So You'd Like To Write A Guest Post?

I am happy to host other authors on my blog. Types of posts I've hosted include Cover Reveals, Book Launches, Book Excerpts, Character Interviews and guest posts on a topic of the author's choosing. I am open to other ideas as well- just pitch me.

While I do also interview authors, I don't do this unless I have already reviewed their book. I want to be able to talk about the story, not just the author. However, under certain circumstances, I might post an author interview conducted by someone else.

When I write guest posts for other bloggers, I try to be as original as I can, and I advise my guests to do the same. I also suggest that authors try to write posts that will be appealing to readers as well as other authors. The internet is filled with writing advice; let's do something different.

Regardless of what you're submitting, make sure you include the following

• The title of the book or books you're promoting, if you're published or close to it
• Your name
• An author photo
• A photo of your book cover, if applicable
• Your social media links (generally speaking, that includes your blog, Goodreads page, Facebook Author page and Twitter account. I also STRONGLY advise people to include a link to sign up for their mailing list. You can also include your Amazon and Smashwords Author Pages.)
• Your retail links (Amazon, Smashwords and/or whatever vendors you want to highlight.)

Some Best Practices to consider

• As Anne R. Allen reminds us, take a look at other posts I've written or hosted. As you can see, I take (most) comers, but most of my guest authors have a certain tone and/or are chick lit or romance writers. Just make sure that the piece you're writing won't be too jarring for the usual audience. 
• As Louise Wise notes, if you're committed to write on a certain topic, particularly for a blog tour or a host's blog event, stay on topic. If you have questions about whether or not you are, ask.
• Try to keep posts to 1500 words or less. Internet readers are increasingly impatient and you'll probably lose them after 800 words, no matter how brilliant your insights may be.
• As advised by Sinead MacDughlas, most retail sites throw in a lot of referral tags in their urls, depending on how you arrived at the product. Even when embedded, keep the links as short as possible. So instead of http://www.amazon.com/Family-You-Choose-Pioneers-ebook/dp/B00FIMIZIY/ref=la_B00C45K4CI_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380903345&sr=1-2 use http://www.amazon.com/Family-You-Choose-Pioneers-ebook/dp/B00FIMIZIY. (And did you check out just a little bit looking at those links? Onto my next suggestion...)
• Keep urls to a minimum on the page. Wherever possible, try to embed links into images or text. Our eyes aren't yet accustomed to html-speak and many of us tend to check out when we see something that looks like tech-speak gobbledy-gook. So instead of "Click here to buy my book http://amazon.com" use "Click here to buy my book."
• Use popular fonts like Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana or Helvetica.
• Try to keep your size between 10 and 12 points.
• Other than photos and embedded video, keep graphics like bars and shapes to a minimum.
• If you're using pre-formatted HTML, please make sure it works across all platforms. Sometimes it can be more trouble than it's worth.
• Are you doing a Rafflecopter Giveaway? As tempting as it is to make liking or following you on all of your platforms a condition, limit the requirements for your giveaway unless you're giving away something coveted, like a high-value gift card. For most other giveaways, keep your conditions to joining/following/liking your Facebook page, Twitter account, mail list and Goodreads account.

Got all that? Then send me an email at deb AT deborahnamkrane DOT com and let's talk about your post.