I still get the Writers Digest weekly (sometimes thrice weekly) email newsletter, from when I subscribed many moons and solstices ago. From time to time, one of the articles catches my eye, and it's interesting to see the hubbub in other genres. So my most recent installment had an article entitled "What Should Fiction Writers Blog About?". Good question, as I see this come up time and again with new writers on the Lyrical Press staff group board. By now, I feel pretty OK with the "big picture" of what I blog about; it's more of a daily basis What-the-heck-am-I-gonna-blog-today issue, but I read the article anyway. And when I was done, I felt a little "meh". She didn't list the one thing I harp on probably as much as I harp about authors presenting a professional query when submitting-- although she did follow it-- which is, Keep. It. Brief. (My blog pet-peeve is when somebody goes on for pages on one daily blog post. Bleh. Serialize it already! We stopped by for a brief look into your thoughts, not to hear a damn commencement speech! :) )
And who knows, maybe I'm way off base here, but I think she left off the Number One Thing readers visit an author's blog or website for: personal connections. Stuff about characters and their stories is available all over the net on fan-fiction boards and sites, Amazon, pretty much anyplace books are sold. Honestly, I don't see that many readers being devoted "fans" unless the author is huge and tapping markets like the fanbases for Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter and the like. Maybe a really popular YA author... maybe, would attract readers by posting serialized stories and stuff about their books' characters. But hey, I could be underestimating devoted readers. From personal experience, I visit an author's website or blog if I want to know more about her. Period. I find her on Facebook if I think she'll offer cool insights about what her life is about and what makes her tick (or tic, LOL, if she writes crazy stories). If she's funny and I know her posts will give me a good belly laugh now and then, I follow her blog.
I'm just too dang busy to read post after post about somebody's upcoming book... even if it's a book I look forward to reading. Seriously, hype is time-consuming! And who has surplus time these days? A post here or there about milestones in the book's production is cool, and I do think readers as well as many beginning writers are interested in "the process" -- of publishing as well as creating.
Passed the Briefburg City Limits a ways back, so I'll muzzle myself there.
Happy Wednesday.
Autumn Piper
Got romance?
1 comment:
Meh, for sure. I read it also, and when I finished, actually regretted the time it took me to read it. lol. Totally not helpful.
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