In this post author Renae Brumbaugh tells how her blog took her from unpublished stay at home mom to the published author of multiple books.

This is not rocket science. You can do this too.

Renae’s Story

Man. I sure wish I could see my name on one of these books, I thought to myself as I browsed the titles on the bookstore shelf. Sure, I could wish as much as I wanted. But I didn’t really believe it could happen to me.

Sound familiar?

My thoughts echoed the thoughts of millions of other wanna-be writers. I wanted to be published. I just didn’t know how to make it happen.

Then in 2007, I attended a writers’ conference. There I was told that every writer should have a blog. I didn’t even know what a blog was! So I went home and typed, “What is a blog?” into my search engine. Blogger.com came up, and before I knew it, I had my very own blog. I named it Morning Coffee.

I had no idea what to write on my blog. I mean, my life just isn’t that interesting! I couldn’t see writing about my piles of laundry or my less-than-thrilling weekly menu. After giving it a little thought, I decided to write devotionals.

But that was too hard. There are simply too many great passages to choose from! Every day I spent more time deciding which passage to write about than I spent actually writing. Finally I said, “Enough. I’m going to make this easy.”

I opened my Bible to my favorite book: James. I started with chapter one, verse one, and began blogging my way through the book. Before long, I started getting encouraging comments and e-mails. “This is great! You should turn this into a book!”

Yeah, right, I thought. But little did I know, God had plans for my little blog.

I wrote up a query and sent it to every publisher that accepted devotional books. Every single one. Within a few weeks, I had interest from three publishers. I sent them each a full proposal. It was rejected by two of them. It was accepted by one: Chalice Press. And it only takes one!

The discipline of starting a blog and posting faithfully has been life-changing for me. Since signing the contract for Morning Coffee with James, I have sold more than two hundred articles, have developed a syndicated humor column, have been given contracts for eight other books, and have contributed to various compilations. And it all started with a blog.

Blogging Tips

If you are a wanna-be writer – like I was just a few years ago – I’d like to offer some tips:

• Be humble. Take advice from the pros. They really do know what they’re talking about.
• Attend writers’ conferences, read books about writing and publishing, join a writer’s group. Follow the advice you’re given.
• Start a blog.
• Post faithfully. Even if no one ever reads it, even if it doesn’t turn into a book, the simple act of writing every day will cause more growth than you can imagine.
• Keep writing. Keep posting, even if no one ever leaves a single comment. You never know what may come of it!

Related posts:

1. Author Interview: Mary DeMuth
2. 3 Baby Steps to Get Your Book Published (for those who don’t know where to start)
3. 7 Blogs Every Author Should Follow
4. 7 Differences Between Published & Unpublished Authors
5. Why Your Blog Should Be Your Book’s First Draft

“If I couldn’t interrupt you, how would I reach you?”

This is the question Dave Evans (@EvansDave on Twitter) helps people answer all over the world.

Dave is the author of Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day and a frequent speaker on social media and emerging technologies.

What are the biggest trends in book marketing over the last few years? What has changed?

Dave Evans>> The ability to promote a book, like nearly anything else, is very different now. Amazon opened this up ten years ago with public, unfiltered reviews. The Social Web has taken it from there.

How have you used social media to promote your book?

Dave Evans>> Yes, absolutely, though I’d re-phrase that question like this: “How has (my) book benefited from social media?” It’s really not about what I am doing to social media–that’s not a channel I can control directly.

Rather, what I’ve done is to respond to both positive comments like “Hey Dave, I love your book!” (I send a ‘thank you’) and negative like “Good book…but where are the worksheets?” (I’d forgotten to put the URL In the book). I’ve tried to build a relationship with people who have bought my book or otherwise come in contact with it.

How have you used your website to promote your book?

Dave Evans>> The website, ReadThis.com, is purely backup. For example, this is where the PDF worksheets are found, and where updates and corrections are listed. The main conversation is “out there” and beyond my direct reach.

What are some of the pitfalls you see authors fall into as they jump into Social Media?

Dave Evans>> Believing they can create a viral event or control a conversation; believing that “social media” is free. A million people talking about your ad doesn’t directly help you on the Social Web. Instead, it’s about slow, decided, steady effort (the time for which has a definite cost) and of course measurement and correction based on what is observed.

What are the common misnomers about social media that you have noticed?

Dave Evans>> The biggest misnomer is something like “Facebook + Twitter = Social Media.” That’s like saying “Cement Mixers + Hammers = America.” It’s not the parts, it’s what the collective does with those parts. Facebook and Twitter are two small components (with lots of members, to be sure) that are very likely part of a solid strategy.

There are also support communities, ideation platforms, applications like Social Vibe, curation platforms like Bazaarvoice…and much more, all of which extend well beyond the big networks while obviously connecting to and leveraging them. It is “social” after all. ;-)

Where should authors focus their time? What social media activities have the highest ROI in terms of time?

Dave Evans>>

1. First, listen. Use Google Alerts or Techrigy’s SM2 to track conversations about your book, your publisher, competing titles and authors, etc.
2. Use social tools like Buzzstream to identify and respond to influential voices.
3. Create a basic presence on Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn — your audience will tell you which one(s) — and then connect the conversations into these sites.

In what ways does Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day help authors?

Dave Evans>> My book helps authors (and all small businesses) by providing practical, step-by-step exercises that lead to an understanding of how to apply social media based marketing in business.

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Thanks to Dave Evans for the interview. You can find his book Social Media An Hour a Day on Amazon and or at your local bookstore.

Related posts:

1. Author Interview: Mary DeMuth
2. 4 Reasons Why Authors Should Avoid MySpace
3. Marketing Mistakes Top Level Authors Make
4. Is Facebook A Fad?
5. 7 Ways to Integrate Facebook into your Online Platform

Mary DeMuth is an author, writing coach, and sought after speaker who speaks at writers conferences all over the country.

In this interview she shares how she uses social media (Blogging, Twitter & Facebook) to sell books and connect with readers.

What is your blogging story? When did you start blogging and when/why did you start your other blogs?

I initially started blogging when we moved to France as church planters. I thought it would be a great way to keep in touch with folks back home. I enjoyed it so much, and started creating a following immediately. That was the fall of 2004 with RelevantBlog.

How much traffic do your blogs get?

Combined, about 30,000-50,000 visitors a month.

How did you promote your blog at first? Has that changed now?

It was just my own networks plus our email distribution list that first drove people to my blog. Now I promote primarily by writing comments elsewhere, adding Feedblitz, and advertising through my updates on Twitter and Facebook. I’d say the latter is what drives the most significant traffic these days.

You have a robust online presence (Twitter, Facebook, etc). What role does your blog play in connection with those other sites?

An intrinsic one. I promote my blogs through Twitter. I have three blogs: Wanna Be Published, My Family Secrets, and RelevantBlog. Whenever I post to the blog, I write an intriguing teaser and a link on Twitter. I also promote other people’s blogs so I’m not a me-monster.

Does your blog help you connect to readers or sell more books? If so how?

Yes, absolutely. I’ve met plenty of new readers through social networking. They say it takes about 5-7 touches before a consumer will make a purchase of your product. Blogging, facebooking and twittering provide several touches at once. One time, a guy with my last name bought a novel for his mother, simply because he found me on Twitter (because of our name). So, you just never know!

What would you recommend to hopeful authors who want to start a blog?

1. Have a purpose for your blog.
2. Be interesting.
3. Be consistent in posting. Don’t orphan your fan base by being gung ho a few weeks and then dribbling off to nowhere.
4. Advertise through your social media networks.
5. Write inviting posts that aren’t too long.

Related posts:

1. Social Media & Authors – An Interview with Dave Evans
2. 7 Ways to Integrate Facebook into your Online Platform
3. 6 Things Readers Want from Your Author Website
4. Is Facebook A Fad?
5. 7 Twitter People Every Author Should Follow