From Anne R. Allen’s Blog:
5 Bad Reasons for Author Blogs
1) Getting Rich Quick
Nothing infuriates me more than those books and blogs promising writers they can make a gazillion dollars of “passive income” with a blog in the next month if they take this overpriced course or buy that book of rehashed advice from 2005.
The only people making a lot of “passive income” from blogging are the people selling the overpriced courses and worthless advice. Pyramid schemes always provide “passive income” for the people at the top of the pyramid. That’s not going to be you at this point. The boom is over.
Blogging is work. Writing is work. There’s nothing “passive” about it. Anybody who tells you otherwise is lying.
I used to subscribe to a couple of hype-y “how-to-blog” blogs, but I had to unsubscribe because these people are getting so desperate. One blogger now sends an email 15 minutes after you click through to read his post saying, “You’ve had enough time to read my post. Now share it to Facebook.”
Creepy!! I’d just shared his post to Twitter, but I deleted the Tweet and unsubscribed. You’re not the boss of me, dude. And I’m not responsible for your bad life choices. If you really were making the fortune you claimed to be making a decade ago, why didn’t you invest it?
Another sad truth is that Internet ads pay less than they used to. You’re not going to make more than pennies a day from ads (especially “affiliate” ads that only pay when somebody clicks through and buys something.)
Your best bet is to get a deep-pockets sponsor to bankroll you, but even so, that’s not likely to pay a lot of bills.
Medium, the popular blogging platform started a couple of years ago by Twitter and Blogger founder Evan Williams has not found a way to make money. You probably won’t either.
Author blogs are for promoting your own brand. You’re making money by not spending it advertising elsewhere, but that’s not going to buy you a house in the Hamptons.
2) Overnight Fame
The days of Julie/Julia over.
Yes, you can still raise your profile with author blogs, and I strongly recommend you use a blog as one tool for getting your name out there.
But nobody’s likely to become an overnight sensation with author blogs in these days when everybody and his grandmother has one.
When Julie Powell started her Julia Child blog in 2002, the term “blog” itself was only 3 years old. Blogging was a whole new concept.
Now, WordPress alone, with about a quarter of the market, hosts more than 76.5 million blogs.
The odds for instant fame are not on your side. I highly recommend that authors blog, but we need to be patient.
Link to the rest at Anne R. Allen’s Blog
Here’s a link to Anne R. Allen’s books. If you like an author’s post, you can show your appreciation by checking out their books.
I blog because I enjoy writing about my passions…not my writing. I tweet because it’s fun, mostly. And that’s about it. I give myself another 30 years to make a name for myself. After that I expect to be gumming my food and not caring much either way. 🙂
Thanks for sharing PG!
I began blogging off and on in 1999. I quit blogging regularly 2-3 years ago.
Why? A) Because in my experience, people prefer to use social media. B) Writers tend to blog about writing, which tends to attract other writers, not readers. C) My life isn’t interesting enough to blog about on a weekly basis, except perhaps the doggy volunteering.
Also, DWS’s WIBBOW rule is my guide, and yep, I’m usually better off writing words of fiction rather than blogging.
I have the same take. I tried it for a bit. I have a website/blog up for people to find me if they are looking. Other than that I spend my time getting books written.
I won’t name names but I find the blog of a fairly successful science fiction and urban fantasy author so off-putting that if I ever pick up another one of his works it will be in spite of his blog rather than because of it.
I think I know exactly who you are talking about…