Maggie Blackbird

I’m a member of the Author Toolbox Blog Hop.  What is it?  A chance for authors at any stage in their career to connect by providing helpful posts related to all things writing.  The Hop occurs once a month, with the exception of November and December.  My third post for The Hop is on blogging for romance writers.  So read on…

I’ve been blogging since 2010.  I did take a break when my blog became too much for my dial-up connection I had at the time LOL.  But once I finally got a faster speed around 2106 (hey, this is Canada and there are a lot of remote places to live), I was able to blog to my heart’s content once again.

I must admit I missed blogging.  Very much so.  Since 2004, I’ve kept a personal blog at LiveJournal.  Not that I blog there anymore because I’m too busy with my author blog, but I do miss personal blogging.  I wish I had more time.

As a romance writer, I was always looking for new ideas to attract readers.  So I thought I’d let you know what I’ve done to gain a small following once I began going full steam around 2016.  I’m no blogging expert, but these idea below have worked for me:

1)  First, I made sure to gear the blog for romance readers.  My blog and web site are to attract new people to my books.  So deciding what to post on a regular basis was important.

I write romance starring Canada’s Indigenous People.  My goal was to find people who wished to read about native heroes and heroines, or pique their interest through blog posts.

 

2)  I started blogging about non-fiction titles I read about North America’s Indigenous People, present or past.  Or books I recently purchased for research, such as Canada’s RCMP officers.  The fur trade.  The missing and murdered Indigenous women of Canada.  Aboriginal street gangs.  Anything that might let a reader know what my books focus on.

3)  Guest Bloggers.  Readers enjoy reading about romance authors, and other romance authors can bring their readers over to your blog.  Plus, I love helping other authors.  It’s a biggie for me.  Hosting them is important, and also important for readers of my blog to see what other books are available for them to check out.

I keep the guest blogging book focussed on an author promoting a new release or previous release.

4)  Interviews are always fun to read, so I began interviewing other romance authors about their books.

5)  I became a blog tour host.  I checked out different tour host companies, and through some trial and error, found two that work for me.  One is Gay Book Promotions.  Because I also write LGBT romance, it’s important for me to host other LGBT authors.

Silver Dagger Book Tours welcomes all romance genres, and I love their graphics and how they set up their tours, so I became a host for them.  Plus, these two companies allow author interviews or guest posts.  I don’t mind doing book promotions only, but my main focus is to get authors talking, whether through a guest post or interview.

The two companies send out tour packages in advance, another important factor for me, because I like scheduling my blog posts in advance.  I’m writing this blog post at the end of December.  See?  I like to be ahead of the game LOL.

6)  I started doing book reviews.  The blog tour companies allow tour hosts to read and review ARCS.  Readers enjoy hearing what others have to say about books they are considering purchasing.  And I don’t feel overwhelmed because I only do one review per week.  I read at night anyway before I go to sleep, so why not a book that I can review?

7)  WIP Wednesday.  To promote my own books, I host a “works in progress Wednesday,” where I share with readers what I’m currently working on, and offer an excerpt.  This is a nice build up for when the book releases.

8)  Teaser Tuesday.  It works the same as WIP Wednesday, but is held on Tuesday.

9)  Author Alert.  When I find a new author I am really enjoying, I make sure and help that author out by doing an “alert” at my blog.  I post about the author, their books, and where readers can find these new writers who grabbed my attention.

10)  My E-Reader.  If I’m simply reading a new book, but don’t have time to review, I do a “What’s in my e-reader” post to let readers know what I’m currently devouring and very much enjoying.

11)  Contests.  I don’t hold them often, maybe once a year, but it builds up business for the blog and gets me more readers.

I’m always on the lookout for new ideas on how to engage readers for my blog.  If you have an idea, please share it in the comments section.  I’d really appreciate it.  I hope these ideas have helped.