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Happy Blogiversary to Me: Contest Winners!

Runner crossing finish line

*whew*  I officially made it to the one-year mark for this blog.  I thought reaching this point would be a lot harder than it was. Life is often that way.  We put off something we dread, and then when we finally buckle down to do it, we wonder why we […]

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July 12, 2011

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How Vulnerable is Your Writing?

Woman with hand out, blocking face, like saying "Don't look at me."

A few weeks ago, we talked about about branding and blogging and how to create connections with others.  People who feel connected to us are more likely to be willing to give our book a try or to help us promote.  Connected readers might become our front lines in our […]

June 30, 2011

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Milestone Contest – Prize: Me! Wait…er, What?

Open gift box with streamers coming out

My one-year blogiversary is coming up on July 12th.  The occasion has me doing something I don’t normally do: math.  Eek! This is my 101st blog post, and during that time, this blog has passed 100 Google Friend Connect followers, 250 RSS subscribers, and 1500 comments (not including mine).  I […]

June 28, 2011

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How to Find Writer Resources – Guest: Elizabeth Spann Craig

Elizabeth S. Craig photo

If you’re a writer and on Twitter, you should know about the incomparable Elizabeth S. Craig.  She shares fantastic resources for writers that she finds all over the web, like a one-woman news source. More importantly, if you’re a writer—whether you’re on Twitter or not—you should know about her Writer’s […]

June 23, 2011

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What Makes You Decide to Buy a Book?

Paint chip samples

My to-be-read pile is scary.  Seriously scary.  Like I-might-need-to-check-into-a-program-soon scary. In the past year, I’ve accumulated over 100 print books.  And just since Christmas, when I received my Kindle, I’ve downloaded about 20…er, maybe 30…hmm, possibly more…Kindle books. Honestly, most of those books I got for free, either from giveaways […]

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June 16, 2011

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Have You Posted Your Work Online?

Chain and padlock securing double doors

Some people post their work online all the time.  Photographers have Shutterstock.  Artists have deviantART.  Non-fiction authors often base their books on their blog posts. What about fiction authors?  That’s a little trickier.  We’re not talking about flash fiction, blog hop entries, and the like here.  If we limit the […]

June 14, 2011

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How Do You Choose Blog Topics?

Multiple choice questionnaire

In case you missed it, Kristen Lamb started a debate with her post yesterday—Sacred Cow-Tipping–Why Writers Blogging About Writing is Bad.  A collective whine went up from the writing community.  “No blogging about writing?  Then what are we supposed to blog about?” *raises hand*  I was right there with the crowd, […]

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June 9, 2011

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Branding 101: To Pen Name or Not to Pen Name

Three theater masks

When we think of pen names, we often consider the privacy or marketing aspects and assume that means using a name completely different from our real name, such as Samuel Clemens writing as Mark Twain.  But they can also address the need to make our names more distinctive and Google-able.

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June 7, 2011

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Branding 101: Be Google-able

Pen resting on signature line

If someone does a Google search on our author name, will they find us? This issue comes up more frequently now as writers want to know if they should have a website and/or blog before they’re published.  That’s a complicated question that doesn’t have an easy answer.

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June 2, 2011

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Branding 101: Online Brand vs. Author Brand

Brand name tag on Levi's jeans

Brand.  Platform.  Social media presence.  How many of us cringe at those words?  Whatever happened to the days when writers could simply write? But the truth is that as soon as we’re sociable as a writer, whether online with Twitter or in real life at a conference, we’re forming our […]

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May 31, 2011

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