Hit Counters

There are programs that tell a blogger how well their online efforts are doing. Some people love, love, love full-blown analytics and others are much more comfortable with the basics. For me, as a teacher of very fundamental online book marketing skills, keeping comfort levels and enthusiasm high with my students is paramount. An empowered student is a good student. Many creatives, and that includes writers, don't like working with numbers, but a certain level of skill in measuring efforts is important, whether checking your royalty statements, your Amazon ranking, or how many reading fans you have.

A simple free site like StatCounter can show you what you've accomplished over the last few years of blogging.

If this were your blog, wouldn't it make you feel kind of good about what you've accomplished?

Check your blog visitor stats weekly to get a sense of how well your blog is bringing attention to your books. Are there any kinds of posts that draw more readers? Are you engaging with your fans? If you aren't in casual writing, does that translate to the success of your book sales? I'm guessing for most authors, it does.

What about you? What kind of analytics do you use to gauge the success of your blogging efforts? Is blog popularity (or any kind of popularity) important to gain book sales, do you think?

N is for News

There are two kinds of news that come to mind: personal news about you, and what’s happening in the world. Both are great things to write about.

If you’re an author or a publisher, the public can’t get enough information about what you’re doing from day-to-day. Readers want to know what your word count is, what other novels your moodling, what conference you’ll be attending next. The same goes for publishers, and recaps of recent events with photos are always a boon to blog traffic. Don’t forget to share information about yourself on your blog!

World news works a little differently, because when you write about a current event, not only do you share your opinions but you also tap into a huge and sticky web of similar posts on the Internet. Linking to outside news sources is a great way to increase the notice-ability of your blog. If you’re writing about an earthquake, for example, Google the word and see what news articles are first in your search results. Then mention the keyword and link to that article in your post. Also try to add the keyword to your blog post title and label. When it comes to news and blogging, relevance and timing are important to factor into your scheme, so don’t hesitate mentioning important world events when possible.

A-A-A-pril Fools!

I need another drink quick!

Anyone who has taken a Blog Book Tours class with me knows there is usually a Blog-a-Day Challenge involved. It's a great way to make your blog sizzle in a hurry, and it is especially beneficial when a group of people are linking to each other, leaving comments, and just generally adding to the support and fun. I've seen blogs go from Absolutely Awful to Ztellar. Okay, maybe that's a stretch, at least in the spelling department.

Special thanks to the pals from the BBT Cafe (our blog book tours alum and social spot) for organizing the A-Z Challenge. Alex J. Cavanaugh and Stephen Tremp, you guys are nuts! I have no idea how I'm going to interact with almost more than 1,000 bloggers over the next month, but as Steve points, at least they are allowing us to take Sundays off, unlike yours truly who had  no such mercy in any class. Paybacks are tomorrow's letter, huh?

Please click on the A-Z Challenge tab above to see all the great bloggers playing the game this month. My goal? To make this blog a little stickier with the search engines, possibly set the stage for a Google 5 ranking, and be poised to start hosting authors I like when they have their blog book tours, something I haven't done much up to know. Leave me a message if you have a new book coming out this year. And be sure to follow the blog by clicking at right, friend me on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter. The more fools, the merrier!

Collapsing

I've been reading and commenting on a lot of blogs lately, and if there's one tip I could give just about everyone, it's Collapse.Your. Archive. You would have so much more sidebar room for blogrolls, book covers, and other interesting information, if your archive didn't drop down into a series of staggered clickable links that none of your readers ever use. See how nice and neat mine is at right. I don't usually place it that high either - it can live down lower on the sidebar below more important topics.

Collapse this. It's more information and clutter than anyone needs to see on your blog. Look how much room it hogs.

If you are using Blogger, click Design top right. Scroll down to the gadget that says Blog Archive and click on Edit. From there, you should see your other options. Then be sure to Save, and you should be all set.

December mini-course for novices

I've gotten requests to do a short training for novices about how to comment on blogs, as well as work Facebook and Twitter for promotion purposes. So I have a three-day course at the classroom later this month. Specifics:

Dec. 28 - Commenting and promoting blogs (this is not about setting up a new blog)
Dec. 29 - Using Facebook
Dec. 30 - Using Twitter

This is very rudimentary, but feel free to share with your aunties who are probably your biggest fans and would help promote you if they knew how!

It's free and sign-up is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blogbooktours

Happy holidays!

News from BEA and why you should blog

I've long proclaimed that blogs are one of the cheapest and most effective ways for writers to stay in regular contact with their readers. It's one of your best promotion platforms. More and more, book publishing specialists agree with that view. This comment is from a recent Writers Market eletter:

One thing that seemed obvious this year (at BEA) is that publishers don't think it's a big deal if potential authors have a blog, but they do think it's a big deal if potential authors do not have a blog or e-mail list or some other direct reach to their target audience. If you want to publish a book, you need a great hook or idea, but it's becoming increasingly important to also have an audience—before the book deal.

It's important to have a good blog. That means posting several times a week. The more you post relevant information, the more readership you'll build as is demonstrated by another blog I've been spending lots of time building, the Blood-Red Pencil. It's a group blog with daily posts, and the growth of readership has been excellent, thanks to the quality of the information provided by our blogging members.

Stay tuned for some tips and inspiration to keep you blogging over the summer, and by the time you're ready for your next book promotion, you'll have a blog that supports your efforts in a dynamic way.

Blog Power

Literary agent, Nathan Bransford, asks his blog readers where they heard about the book they are currently reading. Read the comments if you want to know the power of blogging! Click here to leave your own comment.

More Better Lies

Paperback Writer came up with Ten Reasons that prevent you from updating your blog - regularly. Funny reasons. Questionable reasons. Go read them.

What's your excuse? Since January Uno, who in the Blog Book Tours blogging challenge has not posted every day? What are your excuses? Come on! Get creative and come up with a really good list of better lies, and post them on your blog. That's your writing prompt for the day. Everyone can play.

Enjoying our posts so far? Be sure to follow us by clicking the Follow Me link at right.

Learning to blog

One of the toughest parts of a post-a-day challenge is that some of our members are entirely new to blogging, and a bit confused by it all. Blogging isn't rocket science, but it's still a foreign language that takes a bit of time to learn. Sometimes, the best way is in a classroom and with a good teacher at the helm.

The Story Circle Network, a lifewriting organization for women, has added online classes and one teaches blogging, as well as the opportunity to learn something about different blogging platforms like Blogger, WordPress, and TypePad. All have advantages depending upon the goals of the blogger. Go here for more information about this class:

http://www.storycircleonlineclasses.org/classes/misegades.shtml

Be sure to bookmark the site for future online classes as well. Don't just blog - blog brilliantly! A class might help if you're particularly intimidated by this online medium.

Did any of you take a formal blogging class? What blogging platform do you use and why do you like it as compared to others? Leave us a comment.

Easing into the blogging habit

A post-a-day blogging challenge is probably one of the best ways to develop your blogging habit. That doesn't mean a daily blog post is necessarily a good thing, or that you'll want to keep up that pace for the rest of your life. But to instill the habit, a daily effort is key. Just do it.

It's true that a certain frenetic energy develops during a blogging challenge. There's nothing relaxing about it, and once the newness wears off, the grind begins. Why, it's just like work! That's really the point, too. To blog successfully, you need to do it when you least want to, and you'll be rewarded somewhere down the road for your efforts. Hopefully, that reward will come when you are launching your own blog book tour.

That said, read this article about slow blogging to put things in perspective. Then think about how you can create quality and enjoyment in your daily blogging experience, without too much attachment to Google ranking or search engine optimization. After all, there's nothing better than loving your work, and in this case, it's just another writing venue, authors. Love of blogging is a good thing, so find a balance that works for you and be committed to creating the blog that will serve you on many levels.

You need a blog first

In my Quickest Blog Book Tour Guide Ever, the tutorial begins with the author's need of a good blog before planning their own blog book tour. But before you can have a good one, you need to get over the fear of blogging to begin with. Many authors fear to dip their toes in the blogging waters. It's really not rocket science, though, and here's a quick tutorial to get your started setting up your blog. Click to read.