Sunday, October 13, 2013

Blog About Your Book The Way A Newspaper Would Write About It



I hear from many authors that they either have no time to blog or they run out of things to blog about. In some way, the two go together. If it didn’t seem like a chore, you’d blog more often and it wouldn’t take up much of your time. So how can you generate blog content -- easily  and quickly?

First, based on what you see yourself as an expert in, and based on what your latest or upcoming book is about, you should filter your blogs so that they only cover those key topics that are important to your brand. No sense in going off-topic.

Second, look at things you’ve written in the past -- books, speeches, letters, reports, op-eds, essays, poems -- and think about how to revise and spruce up that content and then use it for blog posts.

Third, take something, such as a speech, and break it up into five or ten blog posts-rather than one long one.

Fourth, see what others blog on and then blog your opinions, ideas and experiences on that subject.

Fifth, comment on what’s in the news. If your book is about diet, comment on new health studies, holiday eating, celebrities who lost weight, etc.

Sixth, blog twice about a subject. First, write what you believe in. Then write another post that examines the other side to the topic.

Seventh, put an idea or event in historical context. For instance, compare something now to what it was 20 or 100 years ago.

Eighth, just post a blog of questions, raising issues and concerns. Don’t feel obligated to have all the answers.

Ninth, vary your posts so that some contain opinions while others provide resources and how-to info, and others can share experience, etc.

Tenth, write a blog on imagining something being different: What if ebooks didn’t exist? What will a bookstore look like in 2023? Will business porn or sci-fi cookbooks catch on?

Really, the topics are endless. As a writer, your brain probably thinks faster than you can record your thoughts or even fully contemplate what pops in your mind. Your blog is a chance to explore all kinds of things.

Blog posts should take on a consistent voice or persona. They should connect to one another, thematically. There should be little doubt who authored a blog post because your style and approach will be so consistent it’ll be like leaving a blog fingerprint.

So what you start wondering what to write about, follow this pattern:

-What have I read online that’s interesting?
-What is in the news?
-What do I feel strongly about?
-What personal experience can I draw upon?
-What opinions do I want to share?
-What 2-step, 10-point, 13-day program do I want to promote?
-What have I written that can be recycled?
-What do my friends and family care about?
-What am I fantasizing about?
-What trends do I see?
-Who do I want to criticize and yell at -- or praise?

No excuses. Go blog -- right now!

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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2013

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