Hi readers and writers,
Yesterday, I moderated a panel on "Blogging to Increase Sales" at the Biographers' International Conference, held this year at University of Southern California. My panelists were Beverly Gray of Beverly in Movieland blog and author of Roger Corman, An Unauthorized Life; Scott Martelle, author of Detroit: A Biography; and Mark Sarvas of the famous literary blog, The Elegant Variation, and the novel Harry, Revised. Each of the panelists agreed that blogging doesn't produce a noticeable spike in book sales. NO, OUR TITLE IS WRONG!
What blogging does is to provide a platform, a way to connect with many potential readers interested in your subject, and a road to publication. These are all valuable services, but not ones that directly link to sales. Yet, the audience still was interested and eager to learn the ins and outs of blogging, how much, how often, how tantalizing, how snarky, how you-relevant, how historical, how up-to-the-minute, how well written? We discussed all that and more. Like the rest of the workshops at this super meeting, it was well worth attending.
I recommend the conference next year and into the future if you're interested in writing about lives or even if you will only use biographical material in passing in your writing. A lot of the sessions were more general than just about biography.
cheers,
Laura
5 comments:
Hi Laura,
I don't know if it's worth it to blog three times a week to get a platform. Aren't there easier ways to do it? It takes a lot of time and energy to stay on top of a blog as much as that, I'd think.
Roman P
Hi Roman,
It is actually one of the easiest ways to get a platform established. You could become a world famous xyz, or you could be on Ellen's show or Jon's show, etc, or you could blog. Blogging has an advantage in that people who follow your blog tend to like the way you write, so they might buy your book when it comes out.
cheers,
Laura
Dear Laura,
I am a shy person and don't really want to go out there with all my dirty laundry the way you seem to have to do when you blog. Is there another way to blog?
yours,
Eleni
Hi Eleni,
I don't often say anything personal on my blog. It's a matter of style; some do, some don't. The panelists yesterday said that a personal piece every so often does make people more likely to bond with you as a blogger. But it can be about your history, not about your today's involvements or baggage. It's all up to you!
cheers,
Laura
And Lars Martinson just posted these discouraging numbers: "But alas, the 48,342 people that visited my site resulted in an additional 23 e-comics sales compared to the previous day. So about 0.048% of the extra visitors made a purchase." So much for blogging to increase sales!!
Karl R J
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