Whether you are a published author, have an agent, or are querying manuscripts, you may have been told that you need to blog. “Build a platform,” they say, but they don’t always say how (incidentally, if you are interested in tips for a great website, my client Kerry Lonsdale wrote just such a post for Writers in the Storm).
Many writers figure that they’ve always been told to write what they know and apply that to blogging as well, so they write about…writing. Now, there’s nothing wrong with doing that, but you need to think about what your goals are for your blog before you start it. If you write about writing, your main audience will likely be, you guessed it!, writers. Is that the audience you’re looking for?
Honestly, it very well might be. You may be blogging in order to build up your connections in the writing/publishing community. If so, you might want to look to join a group writing blog like Beyond the Margins or Writer Unboxed, or at least study them to see what makes them so popular with writers. This sort of community can be hugely valuable, many of the authors at these blogs have become friends and may blurb or promote each other’s books.
However, if you go off and start a blog about writing, you may not have many non-writing readers who find you. If your goal is to build a readership beyond writing circles, you are going to want to create a blog with themes and topics that resonate with your target audience (which hopefully you have already identified, because agents and editors want to know that you know who you are aiming for). My client Nicole Evelina, for example, writes Arthurian legend, so many of her blog posts talk about topics she researched for her books, like the series on Celtic marriage/divorce/legal rights she just finished. Having this sort of outlet also gives you a place other than your fiction to discuss all the interesting things you’ve learned and avoid infodumps. Another client, Kerry Lonsdale just launched a new group blog with two other writers in her genre where they will each blog about their takes on the same topic and and consciously choosing topics they feel will resonate with their target audience.
Blogging can be wonderful for authors, or it can be a huge waste of time. If you want it to work for you, be clear on your goals and, before you start your blog, plan how you are going to appeal to your desired audience.
