Karen Cioffi-Ventrice Shares Keyword Tips for Writers

Karen Cioffi Ventrice is our SharingwithWriters guest blogger today because she is my go-to girl for anything techy.  Here is a brief tutorial on keywords. 

Keyword Tips from Karen Cioffi Ventrice

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By Tech Smartie Karen Cioffi Ventrice

To get search engines to categorize and index your content, you still need to use keywords. It's the quickest way for them to do that.

You should put a keyword in your title; in the first paragraph of the article, once midway through and in the last paragraph. But, the first two are probably the most important.

After you have your article in place, go to the POST SETTINGS on the right side of the blogging area. In Labels input the keywords relevant to the article.

Then, scroll down to the SEARCH DESCRIPTION area. Put a keyword effective brief description. This is as important as using keywords because if a search engine picks up the article to use as the results of a search query, they usually use the description you create to go along with it.

I have a Slideshare overview of optimizing a Blogger blog post at:
http://www.articlewritingdoctor.com/2015/08/optimize-your-blogger-blog-posts/

It's pretty much the same for optimizing a WordPress blog post also.


Karen

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 Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The multi award-winning second edition of The Frugal Editor; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .

Three Reasons Why Having Your Own Newsletter Is Important--and How to Use Others' Newsletters, Too

I don't think using others' newsletters and blogs a panacea for easy promoting. Newsletters and blogs that belong to other people are a great way of promoting but they do lack some of the benefits that you have if you run your own. That would be:

1.   The independence you have with your own.

2.   Using your own as mini a way to reward those who do something nice in terms of publicity for you. See the Thank You section in this newsletter as an example of this.

3.   Networking by offering guest features, guest posts, and other ways to link to people who—if they're savvy marketers—will reciprocate. If not today, then later.

4.   The ability to drive traffic to your Web site, online bookstore page, of anywhere your little heart desires.

Having a newsletter and blog of your own is a lovely way to share what you know. And having one doesn't discourage doing that in others' newsletters and blogs, anyway!

Here's an example of a tip I submitted to Penny Sansevieri's "A Marketing Expert" newsletter.

Reader Tip: Include Action Shots on Your Website

When you're updating your website as suggested by this Book Marketing Expert newsletter, be sure to include at least one action shot of you doing something. Many bloggers and online folks like plain old generic headshots but print media still need a whole lot more than someone holding his or her book or accepting an award. And TV producers need to see some possibilities for action in the still photos or videos you offer. Use my media room as a very basic example (http://howtodoitfrugally.com/media_room.htm) and Penny's as an example of what you're aiming for: http://www.amarketingexpert.com/media.html. And read more on why you need to relate to the media and how to do it in The Frugal Book Promoter at http://budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo.

Tip offered by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of how-to books for writers. http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com.

 

Here's an action shot like the one I suggested (see left). You just have to think of shot that is somehow associated with your book.

 

Having said that, any image is better than none at all. So a picture of you with your book at a book fair works, even though it may not qualify as a real action shot. Grab your book before the shutter snaps and take a picture anyway. But grab a fellow book fair participant to be in your shot with you because he or she may be willing to help you promote. Two marketers/publicists are better than one.

 

For more information on newsletters and blogging use the index of your Frugal Book Promoter (http://budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo) to find help, ideas, and tons more references.

Providing tips for others is a great way to extend your reach. But it's limited. You own blog and newsletter issn't. That's why I can include this additional tip in this blog post without considering word count (or just being a real pest to the newsletter editor!).  Here it is:

 

Re-use your action photo. Repetition is good for sales. That's why you have a book cover. I use this one in the image feature of my marketing books on my Amazon buy pages (see the images I posted on my Frugal Book Promoter buy page), on my Web site, and sometimes send it to feature editors after I've been interviewed. Especially if they don't mention sending a photographer to take a picture. It's part of our jobs to make it easy for editors to do their jobs easily and well.

 

If you'd like to be sure you see all my favorite marketing and writing tips subscribe to my SharingwithWriters newsletter at http://howtodoitfrugally.com. The subscribe button is in the right of almost every page. And you'll get a free little e-booklet on wordtrippers when you do it. And, yes. I encourage you to submit your own favorite tips to that newsletter and to include credit lines with links to your book's sales page.   

 

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .

Your Author Blog: The Hub of Your Online World

By D’vorah Lansky, M.Ed., Author of Book Marketing Made Easy: Simple Strategies for Selling Your Nonfiction Book Online.

As an author, having a blog is essential to your online book marketing success. Your blog is the hub of your online world and provides you with a platform from which to share your message, sell your products, build community, house your membership site, show your videos, and share your knowledge. Create an attractive, interactive environment where people will want to visit often.  Your blog is not just where people go for content; it is where they go to connect with you. With your blog, you build community, you build credibility, and you create interaction.

By D'Vorah Lansky

Tips for Making the Most of Your Posts

•       Use the footer section of every post to invite readers to subscribe to a special offer or follow you on a social network.

•       Respond to comments! Authors who respond to comments generally get a lot more comments than those who ignore their readers.

•       Use social media to promote your blog posts. Announce your new posts on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social media sites. There are plugins, for WordPress for example, that allow you to automate the announcement of new blog posts to Twitter.

•       Add images to your blog posts as that will engage your readers and encourage them to read through your post.

•       From time to time add audio or video to your blog posts. This will captivate your audience and they will be encouraged to come back often.

•       Share a sentence or two from key blog posts, in your email newsletter. Invite your audience to visit your blog to read the full article.

Your blog is a place where potential customers and publishers come to find out more about you and your book. Your blog provides you with a place to share your message and to share your work. You can have articles that you write in support of the material that you discuss in your book. You can share weekly tips or articles on the topic of your book, include audio clips from your book, as blog posts, post your interview and book tour schedules and much more.

10 Things to Blog About

1.     Share an update about a recent book reading or interview you have participated in.

2.     Write a post based on an idea inspired by a comment from a reader of your blog.

3.     Comment on a news event and on how it relates to your field.

4.     Write a how-to post.

5.     Tell an entertaining and educational story, related to your topic.

6.     Address common frustrations in your industry.

7.     Compose a detailed, step-by-step tutorial on how to do something that your blog readers would benefit from.

8.     Invite an expert in your field to share his or her insights and wisdom with your readers. Write and introduction to the article and invite comments.

9.     Make a list of FAQs (frequently asked questions) that will appeal to your target audience. What are common questions people have and what are your answers?

10.  Review a book on your topic area and share your opinions on what the author has to say.

Make your blog attractive and brand it with the colors of your business or your book. Display a video book trailer on the home page of your blog as that will invite people in and help them to make a connection with you.

Your blog also provides an easy way for people to purchase your book. You can sell your book directly from your site by providing a link to Amazon, as well as by offering special pricing or a special promotion for signed copies of your book.

D'vorah Lansky

~D’vorah Lansky, M.Ed. and Marketing Wizard has been marketing online since 1994. She is the author of the Amazon bestseller, Book Marketing Made Easy: Simple Strategies for Selling Your Nonfiction Book Online. Visit her blog at: www.BookMarketingMadeEasy.com Get your free guide to Guest Blogging and check out D’vorah’s upcoming course on Virtual Book Tours for Authors at http://VirtualBookToursMadeEasy.com

 

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about this blog:

Amazon Rectifies Big PR/Marketing Booboo!

Amazon is finally getting their marketing right. Read that word "marketing" as  “public image” as well as “sales.” They're partnering with California rather than fighting them. This kind of partnership is best for retailing in general (and yes, selling books--whether through online bookstores, bricks-and-mortar bookstores, or through the author themselves--is retailing!).

This new tack, of course, is best for Amazon. I don’t know why they keep getting their public relations wrong. By partnering, they get to bring thousands of jobs to California (along with lots of positive publicity in California as the process develops!) and increase their distribution centers in a huge economy. New distribution centers means more sales of merchandise (like food) that must be delivered immediately. Readers won’t mind that faster service, either.

However, I hurry to complain. After cutting off the affiliate program I had with them for this and my other blogs, they've been in no hurry to turn it back on. Thus, you're still seeing no Amazon widgets of book covers and other merchandise on my blogs.  I do hope that changes soon!

~ Inspired by news in the business section of the LA Times  


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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about this blog:

On How Books Can Still Change Lives and Marketing

I have a very special friend who also happens to be the designer of some of my book covers (see www.budurl.com/Blogging4Retailers). Or just see the cover in the widget on the left.  He (Chaz DeSimone) says, "I am a great designer but a lousy businessman."  I might add, he is also a great marketer--when he gets around to doing it.

Anyway, he was recently evicted. While he was in the depths of depression he read a book that changed his life by Marriott of Marriott Hotel fame. (Isn't it nice to know a book can do that!)  As he came out of his funk, he got busy with the blog I'd been nagging him to start. And this is the result. His first blog post. It's about this life-changing book! And it has the subtext that, yes! Marketing makes a difference.

http://chazdesimone.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/eviction-to-elation/  I hope many go there to learn from his mistakes--and his successes!

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about this blog:

Five Tips to Help You Decide How Much of YOU Should Show Up in Your Blog

I often recommend Cheryl Pickett's books to friends and clients who write. Today she is helping me fill some blog time I am taking off for writing and inspiration.  That's what friends are for, right?  So...do you know what TMI is?  Keep reading!

How Much is Too Much?
5 Tips to Help You Decide How Much of You Should Show Up in Your Blog



1. The first thing to remember is your blog is yours. There are no editors involved, so it will be whatever you create good, bad or ugly. You will write for yourself to a point, but if you're blogging for business, your biggest influence will be the response of your reader to what you put out there; and part of what you present will be bits of yourself.

2. Plenty of blogs talk about needing to clean up dust bunnies, favorite music, the latest weather or dating exploits. If your reason for writing is for fun or to have an online journal to share with family and friends, posting like that regularly makes sense. However, if you're blogging to build an audience, to display your expertise and generate traffic around what you do, then those types of personal details obviously won't be your focus.
3. It isn't necessary to ignore personal details altogether though. Especially if you are a solo-preneur, it's a good idea to let your audience get to know you as a person. People relate to people, not pages. Mentioning a major event in your life i.e. a wedding, birth, serious illness, allows readers to celebrate or empathize with you and to see you in multi-dimensions. This is particularly true if your business involves relating to people on a day-to-day basis such as coaching or any other service business. As you talk about yourself from time to time, stay away from the mundane and you'll be safe.
4. You can also interject your personality without giving a ton of personal details. Just as each of us speaks differently than another, once you start posting regularly, you'll develop a writing voice as well. If yours doesn't flow out right away, don't worry. Relax into your writing, treat it as you are talking with a friend or client and it will come.

In addition, if you think of yourself as a teacher, or as simply being in a conversation with your readers, you'll write in first person, but not about yourself, if you don't choose to.

4. If you have a blog to enhance your business, it's always good to keep a close watch on what you say and reveal. You never know who could be reading and what they might do with the information for good or bad. Find the happy balance between sharing nothing personal and TMI (too much information) and your readers will come back for more.

Today's guest blogger is Cheryl Pickett, Cheryl has been writing articles, blogs and books for well over a decade. Her current mission is to help message driven entrepreneurs, authors and other thought leaders create their own compelling content. If you would like more tips and hints like these, please visit http://www.cherylpickett.com/  http://www.publishinganswers.com/  or feel free to stop by her Facebook "Like"  page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Cheryl-Pickett/138168989570843











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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about this blog:

Amazon & Google Blogger Make Great Pair

Amazon and Google put their giant heads together to help you blog more professionally and make some money for you, too.

I reported on this Blogger benefit in my Sharing with Writers newsletter before, but this message came directly from Blogger and I wanted you to see it. So, in effect, Blogger is my guest blogger today:

Do you link to Amazon.com in your blog posts? If so, a recent Blogger integration (http://buzz.blogger.com/2009/12/blogger-integrates-with-amazon.html) may be just the thing for you. Blogger now integrates directly with Amazon Associates (https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/join/landing/main.html), giving you the ability to search the entire Amazon.com product catalog without ever leaving the Blogger post editor. Writing a review of Avatar and want to point your readers to the DVD that just came out? Not only can you link to the DVD, you can also include the cover art and buy it now info from Amazon so your readers know how much it costs without ever leaving your site.

You might even make some money in the process! Amazon pays an advertising fee to a Blogger user who is a participant in Amazon's Associates Program* and whose visitors buy products linked from their blog. Sign up is simple - just click on the "Monetize" tab in Blogger, then click on "Amazon Associates" to get started. Once enabled, you will see a new Amazon gadget next to the familiar Blogger post editor:

Whether you want to make some extra money, or you just want to add some pizzazz to your blog posts, the Amazon Associates integration is a great way to add color to any blog post about books, movies, electronics, music or any other product sold at Amazon.com.

More details at Blogger Buzz (http://buzz.blogger.com/2009/12/blogger-integrates-with-amazon.html ), or just click Monetize in your blog's dashboard to get started.

Thanks for using Blogger!
Regards,
The Blogger Team
2010 Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy, Mountain View CA 94043

*Some Blogger users may be ineligible to participate in Amazon's Associates Program. See the Associates Program Operating Agreement for more information.


I use this feature in all of my blogs including www.TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com (always available for you to use for your own book promotion—guidelines are in the left column), www.TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com, this one , and even my www.WarPeaceTolerance.blogspot.com. You can get more information on great, focused blogging with my book Your Blog, Your Business: A Retailer’s Guide to Garnering Customer Loyalty and Sales Online and In Store (www.budurl.com/Blogging4Retailers).

The widgets in this blog post for one of the books in my new book in the HowToDoItFrugally series are examples of things you can do with this new, nifty tool. The Corel program is one I once reviewed for Amazon. It is here to show you that anything that is being sold on Amazon can be displayed on your blog. Anything! Including books for Kindle.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . She is also the author of the Amazon Short, "The Great First Impression Book Proposal". She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about this blog:

What Do You Talk About On Your Blog If You Write Fiction?

It's harder to promote fiction on a blog (or about anything else) than nonfiction, but it's not impossible. Here are some ideas. Note that sometimes you have to make your own news.

1. Review others' books and post the review. Choose ones in the same genre as yours or related to your book in other ways, like setting. Ask the author to promote your review post. If you need more information on this process, read the section on how to promote with your writing in The Frugal Book Promoter and for everything you need to know on the subject read Mayra Calvani's The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing.

2. Use the voice of your protagonist (or villain) in your post and let him or her tell some new stories, stories not found in your book. Be sure she or he mentions your book during the little story-telling spree.

3. Let your readers endorse your book. Ask them to. Post pictures of them and your book cover and talk about more than the book, make it about them. It could be a feature story of some interesting aspect of their lives or an interview. But interviews are common and if you wrote a feature story, you might end up selling the article to a print periodical or some other media.

4. Talk about trends in your genre. How does your book fit into them?

5. Answer reader's questions. Sometimes readers think of characters as real. Offer to expound or flesh out characters, including minor ones. You may end up using what you write as part of a sequel.

6. It seems obvious from the above but you could explore your next novel and let people weigh in with ideas.

7. Feature or link to the blogs of other authors or other review sites. Ask for reviews of your book on those same review sites.

8. Start an award. Contests are old news and often don't work well. But if you give an award once a year for a book in your genre? Well, I'm just starting to think of the possible benefits inherent with this including an opportunity to send out a media release with some real news in it, cross promotion with the winning author or authors.... Do you have other ideas for how awards could work? Leave them in the comments. Subscribers would love to hear them.

Oh! A resource for you. Go to Phyllis Zimbler Miller's and my Fiction Marketing page to read the chapter on blogs. There are even more ideas there.It is at www.fictionmarketing.com. And if you know an agent who might be interested in the concept, will you let them know about the site?

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and two how to books for writers, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success. Her FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. She is also the author of the Amazon Short, "The Great First Impression Book Proposal". Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog.

If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widge to let them know about it:

Utilize Your Association with Sharing with Writers for Marketing and Publishing

Those of you who are subscribed to this Sharing with Writers blog or my Sharing with Writers newsletter are entitled to access and to submit material to them, to the resources on HowToDoItFrugally.com, and to be published in the various features of the newsletter itself. Your submissions are given special consideration (but you do need to tell me that you're a subscriber--I'd like to, but I don't have the lists memorized! (-: )

Because I have many new subscribers and because most of you have never submitted any of your successes or sent letters to the editor, I thought I'd remind you that they are meant to be interactive. So is the Web site. I am always looking for articles, resources and ideas that will help other writers. I also want them to provide a training ground to get new authors familiar with promoting, sharing (an essential part of getting publicity), and to help you get the exposure you deserve.

Here are just a few of the possibilities for you to consider:

 If you would like one of your articles to be included on this Writer’s Digest 101 Best Websites blog (see the image on this blog), the best thing to submit is an article on the craft of writing or promotion or editing. I generally prefer practical how-to information though I occasionally publish something that will inspire writers, too. www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com.

 Submit a review of your book to be published in The New Book Review www.thenewbookreview.blogspot.com. It may be written by you or someone else (with their permission). If you don't yet have a review of your book, I can use a short excerpt from your book or a synopsis written like a review but with no opinion (because it would be coming from you). BTW, The New Book Review is open to all of you at any time you need it. Please follow the guidelines for submission in the column on the left of the blog EXACTLY. You submit to my e-mail address, hojonews @ aol.com.

 If you have or would like to write an article on editing, formatting, grammar or other language-oriented essays, I can use that on www.thefrugaleditor.blogspot.com. Your articles for this blog should also be practical and, as with any magazine, not on subjects I've already used. Or they should at least come at those subject from a different angle.

 Some of you may have an interest in submitting articles or ideas on tolerance or the military. Those could could go on www.warpeacetolerance.blogspot.com. This might be a place some of you poets would like to appear. On this one, I often feed from several other blogs to that one post is almost like being posted on several blogs at one time.

 I can use your tips, letters-to-the-editor and articles for my newsletter. As you know, you should be familiar with any periodical or journal you submit to so that you have an idea of what is likely to fit.

 There are Resources for Writers and Resources for Readers pages on the HowToDoItFrugally Web site including many lists that you will need throughout your publishing career. Display and classified advertising is also available there and I have kept costs to a bare minimum for the time it takes me to work up and install ads.

Note: I accept most everything submitted to me from subscribers, but I do reserve the right to edit, shorten, or suggest changes. That, too, does not differ from most freelance writing experiences.

PS: Please let your writing friends know about this letter and its associated benefits. They may subscribe by going sending a SUBSCRIBE message to HoJoNews @ aol.com. Or by using the autosubscribe window at www.howtodoitfrugally.com. The form is on the left side of the home page and on the newsletter/blog pages, too.


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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and two how to books for writers, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success. Her FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. She is also the author of the Amazon Short, "The Great First Impression Book Proposal". Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog.

If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widge to let them know about it:

On Branding and Your Web Site

Gayle Trent is guest blogging today on how people can upgrade their Web sites. Most of us need to do at least a little tweaking.


How Can My Web Site Help or Hinder My Writing?

By Gayle Trent, author of cozy mysteries

Before you go thinking you’ve heard all you need to know about Web sites, you might want to take a look at this article. I thought I knew everything I needed to know about them, but I found I was horribly wrong when I had my ite overhauled by a professional.

Blogs

We’re told every writer needs a blog. So I had blogs. I had a WordPress blog, a Tripod blog and three Blogger blogs. This scattered me and my brand all over the place. While it’s good to be found in a number of places, I learned that search engines don’t recognize free sites as well as they do hosted sites. Therefore, it’s better for your main blog to be a part of your Web site.

More Than One Site

I had sites for different books, different names and different ventures. As a result, the web designer told me I was too fragmented. Your one site should act as a funnel, directing attention to you, building your brand as a writer and bringing everything together. Your site should define who you are and what you do. First and foremost–careerwise–I write cozy mysteries. I also do coaching and speaking. Those two features now have tabs on my main Web site. That way, someone who goes to a site and learns about Gayle Trent, the writing coach, will also be aware that Gayle Trent writes cozy mysteries and enjoys speaking.

What Will It Take To Get YOU To the Next Level?

Basically, you need to ask yourself where you want to be and what it will take to get you there. Do you need a more professional online image? Do you need clips to entice editors and/or agents? Are you effectively promoting your books, your writing or your coaching talents? Is your site clear and easy to navigate? If you’re not sure, ask someone to go to your site and tell you how quickly and easily they found your book; learned what your book is about; learned where to buy your book; learned how to become part of your community; learned what else you do; learned about your upcoming appearances, if any. Then, take a look at a number of sites of writers you admire to see what they’re bringing to their site that your site may be lacking. Discover how you can add something similar to your own site.
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Guest blogger Gayle Trent is the author of
MURDER TAKES THE CAKE published by Bell Bridge Books. Find her book trailer on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGnKwHYlPCQ and her blogging at Fatal Foodies .


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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and two how to books for writers, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success. Her FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. She is also the author of the Amazon Short, "The Great First Impression Book Proposal". Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog.

Marv Wilson Shares Kindle Kink for Blog and Book Promotion

I have been around the publishing industry so long I'm always surprised when I hear of something that feels brand new or at least is recognizable as a new kink in an older model that will help writers promote their books. And this is it! Marvin Wilson is an amazing (and avid!) blogger and I asked him to share "his" Kindle model with you. I know you are going to love it because it's FRUGAL of time and money!


Publishing Your Blog to Kindle

By Marv Wilson

Any blogger who would like to get more exposure and earn a little extra money can now publish their blog to Amazon’s Kindle Reader. It’s easy to do and free. Certainly there is not retirement-in-riches money to be expected from it – unless you are a celebrity blogger of fabulous renown. A monthly subscription to a blog that posts at least once per day is only $1.99, and the blog author gets 30% of that. So to get say, a $6,000 check each month you’d have to have 10,000 paying subscribers to your blog. But hey – I’ll take even a $60 check any old time, and besides, it’s all about that much more exposure, one more way to get branded and get your name and awareness of your blog and books out there, right?

Here’s what you do if you are interested.

A) Log onto http://kindlepublishing.amazon.com/gp/vendor/sign-in/189-3834765-3883341

B) Sign up for a free account, fill in all the necessary information about your blog, upload your mug shot if you want, upload the image you want to have appear on the front page of your Kindle readers’ subscription, etc. You will need to know your blog’s RSS feed address--which is different than the url. On most blogs that is available at the very bottom of your front page where it says, “Posts/Atom” – click on that and it will show the RSS feed in your browser.

C) Once your application is all filled out, click on “Publish.”

D) Bingo was his name-o! That’s it--you’re done! Amazon and Kindle does all the work for you. Every time you publish a new post it automatically appears in the Kindle Blog Store on your blog.

They tell you it takes 48 to 72 hours from the time you click the mighty publish button for it to show up in the store, so you won’t see it right away. But I signed up both my primary blogs and they were both available for sale in less than 36 hours.
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This post was written by the Old Silly from Free Spirit Blog, Marvin D Wilson

Free Spirit Blog – http://inspiritandtruths.blogspot.com/ This one covers lots of ideas for writers. Find my frugal model for a book launch on this site at http://inspiritandtruths.blogspot.com/2009/05/some-hojo-how-tos.html.

Hippie Blog – http://tiedyedtirades.blogspot.com/ This one sometimes does, too. In fact it's from this one I got the idea to ask Marv to share this idea with you! http://tiedyedtirades.blogspot.com/2009/05/tie-dyed-tirades-is-now-on-kindle.html

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and two how to books for writers, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success. Her FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. She is also the author of the Amazon Short, "The Great First Impression Book Proposal". Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog.

Recession Be Damned! Keep Your Mojo By Networking!

Author and blogger Mayra Calvani recently interviewed me for her Book Talk Corner and it reminded me of how important networking is.

That interview is the result of several serendipitous encounters with Mayra that grew into a relationship in which we network regularly. That Mayra lives in Belgium made me even more appreciative of Internet networking in particular. Here are is a quiz that I hope will get you to thinking about your own networking.


~Do you answer your e-mail? Consider answering about everything that comes to you. Even some things that at first smack of SPAM? As an example, I once received an e-zine I hadn't subscribed to. Instead of unsubscribing (or worse complaining to the editor or reporting them to the SPAM cops), I wrote them a letter. I told them it had come as a pleasant surprise, that I loved it and that I had an idea for an article for them. Voila! An article sold and a new resource and friend.

~Do you offer to get others’ names out there: on your blog, on you Web site, in your handouts, etc? Networking doesn’t flow in only one direction. Further, it isn’t always tit for tat.

~Do you hesitate to ask for what you want? That’s what a query letter is. You let your contact know what you need, nicely. Without that question or statement, it isn’t a query letter. It’s a cover letter. Your contact may not have any idea what do with your letter! Same goes for networking. You occasionally need to let your contact know what you've done to help her out and, at other times, what your own needs are.

~When you read my newsletters and blogs, do you use the links? Go contribute a comment and leave a little tidbit about your own title, as well as your URL?

~Do you congratulate people on their successes and then follow up with notes on other topics now and then.

~Are you working at least one social network? I was surprised to find a follow message from my daughter on Twitter last night. No, she isn’t an author but the girl’s got networking in her genes. (BTW, you can find me at www.twitter.com/frugalbookpromo. And, yes, I’m giving out good information there, too. Like a list--one teet at a time--of agents, reviewers, and publishers.

~Do you belong to a couple of good listservs? Go to Googlegroups.com or yahoogroups.com and find a group that specializes in wirting and promotion topics.

~Are you writing your thank you notes? Use Google Alerts to learn who is talking about you or your books and then, for heaven’s sake, send a thank you. Your mommy wants you to! (You'll find the Alerts link on your Accounts page at Google.com.)

So. What do you do to network? Send it along to me using the comments below. I’ll include it as a tip in my newsletter along with your book title and your Web address. Now that’s networking!

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and two how to books, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success. She is also the author of the Amazon Short, "The Great First Impression Book Proposal". Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog.