Finding a blog topic is always a struggle for me. I’m lucky to get to share the writing of this blog with my fellow Books & Such agents, so I don’t need a new topic as frequently. I know many of you run your own blogs and you need to post multiple times each week. I’ve found a few methods that help me to come up with topics and maybe these will help you, too.
1) Watch on loops and in groups, like ACFW, a Facebook writing group, or your critique group, for common questions or concerns that other writers are having. Use these topics and questions to spark a post.
2) Get personal. Connect something in your life to publishing or to your books. A lot of readers would love to hear little details about their favorite authors so even if the personal story you are sharing doesn’t have much application to your story, it might still be a good idea to share it. (Just be careful to be safe with the details you are putting online.)
3) Read magazines to find articles about current events and respond to them in a way that connects to what you write about. Talk about the current event based on your worldview. That will usually overlap with your writing voice and style.
4) Think about what you do daily. Is there anything there that other people will connect with and enjoy reading about? What makes you interesting? As writers you are sure to have specific routines that you follow that other writers could be interested in. If you are a parent and a writer other writer parents might be interested to hear how you manage your days, etc.
5) Think about having a guest blogger, a contest, or blog a book review. You don’t want to have these too often because you want your blog to really be your own, but they are always good fillers for those days where you are swamped and can’t think of anything to write about.
What are some methods you use to find blog topics?
When the Story Ends Too Soon
In webinars and talks on having an engaging and effective online presence, I’ve heard blogging is no longer as effective as it was a few years ago. For fiction writers, is having an active blog still considered vital by agents and publishers? If so, how frequently should a person be posting to be considered active enough? What kind of subscription numbers are considered minimum if blogging still matters?
Thanks for all the insights you provide, Rachel.
Hi Carol! Blogging on its own isn’t as common or effective anymore, but lots of bloggers use Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and other sites to push readers/viewers to their blogs. Readers are less likely to go blogs directly, but will click through to them from other sites.
Subscribing is less common, too, but page views can still be high without large subscriber numbers.
I’m not saying you and the rest of our readers should start up blogging again, but if you are dedicated to it, it can still be a useful way to reach an audience.
Bloggers I have watched post a new blog a couple times a week, but put unique hooks and links to each post multiple times each week on the other sites. Little things to entice a reader to click through.
Thanks, Rachel. Makes sense. So how does an agent or publisher quantify how many people are interested in what an author puts out there if not subscribers? Site visitation reports like WordPress provides? Shares from SM like FB, Instagram, and Pinterest? What are interesting numbers from an agent or editor’s perspective?
Thanks!
My sons say so many crazy and funny things that spark ideas for me. Also, we have a 110 lb princess doggy who is constantly inspiring me as well!
I seem to have no place here,
the world is just too full,
so I will go and have a beer,
the china shop’s wild bull.
I find it rather curious
that I’m not understood,
but I don’t take it serious,
for laughter’s in my blood,
and this gets me in trouble
with those of weighty mien;
I prick their earnest bubble,
and sometimes make them scream
that I must be mad, mad as a hatter,
and this is not a joking matter.
I start with my reading from the Bible, then think about a vignette that would tie to that truth.