Celebrate
when you are interviewed or hosted by any web-based site by promoting the
appearance (a good idea to follow for in-person events as well). Tweet,
Facebook, Google-plus and posts on your blog are a good start. Promote the
event beforehand as a “coming soon…”, the day of, and even afterwards.
When a blog site
owner hosts someone it’s done for multiple reasons — there is the generosity
and (common among writers) desire to help another author and it is also a way
of increasing blog traffic to their own site. Every time someone visits the
site they become more familiar with the host and may eventually start following
the blog in the future. Blogs with high traffic also show up more often in
search engines.
Don’t
re-blog the post to your own site – let people go to the host site and it is a
win-win for all. Depending on your blog site, you can “re-post” just a few
opening lines, just enough to whet the readers appetite, and then with a read-more link, you can send readers to
the hosting site. Many blog owners will publicize their guest posts but don’t
leave the responsibility solely to the owner. Combining your social media voices
will reach more people, you’ll make the blog owner happier (more invites in the
future?) and your name becomes known. Send emails out to your friends and
family and in group-loops (but be mindful of group posting rules).
Hosting
other authors on your own site will help to increase your traffic. You can
feature interviews, book promos and more. You can interview a character from a
book or or the author. Start with a few simple questions such as: does travel play
in the writing of your books?; tell us about your current release; if your
weren’t a writer what else would you be doing?; what makes a good story? Use
your imagination, but do yourself and the author you are hosting a favor, stay
away from controversial subjects (unless that is the subject of their book).
Cross
promotion is a huge tool in the publicity department and every time your name is
linked with another, possibly more successful writer, your name will be in
front of the public more and more. Remember most shoppers have to see a product
multiple times before they actually consider buying it, so familiarity is
something to strive for.
Writing Exercise:
Write a 1 paragraph summary of the story you are/ or want to write. Par
this blurb down even more until you have a Tweet-capable message (140
characters or less)
Writing Prompt: Your
spouse/significant other has asked you to meet with them at a local restaurant.
You are told “I have something very important I have to tell you…” and they
look worried, VERY worried. But they are keeping everything secretive, so you
go to the restaurant and are seated at a private booth near the back. You see
your spouse/significant other enter and head towards you. What do they have to
tell you? Write about this in a brief paragraph or two.
Challenge Assignment:
Make a list of questions you would want someone to ask you for a blog
post. Answer each question truthfully. Post the interview on your own blog!
