Wordpress Blog Share

[AVCortez]

I've started a new thing I'm doing wherein every other week I review a fantasy (or sci-fi) writer who follows my blog. It is a bid to generate a stronger community between my readership. The only problem is, of my followers very few of them fit my theme; plenty are writers themselves, but they are general-fiction or non-fiction writers.

Given this is a temple for fantasy writers, I thought it might be good to open up a thread where people can post their wordpress.com blogs, so I can check them out.

This is mine:
A month from Somewhere | A topnotch WordPress.com site

 

[Chilari]

What exactly is it you've reviewing? The author? Their blog? What they've written? Quite a lot of us are as yet unpublished, or have only published shorts in magazines.

I agree that generating a strong fantasy writing community is a positive thing, because it enables us to share fans with one another (like my book? Why not try out my friend Bob's book, which I enjoyed and has similar themes to my own writing? etc), bounce ideas off one another, engage in discussion about writing, and form critique partnerships. But you need to define what kind of group you're trying to build here. Is it for published and soon-to-be published authors? Is it for unpublished? Self-published or traditional? A mixture of lots of different levels? What do you expect to get out of it? What do you think other writers will get out of it? And what do you think your readers will get out of it? You need to know these things, and tell us what they are, if you want this to be a successful initiative, because knowing what you want will better enable you to plan it and measure success.

I find this an interesting project, but I'd like to know more.

 

[ALB2012]

I have a new blog on word press. I am interviewing readers as well as authors, but as I have only just started it not too many followers as yet. I would be willing to interview/ be interviewed as either reader or writer of fantasy. I am also willing to blogshare, for what it is worth.

Mine is Library of Erana | Fantasy, sci-fi, romance, erotica and all things wordy.

 

[Devor]

This would be an example of what you're doing?

Cool concept. I wish you the best of luck.

 

[AVCortez]

What exactly is it you've reviewing? The author? Their blog? What they've written? Quite a lot of us are as yet unpublished, or have only published shorts in magazines.

I agree that generating a strong fantasy writing community is a positive thing, because it enables us to share fans with one another (like my book? Why not try out my friend Bob's book, which I enjoyed and has similar themes to my own writing? etc), bounce ideas off one another, engage in discussion about writing, and form critique partnerships. But you need to define what kind of group you're trying to build here. Is it for published and soon-to-be published authors? Is it for unpublished? Self-published or traditional? A mixture of lots of different levels? What do you expect to get out of it? What do you think other writers will get out of it? And what do you think your readers will get out of it? You need to know these things, and tell us what they are, if you want this to be a successful initiative, because knowing what you want will better enable you to plan it and measure success.

I find this an interesting project, but I'd like to know more.

It is more targeted toward indie published authors - e-book, kindle - and people who post their stories in their blog. That said, if someone is trade-published it would not exclude them from a feature.

For writers: The posts themselves are just a positive look at the person's blog. It's not a critique. So it is essentially free promotion for their blog. At the moment I only have about 30 followers, so it's not great, but with every post I put up, I accrue between one and three new followers. Give it six months and avcortez.wordpress will be decent platform for exposure. I am also going to be launching a social media campaign to promote an etsy store (fantasy inspired jewellery) I'm setting up, if it goes well the blog will have an even broader readership.

For readers: It is sharing good content they are interested in. My blog features fantasy/sci-fi short stories and focusses on writing research (e.g. researching the middle ages for a fantasy world), character development and world building. So I assume that my readers are interested in this. I am connecting them with similar content.

For me: I read a lot about internet marketing - as an aspiring fantasy author I can't afford not to - this idea came to me when brainstorming methods to generate followers and build community between my readers. I plan to release my first novel towards the end of the year so I need a strong platform to release it. By strong I don't necessarily mean big, the best case scenario is to have a responsive community; a followership who comments and acts on things I say. Talking about people other than myself is a good way to do this, because it shows I am involved in the community as a whole (which I am, whether or not I talk about it).

Hopefully this answers your questions .

 

[Chilari]

Thanks for taking the time to explain all that. It sounds like a great idea. I'm not published (unless a short in Myths Inscribed counts) but I am interested. I'll check out your website.

 

[AVCortez]

Thanks for taking the time to explain all that. It sounds like a great idea. I'm not published (unless a short in Myths Inscribed counts) but I am interested. I'll check out your website.

Good to hear, thanks a lot .

ALB2012 I just followed your blog and will send you a PM when I have a minute to read through your content. I may have a proposition for you, and thanks a lot for the link .

Devor, yep, that's the one. Thanks a lot for scrounging that link (I have no idea why I didn't include one in the initial post, I was half asleep).

 

[ALB2012]

AV I saw

1 reader interview up and just posted an interview with fantasy author Simon Williams. Author Interview Number 1 | Library of Erana

 

[Xaysai]

AV I saw

1 reader interview up and just posted an interview with fantasy author Simon Williams. Author Interview Number 1 | Library of Erana

Sleek Wordpress design, and solid interview!

I've been super lax on writing (and working to improve my writing) lately, so maybe following your blog will help motivate me to work on it : )

Thanks,

Dan

 

[ALB2012]

Thanks I am going to try and alternate with genres if I can, but it really depends what replies I get. So far seems mainly fantasy and sci-fi, with a bit of YA and romance. I have had an offer from an erotica writer but I might have to tinker the questions I should post the second author interview mid week.

Here is the second reader interview. Reader Interviews. | Library of Erana

 

[ALB2012]

Second author interview is up Author Interview Number 2 – Young Adult/Fantasy Author Diana Wicker | Library of Erana

There is also the 3rd reader interview.

 

[ALB2012]

5th Reader interview - Fantasy reader and Australian Keira Reader Interview Number Five – Keira Jenkins | Library of Erana

 

[ALB2012]

Reader Interview Number Six – Kat | Library of Erana

Reader interview number 6 - fantasy and sci fi reader kat.

 

[ALB2012]

Here is my latest post, an interview with reviewer Ignite.
Reviewer Interview Number Two – Ignite | Library of Erana

 

[ALB2012]

This is the eighth author interview on my blog - with sci-fi/fantasy author A L Phillips. Author Interview Number Eight – A L Phillips | Library of Erana

 

[ALB2012]

Reviewer interview Reviewer Interview Number 3 – Bella (Mia) | Library of Erana

 

[Devor]

ALB2012,

If you want to post updates from your blog, I've got to ask that you start a thread in the Self-Promotion forum, instead of posting here in Marketing.

I'm closing this thread.