This is the first of a series fo eight posts I’ll be making duplicating emails sent to the Writers Union of Canada listserv in the run up to the Writers Union AGM.

I’ve been privileged to be asked to be on a panel at the AGM that will discuss raising an author’s public profile with blogging.

I thought I’d do a little advance profile-raising myself by sending out a series of short emails touching on some of the things that are likely to be discussed at the panel. I hope this will give some insights to writers unable to attend the AGM as well as bring AGM attendees to the session already pumped for the discussion.

I’m a new member of TWUC and my first book hasn’t been out a year yet, so why am I on this panel? The reason is that I’ve been podcasting for 3 years and that has lead to some great opportunities that are illustrative of the power of blogging for authors.

I’ll start the discussion at a beginner level: why a website at all?

Can it still be true that some authors don’t have their own web presence at all? If a potential book buyer hears about you on the radio or from a friend, they EXPECT to be able to look you up on the internet. What do they think if they can’t find you?

They may be able to find you in an online bookstore like Amazon or Chapters, but unless you have strong sales at Amazon any result that comes up on Google will be ranked far back in the pack. For better or worse increasingly “look it up” equals “Google” and most people won’t look further.

My next post will look at why a blog is even better than a web page.

The panel session is titled RAISING YOUR PUBLIC PROFILE and takes place at 1:15 on Friday May 23. I’ll be joining Cynthia Good and Rick Broadhead on the panel. The registration deadline for the AGM is April 16.