Doesn’t get a lot more direct than that title, now, does it? So why are these things on my mind? Well, first of all, YA author Diana Peterfreund recently opined that blogs are not the ultimate marketing tool. Now, I’m going to have to agree with that. Everybody knows that skywriting has that slot, with blimps coming in a distant second. (Clearly I’m a big fan of flight.)
But when it comes to authors and blogs, I have to admit that I had not read a single book by most of the authors whose blogs I follow until after I began to read their online musings. I found most of them through comments or blogrolls on others’ sites, and followed them to their webly homes. (Yes, I’m perfectly aware that this makes me sound like a stalker, thank you very much.) I liked their writing, and I found that I rather liked them, too. Or what they let me know of them, at least. And who doesn’t want to read a book by someone who seems nice and turns out decent writing on a semi-regular basis? Of course, I had to find them first, which as Diana points out is often difficult for someone whose only publishing credit is a blog — or, I would add, for a published author whose books one has not yet read. Indeed, I usually find the more dedicated bloggers, either through their active participation in the blogsophere or through recommendations by other bloggers. Like much of the best marketing, it’s all about word of mouth. If bloggers are just sitting there waiting to be discovered but are not participating in the blogosphere, it’s probably not going to happen until or unless a bigger force — such as a recently released book — brings readers to them.
So, where am I going with this? Well, everybody knows I’m a fan of reading, which means that my default birthday/Christmas present is a gift card for a bookstore. And when it comes time to spend the loot, I often look to my RSS feeds first. I like to support my favorite bloggers, and I know I’ll get some good reads at the same time. Even as I type this, books by Jill Shalvis, Lani Diane Rich, Eileen Cook, and Samantha Graves (to name a few) are headed my way. These authors’ books are all new to me, even if their blogs are not. And I’m already saving up for another round (which will probably include some of Diana’s books).
To be fair, I also have a habit of looking up my favorite authors’ websites and indulging in their blogs as well, should they have them. In that case, the books led me to the blogs, and not the other way around. But blogging has helped me discover some amazing writers, ones whose books I probably wouldn’t have noticed on those crowded bookstore shelves had I not already known their names from blogging.
Am I alone here? If not, then stop by Diana’s blog, add her to your RSS reader (because you’ll probably want to), then buy her books to prove her wrong. Or hope that I sell the mess I’m currently working on, and then don’t buy the book because you get my blog for free. Your choice.
And because I am queen of my own blog (aren’t we all?), I will indulge my urge to continue pontificating by pointing out that brownies are evil, terrible things. Especially when warm and gooey and filled with chocolate chips. I went into this afternoon’s staff meeting with just one chin, and after an hour sitting within reach of a plate of the malicious goo, I walked away with four more chins. This is not a good look for me. Plus, my neck is getting tired from swinging that extra skin around. I’m just saying.
Your turn. Do you read your favorite bloggers’ books — assuming they have a book out? If so, which came first for you as a reader — the book or the blog? Or, alternatively, what is the most evil food you know? C’mon. Spill.
Susan, this blogging thing can become addictive. Once you allow yourself to start reading more blogs, you’ll find that they totally take over. And authors’ blogs are some of the best–as long as they don’t spend the entire time promoting their books.
Robin, that’s why I started my blog. Or, at least, why I kept it going. I started it because I’d heard of this blogging thing and was curious, but I didn’t think I’d ever do anything with it. I think it really has helped me find my voice, though, and to network as well.
Larramie, I so know what you mean! It’s nice to say you read the author’s blog long before they were published, isn’t it?
That’s interesting, Mary. When I find an author I like, one of the first things I do is look to see if they have a blog–if I didn’t buy their books because I already read their blogs, of course. But I know that that’s not the typical reaction. I think it might become more so, however, as social networking continues to grow.
Rachelle, click on any of those links above, and you’ll find some authors whose blogs I enjoy very much. I hope you try them out and enjoy them, too. 🙂
I just want to say that brownies are the most evil of evil horrible terrible awful scrumptious decadent most delicious things in the entire world. So evil.
Oh yes, I bought alot of books because I read author’s blogs first and I have done the reverse also.
Blogs first, then books. I think, somehow, it makes reading the book that much more special.
Oh yes, and brownies are beyond evil. As is chocolate fudge pudding.
Now why is that I have a sudden craving for chocolate…
Ello, amazing how something so perfect can be so awful at the same time, isn’t it? And thanks for weighing in (no pun intended) on the books vs. blogs conversation.
Absolute Vanilla, I totally agree! It’s so much fun to curl up with a book and feel like you already know the author, even if it’s only via a blog.
I’m still coming to terms with the blog world, still trying to understand even as I daily minister to my own. I can say that I’ve met extraordinary people and seekers through the blog, that old, lost friends have found me there, that all of that is good. But I can also confess to frequent disappointment following the reading of a book I’ve loved, the hunting down of the author’s blog, and the discovery that the blog contains little more than marketing updates and tour schedules.
I have read books by bloggers I’ve learned to like. Some have disappointed; most have not. And I’ve read even more books by recommendations from blogs. Most of those have been at least decent reads.
I have to say though, that as someone who spends about a couple grand on books a year (not exaggerating unless it is by understating the case), I find more books by trolling through the Amazon recommendations. If I lived in a city where I could browse bookstores, that’s how I’d discover new reads. But needs must when one lives in the outback of beyond rural America!
And thanks for stopping by my blog! I shall add you in my sidebar so I can stop by. Which reminds me: I have also found a few cool blogs and writers by link clicking.
It’s true, probably, what Diana said. I am one of the many who only discovers new writers from the front tables or blogs.
But I am totally addicted to blogs, that’s for sure!
I’m like you. Pretty much every blogger I started out reading I had never picked up a book by prior to reading their blogs, but now I count some of them among my favorite authors. (C. E. Murphy, Joshilyn Jackson to name a couple). So while I agree with Diana that they aren’t the best tool, I do think they are effective. I also think that they require the blogger to be active in the blogosphere, as you point out, or no one will know they’re there and they defeat the purpose.
So true. Some people have drugs and other addictive stuff. WE readers have book fixes.
Ha! Exactly!