Blog Smarter, Not Harder: Why Indie Authors Need a Blog in 2024

Outsmart the Search Engines: Google’s SGE for Authors + The First Block of Your Tech Stack

Blogging. No, it’s not dead, nor is it relegated to Tumblr-esque recipes and fan art of Taylor Swift and tortured poets. (#SwiftieForever)

Blogging is about building a platform that attracts readers to your novel. And from the technology perspective, it’s the first block in your tech stack that can power all sorts of goodies and serve as a shortcut for indies to compete successfully for readers.

This is the first part of a four-week series. There’s a lot to cover.

Why Blogging Matters for Novelists

Blogging is more than just sharing your thoughts; it's a powerful tool for building your author brand and connecting with your audience.

Here are five (of, like, 500) of the reasons I think indies should seriously consider incorporating a properly setup blog into their platform:

• You Own It: For the love of all that’s good and holy, you’ll hear me say this 10,000 times a week. Own your stuff. If you’re creating anything, own it. That doesn’t preclude using technology that powers it. For example, I’m writing this on Substack, but I own the domain name it’s on, and I have all the email addresses that have subscribed, and the payment transaction tokens via Stripe. I can move it all if I want to, but more importantly, Google is indexing it under the name I own —not Substack.

• Showcase Your Skills: Your blog is a dynamic platform to showcase your writing prowess and give readers a peek behind the curtain. Need ideas? Pen engaging insight into your worlds, character profiles, or share excerpts from your work. This allows readers to experience your writing style and voice firsthand, potentially piquing their interest in your novels.

• Connect with Readers: Foster a community around your work. Use your blog to discuss your creative process, answer reader questions, or delve deeper into the world of your novels. This two-way communication builds a connection with your audience, keeping them invested in your work and fostering loyalty. For those that are (rightly) concerned about the glut of AI-generated books, this connection with your readers is an excellent way to differentiate yourself.

• Establish Expertise and Humanity: Blogging allows you to position yourself as an authority in your genre. Share insights about the writing craft, research you conducted for your novel, or even reviews of books that inspired you. This establishes you as a knowledgeable (and human!) voice within your niche, attracting readers who geek out about that kind of stuff.

• Content Powerhouse: Blog posts are a versatile content source. Repurpose them into social media snippets, excerpts for your newsletter, or even guest posts on relevant websites. This maximizes the reach and impact of your work, stretching a single piece of content into a multi-platform marketing tool.

Photo by Kinga Howard on Unsplash

“SERIOUSLY? MORE CONTENT?
… I’M TIRED ALREADY.”

Let’s pause for you to take a moment to give me the stink-eye. I totally get that I’m saying you need to create more. I hear you cursing my name.

Take a breath. I’m going to make a case for saving time after I lay out the big picture. I promise you’ll at least break even when you calculate the time in the context of all the other stuff you’re doing — so hang with me.

But First, Some Nerdy Stuff: SGE, Rich Snippets, and Beyond

I’ve just come back from the CEX Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. The sessions were a masterclass in many aspects of what’s happening now — and what’s coming.

Michael King discussed all things Google, which, as novelists, I tend to think that we prioritize less than Amazon and Facebook Ads as a platform.

Mostly because it feels like shouting into the void.

Which it mostly is. Because we don’t think of that as a place where readers find us.

But here comes SGE and Google Rich Snippets.

Imagine this: A reader types in a question related to your genre, like "thrilling plot twists" or "Best fantasy novels with strong female leads." Suddenly, a summary of your blog post perfectly tailored to their query appears at the top of the results page. That's the power of SGE. It uses AI to understand user intent and surface relevant content, potentially putting your work in front of new readers actively searching for what you offer.

And since Google is partnered with millions (billions?) of individual websites to power their results, SGE won’t be limited to Google searches. Search as we know it is about to change fundamentally.

Take a look at this example of SGE at work:

screenshot of SGE results

What jumps out? Suggested top search refining one-clicks, for starters — and just two results. SGE is an opportunity to level the playing field. Write some killer blog posts about a completed, spicy, box set and see what Google does.

Here’s why indies should start with a blog: Search Generative Experience (SGE) prioritizes well-written, in-depth content. The more informative and engaging your blog posts, the better chance you have of attracting that coveted SGE spotlight. This can put your work in front of new readers who are actively searching for exactly what you offer.

In the next part of this series I’ll do a deeper dive into the technical setup of your blog so you don’t write into the void.

Google Rich Snippets: Supercharged Search Results for Indie Authors

Oh, hey, there’s an indie author in the 3rd position

Let's look at the search results just below the SGE. These are called Rich Snippets or Rich Results. Here’s the thing: with just a few extra tweaks, you can appear there with your blog content. I’ll explain this in more depth in part three of this series.

Remember the time savings I promised? Here’s a little teaser.

Blogs should definitely be written with a human reader in mind, but here’s a little secret. They have all the machine readable stuff baked in like RSS and Schemas.

And, once you’ve set it up the right way, you don’t even need to worry your pretty little head about it again. Schema who? Don’t know her.

So, let’s imagine some ways you’ll save time. In part four of this series I’ll dive into:

• Write a Blog, Send Your Newsletter: RSS feeds can automatically share your latest blog posts with your newsletter audience. You don’t even need to open your Email Service Provider (ESP) — just blog and watch your newsletter arrive directly to your subscribers' inboxes.

• Create Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Other Social Media Content: Share your posts with eye-catching visuals, compelling headlines, and strategic hashtags to attract a broader audience and drive traffic to your website.

Remember, blogging isn't some dusty relic of the early internet. It's a powerful tool to build your author platform and connect with readers on a deeper level. Plus, who doesn't love the chance to geek out about writing and your genre with fellow bibliophiles?

So, dust off that keyboard, unleash your inner content creator, and get ready to watch your author platform flourish. Don't forget, founding members get a free blog audit – perfect for making sure your blog is optimized for all the goodies we discussed. Until next time, happy writing, and happy blogging!

Chelle