A decade ago, the general advice was that you had to have one to be taken seriously but not so much anymore.
Considered important by who? And important for what? If I'm looking for a book to read, I don't go checking the writer's webpages, I simply read the reviews. I do like to have a look at the websites people link to in their signatures etc on forums But I must confess, it doesn't result in sales . A blog can be a great way to get a following though, and maybe some of those blog readers would go buy your book. But you have to work a lot on that blog in order to get a following You could also spend that time working on your books, improving your writing skills, then let your publisher do all the blogging about it I'd still say it's advisable to get a blog. Get your name out there. There are about a million people putting their books out there right this moment. You need to get attention somehow. Let people know you exist.
Couple of random thoughts: First, my name isn't "out there", but I don't have anything for sale yet, so I have a blog, and a facebook, and a (very minimal) Twitter presence just to get some name recognition, so that when I finally publish something there will be some people who have heard my name and maybe read a couple of my flash pieces and might be willing to take a shot based on that. Secondly, a lot of the blogs that I read are by people who were (well) established before the blogging age took hold. I read them because they have an interesting take on things, and based on their professional writings, I feel a connection to them. Not to plug, so spoilers Spoiler David Brin and Charles Stross have social and political viewpoints that mesh well with mine, and I often find interesting things that I end up following either in their references or the comments of their regular readers. Long story short, I think a blog can be useful in establishing a name or building an existing platform. From what I know from here, you're in a middle ground (that's much higher than the muck I swim in), so...
I don't know about blogs specifically, but I think it's probably a good idea to have some sort of Web presence other than Facebook and Twitter. I have contacted a few authors whose work I enjoy through the contact forms on their websites and have received some very nice replies. It adds a personal aspect to the writer/reader relationship.
The answer probably depends on your marketing strategy. I do think in most cases, a webpage probably helps for a few reasons. 1. Your brand is independent of your sales channels, so a break with Amazon or Goodreads (which is also Amazon) or a policy change at Facebook &c, doesn't compromise your internet presence. It's about control. 2. Websites can link to other revenue generating activities, such as your upcoming lectures if you offer that, public appearances, awards, merchandise if you offer it, editing services, &c. For a lot of authors, they want to maintain multiple revenue streams, and a branded website acts as a hub. 3. Establishing and maintaining a following has value, especially if you're a regular producer. You can let followers know about upcoming launches, instead of just relying on potential readers tripping over your books through other tools. 4. One I like personally, is that you can offer followers special perks. Unlock codes for extra content. Contests. Only limited by imagination, really. I personally feel good if I can give a little back above and beyond just getting residuals on the unit sales. So that's author sites. Blogs, well that's a bit different. Sometimes there's a bit of a jumble with blogs that end up being a mix of personal stuff, professional calendar stuff like upcoming appearances, and maybe even serialized stories or flash fiction. I find those author blogs hard to follow. -KM
Ha. Yep. And I wonder if there's a danger of branding with a title, instead of just your actual name / pseudonym. Or brand/tradename is another one. I'm not sure about that myself, so I have two domains: one is my personal name with my personal stuff; the other is a brand name with my writing stuff. Two domains seems inefficient, but I also like the idea of separating my personal versus professional. Last month, my authors association had a lecture by a woman who was a publicist, and she went into some detail about how to create bios for different media. For example, a quick 15 second bio for radio interview introductions, versus a much longer one we can put on our website. "So-and-so is was born in Skookumchuck, son of a chainsaw sculptor and snake handler, went to X highschool, Y university, and currently lives in Womble with his wife and eleven cats." And all during the lecture, I kept thinking to myself: "Why would any author share information about his birthplace, early childhood... family?" Obviously some do, but I am really hoping that's not necessary. The lecturer insisted it was table stakes for any author who wants to become successful. I'm not so sure.
Personally, I don't currently have a blog or web presence, but assuming I get published I would definitely start. I'd want a way to communicate what's going on with my writing, what projects are in the works, why book 5 was delayed, etc etc.
Yeah, I don’t know either. Near as I can tell, a successful marketing campaign for books that generate word of mouth will turn your Twitter or Facebook into thriving author pages if you want them too. I just made my blog to practice writing essays and serial fiction. No reason to market me, since I havent done anything yet.
I don't know a ton about marketing, but I do know a little bit (I work with a couple of business majors). One thing I do know is that the importance of blogs for marketing has significantly dropped over the last decade or so (thank god for that, too). The reasons are a couple. First of all, literally everyone has a blog anymore. Ten or fifteen years ago, blogs were still sort of a rising novelty and not every established author/person had one. Now, literally everyone has them and no one has the time or desire to keep up with your blog no' more. Long-form posts that are tl;dr are out. These days, it's all about crap like Twitter. Tweets are condensed, tiny thoughts that people can mindlessly browse. Blogging didn't 'die' so much as it just evolved into Tweeting. And I hate Twitter even more than I hate blogs. Classic 'one devil traded for another' situation.
I'm in the same situation: blogging is practice. And it'll be nice to have a couple of years' worth of content out there at some point.
I’ve hear that Google prioritizes blogs with 100+ posts and many long posts (2k words) so I’ve been shooting that way. Seems to be helping my google rating.
I'm glad I did it, but glad it's gone. So many 500 word first drafts - for a collection of smiley faces down the bottom of the screen.
Yes, I've been trying to push past 2k words per posting too. The two reasons are firstly, as you say, rumour is that this is good SEO. Secondly, it's in what's called an 'article' sized range, which is a real potential future market. If I can reliably crank out 2500 word articles, I have more confidence that I can justify offering freelance at $1/word.
