Author Buzz

Where Authors & Readers find each other

blogging

Bloggers are those who write for one or more blogs. The act of creating a blog post is known as blogging.

For the category see: Blogs and Blogging

bionic hand and human hand finger pointing — Recently I grilled ChatGPT about what it would take to be a full-time author and writer in the UK. A lot of what the AI said was common sense. It sounded right although you should probably do your own homework as ChatGPT is very good at being confidently wrong. My […]

Everything you need to know about being a UK author ...

8th May 2023 in Advice tagged Author Platform / blogging / ChatGPT / demographics / guide / hard work / ideas / networking / questions / readers / sell more books / social media / success / technology by Matthew Brown

colorful abstract wallpaper — One way to increase blog engagement is to make it more visual. Simply adding some related imagery can make a blog post seem more inviting. You can go further of course. How about taking your camera out to take photographs of things that could act as places, ideas, or moods […]

Platform Building with Blogs: Use visual flair

25th February 2023 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / blogging / food / galleries / images / mood boards / photograph by Matthew Brown

people toasting wine glasses — As the year draws to a close, this is the perfect time to talk about the year ahead. You could create a blog post listing five (or seven, or ten…) things you hope to achieve this year. You could make a blog post on ten predictions (guesses) about the year […]

Platform Building Tip: The year ahead

31st December 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / blogging / new year by Matthew Brown

photo of a man sitting in front of a camera — This week, let’s focus on supporting characters. On your blog, post a short interview with a supporting character covering what they want (but can’t or can’t have), some memorable moments from their past, and a secret no one else knows. This helps in a number of ways: The post will […]

Platform tip: Supporting characters

17th December 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / blogging / character by Matthew Brown

person writing a to do list — This week try making a list post on your blog. List posts are easy to write and easy to read. What would “10 things only readers of Your Genre understand” read like? Other lists might include 7 things I wish authors would stop doing 12 things readers don’t understand about […]

Platform Building: Make a list and check it twice

10th December 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / blogging / lists by Matthew Brown

happy friends hugging each other — Some blogs (like this one) accept content from guest writers. Guest posts give the blog’s readers a fresh voice and allow the writer to reach new people. Share some of your strengths as a writer by writing content for other people’s blogs. Don’t forget to leave at least one link […]

Platform Building: Try guest posting

22nd October 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / blogging by Matthew Brown

nature woman forest holding — On your blog, craft a post to start a conversation on the themes and issues that matter most to your next book. Explore your theme through a blog post and end with some questions to encourage your readers to engage with those themes. This is great for your book as […]

Platform tip: Explore your themes

13th August 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged blogging / themes by Matthew Brown

business coffee composition computer — This week’s tip is a selection of blogging ideas that you can write about. A childhood memory – relatable example of your writing Something you might not have known – a good place to talk about an unusual hobby, qualification, or record that you hold. My favourite recipe – authors […]

Platform Building: Blogging Topics

6th August 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged blogging by Matthew Brown

Pick an author you love. Ideally, one that your ideal readers would also love. Write an honest book review. If nothing else, you will signal to readers that you share their tastes in authors which might bode well for your own books. This is best posted on your blog and […]

Platform Building: Review a favourite author

2nd July 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author / Author Platform / blogging / books / readers by Matthew Brown

If you decided to go platform building alone and run your own WordPress blog, here are ten plugins that may be very useful to you. All the plugins listed are available to Author Buzz bloggers. 1. Redirection Redirection is a great little plugin for taking care of permalink changes and […]

7 WordPress plugin recommendations for authors

16th December 2020 in Blogs and blogging tagged blogging / plugins / WordPress by Matthew Brown

“I know I need an author platform,” say some writers, “but I don’t feel ready to set one up right now.” You are never going to feel like it. Platforms need time to grow. A lot of time. The most optimal time to start platform building is two years ago. […]

You are never going to feel like it

23rd November 2020 in Publicity tagged Author Platform / blogging / blogs / social media / Twitter by Matthew Brown

blog — A recent question in the forums was “what are the rules for blog SEO?” In this post, I am going to give you the five most important things you should be doing to maximise your blog SEO. 1. Use Yoast Yeast SEO is a plugin that we provide for all […]

5 SEO tips for Author Buzz bloggers

12th July 2020 in Blogs and blogging tagged blogging / links / SEO / URL by Matthew Brown