Segilola Salami's Blog, page 14
November 16, 2019
Character Interview: Jerm Jenson by Jason Boyce & Aliyah Boyce
This week’s Character Interview is from the Children’s book (No Pictures) Jerm Jenson by Jason Boyce & Aliyah Boyce. It was published by Boyce’s Book Factory and is currently only available as a Paperback (ISBN 978-1688554054, 8/25/2019) and an eBook (Amazon ASIN B07WXSYKKZ, 8/25/2019). Jerm Jenson by Jason Boyce & Aliyah Boyce is aimed at kids aged 5-12 and it contains NO adult themes.
Synopsis of Jerm Jenson by Jason & Aliyah Boyce
Jerm Jenson is sent on a special mission for the sake of Quibly kind. Throughout this mission, Jerm encounters many obstacles and double crosses. Will Jerm save his species or will he be lead into a trap that could ruin the future of all Quibly kind. This book is intended for ages 5-12. No cursing and no objectionable situations. This is a children’s story with a solid moral foundation.
Name of character to be interviewed:
Jerm Jenson
Why was this character chosen for this interview?
This is the lead character in the Jerm Jenson Series of Children’ Books.
Question 1: What do you do?
Answer: I am a young Quibly that lives on the planet Abarath with my Mother and best friend Sena Shrubarb. I was just chosen by the Chancellor for a special mission to Earth!
Question 2: How does the special mission to Earth make you feel?
Answer: I am excited about this chance. There isn’t a Quibly in our history that has gone to Earth.
Question 3: Why is this mission necessary?
Answer: The Quibly have been under constant threat from the Zawns, a rival species living on the same planet. We are in seek of a safer planet to live on.
Question 4: Where is your Father?
Answer: My Father fought alongside of Chancellor Shrew in the great war. Chancellor Shrew made it out by my Father did not. I will forever cherish his memory.
Question 5: How did the trip to Earth go?
Answer: OH MY GOODNESS! It was fantastic. I made friends, met animals, and helped the Earth folk with a problem I accidentally caused.
***
This post was submitted by Jason Boyce
If you enjoyed reading this children’s book (No Pictures) Jerm Jenson by Jason Boyce & Aliyah Boyce, please buy your own copy via your favourite book retailer or using my Amazon affiliate links.
If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1
The post Character Interview: Jerm Jenson by Jason Boyce & Aliyah Boyce appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb...
November 11, 2019
Adam Hamdy: Organising London’s first crime writing festival
Adam Hamdy is today’s guest on The Segilola Salami Show podcast. Adam Hamdy shares with us his writing journey so far and how he was able to co-found London’s first crime writing festival, Capital Crime. I assure you, you need to click play now to listen to this most intriguing conversation with Adam Hamdy.
If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider supporting it
About Adam Hamdy
Adam Hamdy is the author of the forthcoming Pendulum trilogy, which will be published by Headline in November 2016. New York Times bestselling author, James Patterson, said: “I read Pendulum in one gloriously suspenseful weekend. Definitely one of the best thrillers of the year.”
As a screenwriter, Adam has worked with studios and production companies on both sides of the Atlantic and is currently developing original TV dramas with networks in the UK and US. His writing career started when his father died.
In addition to his film and television work, Adam is building a reputation as an author. After garnering critical acclaim, Adam’s self-published second novel, Out of Reach, was republished by Endeavour Press in 2015.
About The Segilola Salami Show
The Segilola Salami show is an audio podcast talk show hosted by the female Nigerian-British podcaster Segilola Salami who is also an author, freelance writer and blogger. Please click here to see the full list of Yoruba children’s books written by Segilola Salami.
The show is set in a virtual cafe and is a podcast on books and publishing. The aim of the show is to be both educative and informative but in an entertaining way. Guests from all works of life come on the show to talk about the books they have read or written and how books motivated or inspired them. Listeners of the show get to discover new authors and new books as well as learn something new. Also, as the show is set in a virtual cafe, it is a fun podcast to listen to at work, while running or even when driving.
The show is published weekly on Tuesdays at 9 am GMT London. Please click here to review the different ways to listen to or subscribe to this podcast to be notified when a new episode is released.
The Segilola Salami Show is a great audio podcast talk-show for writers and authors. If you would like to appear as a guest on this podcast, please click here for more info and to book your slot.
Please leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) by clicking here!
If you are an author, blogger or book lover, please subscribe to my authors and bloggers mailing list to find out about new self-published books that need reviews. I send out monthly newsletters with details of authors and their books that need honest feedback.
The podcast jingle used in this episode was provided by Chris Lament.
Please download a FREE copy of Yetunde: An Ode To My Mother by Segilola Salami on Amazon
***
I would love to know your thoughts on today’s episode “Adam Hamdy: Organising London’s first crime writing festival”. Please leave a comment below.
If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1
The post Adam Hamdy: Organising London’s first crime writing festival appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb...
November 9, 2019
Sunday Snippet: Trading: Gaining The Cognitive Edge by Kent B. Woodard
Today’s Sunday Snippet is from the non-fiction book Trading: Gaining The Cognitive Edge by Kent B. Woodard. Whilst it is aimed at readers aged 18+, there is no explicit content in the book. Trading: Gaining The Cognitive Edge was Self Published by the author and is currently available as a Paperback (ISBN-13: 978-1694333483 Oct 15 2019) and an Amazon ebook (ASIN: B07Y3TC5HM Sep 18 2019).
Synopsis of Trading: Gaining The Cognitive Edge by Kent B. Woodard
The book is about gaining the cognitive edge in trading and in life. This is accomplished through an understanding of epigenetics, nutrition, nootropics, meditation, sleep, technology, and exercise.
Whether you’re a Day Trader trading stocks, options, futures or any other financial instruments, or a fund manager, stockbroker or any other financial professional, split-second decisions can make or break your trades.
While this book was written specifically for traders, this is not a trading book, but an extreme mental clarity book that can win you extraordinary success in any area of your life.
Dive in, gain the cognitive edge and start achieving extreme success, whether in trading or any other area of your life.
Name of the chapter: Chapter 1
This book was written for traders, risk managers, and financial professionals seeking to gain a cognitive edge in trading, the financial markets, and in life. The principles in this book can be used by anyone seeking to gain the cognitive edge. I am a trader and decided to write this book after achieving an “ah ha” moment of elevated consciousness, awareness, and intelligence.
In this book, we will review how you can use diet, nutrition, exercise, technology, and life hacks to gain the cognitive edge to more effectively manage your trades, analysis, and overall lifestyle. In addition, we will review how you can enhance your health and spiritual well being. This will allow to better achieve your goals and live a longer, healthier, more satisfying and productive lifestyle.
We are in the new age of enlightenment. As we increase our intelligence through our thoughts, thinking, and epigenetic research, we can solve more problems with a greater probability of success. Most people believe this is still science fiction.
There are no limits to our potential. I will teach you through exercise, stress management, diet, nutrition, and fasting, how to become consciously and cognitively elevated above the general population. If you apply what you learn in this book, you will reach a new level of cognition. You will literally increase your intelligence and mental well being. If you apply the principles in this book, you will reach a higher level of consciousness and awareness than those in the world around you. This advantage may seem unfair, but it is something you can achieve by taking the necessary steps to gain the cognitive edge. As you are probably aware, most people are not willing to do what it takes to achieve success.
You will begin to notice the deterioration in the people around you. Most people consume processed foods, sugars, and eat for enjoyment. Many people smoke and drink far too much alcohol. You will see that most people are obese and cannot cognitively or physically compete with you.
This book is a great investment in your life and in your future. The price of a single bad trade resulting from a lack of sleep, neural clarity, focus, readiness, or a cognitive error can be enormous. Ask yourself, “What is the cost of a bad trade or a missed trade?” A bad trade can cost you hundreds, thousands, or millions of dollars. Worse yet, a really bad trade or poor trades can blow and cost you your account and possibly your life savings.
Now ask yourself, “How much is your life worth?” Most traders do not think about the value of their lives. They feel their life will always be there tomorrow, later, or in the future. They postpone their health for when they will have more time or ultimately when they retire. They neglect their physical or mental health. Unfortunately for most, deferring their health to the future results in the onset of disease and inevitably a premature and untimely death.
We all understand our bodies and our brains are our most valuable assets. Without our bodies and brains, we cease to exist as humans and spiritual beings. Traders usually dedicate their focus and attention on trading and the markets, but they cannot achieve their true potential without having a cognitive edge.
This leads us to the question, “Why do so many traders burn out and fail?” They are not focused on their mental health, physical health, and spiritual well being. The stress gets the better of them. They slowly degenerate and over time and lose their edge.
Some use drugs like marijuana, cocaine, alcohol, and sugar, to get them through the trading sessions and the days. The traders who use cocaine are the first ones to disappear. Eventually most traders will succumb to stress related diseases like heart disease, cancer, or degenerative illnesses like Alzheimers. Diseases can be avoided by focusing on nutritional, exercise, and cognitive needs.
Our trading careers, like our lives, are a marathon, not a sprint. We all understand if you don’t take care of your body and mind, you will not last. Yet financial professionals are surprised and shocked when they encounter health issues and disease. Many will justify these diseases as some unlucky predetermined fate or genetic inheritance that was simply out of their control. In this book, we will discuss how genetic predeterminism is a fallacy and a myth.
The overall premise of this book is simple, if you can change your focus, you change your life. We need to first understand that we live in a complex, fast paced, and rapidly changing world today that is much different from the world once occupied by our relatives and ancestors. Despite this rapidly changing environment, we are still in control of our lives.
Trading today versus a decade ago has completely changed. Today’s world is dominated by brilliant minds and traders, computers, algorithms, bots, and ever evolving technology. Trading in the financial markets requires a cognitive and technological edge in order to survive and excel by performing at a maximum level of efficiency and cognitive effectiveness and awareness.
We are rapidly approaching the singularity: the merger between humanity and technology. Gaining the cognitive edge will prepare you for encountering and competing in the singularity. Traders and financial professionals must be aware of the latest bots, algos, and statistical indicators, to compete and be profitable.
Professional traders reading this book will already understand how to avoid blowing an account or minimizing downside risk through a combination of effective risk management, position sizing, technical analysis, and a mature understanding of market fundamentals. These skills can be enhanced by gaining a cognitive edge. The best professional traders in the world have excelled by having an edge.
While there are many books on trading strategies and trading psychology, few focus on the nutritional and exercise requirements for risk managers and traders. Most trading psychologists are not traders or financial professionals. This book will take the conventional wisdom you have learned regarding health, psychology, nutrition, and exercise, and turn it upside down. This book is best suited for professional traders and risk managers focused on trading different financial markets, especially those markets like Bitcoin that operate 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.
This book should be a starting point for your journey and exploration into gaining the cognitive edge. By no means is it a complete manifesto. This book is more of a guide to providing you with the latest basics of gaining the cognitive edge and will point you to additional resources so you can continually update and learn the new advances in psychology, technology, science, exercise, human health and nutrition.
***
This post was submitted by Kent B. Woodard
If you enjoyed reading this free chapter from the non-fiction book Trading: Gaining The Cognitive Edge by Kent B. Woodard, please purchase your own copy via your favourite retailer or using my Amazon affiliate link. This book would be useful to you if you’re interested in becoming a Day Trader trading stocks, options, futures or any other financial instruments, or a fund manager, stockbroker or any other financial professional.
If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1
The post Sunday Snippet: Trading: Gaining The Cognitive Edge by Kent B. Woodard appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb...
Character Interview: The Card Job: A litRPG heist by Kit Falbo
This week’s Character Interview is from the Sci-fi, Space Opera, LitRPG, Crime novel The Card Job: A litRPG heist by Kit Falbo. It was self-published by the author is currently only available as a Paperback (ISBN-13: 978-1702569095, 10.25.19) and an e-book (ISBN-13: 978-1702569095, 10.29.19). The Card Job: A litRPG heist by Kit Falbo is aimed at readers aged 16+, especially as it does contain swear words, extreme costumes and frustrated desires.
Synopsis of The Card Job: A litRPG heist by Kit Falbo
A Gambler always keeps their cards close to their chest.
In the immersive game Changing Worlds, there is a galaxy of possibilities, gunfights, arena battles, intergalactic warfare, adult pleasures, and pure escapism. Hermanos Granger plays for the paper. The Change-Set a mini-game using cards akin to those introduced to him in his youth. A quest in the cards brings him back to a relationship he thought was buried, and now he has a job to do — the Card Job.
Name of character to be interviewed:
Sasha Bloodlilly
Why was this character chosen for this interview?:
Hermanos Granger’s ex-girlfriend, Max-level Codebreaker, fashion focused, and one focused woman. A pivotal piece of The Card Job.
Question 1: Are the rumors about you and the rest of Team Brunt true?
Answer: -A long throaty laugh later.-
That I slept with them all? I was a one-man woman back then. None of them had the same flair as Hermanos. Sure, we all have alternate accounts for reasons [Wink], but those are separate characters in the game. I like to ride my relationships with a narrow focus to completion.
Question 2: I was thinking more about the black market item selling. How about you tell me how it feels to be a max-level Codebreaker?
Answer: I would never do anything that would violate the terms of service and put my character at risk. [Ice seeps into her voice] Implying that I would do such things would constitute a threat. [Giggle] Being one of the four maxed Codebreakers in the game is awesome. My services are always in demand, and I love meeting new people.
Question 3: Unlike most players, why do you choose fashion over function?
Answer: The clothing makes the woman. You’ll find the right look can be far more deadly than any stats or boosts an outfit might bring. Changing Worlds is hard on outfits. You won’t believe the trouble I go to get a proper wardrobe. The quests, thefts, and begging for gifts. My favorite, rainbow, snake-skin skirt took weeks to acquire, and then It got ruined by a shot from some no-name Soldier Class. He’s not playing anymore.
Question 4: Some would say you are aggressive?
Answer: Changing Worlds is a game where people die and respawn every day. Virtual fortunes are lost and made in instants. You have rogues, killers, cheaters, and psychos. Any player can take a gun and shoot someone in broad daylight. It happens every day. I play the game how I want to play it. The same as everyone else. Some call it aggressive. I think it is just fun.
Question 5: What are your plans for the future?
Answer: As always, I plan to win. To get what I deserve and make sure those players who I am close to get what they deserve too. Changing Worlds tries to give everyone a satisfying experience, and I just want mine to be so much more than that. There might be some fireworks and hiccups along the way. A little chaos is half the fun.
***
This post was submitted by Kit Falbo
If you enjoyed reading this Character Interview from the Sci-fi, Space Opera, LitRPG, Crime novel The Card Job: A litRPG heist by Kit Falbo, please buy your own copy of the book via your favourite book retailer or using my Amazon affiliate links below.
If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1
The post Character Interview: The Card Job: A litRPG heist by Kit Falbo appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb...
November 4, 2019
Will Dean: How to get published
Will Dean is today’s guest on The Segilola Salami Show podcast. Will Dean shares with us his love for writing, getting published and living off-grid in rural Sweden. I assure you, you need to click play now to listen to this most intriguing conversation with Will Dean.
If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider supporting it
About Will Dean
Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands, living in nine different villages before the age of eighteen. He was a bookish, daydreaming kid who found comfort in stories and nature (and he still does). After studying Law at the LSE, and working in London, he settled in rural Sweden. He built a wooden house in a boggy clearing at the centre of a vast elk forest, and it’s from this base that he compulsively reads and writes. He is the author of Dark Pines.
He’s also written a secret standalone novel!
Will Dean’s tips for aspiring authors on how to get published
Read
Write
Submit
Submit again
Get published + stay published!
About The Segilola Salami Show
The Segilola Salami show is an audio podcast talk show hosted by the female Nigerian-British podcaster Segilola Salami who is also an author, freelance writer and blogger. Please click here to see the full list of Yoruba children’s books written by Segilola Salami.
The show is set in a virtual cafe and is a podcast on books and publishing. The aim of the show is to be both educative and informative but in an entertaining way. Guests from all works of life come on the show to talk about the books they have read or written and how books motivated or inspired them. Listeners of the show get to discover new authors and new books as well as learn something new. Also, as the show is set in a virtual cafe, it is a fun podcast to listen to at work, while running or even when driving.
The show is published weekly on Tuesdays at 9 am GMT London. Please click here to review the different ways to listen to or subscribe to this podcast to be notified when a new episode is released.
The Segilola Salami Show is a great audio podcast talk-show for writers and authors. If you would like to appear as a guest on this podcast, please click here for more info and to book your slot.
Please leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) by clicking here!
If you are an author, blogger or book lover, please subscribe to my authors and bloggers mailing list to find out about new self-published books that need reviews. I send out monthly newsletters with details of authors and their books that need honest feedback.
The podcast jingle used in this episode was provided by Chris Lament.
Please download a FREE copy of Yetunde: An Ode To My Mother by Segilola Salami on Amazon
***
I would love to know your thoughts on today’s episode “Will Dean: How to get published”. Please leave a comment below.
If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1
The post Will Dean: How to get published appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb...
November 2, 2019
Character Interview: The Unfettered Child by Michael C. Sahd
Today’s character interview is from the Fantasy novel The Unfettered Child by Michael C. Sahd. It was Independently Published by the author and is currently available as an eBook, ASIN: B07SH49DQ8, 08.28.19 and a paperback, 08.28.19. The Unfettered Child by Michael C. Sahd is aimed at readers 18+ and has a decent number of violent scenes and one almost-rape scene (not graphically detailed).
Synopsis of The Unfettered Child by Michael C. Sahd
Her tribe is shattered. Her parents are gone.
When eight-year-old Samara faces the capture of her tribe, an unimaginable power awakens within her. Even as this magic threatens to consume her, a disembodied voice intervenes, offering guidance and helping her control these newfound abilities.
Meanwhile, Samara’s father chases his wife’s captors across unfamiliar terrain. But can Orin find his wife in time to save her? Will Samara learn to control her power and reunite with her family? And who is the mysterious entity travelling with her?
Name of character to be interviewed:
Abizou
Why was this character chosen for this interview?:
Abizou is one of the most mysterious entities in The Unfettered Child, second only to Abdhul Havelle. She has a much larger role to play in the story as it unfolds than Abdhul does, however. In addition, the following interview may or may not hint at an upcoming novel.
Question 1: How would you describe your early life? Were you a happy child?
Answer: If you are familiar with the Malaikah (known by some as djinni), then you know we are magical beings. Life was good. Anything and everything I wanted was available with a snap of a finger.
Being a princess left me with some advantages over others of my kind. However, in a society such as ours, those with the most powerful magical abilities are selected to rule. So it was fortunate that I excelled in that area.
We had plenty of drama and internal strife, and our people were constantly at war with efreet and demons as well, but these conflicts rarely made it into our city.
Question 2: If you could go back and do one thing differently, what would it be? Would you say that you have any regrets?
Answer: Although I have had some wonderful experiences since meeting Abdhul Havelle, I would never have involved myself with him had I known his intentions. This is perhaps the biggest mistake I have ever made, one which cost me ten thousand years of imprisonment. He was, however, incredibly charming.
Question 3: If you had to choose a single person that you admire the most, who would it be, and why?
Answer: This is a difficult question, as recent events brought me into contact with so many wonderful humans that I love and admire. However, as much as I hate him, Abdhul Havelle is the only human to achieve a magical ability to rival some Malaikah. Not only that, but he provides and watches over his descendants, making sure they are well.
Question 4: What would you say is your biggest strength? And what about your biggest weakness?
Answer: Not only do I command untold magical power, I am also a strategist through and through. Under my command, our kingdom drove back the efreet and their demons, fostering a time of peace.
If not for my weakness, my desire for companionship, I would still be queen of the Malaikah. Abdhul’s wiles lulled me into a sense of security, giving him the opportunity to capture me.
Question 5: As immortal beings, how are the Malaikah affected by the wars you mentioned at all?
Answer: My home is Ealimalsihr, the Plane of Magic, and the Efreet yearn for it, for it will form itself from one’s desires. We are on constant guard against invasion from these foul denizens. Due to its nature, our landscape constantly shifts. The only stable land is that of Alsahria, a city formed from our collective desire.
It’s true we don’t die of old age, but that does not mean that we cannot be killed. The oldest Malaikah I know is Pourak, who was king before my father overpowered him in a magical duel. He challenged me after my father died in a bloody battle. I, of course, won.
***
This post was submitted by the author Michael C. Sahd.
If you enjoyed reading this interview featuring a character from the Fantasy novel The Unfettered Child by Michael C. Sahd, please buy your own copy of the book via your favourite book retailer or using my Amazon affiliate links.
If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1
The post Character Interview: The Unfettered Child by Michael C. Sahd appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb...
October 28, 2019
Jack Flynn: Be open to trying new things
Jack Flynn is today’s guest on The Segilola Salami Show podcast. Jack shares with us snippets from his life and how he’s able to combine writing with his career as a lawyer. I assure you, you need to click play now to listen to this most intriguing conversation with Jack Flynn.
If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider supporting it
About Jack Flynn
Jack Flynn is a lawyer in Boston and has worked pro bono on behalf of wrongly convicted individuals. He lives south of the city and writes on his daily commute across Boston Harbor.
Jack Flynn is a pen name and the author has also written under his real name David Hosp.
Jack Flynn says “In my writing, I’ve tried to avoid planning out my career. I am lucky that I have another career that provides structure that allows me to feel freer in my writing. I would tell people to pursue what they love with passion and be open to trying new things”
About The Segilola Salami Show
The Segilola Salami show is an audio podcast talk show hosted by the female Nigerian-British podcaster Segilola Salami who is also an author, freelance writer and blogger. Please click here to see the full list of Yoruba children’s books written by Segilola Salami.
The show is set in a virtual cafe and is a podcast on books and publishing. The aim of the show is to be both educative and informative but in an entertaining way. Guests from all works of life come on the show to talk about the books they have read or written and how books motivated or inspired them. Listeners of the show get to discover new authors and new books as well as learn something new. Also, as the show is set in a virtual cafe, it is a fun podcast to listen to at work, while running or even when driving.
The show is published weekly on Tuesdays at 9 am GMT London. Please click here to review the different ways to listen to or subscribe to this podcast to be notified when a new episode is released.
The Segilola Salami Show is a great podcast show for writers and authors. If you would like to appear as a guest on this podcast, please click here for more info and to book your slot.
Please leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) by clicking here!
If you are an author, blogger or book lover, please subscribe to my authors and bloggers mailing list to find out about new self-published books that need reviews. I send out monthly newsletters with details of authors and their books that need honest feedback.
The podcast jingle used in this episode was provided by Chris Lament.
Please download a FREE copy of Yetunde: An Ode To My Mother by Segilola Salami on Amazon
***
I would love to know your thoughts on today’s episode “Michael J Black: Happy Endings And A New Beginning”. Please leave a comment below.
If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1
The post Jack Flynn: Be open to trying new things appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb...
October 21, 2019
Mark Edwards: How to make a living from writing
Mark Edwards is today’s guest on The Segilola Salami Show podcast. Mark shares with us snippets from his life and how he was able to make a living from writing. I assure you, you need to click play now to listen to this most intriguing conversation with Mark Edwards. This episode was recorded live at Capital Crime, London’s first crime writing festival.
If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider supporting it
About Mark Edwards
Mark Edwards writes psychological thrillers in which scary things happen to ordinary people. His novels include The Magpies, Follow You Home and The Retreat. Mark has sold almost three million copies of his novels and had eight #1 bestsellers. He grew up on the south coast of England and now lives in Wolverhampton with his wife, their three children, three cats and a golden retriever.
His new book, Here To Stay, was published in September 2019.
Mark also has a 14-year old daughter who lives in Australia. She picked up his love for writing and writes fan fiction. Mark often gives her writing advice – which she ignores!
Mark Edwards’ 5 tips on how to make a living from writing
Figure out exactly where you fit in the market
Write books that can be described in short sentences
Nurture the relationship with your readers
Keep going when things go bad
Think of it as a business and career
About The Segilola Salami Show
The Segilola Salami show is an audio podcast talk show hosted by the female Nigerian-British podcaster Segilola Salami who is also an author, freelance writer and blogger. Please click here to see the full list of Yoruba children’s books written by Segilola Salami.
The show is set in a virtual cafe and is a podcast on books and publishing. The aim of the show is to be both educative and informative but in an entertaining way. Guests from all works of life come on the show to talk about the books they have read or written and how books motivated or inspired them. Listeners of the show get to discover new authors and new books as well as learn something new. Also, as the show is set in a virtual cafe, it is a fun podcast to listen to at work, while running or even when driving.
The show is published weekly on Tuesdays at 9 am GMT London. Please click here to review the different ways to listen to or subscribe to this podcast to be notified when a new episode is released.
The Segilola Salami Show is a great podcast show for writers and authors. If you would like to appear as a guest on this podcast, please click here for more info and to book your slot.
Please leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) by clicking here!
If you are an author, blogger or book lover, please subscribe to my authors and bloggers mailing list to find out about new self-published books that need reviews. I send out monthly newsletters with details of authors and their books that need honest feedback.
The podcast jingle used in this episode was provided by Chris Lament.
Please download a FREE copy of Yetunde: An Ode To My Mother by Segilola Salami on Amazon
***
I would love to know your thoughts on today’s episode “Mark Edwards: How to make a living from writing”. Please leave a comment below.
If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1
The post Mark Edwards: How to make a living from writing appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb...
October 19, 2019
Character Interview: Celebrate by Christine Reynebeau
Today’s Character Interview is from the Children’s Picture Book Celebrate by Christine Reynebeau. It was published by Dreambuilt Books and is currently available as an eBook (Amazon ASIN B07QMYN78M, date published 04.19.19) and paperback (ISBN 978-0578494197, date published 04.09.19). The target age range of this Children’s Picture Book Celebrate by Christine Reynebeau is 0-8 years old.
Synopsis of Celebrate by Christine Reynebeau
Henry and Lucy are asked to stand up at a wedding! Together they discover meaning in the big celebration. This is a story about the celebration and values that come with love; it’s a small reminder that love is very important in our lives. This is a wedding book that walks you through the day and helps ring bearers and flower girls to understand their role in the big day.
Name of character to be interviewed: Henry
Why was this character chosen for this interview?
Henry is one of the main characters in the series and he helps a lot of young boys understand their roles a lot better.
Question 1: What is your favourite thing about being involved in a Wedding?
Answer: I loved all the dancing and music. I and Lucy got to stay up past our bedtime enjoying the celebration!
Question 2: What did you and Lucy do in the celebration?
Answer: Lucy was the flower girl and I was the ring bearer.
Question 3: What did you learn about the importance of your role?
Answer: I learned that it’s a really special to be involved in someone’s wedding, because the couple believes you’re important in their lives and want you involved in their future.
Question 4: What is important to know about weddings?
Answer: We are celebrating love and a promise to be respectful and truthful in relationships.
Question 5: Why do you think we celebrate weddings now?
Answer: Because love is what makes us happy and what helps us when we are sad, so it’s important to celebrate it when you have the chance.
This character interview was submitted by the Author Christine Reynebeau
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If you have enjoyed reading this interview featuring a character from the Children’s Picture Book Celebrate by Christine Reynebeau, please buy your own copy of the book using my Amazon affiliate links below.
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October 16, 2019
Top WordPress SEO tips which will boost your organic traffic
Today’s blog post is slightly different from my normal blog posts. It is aimed at people who manage their own website or looking to have their own website. As a blogger myself, I think of a blog that no one reads like an online diary. So if you have a blog or website, what do you need to do to ensure that the right people read your content? Here are some Top WordPress SEO tips which will boost your organic traffic in this guest post by Andrew Gorh.
Introduction
In 2019 WordPress is as popular as ever. It is used by major global brands and websites – CNN, Techcrunch, Buzzfeed and so on. Countless small and unicorn status startups rely on WordPress. It is a great choice for SEO campaigns as well.
WordPress is:
super easy to implement
reliable
fast
relatively secure
has a lot of integrations with other tools
So, good choice on WordPress!
Let’s start with some detailed WordPress SEO tips for your project.
A – Technical WordPress SEO tips
1 Good hosting
Before rushing into installing WordPress, spend some time on hosting research.
Good hosting can solve a lot of SEO and technical issues right away.
On the other hand, bad hosting can bring a lot of SEO pain.
So, these are goodies, which are provided with ok hosting:
Site speed – your site would be much faster from start
SSL certificate – security matters for SEO
Caching system – again, your site is faster
CDN (content delivery network) – and even more faster
All these factors are super important for good SEO performance. Without high quality hosting, you will need to set it all up by yourself.
Also, your site won’t go down, there is some kind of technical support staging environment. Check out WPEngine, Kinsta, Bluehost (cheaper, but still good).
2 WP theme also matter
Similar to bad hosting, poor quality WP theme can be disastrous. It is worth paying additional money for a good WordPress theme. You don’t want a slow, buggy website to ruin your hard-earned Google traffic.
3 WordPress SEO plugins
I would also recommend installing a bunch of useful SEO plugins, such as:
Yoast SEO (to set focus keywords for each blog; check on-page SEO score; check readability score; edit robots.txt; generate sitemap.xml, etc)
Monster Insights (to connect Google Analytics to your WordPress)
301 Simple Redirects (to manage redirects)
It is obviously better to install these plugins than manage all of it manually.
4 Page Speed
After you are pretty much done with technical setup, it is a good idea to check your page speed score – a crucial ranking factor in Google
Pingdom or Page Speed Insights is perfect for this.
Aim at least for B in Pingdom and a >80 score in PageSpeed Insights.
These tools will show you a list of suggestions for what to improve. Some of them can be quite technical e.g. minimizing JS and CSS scripts – maybe you can hire a freelancer to do that.
Overall, if your hosting and WP theme are of good quality – your page speed will be fine. Otherwise, you will need to spend some time/money on speed optimization.
B – SEO content for WordPress
Next stop in our WordPress SEO tips journey is content, based on detailed keyword research.
Content was always the king of SEO – the cornerstone pillar of your whole SEO strategy.
Without high quality, original content any SEO campaign just won’t work.
1 Keyword research
Always connect topics of your blogs or pages to specific keywords, based on detailed SEO keyword research.
There are plenty of tools which can help you with that:
Ubersuggest (free)
keywordtool.io (paid)
Ahrefs keywords explorer (paid)
Also, take a look at Google trends or even Google autosuggest.
I would really recommend looking at long-tail, niche keywords at the start. With at-most 100 monthly searches. These are the only keywords you can realistically rank for in the beginning.
After your domain ranking grows to at least 30-35 DA (domain authority in Moz) or 35-40 DR (domain ranking in Ahrefs) you can start aiming for more complicated and high-intent keywords with bigger monthly search traffic.
2 Content
Content has always been the king of SEO.
However, with every year there are updates to the core Google algorithm and therefore requirements to content are super high.
Don’t even start with some low-quality stuff, which doesn’t bring any value to the Web. These days, Google can easily identify this type of content.
The easiest SEO content advice is to “write content for people, not for Google bots”.
Also, with Rankbrain, it is crucial to focus on an answer to a search query. Everything else is secondary.
Long-form content tends to perform better. Try to write at least 1500-2200 words per single blog post.
Google likes detailed, comprehensive content, which touches all the aspects of the specific search query. Try to understand what is the problem, which the user tries to solve while typing a search query. How you can give the best answer(s) from different angles?
Don’t limit your content only to text. Include also infographics, maps, interactive content, click to tweets, embed videos, podcasts, and so on. Everything, which will make a user stay longer on your page and give a better answer to a search query. This way you can also lower your bounce rate.
C – Link building
1 Active link building
To boost your content it is important to constantly build backlinks.
I have run different SEO projects and some of them featured world-class, long-form, detailed content. But, there weren’t any link building campaigns whatsoever. Guess what? This website has grown, but super slowly and in the end, it just stagnated, reaching just about 15-20K monthly visitors after years of work.
On the other hand, another site in the same niche, also with great content, but with active link building campaigns – skyrocketed to 100-120K monthly sessions.
High-quality backlinks clearly make a difference. To get good backlinks, try:
guest posting
content exchange
outreach
amplification
PR
influencer outreach
expert roundups
But, remember, only quality backlinks, on which people might actually click, work. All other black hat stuff will only damage your site. Don’t even try to “buy 1000 backlinks on Fiverr” – in the best case you will just waste money, in worth case – your site will go down after the next Google algorithm update.
In my experience, there were situations, when site traffic went down after Google algorithm update. What was the reason? Hundreds of spammy backlinks, which never brought any good results for my site. No worries, you can always disavow these backlinks using Search Console disavow tool, but why do you need spammy backlinks in first place? So, think twice every time you want to purchase those $10 backlinks.
Without link building, your content will stagnate and underperform, so it is massively important.
D – Tracking
One of the most useful WordPress SEO tips I can share in this blog advice is to actively track all your SEO campaigns.
All your SEO efforts should be based on data, not on your gut feelings or instincts. I made this mistake: “Why do I need to track? I already know my audience and what they like. I will just put some sh** on the wall and hope it sticks”.
Thing is, if you don’t do proper keyword research, rank tracking, traffic analysis – your SEO efforts will be super non-focused, you risk wasting a lot of time, energy and money.
These are my favourite tracking tools:
Google Analytics (to track traffic)
Search Console (track Search traffic and specifically: Clicks, Impressions, CTR)
Ahrefs (to rank track keywords)
Rank tracker (another tool to rank track keywords)
With Google Analytics, you can see which blogs and pages are performing really well in Google. So, try to post more of these. That’s the easiest conclusion, but still super effective. And a lot of people still don’t do even that.
For example, with Ahrefs keyword tracker, I can see new ranking keywords in three groups:
1-3 group
3-10 group
10-100 group
The first group is the most important. In an ideal scenario, every week I will get a lot of new keywords in this section – these are phrases, which bring real traffic.
The second group also brings some organic traffic, but probably will require a few more backlinks. These few more referring domains can significantly boost traffic – from a few clicks to hundreds and thousands. Therefore, it is crucial.
The third group requires both contents and backlinks to work. If I checked out that blog ranks on 30-50 positions, I will need to make it longer, more detailed, try to answer search query in a better way and build 2-3 referring domains to this page.
As you can see, keyword tracking can bring a lot of SEO opportunities.
E – Patience and hard work
Last but not least, patience is super important for SEO.
In 2019 any SEO campaign is super complicated, it takes much more time than before.
For the majority of new websites, it will take about a year of a well-executed SEO campaign to start ranking and getting some tangible traffic from Google. There are some exceptions when your site might start getting traffic in 6-8 months, but that is super rare and requires exceptional SEO work and luck.
Also, to rank for competitive and high intent keywords you will need to spend money on backlinks. This is just the reality these days.
Therefore, to boost your SEO for free, basically, there are two ways:
Aim for niche, long-tail, low-volume keywords;
Write a non-English blog (it can be much easier to get a lot of traffic for e.g. Spanish or French blog)
The good part about SEO is that if you focused on hard work and patience and went above 10-20K organic monthly sessions – the rest are technicalities.
Also, Google traffic is still the best kind of traffic and the most expensive one:
It brings the highest RPM for advertising
Lowest bounce rate
Highest session time
For example, it might be easier to get a lot of traffic from Pinterest, but engagement from that traffic su**s and it is much harder to convert visitors. You will earn much less from ads with Pinterest traffic, than with Google traffic.
Also, Google traffic is evergreen – your articles, which are years old still bring a significant amount of visits every month. It is a great advantage of Google traffic, compared to Facebook traffic spikes, which might bring you thousands of visitors in one day. But, the next day they will disappear.
CONCLUSION to WordPress SEO tips
So, there you have it – most important areas you should focus on in your WordPress SEO.
In short:
proper tech setup
good hosting
high-quality WP theme
research keywords
write killer content
build quality backlinks
***
Who is Andrew Gorh.
Andrew Goh – I adore SEO and finding new ways to grow website traffic, with over 10 years of experience. I scaled organic traffic for startups, bringing over 150K page views in just 2 years and generating over $30K MRR from Google.
Link to author website: https://www.onlinehikes.com
If you found this guest post on Top WordPress SEO tips which will boost your organic traffic written by Andrew Gorh useful, please leave a comment below.
If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1
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