Guest Posting?
Occasionally I’ll post a guest post from another writer. Maybe it’s a friend or a colleague, or maybe just someone I’m swapping posts with. I always check them out and make sure they’re decent. And yes, that can be a valid concern with some of my acquaintances. 
But this isn’t a guest post, this is me typing away on my own blog. So am I guest posting on my own blog? Er, no. And don’t follow that line of thought to deep it turns into an Escher drawing that can leave you confused for a few minutes. My reason for posting this is to question the value of a guest post. I’ll admit I would be tickled if I were invited to guest post on another blog about guest posting, but I might still be caught up in an Escher drawing…
I have a few blogs I check out from time to time. One of them is Joe Konrath’s. I’m not trying to make him any more famous or successful than he already is, I’m just sharing the process that brought me to this thought. I go there looking for his latest antics and to grind my teeth in frustration at how he’s having massive amounts of success while my sales are dropping. To be fair, he’s been at it longer than I have and he has more books (50ish vs 38). But some of his books do about as well as mine, which is to say not all that great.
As near as I can tell Mr. Konrath has a couple of things going for him. One is the ability to tell a fun story. That’s kind of important if a writer wants to be successful. Fortunately for me, I can do that too. The other is social presence. He’s got one. Via his dealings with Amazon and his blog he’s managed to carve a niche for himself that allows a lot of visibility. That’s what I’m trying to figure out how to achieve and thus far my attempts have been less than successful.
No, Joe Konrath is not going to guest post on my blog. Nor am I doing a guest post on his. I’m not even dropping his name in hopes of picking up extra search engine hits. I keep singling him out because I noticed something this morning when I looked at his blog. I looked, and then I left without viewing any articles. Why? Because there was nothing but guest posts there for the past several days. I go there for him, not for people I’ve never heard of and don’t care about.
Shame on me! I’m an indie writer champion, how dare I ignore my peers! Well it’s true, I did. I’ve got too many things going on to allow me the luxury of reading about a dozen people trying to sell themselves. I’m busy worrying about how I can do the same thing! And my guess is that I’m not the only person who feels that way. So it made me wonder, is hosting guest blogs helpful or harmful to my “brand?”
I think that, as long as it’s infrequent and closely monitored by me (which has been the status quo for my blog already), it’s an okay thing. I can try to make sure that people coming here to read and be entertained will continue to do so. Launching a campaign where I flood my blog with guest posts, on the other hand, would probably drive people away. Heck, it might drive me away!
And for my fellow writers reading this, my experience with doing blog tours to try and promote a new / old / whatever book has been exceptionally lackluster. I’ve tried a few and generated a lot of nothing but more work for myself. All these thoughts have been circling in my head and I’ve been focusing on writing more and blogging less lately. I used to try to post three times a week but lately it’s been down to once or twice. I make no promises on frequency, only that I’ll try to make it worthwhile when I do post. Everyone’s time is valuable, after all, and the last thing I can expect is for anyone to waste theirs reading my thoughts on Jennifer Aniston’s latest hair cut.
Having said that, I am considering reopening an old topic a bit and posting some occasional workout / fitness topics. But don’t worry, I’ll make it clear early on in the post that I’m putting on my gymrat outfit so you can shy away if the thought of heavy weights and sweat scares you.
Until then, it’s back to work on The Broken Slipper.
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com .
