Rob Bignell's Blog, page 294

Sell books by posting at high-traffic blogs

One great way to sell books online ��� especially if you write nonfiction ��� is by commenting on posts at high-traffic blogs related to your book���s topic. That���s because you���re targeting an audience that is highly interested in the topics you���ve written about.

Begin by identifying the high-traffic blogs. Pick one or two words that best describe your book(s)��� topic. Then, in your favorite search engine, type ���top (topic) blogs���, with the (topic) being the word or two you���ve selected; for example, if you write books about camping, type ���topic camping blogs���. Usually you���ll find blog entries or articles that list such blogs. Check out each of the listings, learning your way around them and seeing if they best relate to your book. From this search, create your own list of the10-20 top blogs.

Next, on at least a couple of them a day, leave comments that don't directly promote your book but instead offer something valuable for other visitors to read. You���re establishing yourself, via the comments, as an expert on the topic.

Eventually, other readers will come to recognize your name and see you as an expert. As they do, they'll look up info about you, or even better the owner of the blog may ask you to write a guest commentary in which an author's bio tells who you are. Side note: You can boost your standing with the blog owner by posting links to the blog entry via retweeting, posting a pic on your Pinterest board, making a Facebook shout out, and so on.

While leaving comments and publishing a blog entry may only lead to the sale of a couple of books, in the long run it offers a number of cumulative benefits ��� you probably will add people to your mailing list, gain link backs to your website that boost its visibility, and develop a network that can lead to later sales.

To be ultra-efficient, write comments that can be used in a book you plan to write so that way you pick two flowers with one swipe. For example, if your next camping book is about tents, focus your comments on blog entries related to tents. Be sure to add the posted paragraphs in your notes for the tent book.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Chicago, Illinois, or a small town like Humptulips, Washington, I can provide that second eye.

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Writing inspiration: Learn from past success

Think of a passage you once struggled to write but ultimately completed. How did you work through the difficulties? Can those same strategies be used the next time you face a difficult to write passage?

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like New Haven, Connecticut, or a small town like Bullfrog, Utah, I can provide that second eye.

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A new perspective: Farther vs. further

If only some writers would make this mix-up go away ��� a long, long way away.

Farther involves physical distance. For example, Chicago is farther away from Los Angeles than Denver is.

Further is all about distance in time or as an abstraction. To wit: The further in time we move from the Vietnam War, the fewer the number of people who know anything about it.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Omaha, Nebraska, or a small town like Duckville, Tennessee, I can provide that second eye.

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Writing Prompt: Different world

Suffering from writer���s block or need to add some spunk to your writing? The problem may be that you need to change up your routine. To that end, try this tip: List five ways you wish the world were different. During your next few writing sessions, develop some story or nonfiction ideas that make these wishes ���real.���

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Omaha, Nebraska, or a small town like Duckville, Tennessee, I can provide that second eye.

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Three great formatting tips for ebooks

Ebooks follow different formatting rules than books printed on paper. That���s because a book made of ink on paper is a different platform for presenting information than a book made of digital bits on an electronic screen. Even though the same content (your book) is being presented, the platforms will need to be handled differently, just as certainly different production methods are used for a play presented on stage and on a television screen.

Because of that, there are a number of things you might do when formatting a paperback but never would do when constructing an ebook. Following are three tips about what to differently.

Apostrophes
A common problem that can sneak into your manuscript when self-publishing is a mix of apostrophe styles. That���s because some software programs use smart quotes, or those that are curved (e.g. ������), while others use dumb quotes, or those that are straight (e.g. ''). Typographically, smart quotes (also referred to as curly quotes) are preferred over dumb quotes (also known as keyboard quotes). When self-publishing an ebook, you can use either style, but you want to be consistent and exclusively use one. If you have a mix of styles, simply do a global search and find, and replace all of the quotation marks and apostrophes with one style. In Microsoft Word, to replace dumb quotes with smart quotes, first make highlight a copy a smart quote in the text (You may have to type one). Then highlight a dumb quote and in the command ribbon under the Home tab, hit ���Replace���. A screen should pop up with the dumb quote in the ���Find what��� box. Paste the smart quote in the ���Replace with��� box and hit ���Replace all���. This will replace both the opening and the ending quotation mark throughout the document. Finally, repeat this process for apostrophes.

Bulleted lists
One of the big problems with ereaders is that they lack the ability to translate fancy symbols used to make bulleted lists in Microsoft Word. The result is that a bullet point ends up being a letter or set of numbers, which looks unprofessional and can confuse readers. The first rule to follow is to never use Microsoft Word���s built-in bullet list function. Most print-on-demand software such as what Kindle DP uses won���t recognize Microsoft���s coding for the bullet list. Instead, you get an indentation mess on the ereader. Further, avoid the poor man���s approach to bullet points, which involves not indenting the line and using a dash or an asterisk in place of a bullet point. This looks fairly unsophisticated. The solution to creating translatable bullet points in Microsoft Word is quite simple. On a PC, hold down the ALT key and hit 7 on the keypad (Remember that you need to have NUM LOCK on to use a PC���s keypad.). On a Mac, hold down the OPTION key and hit 8 on the keypad.

Enter key
Don���t overclick the enter key (aka return key). Two clicks at the end of a paragraph ��� one to mark the paragraph���s end and one to create a blank space before the next paragraph ��� are sufficient. Any more than that will result in long stretches of white space in your ebook, which can lead to blank white pages that confuse readers, who wonder if your book is done.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Albuquerque, New Mexico, or a small town like Mud Butte, South Dakota, I can provide that second eye.

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Five Great Quotations about Writer���s Block

���Writer���s block is only a failure of the ego.��� - Norman Mailer

���You can fix anything but a blank page.��� - Nora Roberts

���Read a thousand books, and your words will flow like a river.��� - Lisa See

���You will write if you will write without thinking of the result in terms of a result, but think of the writing in terms of discovery, which is to say that creation must take place between the pen and the paper, not before in a thought or afterwards in a recasting...It will come if it is there and if you will let it come.��� - Gertrude Stein

���I have always had more dread of a pen, a bottle of ink, and a sheet of paper than of a sword or pistol.��� - Alexandre Dumas

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, or a small town like Zig-Zag, Oregon, I can provide that second eye.

 

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Writing Inspiration: Envision your success

Do you dream of becoming a writer but find yourself questioning your own ability to write? You night just need a little encouragement. Spend a few minutes imagining yourself a published, successful writer. Write for 15 minutes as pretending to be that vision of what you one day will be. Did the writing come easier? Reading what you wrote, are you more accepting of your work?

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Worcester, Massachusetts, or a small town like Cuckold's Creek, South Carolina, I can provide that second eye.

 

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When to promote your book using Tumblr

When promoting your self-published book, the social media tool Tumblr ought to play an important role in the marketing strategy. Knowing when to post, however, can maximize your efforts.

According to a number of studies, the best time to pin is 7-10 p.m. Sundays through Tuesdays and Friday evenings. Social media users tend to look at Tumblr during non-work hours.

Indeed, peak use occurs at Friday evenings and each day of the week, most clicks over 24 hours occur on posts made at or about 7 p.m.

Of course, these times are relative. If your business is national, you need to pin over a longer spread of time than 7-10 p.m. in your time zone, or you���ll miss the peak times in other parts of the country. For example, if your business is based in Chicago (Central Time), you would aim messages for the East Coast (i.e. New York City, Philadelphia, Raleigh) at 6-9 p.m. Central Time and messages for the West Coast (i.e. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle) at 9 p.m. to midnight Central Time.

If you have limited hours to spend promoting your book, consider cutting Facebook but keeping Tumblr. Users spend far longer on Tumblr page than on Facebook (14 minutes vs. 1.5 minutes). Note, though, that Facebook has more users than Tumblr, so in terms of raw numbers, those percentages may be irrelevant.

The absolute worst time to pot onTumblr is before 4 p.m. Though people are on Tumblr during this time, the number of users drops considerably compared to the earlier mentioned peak hours.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Orlando, Florida, or a small town like Beer Bottle Crossing, Idaho, I can provide that second eye.

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Editing tip: Read for a solution

When reading how another author might handle a challenging passage, we���re really learning from that person���s experience. That���s always a good starting point to determine how you might solve your problem.

To that end, identify a passage you���re having trouble with in your writing. Now pick up a short story or chapter from a book similar to yours, reading specifically for techniques that writer used to deal with the same kind of passage now posing problems for you.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Tulsa, Oklahoma, or a small town like Drain, Oregon, I can provide that second eye.

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Not exactly clear on spelling: Gray vs. grey

Should you write shades of gray or shades of grey? Are the aliens abducting us the Grays or the Greys?

Depends on what side of the pond you���re on.

If you���re in America, gray is the preferred spelling. If you���re in Britain, that���ll get you one wrong on your spelling test as grey is preferred.

There ��� that should make the issue black and white now.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Tampa, Florida, or a small town like Deadhorse, Alaska, I can provide that second eye.

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