Your job as an author is to write great books.

If you want to sell books, you’re going to have to build relationships with people.

Your readers; your peers.

Building relationships is not everyone’s forte. I know I shy away from people often and this is detrimental to my success. I’m an introvert and small talk drives me insane (although secretly I’d love to do it really well).

This is where blogging enters the picture.

Blogging is an awesome way for introverts to communicate with their community without leaving their comfort zones. Ok you might have to step out a little bit but with your blog you set the boundaries.

So why do I need a blog as an author?

Writing the book is the easy part. Selling it is where the real work begins.

Thousands of books are published on Amazon on a daily basis. That’s a lot of literature to sift through. Do you think you have high  chances of someone finding  your book if no one knows who you are?

Didn’t think so.

A blog (on your website), will allow you to slowly build a platform from which you can sell more books. That is your goal as an author: to sell more books. Right?

Right.

The good news is that setting up a website and starting a blog has never been easier. You can do it in under an hour without knowing any HTML or being technologically savvy. I’m the opposite of tech savvy and have learnt everything I know by doing it.

The bad news is that every man (or woman) and their dog have a blog about something. And yes, as an author, you probably want to jump on the bandwagon and join the blogging circus.

As an author in today’s day and age, whether you’re indie or traditionally published, you require a web presence. A website or a blog. Preferably both, as blogging can draw more traffic to your site and more traffic is likely to lead to more book sales. That’s what we all want, isn’t it?

If you’re wondering about the cost of this endeavour, worry no more. You can choose between a free blogging platform or a paid one. After almost eight years of blogging I’d say go to the paid version straight away. It shouldn’t set you back more than $100 to start with and often considerably less.

Blogger and WordPress.com offer a free service. That’s great for hobby bloggers. Not so if you want to sell your books and run an author business.

Free blogging platforms have limitations with theme and design which is a small pickle. The bigger issue arises when they have the power to shut you down.

Do you really want to work your butt off for a year or more only to find that you no longer have access to your blog and you’ve lost all the material you’ve produced and readers you’ve acquired?

Me neither.

When I first started blogging I used the free blogging services of Blogger.com and WordPress.com. At the time they seemed right for a hobby site but when I realised I wanted to take this blogging business a little more seriously, I needed to make the switch to a paid service.

My first choice these days is WordPress.org. To use WordPress.org you need to have a host and a domain name. Sounds technical? It really isn’t.

The host will support your blog. I use Bluehost for all my hosting. I’ve been with them for several years now and have found them to be extremely easy to use and quick to assist when I ran into problems.

The domain name is your internet address. You’re buying a piece of internet real estate and it can be a profitable venture if you decide that’s the course you want to take. As an author-entrepreneur, you probably do.

Some people recommend you buy your domain from someone other than your host. I bought my domain name and hosting from Bluehost because I already have way too many logins to keep track of and felt more comfortable having everything in the one spot.

The choice is yours.

Still not convinced about setting up your author blog? Here are four benefits to taking the plunge:

• Improve your writing. With blogging you can write short and snappy or long and poetic. It allows you to practice your writing craft and constantly work towards improving. If you’re a serious writer you will want to get better with each book you write and every blog article you post.
• Create multiple income streams. Earning a full-time living solely from your books isn’t impossible but it’s difficult unless you write really good books, know how to market them, and produce new ones on a regular basis. I’m talking one every few months not one a year. The way you can make money through blogging is through affiliate sales (like this article), sponsored posts, private advertising, Adsense, courses, or even sell books directly bypassing the retailers and keeping 100% of the profits.
• Build a platform. A blog can be aimed at your readers and relate to your books and the genre you are writing in. It can also relate to you as an author-entrepreneur so you can assist other writers in achieving their writing dreams. We can all learn something from one another and a blog allows you to reach out to your community of writers and readers. The more people know your name, the bigger your platform. Use it to sell more books. This is even more important for non-fiction writers.
• Blogging is fun. You get to write what you think, publish and have other people comment. You can have conversations with people from across the globe, exchange opinions, recipes and tips on everything from writing to craft to personal finance and toilet-training your cat. You’ll meet people with similar interests to yours who are located anywhere in the world. You can have readers stretching from the Arctic to Africa and everywhere in between.That is so awesome.

Ok, ok. You’re convinced that starting an author blog for your author-business is a brilliant idea.

Fantabulous! Here’s what you need to do.

1 – DECIDE ON YOUR DOMAIN NAME

As an author this could be your name, your pseudonym, or something else that relates to what you’re writing about. I use my own name as I plan to write numerous books under it and feel this is the best choice for me. If you have a common name and can’t get a domain you can add the word ‘books’ or ‘author’ beside it.

Your domain name is your internet address. Mine is www.kasiaradzka.com. I was fortunate that no one else with that name had taken it.

My site however has a different title. At the moment I used Writerly Pursuits. That title has nothing to do with the domain name. So you can have a different domain to your website title.

A domain name will set you back as little as $11.99 if you register it with Bluehost. If you’re earning a living from your blog you should check with your accountant if this cost is tax deductible.

Pick a domain name that you will be happy with indefinitely. You don’t want to be switching and swapping as it can get costly and lose you long term traffic. Do it right the first time and never worry about it again. Hence for authors, using your name seems like the easiest way to go.

I recommend Bluehost. But you can use other services also. If you already have a domain name with another provider and want to change, you can usually transfer them over.

2 – CHOOSE YOUR HOSTING

Once you have your domain name, you need to decide on the host you would like to use. Again, I use Bluehost for all my websites. Bluehost has hosting starting from just as little as $5.95 per month. Keep in mind that when you sign up, you have to pay for at least a year up front, and the price goes down for the longer you want to sign up for.

When you choose a host you want to use someone that will have a control panel that is simple to navigate. They need to have a helpline that is available hopefully 24/7, and a decent reputation.

Bluehost has all that and more.

3 – INSTALL WORDPRESS

Once you’ve purchased your domain name and paid for your hosting you can move to the next stage of installing WordPress. Fortunately, it’s not as complicated as it sounds.

From your Control Panel you can find the Install WordPress button and follow the instructions. You can do it yourself for free or Bluehost also offer a paid service. It’s up to you. I’ve always opted for the free option and have managed just fine.

4 – CHOOSE A THEME

WordPress has an endless amount of themes. It’s easy to lose track of time and spend an entire day exploring the themes for your blog. I’ve done it numerous times.

Don’t do it.

Figure out what you want your blog to offer and choose a theme based on that. Stick to simple, elegant and effective. Make sure that the theme you use has all the capabilities you require. You can always change it later down the track.

There are free themes and premium themes. I’ve always used free themes but am looking for a paid one so that I have more options. With premium themes you also get to customise me to suit your needs so that you end up with a unique sight rather than one that someone else already has.

5 – SET UP YOUR PAGES

As an author you want to have a few tabs at the top of your blog directing your audience to where they want to go. The main pages are ‘About’, ‘Contact’, ‘Books’ and ‘Blog’. You can always have more but it’s probably best to stick to less than eight. Any more and the top of your page website starts looking like a mess.

The About page, should have a little bit about who you are. This is your space after all. You can use the bio you use on your books or at the end of your articles or add some more information that your readers might like to learn about you.

Readers come to your blog because they want to not only learn what you’re offering or like your books but to also find out about you. Sometimes that’s creepy, but it’s the way the blogging world works. I know I love reading about personal experiences and useless pieces of information about people I follow. Sometimes it makes it easier to relate.

Your Contact page should have your contact details. You can set up an automated form where people can leave their name, number, email address and query. Or you can just provide the best email address you can be reached on.

The Books page will have a list of your books that are currently available. You can add links to the different retailers like Amazon, Kobo, Nook, Smashwords, or even offer to sell them directly from your website.

You can also list your ‘soon to be released’ collections too. That way if readers check out these pages they’ll be able to anticipate your next book. Awareness is key in being a successful author. You want people to know you’re not a one hit wonder.

Your Blog is where your posts are going to be showing. The latest posts go at the top and the oldest at the bottom. When a reader clicks on this tab then they should be taken directly to your blog and your latest post.

6 – SET UP YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS

You need social media to get ahead as a writer even more than your blog. But what you want is to have your social media buttons to be linked to your blog post so every time you write a post it will get automatically shared on all your platforms.

You also want your readers to find it easy to share your content. People love sharing cool stuff on the Internet. Let it be easy for them to share yours too.

You can get a social media plugin by installing one on your site.

7 – START BLOGGING

Excellent. You’re all set. You can start blogging now. All the best. Adios.

Wait!!! What the hell am I supposed to blog about?

Absolutely anything you want to.

That answer makes it a little harder. But to get you started here are a few quick ideas for your beginning stages;

– Why did you get into writing in the first place?

– What made you wite your first novel?

– What books you are currently reading and would recommend? (cross promotion is awesome!)

– A picture of your writing space

– An interview with your favourite author

You can be general or pick a tight niche. Think about what you want to achieve with your blog and the audience you want to attract.

Click here to get started on your WordPress blog!

Happy writing my friends!

Do you use Bluehost? Have you started an author blog? Do you have any tips for setting up an awesome blog? Share your comments below.

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