Should I Have a Blog?

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

Southern Writers Magazine is a big believer in having a blog. The official magazine blog, Suite T, has over 3.5 million views which is due to the hard work of our Communications Director Annette Cole Mastron. Many authors have posted here and our hope is they will continue to visit here and more will join. The blog archives are a treasure trove of writing information.

Annette has a total understanding of social media and knows the benefits of a blog, podcast or video blog. Annette explains the media you use is not as important as the message you send. As an author the blog is the best way to introduce your writing style to your readers.

On Suite T we introduce many authors writing style to many readers. Many authors that have posted on Suite T also have their own blogs. With their blog and Suite T combined they can introduce their own writing style and their personal websites and books.

For the most part social media is more of a short-term medium. It is important to not only be aware of that but know its value and how to benefit from it as well. Over time it has developed into something that isn’t an end to itself but a conduit for a more long-term medium like your blog, then your goal is your website. Social media introduces you to the reader and takes the flow of traffic back to your blog and website.

This feeds into the scientific marketing facts of search engine rankings and social algorithms. What that means to us is our books and online visibility is greater. This in turn should mean a higher number of views on your website. In the end your connection with your readers is enhanced. With that comes more book sales.    

Our purpose at Southern Writers Magazine is to promote authors and we have promoted close to 4,000 authors. We have done so through our magazine articles which are supported by Suite T blog post. Our readers can get to know and further connect with our authors by following us on Suite T then going to your website. We don't want readers to stay on social media - we want to drive them to the author's website. A blog is the best way to strengthen the connection between an author and their readers. They have a deeper interest in you and your books. The answer is you should have a blog and you should feel free to take full advantage of ours.

You are more than welcome to appear as a guest author and you can connect to our SWM's, Suite T by emailing Annette Cole Mastron at annette@southernwritersmag.com. I think you will like what we can do for you and help promote your brand and books.