The Power Of Guest Posting For Authors

Being an author these days is hard work. Not only do you have to write a book and either find a publisher or get it self published but you have to market it as well.
Social media, advertisements, there is a slew of ways to get your name and your work out there.
Today, we’re going to talk about one of the oldest online marketing methods available to you that you don’t have to spend a cent on, though it will cost you some time.

We’re talking about a way to potentially expand your audience by giving more outlets for readers to find you.
The method? Guest posts.

We feature them for blog tours, WiHM, or almost any time they can come up.

The basic idea behind guest posts is that you take a rock-solid piece of content and you release it out into the wild, on someone else’s platform. The benefit for whoever is hosting your post is that they get free content to share that doesn’t cost them any time outside of making sure it fits with their audience. For the writer? Exposure! (That word we’ve all learned to hate.) In some cases, markets also pay for guest posts but that doesn’t happen quite as often. The idea is that your name will get in front of more readers this way.

So, does it work? Some guest posts will drive a ton of human eyes your way, some won’t. However, today we’ve got a variety of marketers and authors weighing in on the subject to share with you. Read on my friends!

Our first contributor on the topic is someone who we’ve previously worked with that was happy to reach out and share the following:

Next up we have an author who had first hand experience with successful guest psting:

In 2008 when my women’s friendship novel MRS. LIEUTENANT was chosen as an Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award semifinalist, I did a blog
book tour that introduced me to many potential readers. Then I dived into blogging on my own websites including at http://www.phylliszimblermiller.com/blog/ and as a guest blogger on other sites — and I’ve never looked back.

What’s great about guest blogging is that authors don’t have to flog their own books. Instead authors can write on topics related to the subject matter of their books or to topics connected to writing and then get a mention for their books. This can widen the appeal of authors and potentially encourage more readers for authors’ books.

This next commentor brings up a solid reason why you should guest post AND addresses a few concerns that might crop up!

I’ve found that guest blogging works well if you have a good idea for a post or article that doesn’t necessarily seem like it’d be a good fit on your own blog, but could suit someone else’s blog really well. Also, as someone who works in SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) in their day job, if you get an inbound link from the site you’re guest blogging on to your site(perhaps in the author bio), it should give your site a bit of an SEO boost, too.

There are downsides, however… As someone who used to guest blog heavily (and also used to support clients to do the same), one of the biggest downsides is that you’re giving up control of your content. There’s nothing stopping your content from not being uploaded correctly, or being changed one day, or simply disappearing one day (say if the site/blog/company goes under and therefore goes offline). So that’s something to watch out for and be aware of. I suggest always saving a copy of your guest posts, just in case something like that ever happens – at least that way you still have access to the content, perhaps to reuse on your own site.

Not everyone believes that guest posts are still useful and while arguments can be made against them, there is one reason they will eternally be a resource for authors and writers which is highlighted below!

My name is Simon. I am an experienced athlete, coach, founder and sports blogger of Best Sports Lounge, a company that aims to shed more light on the different sports the world has to offer.

Contrary to what most people think, I believe that there is still value in writing guest posts. Though guest posting might not get you a chance to write in Reader’s Digest or The New York Times, it does help you get your name around and be seen more by readers. However, the true value of guest posting and why it’s so hard to phase out is that it helps you build relationships with journalists and people specializing in a related niche, which is more valuable than any on-page or off-page SEO technique.

So there you have it from our first installment on the subject of guest post folks! Yes, this is the first of likely 3-4 posts that will address guest posts in the coming month. We’re eagerly taking feedback from authors, bloggers, and marketers on how guest posts can be beneficial to the authors who frequent our site.

As a reminder, we’re always open for them as long as they pertain to any aspect of publishing.