Monday, September 12, 2011

A Blog about Blogging


When I started this blog in February this year I fully intended writing something every few days, but like all good intentions, the space between blogs has become longer with time and I am suddenly surprised to find that it has been over a month since I have visited the site.

I began the blog to publicise Eureka House, the epublishing house I have started with my daughter Emma, and to promote my three ebooks, Brigid, The Liberator's Birthday and A Terrible Paradise, all of which are available through Eureka House and Kindle. All are historical fiction and all deal with Irish and Irish-Australian themes.


I listened to every bit of advice that came my way about promotion. I started a Facebook page. I read other people's entries but have rarely contributed anything myself. Maybe I'd have had more success in reaching potential buyers of my books if I had written more about what I was doing, but I think I felt a little uncomfortable about nattering about myself on such an open forum.

With the blog I was less inhibited. Besides it was my writing and teaching experiences I intended writing about. Sometimes I deviated from these two themes but I tried to maintain an impersonal approach, except for the day I was so frustrated with the petulance of my 95 year old mother that I wrote about what I wanted to be like when I reached that age.

I linked my blog up to net blogs, book bloggers and genie blogs and read lots of other people's blogs especially the ones dealing with historical fiction, the art of writing and some review sites. Just doing all this took so much of my time that I hardly had time to work on the novel I had begun at Christmas last year. Then there was teaching about the War of the Roses at U3A, novel writing workshops to run, a writing festival and the responsibilities of being president of the Ballarat Mechanics’ Institute. Blogging just has had to go on the back burner for a time. But now I have an iPad so I can write wherever I am. All I need now are some good ideas to write about. I think I will start by asking people for their advice on how to promote my books more effectively.