Terri Coyne: I started my blog around the same time I sold my debut novel. I committed to posting once a week or more but not less. … not only did it help connect me to an audience but by syndicating to Facebook, Amazon and other places, it allows me to share my writing out from a central location.

Having a blog before I built my website was also a good way for me to post information for a nominal cost. As my website was being designed, I had my URL (www.tericoyne.com) point to the blog. There are so many widgets and options available for blogs, you can create a nice site as a starting point.

In my monthly newsletter to readers I link back to my blog and use it as a source for important updates. It works well.

LK Hunsaker: I've been blogging for years and it did take time to build an audience, but it's a great way to interact and get feedback. My books revolve around the arts along with societal issues, so on my blog I do book and music reviews, author interviews, artistic musings that reveal my writing voice and style, and some minor societal issue entries. It shows who I am and what I'm about. I think free promo is something every up-and-coming author should consider seriously. Blogs are free promo. Start early and build your audience before your books come out if they haven't yet.

Marie Devers: I am an unpublished-writer blogger, and here is what I love about blogging:

1. It gives me a homebase on the Web. I'm not ready for a Web site yet. When I send out queries, however, important people can Google me and quickly see that I write daily and coherently. They can also find my email and twitter addresses.

2. It's how I found my beta readers. There are four of us. We each have a blog where we pimp each other out. We also have great email sessions, where we perform group emergency surgery on queries that aren't working and where we celebrate when one of our own gets an offer of representation (She's signing tomorrow!).

3. As solitary as writing can be, it's nice to have someone to report to, and I feel like my blog readers are my boss. It's much, much harder to give up when you've publicly announced that you are trying to publish a novel and people all over the world support your efforts.

Jeff Posey: I started a blog this spring and began using Twitter a short time later. I post short scenes and character interviews outside my core in-progress novel but that illuminate it.

My lesson? This has been a great way to explore my main storyline and has inspired me to increase my average weekly writing output toward my novel, even while spending perhaps two-to-four hours per week on the blog and Twitter activity.

Besides, it's a load of fun.

Reesha: I'm being patient. Not a lot of peope are reading my blog right now, but every now and then I hear about someone who's been reading all along and I didn't know about it.

When I get discouraged about writing or building my platform, or even lonely, I imagine lots of lurkers who secretly read my blog, are interested in what I have to say, and love my work.

I was once told to approach things like this with the attitude that the person who you're interacting with loves you and is generally interested in what you have to say. The worst case scenario is that they hate you and aren't interested in what you have to say, and then you or they move on. There are lots of people out there. Lots of possibilities someone who likes what you have to say will find you.

Livia: I mulled over the expertise question quite a bit when starting my blog. Since I'm not published yet, why would people want to listen to my writing advice? For that reason, I decided to focus on analyzing examples of good writing from published fiction and reviewing craft books rather than preach my own writing tips.

Terry Petersen: The discipline is great. My theme is "After sixty, a time to begin." Since I don't specify what I'm beginning, I can write about anything I'm learning, on any level.

Ashley Olson Rosen: For me, starting a humor blog has been helpful in two ways: it makes me look at everyday occurances and frustrations in a more positive light -- which can never be a bad thing -- and it provides so much encouragement when people, especially strangers, send in comments. It's also good practice to force you to write on a regular basis. I was writing fiction before and now am considering trying a humor manuscript. I say to try blogging!

Florence Gardner: I'm also in my first couple of months of my blog.
I'm an unpublished writer of mid-grade and YA fiction with a manuscript under exclusive review by an agent right now. A couple of years ago I thought it would be insane for someone like me to have a blog.

I got a professional to help me design and get it up and running and am SO glad I did. It wasn't very expensive and I think makes a huge difference. (she's fantastic by the way, if anyone is looking for that kind of help).

I'm having a ton of fun with it. I don't think of it as "advice giving" at all. But a chance to make friends and to step into a wider conversation about writing and reading.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009 9:23:59 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [5] Trackback