Unabashed

Well, so much for asking John Scalzi to participate in my interview sessions. It seems the indomitable blogger has already addressed virtually every question I could have asked here�as well as in�a second article he linked�in the quote below.

…�as I’ve noted before, given the choice between placing or serializing one’s work online, and creating a kickass blog/Web site that draws people in and has them returning on a repeat basis, I think it’s much smarter to build that kickass Web site. No one would have read either Agent or Old Man’s War if I had simply put them up cold; the people who read them when they were online (and before I became known for any other sort of writing) were the people who were already reading me because of my site. They already knew they liked my writing. Overall, I feel very confident in saying that it is the blog writing, not the fiction writing, that draws people here. This is changing somewhat as I become better known as a novelist (people read the books and then come here), but even so, if all I had here was fiction, I can pretty much guarantee you that the number of people who visit here regularly would be a small fraction of what the site gets now. If you want to get your name out online, focus on regular, interesting slice-of-life writing, not fiction.

And, from a second post on the same basic topic:

Yes, a blog is a great way to market yourself. And the minute you think of your blog primarily in marketing terms is the minute you kill its usefulness. People aren’t coming to your site to be marketed to; they’re coming to be entertained and to catch up with you. Be real, or you’re going to lose them. … No matter how you slice it, if you want whatever fiction you post online to be appreciated and noticed, you need to develop an online presence first. … If you expect simply posting creative stuff online is going to open doors, you’re probably delusional. It takes time — lots of time.

This is sage advice from one of speculative fiction’s uberbloggers. It would be interesting to me to hear David Wellington’s reaction to that. David has met with publishing success by first serializing novels online without an established readership already in hand. But let’s face it: DW is the exception, not the rule. Overall I must agree with Scalzi, it would be better to have the audience already built-in.

written by Matt Mitchell