Someone asked me recently why I haven\u2019t blogged in a while, to which I replied, \u201cYou read my blog???\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026Which is why I don\u2019t blog more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few years ago, while I was investigating other author\u2019s websites to emulate, I was surprised to see very few regularly blogged, and most only did so in conjunction with a new release or event promo. I remember thinking this was lame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But now I know why. You see, there are only so many hours in the day. When you work a full-time job, are contractually obligated to stay ingood shape, need to spend time with the kids\/spouse so they don\u2019t leave you cats-in-the-cradle-style, plus friends, plus eating\/sleeping\/hygiene, etc. \u2026you get the picture\u2026then you need to be ruthless about how you spend that tiny sliver of writing time. So every day I ask myself\u2014what\u2019s value-added? What\u2019s a positive return-on-investment of my time, and what\u2019s not?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Writing your next book is always<\/em> the most value-added think you can do as an author. Your stories are your actual product; the more you produce, the more chance you have to find an audience. After that, in terms of descending order of value, there\u2019s reading\/craft improvement, marketing, social media, and then blogging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So unless your blog is a major part of your appeal\u2014which is less and less often the case since everyone and their mother has a blog these days\u2026or a pod cast, or a YouTube channel\u2014then writing blogs has a very low return-on-investment. It\u2019s on par with screaming into an empty room, and hoping the people having a party in the room next door will hear you. I used to blog at least once a week\u2014with captioned pictures and everything!\u2014until I realized howpointless it was. Nobody buys an author\u2019s books cuz they like the author\u2019s blog; they read an author\u2019s book, like the book, and then check out the blog. Ditto for social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So that\u2019s why I don\u2019t blog much anymore\u2014because I\u2019m busy writing my next book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n About that\u2014I\u2019m about \u00be of the way through the first draft of my next novel! It\u2019s called The Colonel and the Sergeant <\/em>(or, alternately, The Colonel and Her Sergeant\u2026<\/em>I haven\u2019t decided which title I prefer yet), and it\u2019s about a female Air Force colonel who has an affair with a male staff sergeant. It\u2019s not a romance, though; it\u2019s loosely based on the Russian classic Anna Karenina,<\/em> so you know that book then you know it doesn\u2019t end well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s right\u2014this book is high-brow! It\u2019s real literature.<\/em> I\u2019m looking forward to breaking into the snob club of people who publish serious books!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Someone asked me recently why I haven\u2019t blogged in a while, to which I replied, \u201cYou read my blog???\u201d \u2026Which is why I don\u2019t blog more. A few years ago, while I was investigating other author\u2019s websites to emulate, I was surprised to see very few regularly blogged, and most only did so in conjunction … <\/p>\n