Blogging at the Historical Novel Society Conference, Florida

I will be speaking at the Conference on the panel entitled 

Virtual Salon: The Historical Fiction Blog

Today’s readers (and publishers) expect authors to have an internet presence. A blog is an effective way to join the writer, reader, and reviewer of historical fiction in dynamic interaction about novels and the history that infuses them. This panel at the conference will not only examine the benefits an author derives from maintaining a blog at various stages of her career, but will explore how blogging serves the historical fiction community as a whole. Topics include: finding a niche and establishing a voice; effective blogging strategies (regular features, guest posts, contests, blog tours); blogging etiquette; expanding one’s audience; and measuring success. 

I thought it would be nice to introduce you to my fellow-panellists on the 'Virtual Salon' panel at the Conference. We have only ever met 'virtually' so it will be lovely to meet them in real life. Click on their pictures to be taken to their blogs!

Julianne Douglas has been organising us all for our panel discussion, and wrote the blurb at the top of this post. Julianne's blog 'Writing the Renaissance' focusses on historical fiction set in sixteenth century France. An avid reader who fell in love with all things French at the age of twelve, she went on to earn a Ph.D in French literature from Princeton.



Heather Webb's novel, 'Becoming Josephine' will be published in 2014 by Penguin/Plume and her blog 'Between the Sheets' is about her writing and publishing journey.





Amy Bruno's blog 'Passages to the Past' is a long-standing blog for the historical fiction community reviewing books of all periods and she boasts over 1000 followers and 418 networked blogs. Amy also runs the Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours.




Heather Rieseck started her blog, 'The Maiden's Court' in 2009 as an outlet for her reading. It has since become well-known for its honest reviews of historical novels and her author interviews.


Please consider checking out the blogs and leaving a comment. If there is anything you would like to know about blogging and historical fiction, please leave me a comment so that I can flag it up for the panel. We are looking forward to a great discussion and look out for my report of the session on this blog.