Mastodon
Close

blogging

Blogging: Tips, Tricks, and Knowing Your Goals

Arrows pointing up with text: Blogging Tips and Tricks

As authors, we’re often told to blog, but we don’t hear as much about the nitty-gritty of how to do so. If we take the time to blog, we want to make sure our time is well spent. So let’s review some tips, tricks, and “best practices” for how to reach our goals with blogging.

Pin It

April 24, 2014

Read More

The Best Reason to Blog – Part 4

Basket of harvested apples with text: Blogging: Harvesting Benefits

Today is Thanksgiving in the U.S. The day we eat too much food, roll our eyes at the antics of our extended family, and think about all the things we’re grateful for. Or in my case, see if I can resist seconds of mashed potatoes so I can justify another […]

Pin It

November 28, 2013

Read More

Branding 101: What Is Your Brand?

Crowd picture with focus on one man with text: How Do You Show Who You Are?

Yeah, yeah, I can hear it now. “Ugh. Not more branding stuff. What if I don’t want to be a brand?” I hate to break it to you, but you already have a brand. So does your kid’s soccer coach, your next-door neighbor, and possibly your pet. *smile* How is […]

Pin It

September 24, 2013

Read More

Google’s Fickleness: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Google Logo with text: Adapting to Changes...

If one thing is constant with Google, it’s that they always change. Over the past couple of years, they phased out most of Google Friend Connect and stopped supporting Feedburner. However, I realized recently that I hadn’t talked about their latest changes. Some of their recent changes have been good (Google Authorship), […]

Pin It

August 15, 2013

Read More

When Should We Start Building Our Platform?

Red flag with text: Don't Have a Platform? Red Flag!

In my post about book pirates and plagiarism, I mentioned that book bloggers and reviewers are now more wary of debut authors, especially those who are self-published. I don’t blame them. Some people out there are willing to do an insane amount of work to fake legitimacy. A book blogger […]

Pin It

August 6, 2013

Read More

Are You Sharing Your Gifts?

Gift box with text: Are You Sharing Your Gifts? To: Writers

I’ve been thinking lately about what it means to have gifts. We all have some sort of gift, some talent or skill we’re better at than most. More importantly, I’ve also been thinking about what we should do with our gifts. In most schools, kids at the top of the class […]

Pin It

July 16, 2013

Read More

Should We Use a Blog Commenting System?

Stick figure with speech bubble and text: Who Wants Comments?

I’ve mentioned before that I wish I could change how comments work on my blog. I’d love for readers to easily see when someone replies to their comments here or provide the ability to subscribe to comments for a post. A system like that often encourages more interaction on a […]

Pin It

July 2, 2013

Read More

Writers: What Would the Government Uncover?

Woman looking through a magnifying glass with text: Would the Government Find You Interesting?

Writers have a long history of joking about what government agencies would find if they investigated us. We’re known for researching the bizarre and the suspicious in the pursuit of accuracy for our books. Recent news about the PRISM program and others like it across the globe have made this long-running […]

Pin It

June 20, 2013

Read More

When To-Do Lists Fail

Page labeled Things To Do with text: When To-Do Lists FAIL

Ever have one of those days where nothing on your to-do list gets checked off? When life has other plans for you? That happens to me more often than I care to admit. Despite my writing-by-the-seat-of-my-pants method to drafting, I’m a planner in the rest of my life. Or at […]

Pin It

May 30, 2013

Read More