Over the last few weeks, several authors have asked me if blogging is really good for book marketing.

The short answer is YES!

Blogs are an incredible, free way to improve your search engine rankings, connect with readers and constantly promote your work. They are interactive, which makes them more interesting than the static pages of a traditional Web site.

Why do readers like blogs? 

Tidbits about authors. Blogs are personal musings that readers can devour to learn more about their FAV writers. Readers like personal details. It makes them feel like they know you.


Up-to-date information. Many times, authors will update their blogs more frequently than their Web sites. That makes an author blog the go-to place for info on the latest releases.

Contests. Blogs are a great way to share contest information - even if the contest is held on a social network like Twitter.

Social network links. Readers check out blogs to find author handles and links for social networks like Twitter and Facebook.

Scoops. Many authors share the cover art to their new books well before the street date. They also give tantalizing glimpses into coming stories, free short stories, and more - free items that readers eat up.

Comments. Readers love to chat, but they won't always have an opportunity to speak to their favorite authors at book signings. Comments are a great way to get feedback from fans. 

Free stuff. Who doesn't love free stuff? Readers especially enjoy a good contest filled with freebies like books, bookmarks, postcards, coffee samplers (with a cup) and more. They also like free short stories, original art and anything unique the author can post.

As a reader, what makes you check out an author's blog?

 2010 didn't start off amazingly well here at Market My Novel.

I could give you a lot of excuses why. I was burned out, I launched a new blog, was looking for more freelance work, etc.

The real reason? My blog wasn't working.

That's right. Miss Social Media Diva had a blog program that didn't work, and it was all thanks to a few little plugins that needed to be updated.

Without these upgrades I had to hand code nearly everything. Sometimes the hard break codes would vanish and I'd have to reinsert them several times until they stuck. This took up so much time - and caused so much aggravation - that I just let it go and worked on other things.

Normally, I upgrade my plugins like clockwork. However, I discovered the hard way that these little babies were paid plugins tied to my blog transfer last year. It wasn't very expensive, but it was an expense I hadn't planned for. I tried to work without them, but that didn't work, either.

I was also seriously aggravated at myself for not anticipating this expense, too. I had tried to ask every question tied to the transfer that I could think of, but still didn't think of them all. (I think I was mad at myself more than anything. You know how that goes when you try to plan things out financially.)

With $1K in dental and eye doctors expenses I have to finagle (Is that even a word?) in my budget, I just put it off... and put it off...until finally one day I couldn't take it anymore and ponied up.

Now, my blog is running smoothly, coding itself and making my blogging life that much nicer. It was definitely worth the money.

Finally, all of these ideas and links and stories I've wanted to share, I CAN share -  without the hassle.

The morals of this story?

Whenever you ask questions about Web design, you will NEVER think of everything, no matter how hard you try.

Your blogging will suffer if you don't have a program that works. It is better to pay up fast and keep content flowing, than to let things slide. 

If you are on Wordpress, update your plugins regularly! If you start to have issues, go back and uninstall the last plugin you added and see if that is the issue.

Recently, I've received an influx of invites on Facebook from people who enjoy showing off their body parts.

Typically, I just ignore them until they go away. While I'm not a prude, I'm also not interested in networking with folks who cannot have some sense of decorum in a network I use for both personal and professional reasons. 

Last week, though, I received an invite from a woman who thought her breasts were her greatest asset. They spilled out of a teenie tank for all the world to see - including me, someone who does NOT know her.

I'd finally had enough. Who were these these people sending me friend requests? Was there something in my profile sending them my way? How could I make it stop? Were they following me from MySpace, which I dumped for this very reason?

I decided to check out this person's profile. Can you guess?

She was an author searching for an agent.

I was blown away. This sort of drunken-looking pose was supposed to make her a literary catch? I could not help but ask myself, What was she thinking?!?

For some, photos like this might be fun to take at parties and share later - privately - with friends, but to make it public for the viewing pleasure of millions is, in many instances, career suicide. Even if your profile is private, the profile photo is still available on most networks.

If you are serious about your craft,  think about your image with everything you post - especially photos.

If photos speak a thousand words, what do your public photos say about YOU?

Got a Fan Page? Integrate your blog feed into the wall posts. Get on the Networked Blogs application. Integrate Twitter with Facebook. That way, every Tweet goes to Facebook - and then goes to Google. Post! Every picture, post, note, response to comments and your scores for Word Challenge and Movie quizzes will be cataloged in Google.

Marnie Swedberg

• Determine your audience.
• Select your basic pieces.
• Add your accents.
• Look in the mirror and adjust until you get it right.

• Who will see this?
• What are their expectations?
• What are my goals in pulling this production together?

• Add quotes from experts.
• Include personal stories.
• Play up the phraseology.
• Break-up the type with bullets or numbered lists.
• Add sections with headings and subheadings.