SquarePeg Books

February 7 question: What turns you off when visiting an author’s website/blog? Lack of information? A drone of negativity? Little mention of author’s books? Constant mention of books?

Awww, Damnnnnnnnnn…..

This post is gonna be some serious “pot calling the kettle black.”

Of course, constant negativity and whining are irritating (Don’t you go looking at my past IWSG posts!), unless you’re legitimately asking for solutions/suggestions/seeking support/good drink mix recipes…

Lack of information can be irritating. If you have published, where’s the list? Where’s the synopsis/pitch for the book(s)? Where can I acquire these books if my interest is captured and my wallet cooperates?

On the other hand, constantly mentioning your books in a not-so-subtle BUY MY STUFF campaign is also irritating.

I guess there’s a balance authors have to strike when blogging. You have to show that you’re human (but not too much–too much F.I.S.H. is a bad thing), you have to show that you’re a writer (but don’t beat the point to death), and you have to make a sales pitch (without being overt about it).

You have to be real, somewhat humorous, very interesting, and not come off as a dick with your opinions, but still not be wishy-washy about them, either. You have to be brave to put yourself out there, but you can’t have such a thick skin that you totally lose your perspective and stop learning.

You have to know when to walk away from a subject. You have to be willing to stick to your guns about others. You have to communicate clearly, but maybe also insert a tantalizing “hook” to make your readers come back for next week’s exciting episode.

.~Obviously, running a blog is super easy!.~ (I think I used the sarcasm punctuation correctly? Probably not, because I didn’t dig too deeply into the article.)

Check out the Insecure Writer’s Support Group to see more writers dish about their concerns, their solutions to various problems, or maybe you just want to read an article about obscure and perhaps unnecessary punctuation marks.