I'm Blogging Again and Here's Why

It's been a little over two years since I last posted. I began this blog with good intentions, but it foundered within a year. Why? And why am I now determined to resume regular posts?

As a new author, especially an indie author, I was faced with the daunting task of not only writing my stories but marketing them too. Few of us have the time, desire, and aptitude to maintain a comprehensive blitz of all marketing channels. I knew that. I tried blogging. I tried to post on Facebook and participate in various groups. I tried making regular videos on TikTok, discussing my books and my author journey.

It was too much.

After recharging during a long, international vacation in October 2023, I realized I couldn't do all three things well and finish Tethers of the Present, the second book in my series. Something had to give, and I chose to suspend my blog and focus on social media.

At first it seemed to help, relieving a little of what my wife maintains is self-imposed pressure. I published Tethers of the Present in May 2024 and started work on the third and final book, Echoes of the Future. Then, as the year played out, a few things happened that made me revisit my approach again.

First, I began attending book signing events as an author. I'll write more about this in dedicated posts. Suffice it to say that meeting readers and other writers, discussing books and selling a few, made me realize why I was doing any of this. Humans form connections over stories, and I think that's best achieved during face to face conversation.

Second, the uncertainty and political shenanigans around TikTok drove me to quiet quit the platform. I'm still on there. You can still find dozens of videos of me trying my best to be an author personality. But I haven't posted since the end of 2024, and have no plans to do so.

Finally, I met other authors at my second signing event who encouraged me to join an existing writing and reading community on Instagram. With the ability to cross-post on Facebook, it now scratches my social media itch. I'll share more detail about this too, but posting images or videos with snippets of text within active groups rather than The Void has been much easier to maintain.

So, armed with a manageable social media strategy and a plan to attend a handful of in-person events each year, why am I now reconsidering this blog?

In short, a writer needs to write and to connect with readers, including other writers or would-be writers. I wrote three short stories this year for inclusion in anthologies (yes, more about that later too), and those exercises demonstrated to me the value of writing different things in different formats. Simply writing one fantasy novel after another wouldn't help me grow in my craft.

Also, I have a website that presents my books as things people might want to buy, but why? What do they know about me? Why, of the tens of thousands of books out there, should they give mine a second glance? If social media posts entice and in-person events encourage deep two-way conversations, this blog is a way to put more of myself out there. And, of course, you're all welcome to comment and join that conversation if you wish!

My goal is to post once a week. So, until next time, happy reading!