Blogivation

Joanna Penn is the author of 3 books, blogger at www.TheCreativePenn.com and a speaker on web 2.0 marketing for writers and authors. She is also the creator of the Free Author 2.0 Blueprint: Using web 2.0 to write, publish, sell and market your books.

I started blogging because I had just finished my first book, How to Enjoy Your Job, and I realized I had no one to buy it. I learned very fast that marketing a book starts with a central place online and decided a blog was a good place to start. I read a lot of books about internet marketing and spent about 9 months researching and testing things out before I started my third blog, The Creative Penn. The site is aimed at people interested in Writing, Publishing Options and Internet marketing for books and author-entrepreneurs, but it has definitely evolved over the last 16 months.

My primary reasons for blogging now are:

• Personal branding, platform building and book sales. A blog has to have a person behind it and I try to share my own writing journey with what I learn as well as interesting and helpful information for people who are on a similar path.  I also have 3 books now and am writing my first novel so I am building an audience for my books by blogging online. I use video, audio and text posts to get information across. I also sell my books plus online courses for authors, include “How to blog for authors and writers“.

• Learning and development, for my audience and myself. I started podcasting on the blog as a way to interview people and learn from them. I have over 45 interviews now with bestselling authors, technical specialists and marketing experts which are also available on iTunes.

• Blogging is part of who I am now and it’s fun! The other two reasons were expected and could be considered calculated.  But this was surprising to me! Within about 6 months of starting the blog, I was part of a community online withother authors and people in the publishing industry. Having a popular blog has given me credibility and boosted my web presence but now I define myself as a blogger. I am passionate about the benefits of blogging and how rewarding it can be! The bloggers in the writing community are now becoming friends, and most of them I may never meet in person. What a wonderful networked world!

-Joanna