Is Blogging Necessary for Authors?

Blogger: Rachelle Gardner

A few years ago, the standard wisdom was that authors, both fiction and non-fiction, should have blogs in order to gather an audience and build relationships with readers. Now, not so much. As social media and online marketing have evolved, thoughts on blogging have changed. I think each author needs to carefully consider whether blogging is an appropriate vehicle for them. How do you know? You can make your decision based on:

1. If you can do it well;

2. If you enjoy it; and

3. If your writing career can benefit from it. 

If blogging doesn't suit you, don't spend too much time trying to make it work.

 Why aren't blogs the appropriate vehicle for all authors? 

The proliferation of blogs in the last ten years has made it increasingly difficult to stand out in the crowd.

Many authors are blogging faithfully but it doesn't seem to be increasing readership of their books. 

Many authors seem to be blogging to an audience that's mainly other writers.

Many authors have a hard time figuring out what their blogs should be about (mostly fiction authors).

So, how do you decide if you should have a blog? Here are my thoughts:

Have a blog if:

 1. You have something important to say and it seems people want to hear it.

2. You understand that blogging is about offering something of value, NOT about promoting yourself and your books.

3. You enjoy blogging (for the most part, anyway).

4. You find blogging contributes to your creativity and enthusiasm for writing your books, rather than sucking all the energy out of you.

5. You can find the time for blogging without it completely stressing you out.

6. Your books have a highly defined target audience, making it easy to target your blog.

7. Your books are topical (especially non-fiction), so that you have a clear and obvious theme for your blog.

Don't have a blog if:

 1. You keep asking yourself and others, "But what should I blog about?"

2. You only want to blog to promote your books and/or because you think you "have to."

3. The whole idea stresses you out.

4. You honestly don't have the time in your schedule to blog regularly.

5. You've been blogging for a couple of years or more, and haven't built up to a traffic level that seems worth it.

Nowadays there are numerous alternatives to blogging when it comes to online networking and promotion.

For example:

email newsletters

using Facebook effectively

leveraging all the various ways Goodreads offers for promoting books

learning how to attract a readership through Pinterest

having an effective LinkedIn profile page

leveraging other social platforms such as Instagram

Do you think authors need blogs nowadays? Do YOU blog? If so, how's it going? If not, why not?
Source: Is Blogging Necessary for Authors?