35 Day Blog Challenge - Day 27: Blowing my own blog horn...sort of

Today I am going to do something, that I don't do very often: blow my own horn...sort of. The days of the traditional publisher spending loads of money on marketing campaigns are long gone. In the same vein, self-published authors only have their own resources available and in many cases that resources are limited to non-existent.

That is where the network of other self-published authors and blogging enthusiasts pull their combined resources together to help out. I belong to both categories: self-published author and blogger. So if we don't have money, how do we pull our resources together?

Networking. Bloggers build up a following and a network over time. That network will include anyone and everyone who has anything to do with books - from writers, editors, bloggers, reviewers to readers and fans.

While I as a blogger don't charge anything for an author to have their book featured on my blog, I also get the benefit of new visitors and perhaps a new follower or two, which helps to expand my network to the benefit of all.

The featured author will be introduced to my followers who may be looking for some interesting new material for their reading lists. As a blog host, I have found more than one new author whose books are now on my to-read list as soon as they are published.

A second benefit for me is a post on my blog. While I plan to have at least two posts per week, it seldom works out that way. When I have an author's book to feature, it helps me with a post even as the author gets some added exposure for his or her book.

This is not a tap on my own shoulder, but a big thank you to all the bloggers out there who help to spread the word (and book) of the self-published author such as myself.

Click this link for the blog that supports even more authors and bloggers! Thank you, Chris!

If you want to see what the other participants in the challenge are blogging about, you can find their blogs here. Why not pop on over and say hi?