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Penelope Redmont writes fun traditional historical romance, romantic mysteries, and other fiction

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January 5, 2018 By penny Leave a Comment

Blogging For Authors On A Budget: 3 Tips

Blogging For Authors On A Budget: 3 Tips

I’ve had several questions about blogging for authors who are on a strict budget. Years ago, you could get away with blogging on a free service like Blogger. Today, you need your own domain, as well as some control over your hosting.

What about WordPress on your own domain? My suggestion is that if your self-publishing income is low, avoid WordPress for now. Yes, the benefits of WordPress blogging are huge, but the bills can be huge too.

Author blogging on a (tiny) budget: avoid self-hosted WordPress

Perhaps you’ve been told that to have a “proper” author blog, you need a self-hosted WordPress blog. Maybe you do, when self-publishing becomes your full-time business, but not when you’re just starting out.

As we’ve said, with self-hosted WordPress, the bills soon mount up. You’ll decide that you want:

  • A proper authors’ theme that’s commercial. Some popular WordPress themes for authors charge you annually, or even monthly;
  • You’ll need a designer to set up your new theme, unless you have design and coding skills;
  • You’ll want a commercial plugin like the MyBookTable plugin… and on, and on.

WordPress can be a huge money-sink, and time sink, too.

That said, let’s look at the tips.

1. Let professionals host your blog

My best tip is that you pay for hosting, on a platform like Typepad (not an affiliate link.) I have friends who’ve been on Typepad for years.

The big benefit of a hosted blogging platform like Typepad is that you can relax. You get stats, tools, easy design, and can be totally unafraid in the face of disasters. You’ll be able to smirk at the woes of self-hosted WordPress devotees, and tell them that you feel their pain. 🙂

2. Remember that your blogging audience is your readers

Blogging is fun, and can become addictive. You start getting likes, shares and reposts, and before you know it, you’ve forgotten your blogging audience, which is readers. Your readers.

Always keep the focus on your readers. Create a mailing list, with an inducement for readers to sign up to it. Of course, you’ll blog about things other than your books, but do remember your books, and blog with a purpose.

3. Create a blogging plan: decide what you’ll post, and when

Your first enthusiasm for blogging will last a month or three. Then, suddenly you realize that it’s been weeks — months — since you glanced at your blog.

Hundreds of thousands of blogs are created every month. Most are abandoned. You can avoid orphaning your blog by creating a blogging plan to carry you through the next 12 months.

You know what you’ll be publishing, and when, so use your blog to build reader anticipation.

A member of our writing group tells me that when she’s creating her yearly plan for her blog, she brainstorms promotional content first. She said: “I promote one of my books every week, so I mention that on the blog of course. I slot those promotions into my editorial calendar, so that I know what’s happening and when.”

Is blogging worth it?

Blogging takes time, some money, and energy.

Is it worth it?

That depends on you — how many books you’ve published, and the plans you have for your career as an author. Blogging has benefits, but it’s not a magic bullet as far as promotions are concerned.

Only you can decide whether it’s worth it for you. 🙂

The Eardleys Of Gostwicke Hall
The Lady And The Rake: A Scandalous Arrangement

The Lady And The Rake: A Scandalous Arrangement

eBook: $4.99
Author: Penelope Redmont
Series: The Eardleys Of Gostwicke Hall, Book 1
Genre: Regency Romance
Tag: regency

Melisande Eardley has a temper, and that temper gets the better of her.

More info →
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The Lady And The Duke: A Dangerous Season

The Lady And The Duke: A Dangerous Season

eBook: $4.99
Author: Penelope Redmont
Series: The Eardleys Of Gostwicke Hall, Book 2
Genre: Regency Romance
Tags: Recommended Books, regency

Her sister Catherine believes that Elaine's hair tells you everything that you need to know about her. It's flame-red. When Sir Oliver Destry trifles with Elaine, she decides on revenge. Elaine soon discovers the truth of the old saying that if you want to make the gods laugh, just tell them your plans.

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The Lady And The Man Of Fortune: A Wicked Secret

The Lady And The Man Of Fortune: A Wicked Secret

eBook: $4.99
Author: Penelope Redmont
Series: The Eardleys Of Gostwicke Hall, Book 3
Genre: Regency Romance
Tag: romance

Although he's a prize on the Marriage Mart, wealthy and twice-widowed Lord Delmere thinks that nothing could ever tempt him to marry again. Until he meets the lovely Lady Kingston.

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The Lady And The Military Man: Conquer My Heart

The Lady And The Military Man: Conquer My Heart

eBook: $4.99
Author: Penelope Redmont
Series: The Eardleys Of Gostwicke Hall, Book 4
Genre: Regency Romance
Tags: regency, romance

What happens when two people who won't consider marriage can't live without each other?

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The Lady And The Adventurer: Win My Heart

The Lady And The Adventurer: Win My Heart

eBook: $4.99
Author: Penelope Redmont
Series: The Eardleys Of Gostwicke Hall, Book 5
Genre: Regency Romance
Tag: regency

Henry (Henrietta) Eardley makes a huge mistake. Then she makes it worse. She's never known a man like Lord Devernwood, and he's never met a woman like her.

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The Lady And The Devil: If You Knew Me

The Lady And The Devil: If You Knew Me

eBook: $4.99
Author: Penelope Redmont
Series: The Eardleys Of Gostwicke Hall, Book 6
Genre: Regency Romance
Tag: regency romance

When Cerise and her sister are in danger, she relies on herself. There's no one else. Then she meets Lord Grayhurst.

 

 

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Lady Julia’s Destiny: A Love To Treasure

Lady Julia’s Destiny: A Love To Treasure

eBook: $4.99
Author: Penelope Redmont
Series: The Eardleys Of Gostwicke Hall, Book 7
Genre: Regency Romance
Tag: regency romance

Julia doesn't know whether to be amused or angry when Lord Lyneham decides to find her a husband. He and Julia's cousin take charge of Julia's fortunes. Suddenly, Julia's an heiress and her life changes.

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The Lady And The Duke: A Dangerous Season

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Her sister Catherine believes that Elaine's hair tells you everything that you need to know about her. It's flame-red. When Sir Oliver Destry trifles with Elaine, she decides on revenge. Elaine soon discovers the truth of the old saying that if you want to make the gods laugh, just tell them your plans.

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