about colour schemes- something that looks fine to you might be very difficult to read to someone who is, say, colourblind or has another kind of visual disability. There are lots of articles on the web about colour and website accessibility.

    Also, if you’re running a WordPress blog on your own server, there’s a handy little SEO plug-in called Yoast SEO that walks you through how you can make make each post better, from an SEO standpoint. It’s been a lifesaver for me.

  42. Indeed – thanks for this post – it reminded me of my Post on Successful Blogging a year or so ago –

    https://tomhocknell.wordpress.com/2015/02/18/blogging/

    Some very good advice

  43. Amazing content and tips – Loved it! 🙂 I am going to apply those.
    You guys who see that are welcome to check out my blog, I am just 10 posts in 🙂 Thanks!

  44. Thanks Kristin, I’m just starting out so I love this helpful blog of yours! Much appreciated…

    • Eloise McInerney on August 22, 2016 at 6:57 am
    • Reply

    Great post as always – The thing that really holds me back from developing a blog properly is that I keep thinking ‘oh, but I need to use this spare time to devote to my novel’, which I’m sure you’ll say is the wrong attitude to have, but I’m writing a b***** epic (literally) and it feels like I’ll never get to the end of the 3rd draft. Never mind the end! However, I really really am going to start the blog going again properly. Have even got myself my author domain name. That’s a first step, right? 🙂

  45. I turn off when I see a zillion widgets in the sidebar. I don’t need to know what ‘blogging awards’ your friends gave you, or what your recent comments were. I just want to read your blog!!

  46. Reblogged this on Erotic Vampire and commented:
    Great blog! Don’t give up – keep blogging. Thank you Kristen.

  47. Thanks for this informative post. I have registered for the Blogging for Authors course on Aufust 26, 2016. Please confirm the time of this class. The promotion states: 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Are we not still on Daylight Time? What actual time is this for those of us in the Central Daylight Time?

    Thank you.

    Gayle Moore-Morrans

    1. If you mean CST it would be 6:00 (same for me). I post it with NYC time because we have people in other countries who sign up too and it is a familiar baseline. And FANTASTIC! Looking forward to meeting you 😀 .

    • Rachel Thompson on August 23, 2016 at 7:29 am
    • Reply

    So, I guess water, sunlight and fertilizer isn’t the answer.

    On Fri, Aug 19, 2016 at 12:46 PM, Kristen Lambs Blog wrote:

    > Author Kristen Lamb posted: ” I am a huge fan of writers having a blog, > but one of the first arguments I get is, “But I did have a blog and it > did nothing.” I hear your pain. We live in a world of instant gratification > and often it is why we are more inclined to post content on ou” >

  48. Reblogged this on Books and More.

  49. I don’t think the most writers realize just how important evergreen content is. I’ve had my poly blog going for over 5 years, and ever day I get views through Google checking out posts from years ago In fact, I keep track of my most popular posts each month. There are three or four blog posts, ranging from 1-4 years old that are ALWAYS in my top ten. A lot of visitors read that one blog and stop. But some go to my archives or home page, read some more, and subscribe.

  50. I’ve been blogging for 2 years now, but I need to focus more. I’m all over the place. Writing, martial arts, slice-of-life, funny, book promo and guest posts… it’s a mess!

  51. I found you through Stevie Turner’s blog, whom I follow, (She’s great! Maybe three times in the hat for her?) l blogged for years with different degrees of commitment and I’m just approaching that 200 post mark. This year I have finally gotten serious. While I am no where near 1000 hits per day, I have gotten over a hundred a couple of times in a day, but usually get 100-200 per week, and my viewership has doubled thus far this year. I do think my format is ok, and I work to create good titles and tags. I even have a few old posts that attracted people even in my lax posting periods. What began the change for me was being consistent with a new post every week, seeking out blogs I liked and commenting, which has led me to have a few people reblog one of my posts. I also found and joined a linkage site where groups of people add a link to a post or two a week which has been a new community for me and where I “met” Stevie. I do a little Facebook but think of it as personal. (though I do post my blog posts.) I don’t Twitter. So I guess I am just in the trudging toward the mountain phase. I will add a link to you in my next post on writing. Reading this has been encouraging

  52. Reblogged this on Writer's Treasure Chest and commented:
    Kristen Lamb has advice on how to grow your author blog! Thank you for all your support, Kristen! You’re amazing!

  53. I found this post very interesting — particularly your points about viewing a blog as writing practice and keeping posting regularly. Blogging can certainly build a kind of writing discipline. I’ve managed to post to a regular weekly schedule for a year and a half now. I know a lot of bloggers out there are far more prolific, but for me, even keeping to a once a week schedule is amazing! I’m not sure I’ve ever been this organized about anything else in my life!

  54. I’m not an author. Not yet. But I learnt a lot from this one post, and I’m happy I came across your blog. As the elders say: the elders always know better than the young ones. They’re right.

  55. Many ideas, but so little time, and not enough discipline. your blog is a motivator.

  56. Blogging is definitely not for the faint at heart. I am doing my best to post regularly; however, sometimes I get distracted. My goal is to stick with it for the long haul.

  57. Reblogged this on Grace Allison, Award Winning Author and commented:
    Blogging is new to me. Building a WordPress site.Thanks for the tips

  58. This was great! Thanks for taking the time to write this out!

  1. […] Source: How to Grow Your Author Blog […]

  2. […] offline marketing is important, writers also reach people online. Kristen Lamb discusses how to grow your author blog, Jane Friedman talks about her use of autoresponders in her marketing campaigns, Melissa Flickinger […]

  3. […] How to Grow Your Author Blog – Kristen Lamb, who knows her shit when it comes to digital marketing. […]

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