Guest blogging is one of my favorite book promotion tactics for all authors because it’s targeted. The more targeted your efforts, the more likely you are to reach the people who will love your book.

Problem is, many novelists don’t write guest posts. And those who do usually contribute to their friends’ blogs or write for genre blogs.

And that’s all good.

But you know what’s even better?

Adding topic specific blogs to your list of potential sites for fiction guest blogging.

Look for the nonfiction nuggets

Novels are often built with or around a wide range of nonfiction subjects and themes. These are what I call the “nonfiction nuggets” in your book. They’re a tool you can use to expand your reach both with the press and topic bloggers.

You can usually find your book’s nonfiction nuggets in its:

• Professions
• Real-life settings
• Hobbies
• Medical conditions
• Industries
• Themes
• Conflicts

Once you identify your nonfiction elements (see the exercise below), you can match them to blogs on those subjects.

What does this look like in practice?

Here are a couple of real-life examples of how you can apply this approach.

I just finished reading Liz Alterman’s “The Perfect Neighborhood.” It has a key storyline revolving around a kindergartner walking home from school alone. The author could write a parenting blog post about what she uncovered during her research about how parents handle the walking-home-from-school situation.

She could also blog for a parenting site about how her experiences with cliquey school mothers informed her character development (because they probably did).

My friend Mollie Cox Bryan writes cozy mysteries. Her Cumberland Creek series is about a group of scrapbookers; the Cora Crafts books are craft retreat mysteries.

For the Cumberland Creek series, she can guest blog for blogs dedicated to scrapbooking because, of course, scrapbookers who read cozy mysteries are the people who are most likely to love her books. That logic applies to the Cora Crafts books, too.

There are so many possibilities for every book.

Complete this fiction guest blogging exercise

How do you apply this to your fiction? Try this exercise:

• Skim through your novel to find “nonfiction nuggets.”
• List them. I’m sure you can find at least three (and probably many more).
• Search for and list blogs on that topic by Googling the topic and the word “blogs.”
• If you’re not familiar with “pitching” bloggers, follow the instructions for doing so in my free report, “Virtual Book Tour Basics: How to Connect with Your Audience and Sell More Books Without Leaving Home.”

Then the fun begins: writing your guest post.

Download my free Guest Blogging Cheat Sheet now

As a writer, you know that guest blogging involves more than just determining what you’ll blog about and who will be interested in that. You know that you have to deliver a guest post that your host will be proud to publish.

Start by reading the tips in my free “Guest Blogging Cheat Sheet.” It details nine best practices that will keep you from making mistakes that undermine your guest blogging success.

This cheat sheet, which you can download as a PDF file immediately, will help you deliver the guest post your host expects. It’s your shortcut to looking — and acting! — like a guest blogging pro.

The simple and easy process of identifying your book’s nonfiction topics and matching them to topic bloggers could vastly expand your reach to readers interested in something that plays a role in your story…and help you sell more books.

What are the nonfiction nuggets in your novel? Share one here in a comment! 

(Editor’s note: This article was first published in February 2017. It has been updated and expanded.)

If you aren’t sending review copies of your book out for blogger book reviews, you’re missing out on more than book sales.

In addition to selling books, they provide testimonials you can add to your Amazon and other retail sales pages as editorial reviews.

They also introduce your book to new readers while reminding others about your book’s value.

Authors aren’t sending me their books

Honestly, I’m continually amazed by how the people who write how-to books for authors rarely ask me to review those books.

I don’t think it’s because they know I’m not shy about pointing out a book’s flaws.

It’s more likely that they’re unaware of the power of a glowing review from a peer. In the case of authors who decide to write how-to books for other authors, it’s probably because they are completely unaware of bloggers like me. The “peers” they send review copies to are authors who write the same types of fiction or nonfiction books they write.

No matter the reason, it means that if I want to review a book for you, I have to go looking for one.

Exhibit A

For example, last month, I reviewed Penny Sansevieri’s book marketing guide, which was published January 1, 2022. Why did it take me a year and a half to write a review?

Because I didn’t know it existed.

via GIPHY

How is this even possible?

Penny is an accomplished book publicist who knows me. She also knows the value of reviews. Yet, she didn’t send me a book announcement press release; she didn’t send a review copy.

She’s not the only one who overlooks this site’s reach (it’s ranked seventh globally among book marketing blogs). I know from LinkedIn that a member of the Build Book Buzz Book Marketing Group launched a book about book promotion last week.

Did she tell me about it? Nope.

The last time anyone asked me to review a book that’s relevant to authors was in late 2019.

This is nuts.

How to snag those blogger book reviews

You’re smarter than that. Pursue those blogger reviews! Make them happen!

It’s not hard to identify and contact bloggers who both reach your audience and review books and other products their readers will appreciate knowing about.

The process is pretty simple. Here are the steps.

1. Identify the blogs and online media outlets that reach your target audience.

Here are a few resources for finding blogs to contact:

• Google your search term – your topic – plus the word “blog.”
• Use the blogger search engine.
• Set up Google Alerts for your book’s topic. Some might link to blogs.
• Solicit reviewers through your social networks.

2. Visit each blog to see if the blogger reviews products.

This is important.

You don’t want to waste your time contacting and following up with a blogger who is never going to say “yes.”

3. Compile a database or grid with each site’s contact name, e-mail address, site URL, and notes that will help you personalize your request.

You can use contact management software, create a table or grid in Word, or use Excel.

What’s most important is that you use a system that works for you.

4. Write and e-mail your request.

Contact each blogger individually rather than sending a generic message to everyone on the list you’ve built. Personalize the message so it’s clear you’re familiar with the site.

Explain clearly and succinctly why you’re contacting them.

Here’s a sample script:

I’ve written a new book, [title], that I think will [interest/entertain/educate/whatever] your readers because [brief reason]. I noticed you review products – I found the [product] review especially helpful – and thought you might be interested in reviewing my book.

It’s [brief description – two sentences max].

Would you like to receive a complimentary digital review copy? I can send you a link where you can download it in the format you prefer for the e-reader you use.

I’ve pasted my book announcement press release with more details below my signature.

I look forward to your response.

It’s as easy as hitting the “send” button, then tracking the responses.

No response? Forward your original message with a friendly reminder note.

Special note for novelists

The fiction blogger review-a-sphere is especially competitive. That’s why many authors seeking genre reviews hire a reputable virtual book tour service. The company’s connections can help place your book higher up in the queue.

But the savviest fiction writers don’t stop with genre reviewers.

They approach topic bloggers, too. These are the people who write about what I call the “nonfiction nuggets” in your book.

Nonfiction nuggets are the messages, themes, locations, professions, and other details that are important to your story, but aren’t fiction.

Leveraging topic bloggers

You can learn how to uncover these nonfiction nuggets and see examples in “The guest blogging audience most novelists don’t know about.”

When you follow the instructions in that article, you’ll probably identify at least three nonfiction topics in your book. For example, if your protagonist is a geologist, that profession is one of those nuggets. Does the story center around bullying? That’s one, too.

Select the one or two nonfiction topics that are most important to your story, then use the instructions above to search for and document blogs about them.

Note that the email script you’ll use to contact them will need to be slightly different from the one above. You’ll have to state the connection between your nonfiction nuggets and the blog’s topic because it won’t be obvious.

That won’t be hard for you to do, though. You’re a writer, after all.

Please don’t miss out

I can’t predict how many more books you’ll sell with blogger reviews, but as a benchmark, my review of Penny’s book sold 28 copies on Amazon. I know this because I linked to the book with an Amazon Associates link specifically so I could track sales.

I hope more authors bought it through Bookshop.org or other retailers, too, but I have no way of knowing if they did.

Will those 28 sales change Penny’s life? Nah. But she might land a new client or two while expanding her fan base.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to sell more books and acquire more fans. Include bloggers in your book launch plans. You won’t regret it.

Have you purchased a book because you read a blogger’s review? Please tell us in a comment.

One reason is that it takes more effort and creativity to publicize fiction. That’s because need you need “news hooks” or “news pegs” to generate publicity and with fiction, they aren’t obvious. You have to dig a little harder to uncover them.

But they’re definitely there. You can find them yourself and use them to get that priceless free media exposure known as publicity.

You just have to understand the “news hook” concept, then find a few in your novel.

What’s a news hook?

A news hook (or peg) is that nonfiction nugget that makes your fiction newsworthy. It’s your publicity “angle.” It’s what’s unique, special, or noteworthy about your book (no, the fact that your book is “new” isn’t newsworthy). It’s that special something that attracts attention and captures media interest.

How do you find yours? Pull out your manuscript and look for:

• The characters’ hobbies: Mollie Cox Bryan’s Cumberland Creek cozy mystery series is built around scrapbooking, which gives her news hooks for crafting publications and blogs.
• The characters’ professions: Maine, by J. Courtney Sullivan, includes a character who’s a worm farmer. Trust me, if there’s a magazine called Wormers’ Weekly, you know they’d be interested in learning why she chose that for her book.
• Geographic settings: Author Don Stevens used the Finger Lakes setting for A Taste for Death: A Finger Lakes Mystery to get book publicity.
• A protagonist’s health problem or disease: Both can be used to generate interviews with health writers, niche bloggers who focus on the disease or medical condition, and newsletters published by organizations that support people dealing with the health problem.
• Book themes: Common children’s book themes include bullying, inclusion, and acceptance. These themes open doors to interviews for articles about how to prevent bullying in schools, how to raise children who embrace diversity, or how to support children who look or act differently from peers.
• Underlying messages: Similar to themes, messages are your book’s takeaway. For example, had Fredrik Backman, the author of A Man Called Ove (one of my all-time favorites), needed publicity, he could have pitched article and segment ideas related to one of the book’s thoughtful messages related to grief and loss.

And don’t forget to contact your alumni publication. The fact that you graduated from the institution isn’t a “hidden” news hook — but it’s definitely a news peg for the school’s magazine.

Your novel is loaded with news hooks you can use to promote it — you just have to know what they are and how to use them.

More news hook examples

Understanding the news hook concept isn’t intuitive for everyone. Here are a few more examples that might help.

Your best news hook might be your day job. That’s what got one Florida nurse featured in an article on Nurse.com — “RN spins tales: Florida nurse doubles as romance novelist.” The fact that she’s a nurse writing romance novels is newsworthy — it’s her news hook.

Cari Noga, one of my past Book Marketing 101 students, wrote Sparrow Migrations: a novel, about a 12-year-old boy with autism who witnesses the “Miracle on the Hudson” plane crash from a sightseeing ferry and becomes obsessed with the birds that caused it.

One of Noga’s news hooks is the boy’s autism — she used that to get reviews and articles in publications and blogs serving families of children with autism.

Chrystle Fiedler, another one of my past students, is the author of several books in her “Natural Remedies Mystery” series for Gallery Books. Death Dropsand Scent to Kill, which feature a doctor who specializes in natural remedies, are set in a holistic products store.

The author weaves natural remedies into her story lines so that readers learn while they’re entertained. These natural remedies give Fiedler news hooks — and credibility — with trade magazines serving health food and related stores and with health magazines and blogs.

The books are also set on Long Island, with backdrops that give the author news hooks to use with each location’s media outlets.

Find your book’s news hooks

Review your manuscript for the “hidden” nonfiction nuggets you can use to reach specialized audiences and get news media exposure. Going forward, write news hooks into your next book to make the promotion process easier and more successful.

Need help with it? My e-course that teaches how to promote fiction includes lessons on how to find and use your book’s hidden news hooks. Book Marketing 101 for Fiction: How to Build Book Buzz helps you learn how to promote your novel at your own pace.

As you work to help readers discover your novel, look for — and leverage — those nonfiction news hooks in your fiction manuscript. They’re one of the resources you’ll need for sales success.

What’s one of the news hooks in your novel?

(Editor’s note: This article was first published in August 2013. It has been updated and expanded.)