If you love to read and you’re wondering what your next blog should be about then a book blog is the obvious first choice. Many great writers use book blogs to review and promote books they come across.

However, if you’re a novelist, then your book blog serves an additional purpose. It’s an additional opportunity to brand and market your book to followers who may one day become your customers, and form your fan base.

So how do you ensure you start off on the right foot, and make the best out of your book blog? Check out our four tips below.

1. Write About More than Your Book

One of the biggest mistake indie authors make is giving in to that drive to sell, sell, sell. There is often either a push for people to buy the books,  or read and review a free copy.

You might be thinking, well why else would you have a blog for your book if not to boost sales. But there are more than one ways to skin a cat, and this generation has little appreciation for blatant skinning.

First you must pet the kitty. To do this, write about more than just your book. What non-fiction topics does your book fit neatly into? If it’s a romance novel, write about relationships. Is it an autobiography? Then share a few juicy tidbits about your life, and send us to the book to get the rest.

2. Brand the Blog

We come across many book blogs that are not properly branded. To properly brand your blog, one of the first things you should consider is owning your domain. That means removing the “.wordpress” or other hosting platform from the book’s website.

The second step is picking colors that best work with the theme of your book. If the cover was all black, then go for a darker design. If it was more colorful, then experiment with some blues, pinks, oranges… knock yourself out. But whatever you do, ensure it matches.

Don’t just plaster the cover of your book over the website, or use a picture of the book as the design. Make use of theme colors, headers, and other customisation options. If you have social media accounts for your book, then they should match the book and website, as well.

3. Include Relevant Pictures

As the popularity of Instagram shows, pictures are a great way to grab readers’ attention. As our attention span get shorter and shorter every day, the more tactics you have to grab their attention the better.

By using relevant, high quality pictures, you increase the likelihood of people viewing, clicking on, and reading your article. Pictures within the body of your posts help to break up the text, and illustrate important points. If it is a blog post, be sure to include a picture of yourself. If you mention your book, then feel free to include a high quality photo of it.

We hope you’ve taken our previous advice and had your book cover professional designed. If you haven’t gotten around to it yet, or wish to change the one you’ve got, then email us for details.

4. Promote

We say it all the time. No matter how amazing your book or book blog is, if no one knows they exist, they will never succeed. In order to penetrate this overly saturated market, you must promote the book and its blog.

Social media is one of the best and cheapest way to promote your book through your book blog. All those non-book posts on fashion, romance, social equality, personal stories – whatever your book covers – people will want to read them. To boost your reach, consider paid promotions.

While social media is a great DIY option, in our experience, the absolute best way to promote anything is through media relations. In this instance, either you or your publicist reaches out to the media on your behalf to expand your reach. Imagine the credibility for your book and blog, if it gets a mention on Business Insider, or a link back from NBC News..

We are also opening up our website to all indie authors who would like to submit tales, tips, or book reviews. And yes, we let you link back to either your book blog, or your book. What’s the catch? There is none. It’s free! You can find our submission guidelines here.

—

Growing your readership base is the most difficult challenge you will face as an independent author, regardless of where you draw the lines of success. But with these four tips, you’re already headed in the right direction. Think it’s too much work, then hire us to do it for you.

We’re waiting!

About the Author

Shadow the PR Cat is the Goodwill Ambassador at Alexis Chateau PR, and head of the firm’s indie author division. His job includes tweeting, taking selfies, rolling in catnip, and advocating for animal rights and social equality. Follow his kitty adventures on Twitter as @ShadowThePRCat.

About Alexis Chateau PR

Alexis Chateau PR is an independent public relations agency with a special interest in lifestyle brands. From education to entertainment to travel, we’ve worked with clients in all areas of the lifestyle industry since 2006.