Blogging tips for Authors: What to Blog About
If you find it difficult to post fresh content on your blog every single week.
Don’t get too frustrated. Not every blog post needs to be a brilliant essay. It’s possible to be an effective blogger and spend less than 15 minutes writing each post! How?
By varying the kinds of posts you publish, you’ll keep readers more engaged and make it easier for you to generate compelling content on-time—all the time.
10 content ideas to keep your blog funky fresh
1. News update- Announce your big news items (book launch, reading series, etc.) at least 6 weeks in advance of the event. Provide the relevant details and a little extra context to hook ‘em with the dramatic backstory and the thrilling future ahead.
2. Direct engagement- Of course you want ALL your posts to be engaging. But every once in a while it’s fun (and more importantly—illuminating) to communicate directly with your blog readers. Ask them questions; post a poll; solicit feedback (crowd-source your editing process!); or request their assistance in some other way, like getting them involved in a fan-funding campaign.
3. Video or photo diary- You’ve got dozens of possibilities for video and photo posts, so cycle through them all! Embed your own original videos, post quick video diaries, “press photos” or head shots, photos of readers, photos of your writing desk or favorite notepad, or even someone else’s videos. Go!
4. Tell a story- Your readers love to hear about the highs and lows of your creative life. Give them the embarrassing stories, the triumphs, the travelogue with all the details and detours left in!
5. Lists- We love lists. Heck, look at the title of this blog post. Top 10…. 5 Ways… Worst 3… Put a list together, even if it’s only tangentially related to your topic. Those kinds of posts are quick to write and quick to publish. Plus, your readers will want to share their opinions in the comments section.
6. How-to- Instructional posts are oftentimes the most popular content on blogs. Do you have some particular knowledge or advice to share? How to finish a novel. How to write 2000 words a day. How to effectively promote your book for less than $1000. Write your advice as a step-by-step guide and see how it goes!
7. Best-ofs- You don’t always have to create NEW content. If you read the BookBaby Blog religiously, you know that every once in a while I go back over our most popular posts, put a few together by category, and post them as a new article which links to those older pieces. Try it yourself!
8. Reviews and recommendations- Your opinion counts. It’s YOUR blog, after all, and your readers want to know how you feel and what you think. So share your thoughts on favorite books, literary conferences, albums to put on in the background while you’re writing, restaurants, vacation destinations, coffee brands, and whatever else you feel passionate about.
9. Answer reader questions- Put the call out that you’d like to answer some questions from your readers. (Hey, there’s a blog post right there!) Then you can either break your answers up into individual posts or make it one long fan-guided interview.
10. Guest post or interview- Let someone else do the work for a change. Enlist some guest contributors to provide blog content for you (and link back to their site, of course). Or send a few questions to someone you admire and turn that interview into its own blog post.