Presented at the Whidbey Island Writer's Conference 2012. Your author blog is your stage, the place where you get to shine a light on your work. It’s one of the best platforms to build your brand, deliver your marketing message and grow a community of loyal readers. Learn about what a blog can do, get the basics of creating a WordPress blog and walk away with tips for developing appealing content.
3. How Can A Blog Help Me As An Author?
Increase Traffic to Your Website
Reach a Larger Audience of Readers
Showcase Your Talent
Attract editors and agents
Sell your book(s) directly or indirectly
5. WordPress.com vs. self-hosted
the software is free
if you are self-hosted you will need to
pay for hosting
if you are self-hosted you will need to
update and backup
7. WordPress.com vs. self-hosted
THEMES
.com - limited to over 75 free themes
+ some premium themes
self-hosted - hundreds and hundreds,
including premium themes
8. WordPress.com vs. self-hosted
WIDGETS & PLUGINS
.com - limited widgets, but release of
new widget
self-hosted - widgets, widgets and
more widgets
can only use plugins on self-hosted
23. You Need to Know This About Your Readers
1. The 90-9-1 rule:
• 90% of your readers are lurkers (they read, but do not comment).
• 9% contribute from time to time, but other priorities distract them.
• 1% participate frequently and account for most of the comments.
2. Most won’t read your whole post carefully
• The average readers spends 96 seconds reading the average post.
• 79% of readers scan, rather than read.
• Only 16% will read the whole page.