KidLitCon is this weekend! Along with Caroline Hickey, Laurel Snyder, and Wendie Old, I'm part of an author panel called "It’s Not About Your Book: Writing Ideas for Blogging Authors."
We'll each be talking about why we blog, and why we read other authors' blogs, and how we find a balance between our blogging/promotional lives and our more secluded writing lives. Then we'll take questions. Which is where YOU come in. Even if you can't make the conference, we'd like some input from you, and we'll post our replies back to our blogs so everyone can be part of the conversation.
What would you like to know about blogging as an author? Do you have questions about how we decide what to blog about/how we got started/why we continue/what benefits we see/what the pitfalls are? Or any other question?
Let's have 'em!
Also, don't forget: This Friday is the deadline to enter a jody call in the comments here or here to win a signed copy of Operation Yes. Right now, I have two brave souls who are stomping all over the rest of you who haven't entered yet. Let's MOVE IT, people!!! :)
I will be going to the conference so I suppose I could ask this there, but just to get the discussion started I will ask a multi-layered question (because I love frosting): Who do you think of as your audience when you're blogging? Your readers or other writers? I realize they are often one in the same, but one of my worries about kidlit blogs (oh, worries isn't the right word, and I'm waiting to be set straight on this point anyway) is that it seems as if the audience is often other bloggers and writers, as opposed to that illusive child reader or the equally illusive parent of child reader. Some blogs I follow seem to be kid oriented; others seem to be writer oriented. How do you strike a balance? Who do you think about when you're blogging?
ReplyDeleteMy question is very similar to Madelyn's, and I hope that if this issue is discussed at the conference that one of you will blog about it!
ReplyDeleteI see my blog as a place for my readers (kids and adults) to go and see what I am up to. I write a bit about my work, and a whole lot about things that interest me, mostly books and science and the natural world. I think I do an okay job of staying on task and I think that my blog archive is a great place to go and learn a little bit about who I am and what makes me tick. That said, almost all of my subscribers, readers, and commenters are other writers. I did not anticipate this at all when I started the blog. And while I adore those few readers I have, and appreciate their readership, comments, and encouragement, I don't quite know what to do with the unease I feel over the fact that I don't blog with them in mind!
is anyone blogging from the conference?
ReplyDeleteGood questions, Madelyn and Loree---thank you! I'll be sure to bring them to the floor so we get more than just my input.
ReplyDeleteShelli, I'm sure someone will be blogging "live," but I'm not sure I'm up to listening and talking and processing and blogging all at once. I'll take notes, and write up my thoughts, and share as much as I can. Maybe, maybe, I can Twitter a bit.
Have a great time!
ReplyDeleteJules, 7-Imp