If you're writing a book or planning to write one, prepare yourself for doing the publicity it will take to help make it a success. Unless you're a talk-show host with promotional opportunities and an existing audience or a social media influencer with hundreds of thousands of followers, you'll need a marketing campaign. As book publicists know, meeting the competition requires a wall-rounded program and one that includes blogs. Blogs span an infinite variety of topics and interests, making them ideal for book and author promotion; here's why: Niche audiences with a keen interest in a subject will buy books.

Most people who follow blogs are loyal and read posts routinely. They also probably like the blogger and will be impressed (and interested) when a book or author is featured. The best bloggers engage and interact with their audiences as ways to foster loyalty. They have trusted relationships with their readers and understand the content that will generate new or further interest. When a blogger gives a book a favorable review, it's likely to spark interest among followers. Readers trust and value the blogger's opinions and become curious when something is mentioned, including newly released books.

Word-of-mouth recommendations are some of the most potent forms of promotion, and the mentions you receive on a blog are virtual versions of them. Working with a blogger to promote your book is like mentioning it to an extended group of friends in a setting that allows for two-way communication with the group. There are several groups of target readers for most books – people who are potential readers based on their interests and knowledge. Because there are so many blogs and they each have a niche, you may be able to reach different groups by working with several bloggers, each one unique.

In any promotional program, creativity wins the day. People also like to have fun, and things like contests catch prospective readers' attention. It's an excellent idea to hold a contest on a blog with book giveaways to the winners when a review or article appears. They cross-pollinate each other and increase interest in each other. You can ask the winners to leave a review in the blog's comments section to continue the coverage over a more extended period. Don't also forget to use the blog article as a way to increase your social media following. Be discreet about it, and don't do the hard sell.