As you might be able to tell from all my blogging, I love to write blog posts. This holds true whether I’m here on my blog or visiting on someone else’s site.

I write them because blog owners love them. And for good reason:

• Guest Posts aren’t just a scream to BUY MY BOOK like so many listings of a blurb and a cover. Blog visitors may skim over an excerpt or cover reveal, but will stop to read an interesting post.
• Guest Posts allow readers to get to know an author better. They see an author’s style and what’s important to an author.
• Guest Posts provide good content (that search engines notice) for a host’s blog.

And if you now want to write a guest post but are unsure what to write – here are a few ideas:

1. Interview yourself. Readers love to learn little details about their favorite writer. When did you start writing? Where do you write? What’s on your desk? What is your favorite book? Do you have any pets? Do you write in the mornings or the evenings? When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
2. Interview a character from your book. Give readers insight into the background of a character. This can be something that you did not include in the book. Writers are always cautioned not to put too much back-story in their books. This interview is where it goes.
3. Write about the thing that makes your book different from the rest. Does your book have time travel? Then write on the current scientific theories surrounding time travel. Is your book about a Navy Seal with PTSD? Do a post on the real problems the military faces with PTSD. Are you writing on the theme of second chances? Write about famous second chances or your own personal second chance.
4. Write about your research. Did you find an interesting fact in an obscure book? Did you base the setting on a place you visited? If you found it interesting, then your readers will too!
5. Link your book to history. If your book is a rewritten fairy tale, then talk about early fairy tales or oral storytelling. Give a timeline of automata if your book is about robots. Writing about soul mates? Then do a deep dive into the concept of soul mates and how it’s changed over the millennia.
6. Offer a writing tip to aspiring authors. Did you create a series bible to keep your facts straight for your book? Give a solution to a pesky writing problem like the overuse of “that”. Share a tip for finding passive verbs. Help the romance genre by giving advice on eliminating autonomous body parts.
7. Have a music playlist? Authors often have a cache of songs that go with the book they are writing. Your readers will get an extra thrill if they can listen to the same music you did when you wrote their favorite book.
8. Write a snippet of flash fiction. Have an idea set in the same universe as your book but not enough material to expand into its own story? Flash fiction to the rescue. Readers love extra scenes, short stories, and snippets from your books. It will allow you and your readers to visit with your characters a second time.
9. Use a deleted scene. As an author, I’m continually cutting scenes that either don’t fit with the pacing or are from the wrong point of view. These are excellent fodder for guest posts. Not only do readers get a little “behind the scenes” peek at your process, but they can gain a different perspective on the story.

There are so many cool ideas out there. Once you get started, you’ll discover lots of things that you want to write about. And your readers will love it, following you from blog stop to blog stop to find out more.

Do you have a favorite type of guest post that I missed? Make sure to tell me in the comments below!