Dear O'Abby: Is blogging still something worth doing?

 Dear O'Abby,

I'm a writer and have been blogging pretty regularly for over 10 years now.  I started because it was THE thing all writers seemed to do and as a baby writer, it felt like I had to if I wanted to be a real writer.  Now, blogs seem so much less prevalent and I'm noticing the number of comments and traffic seems to be slowing to my own blog.  I'm wondering if in 2023 blogging is still necessary for writers?  Maybe I should spend my time somewhere else?

Kind regards,

Blogged-Out

Dear Blogged-Out,

I hear exactly what you're saying.  Back in the 2010s, every writer seemed to have a blog and there were multiple blogs offering writing advice, competitions, publishing tips and anything else in between.  There also seemed to be a far larger number of passionate readers with blogs specifically for book reviews and talking about books than there are now.

Like everything else you do as a writer, blogging is a personal choice.  If you don't enjoy it and struggle to find content, maybe it is time to quit.  But if it is something you enjoy, why stop?  You may not be getting the comments you used to, but I bet you have a handful of loyal followers who enjoy what you post.  You may even consider some of these people friends.

The key to a good blog is consistency, both in when you post and what you post.  If you blog about something you're truly passionate about and write about it in a way only you can, it's far more likely to be successful than if you post stuff because you feel you have to.  

If you're feeling burned out with blogging and struggle to think up content to post, but don't really want to give up entirely, switch up your schedule.  Maybe you post three times a week now - can you drop down to one post per week?  Would your readers care?  Just signal your intentions.  Write a post explaining that in 2023 you're only going to post on Fridays or Tuesdays or whichever day.  

And if you want to change the focus of your blog, signal that too.  Maybe you want to keep up the three posts a week, but rather than being three posts on a single topic, you want to switch one to something else you are interested in.  You may find new people discover your blog when you shift the focus a little, even if it is for just one post a week.

I hope that helps!  Never feel obliged to do something you don't enjoy just because other people are doing it.

X O'Abby

Reviews

This week we will continue talking about publicity and marketing, this time focusing on reviews and how to get them. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you may have seen some of this before because some of the content here comes from a blog post I wrote in response to an O'Abby question late last year.  I've added to it though, because like everyone else, I'm always learning...

Reviews are incredibly important to getting your book seen and building the audience for it. Readers are inundated with content and reviews help them decide if your book is more worth reading than the other ones vying for their attention. Good reviews validate your book and you can use them to help spread positive word-of-mouth that will help boost sales. 

But how do you get them?

There are services that offer to help find reviewers for you, but be careful of these and do your due diligence before dropping any cash. It is against Amazon’s rules for you to pay for reviews and some of these services are pay-to-play and you may end up spending a lot of money for reviews that Amazon will remove right after they’re posted. This includes offering any kind of gift or incentive in exchange for reviews, even offering a review to another author in return.

Personally, I have used two different review-finding services, one of which was excellent value for money, the other, less expensive, but also less effective. Predictably, the next time I wanted to use the excellent service, they were booked up over a year in advance, so were not available at the time my book was being released.  If you have control over your own release date, or know it well in advance, you will be in a better position to book ahead of time and get a slot with an in-demand service.

There are also a number of free sites where you can offer your book for reviewers. I have had zero success with any of these, but they’re free, so even if they don’t generate any reviews, at least it’s not costing me anything other than the time to fill in the online form.  Some genres are easier than others to get reviews for.  I have found that getting reviews for YA books is much more difficult than getting reviews for Adult Romance, for example.

I have read that targeting the top Amazon reviewers who review similar books to your own is an effective way to generate reviews, but have not tried this myself. I had a look, but so few of the top reviewers had contact information available, it felt like something that would be more time consuming that it was worth. If anyone has tried this, I would be interested to know if it paid off…

Another thing I’ve heard about is adding a page at the end of your book urging readers to leave a review if they enjoyed the book. I’m not self-pubbed, so can’t do this, but if you are, this could be something that helps remind readers to leave a review.

You should also remind your fans to do so. If you have a mailing list (and you should), you will send out regular newsletters to people who have signed up because they already like your work. These people are your strongest allies and it’s important you use them effectively. Offering free review copies to these people is not effective because as your fans, they are likely to buy your new book anyway. But they are the people who will talk about your book and raise awareness of it. Use them to create advance buzz and be your street team in letting people know your book is coming, and that you’re looking for reviews.

Keep track of who reviews your latest book so you can reach out to them again for your next one. Some reviewers state in their guidelines they are not open to reviewing unless they’ve worked with an author previously, so these relationships are important. So are the relationships you build with other writers. You can ask your beta readers and critique partners to review your book when it is finally published. You can ask your editor and copy editor. You can ask your cover designer.

Long story short, getting reviews is hard. It’s time consuming and there are really no short cuts. You just have to do the work, reach out to as many people as possible, and nurture the relationships you build this way.

Dear O'Abby: How do I get more reviews?

Dear O’Abby,

I’m a published author with four books released, but sales are slow and despite working really hard to get reviews on Amazon – which I have been led to believe are the key to good sales – they are really hard to get. The reviews I’ve had have been good, mainly 3-5 stars, but there just aren’t enough of them to have much impact. Do you have any advice on how to get more reviews and therefore more sales?

Best wishes,

Reviewless

Dear Reviewless,

Getting reviews is hard, I know. For my last book, I wrote over 100 emails to book bloggers, sent out numerous review copies, and still only received a handful of reviews in return. It’s a little soul destroying, particularly when you’d rather be working on your next book instead of pumping out email after email with little return.

There are services that offer to help find reviewers for you, but be careful of these and do your due diligence before dropping any cash. It is against Amazon’s rules for you to pay for reviews and some of these services are pay-to-play and you may end up spending a lot of money for reviews that Amazon will remove right after they’re posted. This includes offering any kind of gift or incentive in exchange for reviews, even offering a review to another author in return.

Personally, I have used two different review-finding services, one of which was excellent value for money, the other, less expensive, but also less effective. Predictably, the next time I wanted to use the excellent service, they were booked up over a year in advance, so were not available at the time my book was being released.

There are also a number of free sites where you can offer your book for reviewers. I have had zero success with any of these, but they’re free, so even if they don’t generate any reviews, at least it’s not costing me anything other than the time to fill in the online form.

I have read that targeting the top Amazon reviewers who review similar books to your own is an effective way to generate reviews, but have not tried this myself. I had a look, but so few of the top reviewers had contact information available, it felt like something that would be more time consuming that it was worth. If anyone has tried this, I would be interested to know if it paid off…

Another thing I’ve heard about is adding a page at the end of your book urging readers to leave a review if they enjoyed the book. I’m not self-pubbed, so can’t do this, but if you are, this could be something that helps remind readers to leave a review.

You should also remind your fans to do so. If you have a mailing list (and you should), you will send out regular newsletters to people who have signed up because they already like your work. These people are your strongest allies and it’s important you use them effectively. Offering free review copies to these people is not effective because as your fans, they are likely to buy your new book anyway. But they are the people who will talk about your book and raise awareness of it. Use them to create advance buzz and be your street team in letting people know your book is coming, and that you’re looking for reviewers.

Keep track of who reviews your latest book so you can reach out to them again for your next one. Some reviewers state in their guidelines they are not open to reviewing unless they’ve worked with an author previously, so these relationships are important. So are the relationships you build with other writers. You can ask your beta readers and critique partners to review your book when it is finally published. You can ask your editor and copy editor. You can ask your cover designer.

Long story short, getting reviews is hard. It’s time consuming and there are really no short cuts. You just have to do the work, reach out to as many people as possible, and nurture the relationships you build this way.

If any of our blog readers have come across any great way to get more reviews, please post them in the comments.

Hope this is helpful, and good luck!

X O’Abby