Using Grok as a Marketing Tool (Book Marketing)

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Maybe I’m onto something — maybe I’m not.

Over the past few days, I’ve been using Grok to coach me as an independent author over a time span of 5 years. From now on, I plan to use it not only to help me become a better storyteller, but also to connect with readers. In principle, I can ask the AI any question, and it delivers thoughtful, useful advice.

But there’s another aspect to this.

By using Grok publicly as my writing coach, the content also becomes valuable for anyone visiting my X profile and my website. So Grok isn’t just coaching me — it’s marketing me as well.

There hasn’t been much activity on my X feed. I still have some followers from earlier days when I occasionally commented on politics. But those followers don’t engage with my posts about writing books. Usually, when I share a link to a blog post, it gets no likes, shares, or comments. Even promotional tweets announcing free digital books on Amazon rarely receive engagement.

Since I started using Grok, I’ve seen a small increase in interaction. It’s still modest — but it’s a beginning. And as far as I can tell, the engagement feels genuine and organic, coming from people who are actually interested in my author journey.

That’s another benefit of using Grok: besides helping me grow as a writer, it makes my X feed more interesting. And that might eventually attract readers to my stories.

After only a few days, it’s obviously too early to draw conclusions about the entire five-year project. But the start has been promising. Let’s see where this leads.

You can follow the Grok project in real time here: @michael_brig

A Perspective on Marketing (Book Marketing 2)

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Today, I watched a podcast about marketing books. It was one of those podcasts that runs for an hour but delivers about one minute of actual value. Mostly a waste of time — so I’m not going to link to it or even mention its name.

The host — a self-proclaimed expert on book marketing — argued that authors need to shift their perspective. Instead of making decisions based on what they personally like, they should make decisions based on what sells.

In particular, he talked about book covers and said something along the lines of:

Don’t choose a book cover because you like it. Choose it because it makes potential readers buy your book.

Sure, I understand that approach. Once you’ve written a book, you want people to read it — and that means you want it to sell. So yes, making decisions from the perspective of potential buyers makes sense.

I don’t consider myself an expert on this topic at all, so don’t get me wrong. But the question that immediately came to my mind was this: Would I be proud of a book that I designed purely to sell — if I wouldn’t even want to buy it myself?

And my answer is no.

Maybe that’s the poor man’s answer — the answer of an author who has sold fewer than 1,000 copies so far. Maybe it’s the answer of a hobby writer. But it’s my honest answer, and I don’t think it will ever change.

After I hit the publish button on Amazon, I want to feel proud of what I’ve created. I want to look at my book and say:

Awesome idea. Stunning story. Beautiful cover. Great job.

Ideally, you achieve both as an author: you write a story for yourself that others love as well. But if I have to choose between a book that I love (and only a few readers do) and a book that many readers love but I don’t, I’m naive enough to choose the first.

If that means I’ll never “make it” — then so be it.

Blogging for Authors (Book Marketing 1)

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Yes, blogging isn’t what it used to be. I started my first German blog 15 years ago, and it took me three months to reach 1,000 regular monthly readers as there was basically no competition in my niche. Those days are over.

There are now more than 600 million blogs worldwide—70 million on WordPress alone. Social media took over around 10 years ago, and AI could be the next challenge for traditional blogging.

Yet, blogging still makes sense for authors—for many reasons:

1. It’s cost-efficient

I don’t have much money to invest in book marketing currently, so I’m always looking for cheap (or free) methods. You can create a free blog on WordPress today, and even owning your own domain with a starter hosting plan doesn’t cost much. Blogging is one of the most affordable ways to reach readers for indie authors.

2. Blogs bring readers

Fewer and fewer people are reading books nowadays. But those who enjoy reading blogs are often more interested in books than the average social media user. A blog automatically attracts an audience that is more likely to check out your books than your X or Instagram followers.

3. You are the brand

The internet isn’t just about finding information anymore. Information is everywhere—copied, summarized, and repeated. The internet is about personalities.

If you want to lose weight, you’ll find millions of websites about it. But you read the one where the author shares their personal journey. You start liking that person, following their writing—and eventually, you buy their book—not because the information is unique, but because you like them.

A blog lets you build your brand. It shows people who you are and why they should read your books instead of the thousands published every year.

4. Writing practice

Writers write. If you don’t write regularly, you’re not really a writer.

A blog gives you a reason to write consistently. Daily blog posts are perfect practice: readers are more forgiving of small mistakes in a blog than in a novel. Make your mistakes on your blog so you can learn from them for your next book.

5. Turn readers into fans

I give away all of my books for free to some degree. If you don’t want to pay, that’s fine, just take the stories at no cost. I do that because I believe in the long game. Selling a $10 book today might earn money now—but will it make money for me in the future?

If I give you a free book through Amazon that links back to my blog, you might become a lifelong follower. Over time, you might share links, write book reviews, or recommend my work to friends. All of this leads to more visibility, engagement, and ultimately, sales over a lifetime.

6. You need a headquarter

I’ve published five books already. In ten years, I might have at least thirty—and if we count short stories, it could easily exceed a hundred.

With so much content out there, new readers will ask: Where should I start?
My website answers that question. It’s my central hub, not Amazon, YouTube, X, or Google. I decide where to guide my audience on this blog. No other place online gives any of us that level of control.

7. Make additional money with links

I often link to useful resources. If a product has value and has made my work or life easier, why not share it with readers?

Affiliate links can generate extra income without costing your readers anything. Of course, never link to low-value products—it destroys trust. But recommending something genuinely useful benefits everyone: your readers get a helpful resource, the producer gets customers, and you earn a share at no extra cost for your audience. Everyone wins.

Start a blog now

Blogging isn’t dead—at least not for authors. It remains one of the best and cost-effective ways to reach readers, build your brand, and practice your craft.