Blogging for Writers
I mix and mingle with a number of aspiring and published writers and have learnt much from them. And as I’ve been travelling my own journey of being an author I’ve discovered some things that I’ve been able to share with these other writers.
When testing content or wanting to see just how much content you might have for a book, a blog is a great way to get the idea out there, generate an audience, and assess whether there is real interest. I did this, quite by accident, with a blog I started early 2006. I was testing the Wordpress software and had to find another topic to blog about as I didn’t want to shift my existing blogs from their homes until I was confident with this platform that was new to me.
Along the way a journalist in the US found my new blog and highlighted some of the content to prove a point in one of his articles online. After that I ended up with thousands of visitors and some who placed comments, and others who emailed me direct for advise or encouragement.
I shared this with my business coach and he encouraged me to take that copy and turn it into a book, adding my life experiences and other information.
It was a pleasant surprise to find I’d touched on a topic that held great interest for women around the world and now that I’ve done further research I find that the information online is growing but there are still a limited number of books out there. The topic? The Proverbs 31 Woman and I’ve expanded on how she was both a business woman and a work at home mum - bringing her into modern times.
So, if you’re a budding writer, looking to put a book together, why not consider putting up a blog to test your content and gauge the interest? You can get free blogs at Blogger.com or Wordpress.com - or, do as I did, and have paid webhosting so you can have Wordpress installed (which comes free) and a very large number of free templates available for your use and modification if you desire.
I’d love to hear about your writing plans - why not make a comment here?
I started my blog as a bit of self therapy and it was an extension of a journal I had begun way back in 1976. I do download and keep a hard copy which I see as a legacy for my kids but what has changed in the past few months is that I now also keep the comments people make on the entries I write. Meeting people through blogging has been a wonderful boost to my ego