Great Tools To Get Your Blog Or Book Noticed

We writers need all the help we can get when it comes to blogging and our books. There is a list of tools at Write Non-Fiction Now that is absolutely incredible. There is so much to learn about it almost gives you a headache. Not only that, most of the tools are free. Sites to find free images are listed and give a brief description of how they can be used so you don’t waste any more time.

5 Visual Content Tools for Writers (Plus Where to Find Free Photos)

By Frances Caballo (@CaballoFrances)

As writers, we grow attached to the paragraphs of text we create. But do you know what draws the eye to a page more than the lines of black text we write? Images.

Pictures of sandy beaches, fields of red poppies, or a rising full moon will trump our words any day, regardless of how beautifully they’re written. That’s why it’s important to include images in our Facebook updates, tweets, blog posts, and other social media content.

Do you still need convincing? Look at these numbers from Wishpond:  Read more here.

Great Marketing Tips For Pintrest

If you’re not using Pintrest to market yourself it’s time to get started. Pintrest is a great way to show off your book covers, where you’ve been promoted and also to showcase your interests. Put your personality out there! It’s fun and a great way to connect with potential readers for your projects. Socialmouths shares some great tips on how to utilize Pintrest for marketing.

 

10 Tips to Improve Your Pinterest Marketing Strategy

 

Did you know 69% of online consumers who visit Pinterest have a clear intention of purchasing products?

So, are you making Pinterest part of the social media marketing strategy for your business?

If not, it’s still a huge opportunity for brand awareness and sales. The best part is, Pinterest has proven to be the most cost-effective for several industries.

According to Danny Maloney, CEO and co-founder of Pinterest analytics and management firm Tailwind…

“Unlike Twitter and Facebook which connect users based on who they know, Pinterest connects people based on their common passion. This indicates users are able to view content which is more likely to be of interest to them, and are more likely to lead to purchase downstream.”

You may be asking yourself, how do I use Pinterest as a marketing tool? You need a consistent and strategic method to your pinning madness.

Before you start, ask yourself these 4 important questions:

• Is your business visual?
• Do you have access to images?
• Is your target market primarily female?
• Can your website be easily updated with images and content?

How do you develop the right Pinterest marketing strategy? Read more here.

 

 

Related articles

• How to Drive More YouTube Views With Pinterest
• Make a Change, Make a Pintrest.
• Pinterest Is More Than Images: 5 Ways To Optimize Pinterest for Local Search

Author Exposed: Cat Michaels

I love sharing information for writers. I have found some very interesting bits and pieces that will help you in your writing process. What I love most is talking with authors and learning about them and their path to publication. Please help me welcome author Cat Michaels. She has some awesome information to share with you!

 

Cat Michaels

Check out her awesome video.

http://youtu.be/aaSJOMsNQss

 

How long have you been writing?

Seems like forever! My first ‘novel’ was handwritten in fourth grade — a western about two sisters, Nikki and Vikki, traveling west in a wagon train. I co-wrote it with a girlfriend: she penned the Nikki character, and I did the Vikki parts. I also kept journals from middle school through adulthood. On the other side of the pencil, I taught writing to elementary and middle school students who had a learning disability. Plus, I supported that population and those with Asperger’s syndrome as their writing coach at a community college.

Have you always written for children?

My children’s stories began about 20 years ago when I wanted to find unique birthday gifts for my nieces and nephews. I started writing stories for them, and it just evolved from there. A few years ago, I decided to polish off the stories, take advantage of new digital publishing technology, and publish.

Who are some of your favorite authors and why?

• Dr. Suess: His creative characters and drawings; language all his own
• Charles Dickens: Characters, characters, characters!
• Recently: JK Rowling: Created a whole world of characters, conventions, and setting

What drives and motivates your writing?

Some days, I sit in my writer’s nest, stare at my laptop, and wonder why I write. It’s certainly not to find fame or fortune! A writerly life is hard work, and it takes years to see results from all that effort. It can also be lonely for someone like me, who likes being around people. Having said that, I enjoy writing and the challenges that come with it. I love experimenting with new technology. I hope readers will smile over something they read in my books. I also want to nudge young readers to look at the world in different ways and use their imagination and creativity.

Do you feel it’s important for writers to use social media? How?

I’m over the moon finding visuals for my Pinterest boards, meeting folk on Goodreads, and posting on my blog and Facebook page. Social media is a gotta-have for connecting with readers and other writers and staying on top of publishing trends. However as much as I love it, social media can be overwhelming. I limit myself to an hour or two daily, but sometimes (especially when I’m launching a new book), I can be on social media for days and don’t have time for writing.

What books for writers would you recommend?

One book attracted me because it contains advise from so many writers all in one place:

Why We Write: 20 Acclaimed Authors on How and Why They Do What They Do, editor Meredith Maran

What advice do you have for new Indie writers?

• Write what you know, then edit, polish, re-write, and repeat.
• Think of yourself as a writer *and* (gasp) an entrepreneur.
• Invest quality time with social media to make your book discoverable.
• Find the best team you can afford (editor, graphic designer, cover artist, etc.), and go slow to get it right.
• Stay in it for the long haul: writing (and all the editing, book formatting, marketing, etc., that go with it) is a journey, but worth the effort if you have tenacity, talent, and optimism.
• Support other writers and pay it forward because success is best when shared.
• Step away from the keyboard every once in awhile.

What is the goal for yourself in the next 5 years?

I want to be 5 pounds lighter and 2-3 books heavier!
Seriously, I’m converting my print books into e-readers and then will notch it up by finding a robust digital technology that supports high-quality, interactive books and reading apps. Think appeal of a video game but with educational value. I want to keep expanding my network of readers, parents, teachers, and writers. And travel some place very cool — like places in the UK I pinned on my Pinterest board — to experience different cultures and get story ideas.

Thanks so much Cat for stopping by and sharing your story. Everyone please be sure to stop by Kristi’s Book Nook where I am hosting another interview with Cat and a book giveaway of her interactive story Finding Fuzzy.

 

Finding Fuzzy

 

CAT MICHAELS started writing stories in fourth grade and hasn’t stopped since. After earning an M.S. degree in special education from the University of Kansas, she spent two decades helping students from kindergarten to college reach their potential. 

She also managed communication and resource development programs for an international high-tech company that included writing press releases and articles for trade journals. After recession and downsizings, she returned to her education roots, serving at a community college as a writing coach and learning specialist for students with Asperger’s syndrome and learning disabilities. 

Cat spins tales of everyday life, with a twist of magic or twinge of mystery, that open young minds to new ways of thinking and looking at the world. Illustrations by watercolor artist Irene A. Jahns help bring that world to life. 

Cat and her family live in North Carolina where she designs playful gardens, dabbles in all things digital, and writes.

CONNECT WITH CAT

catmichaelswriter@gmail.com

www.catmichaelswriter.com

FIND CAT’S BOOKS

Amazon

BE SOCIAL

Facebook

Pinterest

Goodreads

8 Online Rules Writers Need To Know

Google 貼牌冰箱（Google Refrigerator） (Photo credit: Aray Chen)

The Laws of the (Amazon) Jungle—Eight Rules Authors Need to Know to Stay Safe

Via http://annerallen.blogspot.com

Update: This is probably now the longest blogpost in history, so I apologize. But I’ve had important updates from commenters that I’m incorporating into the post. An intellectual property lawyer has enlightened me on a lot of things I had wrong. (Scroll down to Rule #5). And South African romance writer Niki Savage has an update on Amazon’s rules for reviewing authors in your own genre (Rule #2) Thanks for all the helpful comments!Everybody tells authors we must use social media to have successful careers in the E-age, but nobody talks much about the dangers that lurk here.

Here’s the thing: the Internet is still the wild frontier. And it’s so huge nobody’s quite sure how to police it.  Big, loosely regulated social media sites seem to encourage the worst in human behavior. Facebook allows people to make hate pages for celebrities with happy abandon, and the comments on news sites and You Tube can make you want to wash your eyeballs.You Tube is making some sweeping changes to try to curb some of the more horrifying comments. You’ll soon need a Google+ account to log in. (Google+ is set to become the most important player for business in social media. We’ll have a post on that in a few weeks.)Online nastiness is so pervasive that even some literary sites have become more like a jungle full of feces-throwing monkeys than a place for civilized discourse. READ MORE HERE.

Should You Pre-Promote Your Book?

We all know the importance of promoting your book. But, how early should you start the promotion process? Over at Book Marketing Buzz Blog are a list of tips and some really great advice on what authors can do and most importantly why authors should get started promoting and to keep the media in mind while your doing it.

English: People in a store at midnight, the start of the yearly book sale in Sweden Svenska: Folk i bokaffären vid reastarten på bokrean 2009. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Making Your Book More Promotable

Write Your Next Book With The Media In Mind

Here is what I know and think about making your book more promotable.

The world of book publishing has changed immensely over the past decade  –and certainly over the past three years, thanks to Amazon, Apple, tablets, e-books, Borders, and social media.

The role of book publicity has not changed, though the methods have been altered.

PR is needed to give a book a chance at succeeding in an overcrowded marketplace and a noisy media landscape. With more books being published than ever before, and more media outlets around than ever before, there is a lot of competition to get a diluted piece of the pie.

Technology has no doubt impacted many industries, including: publishing, retail, the news media, and even the way books are written. As a result, readers and consumers have been changed as well.

It may seem like everyone:

·         Has plastic surgery

·         Eats organic food

·         Watches TV on a smartphone

·         Spends more time tweeting than talking to others

…. but such phenomena show we are a changing and diverse nation.

Not everyone is doing these things I just mentioned but the world certainly is in transition.  Writers are changing, too.  They are morphing into hybrids – – they are writers and they are promoters.

I understand what it is like for today’s author to be confronted with the new publishing landscape.

Read more here.