ARE WRITER'S BLOGS DYING?

 

Remember MySpace? How about Google Plus? Squidoo?

They’re still around, but try to find someone who uses them heavily.

Author Alexandra Sokoloff makes the following observations:

The truth is, writers don’t seem to have enough time to blog any more.

It feels like diminishing returns, when there’s a fast and easy alternative conversation on Facebook.

The technology has changed. The conversation has moved. 

We’re having to reinvent.

Remember chat rooms and bulletin boards?

Ms. Sokoloff points out that Facebook made them largely redundant.

But when everyone is screaming, LISTEN TO ME!

is there any point in speaking?

Blogging itself isn't dying, but the number of committed bloggers is dwindling.

THE NEW YORK TIMES is removing many of their listed blogs. Oh, but those are political or news blogs you say.  And you are right.

Writer's blogs are different ... yet the same. 

In the end, all three kinds of blogs are trying to "sell" the
reader something:

A view point ... one side of an argument ... or an author's book.

The brutal truth is:

WE HAVE TO BREAK OUT OF THE GHETTO OF

"AUTHORS SPEAKING TO AUTHORS"

 IF WE ARE EVER GOING TO TRULY REACH A LARGE AUDIENCE.

Author Sean McLachlan
 http://civilwarhorror.blogspot.com/2013/01/indie-life-reaching-beyond-indie.html

calls it reaching beyond the Indie Authors Echo Chamber to speaking to reach the world at large.

I learned an important lesson from a non-author but avid reader fellow employee:

She skipped my writing lesson posts. 

As a non-author she was not interested. 

But as a reader,

she was absorbed by my ghost writers teasing me or writing on little known facts of famous authors or

my snippets of evocative poets who spoke to her heart but of whom she had never heard.

She emailed the link to my Memorial Day post (not for the writing lesson at the end but for the first half of the post.) 

She did the same for my Mother's Day post.

If we want to reach the world at large, we must speak to the world at large.  

Non-authors using Google Search will have a chance to see our blog pop up when they search for a topic that appeals to them.

Having our books listed in the sidebar will then point them to our work if they like our prose.

What do you think are good ways to reach beyond the world of authors reading authors?