Okay so I'm bad. I haven't done a post for a while but that's because all my social media falls off my list of things to do when I have writing that needs doing. So really, I'm not bad. I'm good. :-) For those interested, I'm now working on edits for the next in my series for Entangled and will hopefully get that away in the next couple weeks.
But that's not what I wanted to talk about. What I wanted to talk about was blogs.
Now, I love blogging. And I've been doing so for the past four years, sharing my whines and my angsts and the roller-coaster that is pre-publication with all of you kind enough to read this blog. But in these days of Twitter and Facebook and Pinterest and stuff, are blogs still relevant? I'm only wondering because apparently my blog should be on my website, which got me thinking about moving it. And that got me thinking about blogs in general and whether they're still of any interest to people.
My blog has always been geared towards writing and other writers but when my first book comes out, I'd like to think that maybe the ten or so people who buy my book who don't know me, might come along and have a look at the blog. And perhaps what they see won't interest them because, if they're not writers, why would they be interested in reading about the writing process? About craft and whatnot? Which means I probably should do posts about other stuff. *cue panic*
So what I want to know is this - is it worth it? Will people still want to read blog posts when everything is on Twitter or Facebook?
I happened to be sitting with Randy Ingermanson, the snowflake guy, at the RWNZ conference during lunch one day (namedrop, namedrop), and I asked him what he thought about blogs since he'd just done a great presentation about online marketing. He thought blogs were better than Twitter, mainly because a blog post stays here online forever, whereas a tweet is gone in an instant. Blog posts do your marketing for you in other words. But this only works if you enjoy blogging and if you're good at it.
So anyway, I'm still thinking about this. I probably should move my blog off Blogger and put it onto my website whatever I decide, but I don't want to go through all the hassle if blogs are indeed dead.
What does anyone else think? Do you still look at blogs? Or do you prefer other media?
8 comments:
Really interested to read the comments on this blog! I've been VERY slack with mine lately and am wondering how much GUILT I should be feeling about this :)
I love blogs. 'Nuff said. Caroline x
I don't think they're dead. But as one who seriously hates writing blog posts (I'd rather read them than write them ) I don't anymore. I've embraced the "stick with what you love" mantra, which means I'm hot 'n heavy with Twitter and occasionally dating Facebook : )
You are a fantastic blogger, Jackie. And I say if you enjoy it, there is definitely value in continuing!
Rach - yeah, I know. It's a bit like that eh?
Caroline - Yay! I do too.
Aimee - That's pretty much what Randy said actually. Stick to what you really love doing and if that's Twitter then go for it.
And thanks re the blogging stuff! I do enjoy it, just get very slack when I have work to do! :-)
I love it when you blog about writing and frequently check your blog hoping to see a writing post. I bet there are loads of aspiring writers who do the same--and these same writers are going to buy your books to see how it's done.
Not keen on Twitter (I always feel I've missed half of the conversation)
and find blogs far easier to access than facebook.
So please keep the writing posts coming. When writers start blogging about their holidays or their pets or their children it's not half as interesting as the writing stuff)
Janet - Hey, thanks for the comment, that's really helpful. Well, I like writing about writing so not planning on stopping blogging about craft anytime soon!
I love blogs, but then again I'm another aspiring writer. I love writing posts, but I also love slice of life posts, be they funny or serious. Barbara O'Neal aka Ruth Wind is one of my favorites for blog posts that are really beautifully written essays about life.
I can't get into Twitter although if I'm really into a author and they haven't posted a blog in a while, I might hop on Twitter briefly to see what they're up to.
I'm (reluctantly) following some authors on Facebook. I will do that if I love them to bits and they don't have a blog, but it's my last choice. I try to keep my romance reading/writing separate from my personal Facebook to spare myself the "you read those kind of books?" comments from family. ;=)
Jill - hey, thanks for commenting. Yeah, well, I quite like blogs because I can do a post and then all I have to do afterwards is just respond to comments. I quite like Twitter but it reqires you having to be on it all the time and that's distracting when I have work to do. FB...well, I'm on it but I don't much like it.
Hmmmm....all good stuff. I'm going to continue with the blog I think because I like writing it anyway.
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