Why I Started Vlogging

1. Promotion

Yeah, I admit it - the number one reason why I decided to start my own vlog was to (occasionally) promote my novel Jack Strong and the Red Giant as well as showcase my poetry. My vlog gives me the opportunity to access a new audience that is distinct from the people who normally read my blog as well as the many social media platforms that I use. Already it has gotten me at least one new reader (alright it's not a stampede but it's something) for my Jack Strong series, as I was able to inform one of my channel subscribers about a book giveaway last month. Hopefully as the weeks and months progress and the posts tick by my vlog will help bring my work to the attention of other like minded readers.

2. It's Something New

I love writing this blog and communicating with other people about the writing craft but I don't want to stagnate - I want to experiment and try different things and of course recording a weekly vlog is very new in today's publishing climate. Some of the vlogs on YouTube are astonishingly successful - gaining well over a million views week in week out - though writing blogs (as opposed to ones about make up and what they're doing for Christmas) aren't as popular. The most successful writing vlogs can expect to get anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand views every week, but it's still a great opportunity for writers to advertise and market their work as well as go into detail about the writing craft.

3. It Can Help My Writing

Since I normally read silently,I have found that recording myself as I read aloud and then publishing it on YouTube provides me with the opportunity to hear how the words sound. This then allows me to check on the effectiveness of my vocabulary, particularly the words I use for my description and dialogue. After reading and putting the first two chapters of Jack Strong and the Red Giant on YouTube this has already given me some pause for thought about how some of the narrative can be improved and built upon.

4. It Could Help Me Get Published

If a vlog helps me to improve my writing then it will also make my novel a more attractive proposition to the many agents that I send it to, thus making it more likely to get accepted in the near future. In addition it will also be something that I can draw attention to in the covering letter that I send to agents and publishers. Since many of these want authors to be experts at marketing their own work it will obviously demonstrate that not only am I doing just that, but that there is also a ready-made audience out there familiar with me and my work.


Final Word.

I only started my vlog a few weeks ago so it's early days yet. So far I've had about two hundred views in total, but as the weeks and months progress I am confident that this will continue to grow. In a few months' time I'll write another blog post and give you an update on my endeavours. We'll see how it goes...

If you want you can visit my vlog here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr0C4hZIy6-CB05AlnxU0Bw

If you want to read my book Jack Strong and the Red Giant about a bullied 12 year old boy's adventures on a mysterious spaceship then you can check the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M22USRE?*Version*=1&*entries*=0