Guest Blogger Interview – a Worthwhile Promotion?
Many of my writers who have their books already published are looking for ways to promote their books. Sometimes they find themselves invited to be interviewed in someone’s blog and they feel flattered (as rightly they should). This is called guest blogging and seems like a great idea.
But is it?
As an editor, I’ve been asked to participate in interviews too. But I don’t jump at every opportunity simply because, like ALL venues, its value depends on the scope of the audience, their interests, and any promotions you and the blog host provide ahead of time.
The interviewer figures you already have your own blog about your book (and you should), so you already have an audience of people interested. So some interviewers are really looking for you to bring YOUR audience to THEM, to bolster their readership. Which is fine–you each get something out of it. But keep in mind that your readers already know you. So only readers new to you really count, like the blogger host’s readers and anyone new that promos might pull in. Does the host site have much readership? Are you and the host doing promotions about your interview?
Of course, it is easy to say ANY word out about your book is good, an argument that I agree with IF the venue is a place you’d want to be seen. But it takes research on the your part prior to the commitment to see if this web site is the kind of spot where you would feel comfortable: is it professional, inviting, clean, etc.?
If any of you have done such an interview and want to share the results, please let me know. We’d all be interested.
