Your Book Blog: 10 Practical
Tips
by Debbie Weil
1.
Just do it. As soon as a plan to
publish your book is in place, start your book blog with <span
class=95StoneSerifIt>www.TypePad.com
($4.95 a month) or www.WordPress.com
(free). Worry about the details later. Just get it going!
2.
Grab the URL that matches the title of your book.<span
style=’font-size:11.0pt’> If you’re not sure what the final title will be,
register everything it might be. It costs less than $9 for a one-year
registration on www.GoDaddy.com
or the registrar of your choice. When the title is finalized you can move your
TypePad or WordPress blog to that URL.
3.
Mention the URL of your book’s blog in your book.<span
style=’font-size:11.0pt’> In the text, direct your readers to<span
class=95StoneSerifIt> www.yourbookblog.com
for “updated or additional resources” or “useful links.”
4.
Post to your book blog whether you feel like it or not.<span
style=’font-size:11.0pt’> Try to post at least every 10 days, even if you’re in
a crazy phase with your book. You want your blog calendar to show no fewer than
several entries a month. Remember, the sooner you start blogging, the sooner
your blog entries will show up in Google search results.
5.
Don’t be afraid to write about your competitors.<span
style=’font-size:11.0pt’> In fact, link to their blogs. Link to everyone and
everything that relates to the topic or focus of your book. Links are what make
the blogosphere go round. You’ll look more knowledgeable as a result, and your
blog entries will come up in search results on keyword phrases relating to
other books and authors.
6.
Offer a free chapter or excerpt as a downloadable PDF.<span
style=’font-size:11.0pt’> And be sure to embed links to your order page on
Amazon or BarnesandNoble.com or to your site so readers can click through from
your PDF to buy your book.
7.
Ask for an email address from people who want the free chapter.<span
style=’font-size:11.0pt’> Make it a quid pro quo. Get your blog visitor’s email
in exchange for your download. Now you’re building an email list. Send these
folks an update when your book is published with a direct link to the online
order page.
8.
Consider starting a companion podcast. This is the newest new thing and kind of fun, as well as surprisingly
easy and inexpensive to create. Podcasts are a way to extend the content of
your book into another medium. And they’re wildly popular. You might do
interviews with some of the experts you quote in your book, and maybe you can
parlay your podcast into your own radio show (see, for example, <span
class=95StoneSerifIt>www.debbieweil.com/speaking/resources
amd www.corporatebloggingpodcast.com).
9.
After publication, use your blog to extend the shelf life of your book.<span
style=’font-size:11.0pt’> Andy Wibbels, author of <span
style=’font-size:11.0pt’>BlogWild: A Guide for Small Business Blogging
(Penguin Portfolio, 2006), ends his book with the following paragraph: “As in
all good seminars, it’s great to give participants a bag of goodies to take
home with them. I wasn’t able to shoehorn everything possible about blogging
into this book, and some of the techie stuff might go out-of-date as blogging
matures. So, for a complete resource of updates, tutorials, and other goodies,
go to www.goblogwild.com/goodies.”
Clever, don’t you think?
10.
Just do it. Don’t overthink it.
Work on your book. Start the blog. Figure it out as you go along.
Debbie Weil, a speaker and
marketing and business communications consultant based in Washington, DC, is
the publisher of an award-winning e-newsletter, <span
style=’font-size:11.0pt’>WordBiz Report
(www.wordbiz.com/signup.php) and the author of <span
style=’font-size:11.0pt’>The Corporate Blogging Book, published
by Penguin Portfolio in August 2006 and available at Amazon, via 800/CEO-READ,
and in major bookstores. To download chapter 1 and other material for bloggers,
visit www.thecorporatebloggingbook.com.
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