Some authors get a little lucky, and their ebooks take off in the Kindle Store, thanks to huge Facebook/Twitter following, awesome cover art, a popular genre, a Kindle Nation Sponsorship, and/or other extreme factors.
For the other 99.9% of us, we have to hustle!
One way to get the word out about your book, whether a new release or an older one you’re trying to rescue from obscurity, is to guest post on other people’s blogs. This can also help you build back links to your author blog (which, you naturally started after reading How to Start Your Professional Author Website, right?). I know of at least a of couple people who have been kind enough to purchase my ebooks after learning about me on someone else’s blog (and for every person who never contacts you, you can assume lots of others had the same experience).
So, without further ado, a primer on guest posting:
What is guest posting?
Let’s start with the basics:
Guest posting is writing an article for someone else’s blog. In exchange for sharing your informative and (we hope) interesting content, the blog owner should let you plug your books and your site. In some cases, the owners will let you work links right into the body of your post (I usually do this without asking for permission — if it’s not okay with them, they can choose not to include the links). In other cases (this is common), they’ll let you include a bio at the end of the article, and this is where you can add your links.
Guest blogging is a good deal for both parties. The blog owner gets a day off from blogging (especially great if they’re heading off on vacation and want to keep the content flowing for their readers), and you get the word out about your work.
Though guest posts are an opportunity to mention your books, they shouldn’t be overtly self-promotional in nature. (Bloggers are less enthused about inviting you to post if it’s obvious you’re just there to plug your books and aren’t providing content their readers will appreciate.) If you’re good (hey, you’re a creative writer, aren’t you?), you can probably work in mentions about your work in the post while keeping it informative and related to the blog’s niche.
How to find guest posting opportunities
This tends to be an ask-and-ye-shall-receive thing. Most of the guest articles I’ve written have been for people I’ve met on Twitter. If you let folks know you’re interested, you might be surprised how often someone will appear to take you up on the offer. I’ve also seen people recruit guest posters on the KindleBoards.
If you’re not big on the social media scene, check through the blogs you already visit often. Not everybody is going to be interested in posting guest articles, but if a blog has a category in the menu labeled guest posts, or if there’s a blurb about guest posts on the contact page, chances are you have a winner.
It’ll help if the bloggers you approach are familiar with you, even if that simply means you’ve left comments on their sites before. You might tell them what you’re interested in writing about, as well, so they know you’re not just looking to share a 500-word advertisement for your book. Give them a couple of options, and make sure your proposed topics are tailored to the blog’s niche and audience.
What types of blogs should you post on?
It can be argued that any links to your books and website are good links, but since most of us have a limited amount of time for book promotion, it doesn’t hurt to pick and choose.
Here are a couple of factors to consider:
- Is the blog related to your book genre or niche (ideal)? Basically, you want to be where your target audience hangs out. If you’re not familiar with many of these blogs, try doing a Google search for your genre/niche + guest post (you can search blogs only by selecting “more” and blogs at the top of the Google results).
- Does the blog have an established readership? In addition to considering the blog’s focus, check out its popularity. Are people commenting on any of the posts? Does the site get a decent amount of traffic? (You can check it out on Alexa.com–not the end all/be all in traffic ranking, but it’ll give you an idea.) Has the blog been around for a while, and does it get updated regularly?
Note: I wouldn’t pass up a chance to appear on a popular, high-traffic blog, no matter who the primary reader demographic is.
Any thoughts? Have you been out there guest blogging? Have you seen it send visitors to your site?
I’ve started hosting guest bloggers and it brings traffic to my blog. And give me a day off, yea. Win-win. I enjoy helping other writers, so let them write whatever they want. I’ve found that interaction is higher with guest posts than with interviews or straight-forward plugs. This experience is as the blog host.
I begin my guest posting adventures week after next, and I’m not being too picky. I do try to tailor the post to the blog. When you’re starting out, getting your name out there and the fact you have books to sell is a good thing no matter where you get a post up.
I’ve sold 5 whole books so far. Considering I’m not marketing it yet, I suppose that’s not horrendous. lol A start is a start.
Hey, you’re doing fine.
My first month was nothing to brag about.
If you haven’t already, make sure to update your free ebooks to let folks know about the new (not free!) one.
I haven’t hosted (yet–I intend to change this in the near future), but I’ve guest posted on other people’s blogs and love it. Guest posting gives you the opportunity to develop a relationship with the host blogger and their readers, gives you some credibility and nice traffic and may even get you a new blog follower or two. Plus, of course, backlinks are always great.
I can’t recommend guest posting enough. It’s a wonderful opportunity for all parties involved.
I love inviting guest posts for when I know I’m going to be out of town for a few days and don’t want to stress about writing a bunch of posts ahead of time.
Another perk to guest posting is that the authors usually plug their posts, so you’ll end up getting some new visitors to your blog.