Author’s Choice Blogs – Three months of experience

By James M. Jackson

A long-standing thought experiment involves the question, “If trees fall in the forest and no one is around to hear them, did they make a sound?” I have my opinion, and you might have yours.

How about this one: “If an author publishes a terrific book, will it automatically find an audience?” It seems obvious that the answer is no, until you turn the question on its head. Is a book really terrific if no one reads it? Visibility is required.

The Rule of Seven in Marketing

Way back in my MBA days, I learned the classic marketing principle that says a potential customer needs to encounter your message at least seven times before they’ll take action. Authors spend a lot of time (and often money) creating those potential touchpoints. I’ve benefited from the writer community providing space for me to share information about myself and my books. This year, I chose to create a new space for other authors to connect with potential readers.

Creating a New Touchpoint

Authors and readers have limited time. I wanted something fast and easy for authors and fun for readers who enjoy learning the inside scoop about authors. And after I set it up, I didn’t want to spend more than an hour a week on the project.

I chose a standard format so readers would know what to expect. Here’s the layout for desktop (on a phone, left comes first, then right):

• The author’s picture on the left; two truths and a lie on the right. Everyone enjoys guessing the right answer or being fooled.
• Eight forced-choice questions chosen from twelve about how the author writes (with room to elaborate or not—the author’s style showing through).
• Three questions about their latest novel (or first in a series) on the left; book cover on the right.
• The great reveal of the lie and two truths.
• The book’s blurb, purchase links, and a link to find out more about the author.

How’s it worked so far?

I’m happy to report that the Author’s Choice blogs have not been trees falling in the forest that no one has heard. They have averaged 227 views. Because big outliers can skew averages, I checked the median, which is 245. The range is from 82 to 431.

Another encouraging thing is that views continue to grow after the week a blog appears. This means when readers come to the website, they often read more than just the current blog.

I had hoped the blogs would elicit reader comments and generate back and forth between the authors and readers. I should have known better. In the early years of the Writers Who Kill blog, we used to have a fair number of reader comments and some back-and-forth dialogue. Over the last few years, as social media sucks up more reading time, that’s rarely the case.

I haven’t tried to track direct sales from the blogs. What I see is engagement: Authors are enjoying the process and are happy with the results. Readers are exploring multiple posts. I’ve even had a few of my readers reach out to thank me for introducing them to new authors. The blog is creating additional visibility.

The Rule of Seven assumes repetition builds trust—what turns a name you’ve seen a few times into a book you’ll try?

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James M. Jackson writes justice-driven thrillers with brains and bite, including the Niki Undercover Thriller series and the Seamus McCree series. To learn more information about Jim and his books, check out his website, https://jamesmjackson.com. You can sign up for his newsletter (and get to read Low Tide at Tybee, a novella featuring Seamus, his darts-throwing mother, and six-year-old granddaughter, Megan).