My aunt recently started a blog: Great Books for Children. In her ambition to become a published children’s author, she felt compelled to start a blog but was hesitant. She considered blogs to be the “junk mail of the Internet” and didn’t want to “stoop” to blogging. I think she’s off to a fine start.
The following email was meant to persuade her to think more highly of blogging, at least considering it a neutral publishing medium with the potential to garner an audience:
1. People should consider your blog a great resource, a bookmark worth keeping, something worth talking about, not a glossy brochure for you as an author.
2. The Internet allows you to connect with an audience despite not having a publisher. If you produce great work, you’ll attract an audience. This is called micro-celebrity:
- 1,000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly
- Clive Thompson on the Age of Microcelebrity: Why Everyone’s a Little Brad Pitt
3. Cory Doctorow is a sci-fi writer who released his entire book online, got an audience, then got a publishing contract. How could a publisher turn away a writer with an existing audience?
4. Do you know the Nie Nie story? It’s the blog of a young Mormon woman who was in a plane crash earlier this year. Her blog has a huge audience. This is an awesome article in the NY Times:
5. Blogging can be grand. Play the medium to your advantage by including pictures and video. Don’t think it’s a lesser medium.
6. Some of my favorite posts on blogging:
- What Makes for a Good Blog? by Merlin Mann
- Write Like a Blogger by Seth Godin
- How to Get Traffic for Your Blog by Seth Godin
- Why You Should Blog by randfish
7. Bookmarks on publishing:
3 replies on “Why an Aspiring Author Should Start a Blog”
Glad I can help, Aunty Shannon! 🙂
Richard, Your help has been invaluable! Aside from providing another means to practice writing, it’s had the additional benefit of serving as a writing sample when I’ve applied for freelance jobs. It’s an easy way for potential employers to see my writing style.
You also helped me set up google analytics, and I saw that in December I had hits literally from across the globe! I could also see which posts generated the most hits and how long people stayed on the site. Fantastic!
You are amazing. Love, your favorite aunty 🙂