What Is a Blog?
A blog is a collection of posts or articles, with the most recent appearing first. It’s a simple way to share content, updates, behind-the-scenes looks, or commentary. Readers can browse older posts and optionally leave comments—if you enable them.
Important: If you enable comments, be prepared—about 95% of them will be spam. You’ll need to moderate them regularly. You can also enable or disable comments on individual blog posts.
Should Authors Blog?
Blogging is optional.
Whether you should blog will depend on how much free time you have, what kind of books you write (fiction/non-fiction), and whether you want to be found when readers look for something using their favorite search engines (Google, Bing, etc.) and/or AI tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.). Being found on search engines involves Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and being found through AI tools involves something new called Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).
Back in 2024, ranking at the top of Google for very general terms like “sci-fi novel” was near impossible. This is related to SEO. There are just too many well-established websites out there with pages about the topic to compete. So, for most fiction writers, my recommendation was to not bother with blogging and focus on writing their next book instead. But that was before GEO became a thing.
For non-fiction authors (with spare time on their hands), a blog was useful in 2024 if the author wanted to refine their next book ideas and/or market existing titles—assuming the author could craft SEO-optimized blog posts around long-tail keyphrases that didn’t have too much competition.
Fast forward to 2025, and AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT are reshaping how readers discover books (among many other things).
I don’t know about you, but I’ve completely switched to asking ChatGPT questions instead of going to Google because the results are much better and tailored to my exact question. AI-powered discovery tools have crawlers (also called bots) that look for well-structured, evergreen posts with clear headings, internal links, and optional FAQs. They use such content as reference signals, which could result in them surfacing your content when answering someone’s questions.
This Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is similar to SEO, but it has nothing to do with Google, Bing, etc. It’s for AI tools, and it’s a game-changer in terms of whether or not you should blog in 2025.
In the June 13, 2025 episode of The Creative Penn Podcast, “Book Discoverability In An Age Of AI,” Joanna Penn interviewed Thomas Umstattd Jr.—host of the Novel Marketing Podcast—about GEO and why topic-focused blog posts can teach large language models about your book’s themes and influence AI-driven recommendations.
Be sure to listen to the episode for more information, but here are a few evergreen blog article ideas that AI tools love to pull into their answers, which in turn could lead to readers discovering your books during one of their ChatGPT research sessions.
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How-to Guides (e.g., “How to craft a believable detective’s mindset” – non-fiction)
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Listicles (e.g., “10 must-read fantasy novels for worldbuilding inspiration” – non-fiction and fiction)
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Resource Round-ups (e.g., “The ultimate toolkit for indie authors: platforms, communities, and courses” – non-fiction)
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FAQ Posts (answering common reader or writer questions – non-fiction and fiction)
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Deep-Dive Case Studies (e.g., “How X author built a six-figure launch without paid ads” – non-fiction)
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Sneak-Peek Excerpts (share a compelling first chapter or exclusive scenes – non-fiction and fiction)
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Character Profiles/Interviews (e.g., “Inside the mind of my reluctant antihero” – fiction)
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World-Building Tours (maps, lore, real-world inspirations – fiction)
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Reading Guides & Discussion Questions (for book clubs or online communities – fiction and non-fiction)
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Mood Playlists & Inspiration Posts (music, art, locations that shaped your story – fiction and non-fiction)
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Cover Reveals & Behind-the-Scenes (deleted scenes, partial reveal of design – fiction and non-fiction)
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Thematic Analyses (e.g., exploring the symbolism in your latest novel – fiction)
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Fan Theory Round-ups (collect and comment on what readers are speculating – fiction)
I hope the above list has given you a few ideas on what you could blog about. But please remember that blogging requires time. If your schedule is tight, writing your next book should remain your top priority.
But if you can spare a little bit of time once a month—or even once per quarter—your books could get a GEO boost and help you find new readers.
SEO is a much tougher game in 2025, but non-fiction writers could still get an SEO traffic boost for well-researched low-competition keyphrases and well-crafted articles with those keyphrases appearing in all the right places, with several backlinks pointing back to the blog post. Fiction writers looking for an SEO boost are better off optimizing their About page, book pages, and series pages instead of blog posts.
But GEO can give a boost to fiction and non-fiction authors who choose to blog.
At the end of the day, do what makes the most sense for you, your books, your personality, and the amount of time you have on your hands.
And don’t forget that blogging can also be a great way to connect with readers who already know you, and you can always share updates about what’s going on in your world.