Frances Caballo's Blog: 10 Twitter Tips Writers Need to Know, page 42
December 26, 2016
15 Best Blogs for Indie Authors to Follow
Blogs Just for Indie Authors
Blogging can be so important to an indie author’s brand.
Should you blog? That depends. Many fiction authors do well even though they don’t blog. Instead of blogging, though, they have an active presence on Facebook and perhaps two other sites where they engage with their readers.
But if you write nonfiction, well, you just can’t get around the need to blog regularly. How else would you expose your writing, thoughts, education, and expertise to potential clients as well as readers?
I read a lot of blogs, and from the ones I read regularly, I’ve selected my list of the top 15 blogs for indie authors. If any are new to you, expand your world and check them out.
Here’s the list:
TheBookDesigner is Joel Friedlander’s blog. He started this blog out of thin air several years ago and has grown it into a mainstay in the independent publishing arena. If you’re self-published, you have to read this blog.
Between posts she writes herself and those that are guest posts, there’s hardly a day that goes by when Jane doesn’t have a new post on her blog. Then tend to be rich in content and well thought out. Don’t miss this blog.
Presently, the text to Joanna Penn’s podcast (The Creative Penn) serves as a blog. But I’ve heard that her blog is returning. Whichever you read, do it. And if you listen to podcasts, be sure to catch hers. You’ll enjoy her upbeat style.
A number of authors write for Writer Unboxed, including Jane Friedman, Porter Anderson, and so many others. It’s intended for the indie audience, and the posts are always well written. I never miss any!
Where would the indie blogosphere be without the snarky and entertaining writing style of Anne R. Allen? Anne tells it like it is without reservation and always seems to have a new perspective on even tired, old subjects for her loyal indie authors.
Several writers contribute to the BookWorks blog including, Joel Friedlander, Penny Sansevieri, Carla King, Helen Sedwick, me, and others. You’ll always enjoy the fresh content you find there.
The Alliance of Independent Authors
Developed just for indie authors, this blog reliably delivers information that writers need to know to succeed.
Writer Sabrina Ricci never disappoints with this blog designed and written for indie authors.
Who knows a heck of a lot about selling books? That would be Penny Sansevieri, president of the company and author of the blog. Penny writes with a certain flair that partially entertains while informing both traditional and indie authors.
Susanne Lakin consistently writes a well-read blog. Whether you want to learn about writing fiction or the business of writing, Susanne is a strong coach.
Lisa is a nonfiction book coach who has successfully launched authors in their writing careers and helped them find publishers. Her posts are always well written and her fees are worth every penny.
Chris knows her stuff. Like me, she strategizes around social media for her clients and runs campaigns for them. Her blog is about social media and is well worth reading.
If you’re an indie author, Indies Unlimited will guide you through the sometimes tumultuous waters of indie publishing.
The Buffer Blog is my favorite social media blog. There are others I enjoy, such as Social Media Examiner and HubSpot, but Buffer is my favorite and should become yours, too.
The Social Media Examiner attracts the finest minds in the industry and produces one of the best blogs on social media on the internet. One caveat: this blog is geared toward businesses, but please don’t let semantics get in your way of enjoying the information.
Selecting blogs for a list like this is never easy. I’m sure there are some I’ve forgotten, and for that I apologize. But I’ve done my best to list the blogs that I consistently read every week.
Which blog is your favorite?
The author of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference. In addition, she’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com, blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks, and blogger at Bowker’s Self-Published Author. She’s written several social media books including The Author’s Guide to Goodreads and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for my free email course.
Practical Tips for Marketing Your Books on the Social Web
Confused about whether you’re being effective on social media? Get the free email course and the bonus book for free.
Speak Your Mind
The post 15 Best Blogs for Indie Authors to Follow appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
December 23, 2016
Indie Author Weekly Update
The Indie Author Update this week includes posts from bloggers I haven’t previously included, namely Marketing Drive, Rachel Thompson, and Anne Hill. I hope you enjoy all the posts I’ve selected for you from across the book industry’s blogosphere.
On another note, tomorrow is Christmas Eve and Hanukkah. However you celebrate this time of year, may your gatherings be joyful and the new year bring you all that you desire in your writing career.
Indie Author Updates
Twitter finally debuts live video for users Weekender from Marketing Dive: Live video has taken the digital landscape by storm in 2016, as key trends such as growing demand for digital content, real-time experiences and authenticity converge to enable anyone to broadcast an immersive moment. Successful live videos have the potential to go viral, like Candace Payne’s Chewbacca Mask broadcast did on Facebook Live, a video that has been viewed more than 162 million times.
Check out this week's Indie Author Updates Click To Tweet
This is How Writers Can Walk the Tightrope of Work and Life with from Rachel Thompson of Bad Redhead Media: “We’ve all heard about the need for a work/life balance. This isn’t a new concept. The proverb, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” first appeared in James Howell’s book of proverbs and was later popularized in such movies as The Bridge on the River Kwai and The Shining. Perhaps the need for walking the tightrope has never been more in the forefront of our minds than for modern writers. How writers can find balance in their lives is a necessary and important quality when juggling marketing with creating.”
5 Under-the-Radar Social Media Studies to Make You A Smarter Marketer from Buffer: “Social media studies have given us great ideas to improve our social media marketing, helped us understand the psychology behind social media behaviors, and made us better marketers. To help you better understand the ever-changing social media landscape, we jumped into the latest social media research papers, hoping to discover someunder-the-radar insights to help supercharge your social media marketing strategy as we head into 2017.”
1 Top Tip for Author Facebook Pages from the Indie Authors Alliance: “Since Facebook reduced the reach of status updates on Facebook fan pages, many people have been wondering whether it’s worth maintaining them. Until recently, I was also in that camp. But then by chance I discovered a surprising simple technique that increased the typical reach of my Facebook fan page posts to as much as 100% – and even more – without costing me a penny. I hope it will work for you too.”
Guest Blogging for Authors: How NOT to Query a Blogger…and 10 Tips for Doing it Right by Anne R. Allen: “But the gurus don’t often tell you how to land guest spots. Or how to find the best ones to reach your readers. Sometimes I wonder if there’s a handbook telling potential guests exactly how to annoy bloggers and get rejected as fast as possible. I get dozens of queries every day from wannabe guests (and authors who want reviews and interviews) who have never visited the blog. But they almost always include a live link to it.”
Metadata Insights for Authors and Small Publishers with Thad McIlroy by Anne Hill: “Too often, authors learn about metadata the hard way: preparing to upload your newly-finished book, you find that Amazon requires things like BISAC subject headings and book descriptions of different lengths. Filling in these fields as an afterthought may doom your book to obscurity, because the key to making any book easily discoverable on the web is to give it the best metadata possible.”
Spend Less Time Marketing by Setting Up Social Media Outpost Channels from Digital Book World: “If you’re an author who is struggling by trying to be all things to all people on every social media channel, then I’ve got some good news: you really only need to be engaging on one social media site to set up an effective marketing presence.”
Quote of the Week
The author of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference. In addition, she’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com, and blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks. She’s written several social media books including The Author’s Guide to Goodreads and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for my free email course.
Practical Tips for Marketing Your Books on the Social Web
Confused about whether you’re being effective on social media? Get the free email course and the bonus book for free.
The post Indie Author Weekly Update appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
December 19, 2016
10 Things Your Competition Can Teach You About Social Media
When writers are new to social media, I always recommend that they spend time lurking around the social media networks they plan to use.
The advice isn’t as unsavory as it may sound. After all, I’m not talking about spying around street corners but instead observing the competition on social media.
For example, how do other authors engage with readers? Who do they follow? Who follows them? How often do they post?
You get the idea.
New to social media? Spend time 'lurking' firstClick To Tweet
One way to learn is through imitation. More than one author has learned to write by simply and arduously typing the manuscript of an acclaimed author.
What can you possibly learn? Well first, you’ll get a lot faster at typing. You’ll also be able to examine how the plot develops, how the author constructs scenes, and how writers develop their characters and dialogue.
As Stephen King admonishes, if you want to write, you need to be an avid reader. There’s no other way around it.
So what exactly will your competition teach you about social media? Keep reading.
10 Things to Discover About Your Competition’s Social Media Use
Do the authors you’re watching thank their followers as a group or do they thank them individually?
How many writers converse on social media, answering questions and asking questions? Or do they merely post information?
Are the authors you’re watching post images and videos? Hopefully, every tweet and Facebook post has an image.
Do you get the sense that they’re having fun on social media, or do their posts and interactions seem forced? Do they have a relaxed style? Do they use emoticons or emojis?
Examine their hashtag use. Which ones are the observed writers using?
Is engagement high on their posts?
Are the writers taking time to create branded images that carry their website link or Twitter handle?
Who are they following?
Take a look at who follows them.
What is their posting schedule? Do they break from posting for days at a time or are they consistent?
On Twitter, don’t retweet praise of your books or blog postsClick To Tweet
8 Social Media Best Practices
Once you spend time lurking about, try to develop some of these best practices:
Upload a picture of yourself for your avatar. Don’t be an egghead or use an photo of your cat, dog, book cover or favorite lake as your avatar. Your avatar needs to appear professionally. If you don’t want to hire a photographer, ask a friend to take a picture of you. Don’t wear sunglasses or a hat.
Use Canva.com or PicMonkey to create a banner. Find and use copyright-free pictures at LibreStock.com. You can add your book covers, announce the publication of a new book, or use an image that reflects a scene in your book.
Don’t waste the space for your bio. Your avatars and bios are searchable on the Internet, and you want to use your bios to advance your author brand and your professional appearance.
Adhere to all character lengths.
Interact with your colleagues. Although I used the term competition in the headline for this post, you don’t have competition on social media. Authors who write in your genre are your colleagues. So reach out to them for co-promotion opportunities.
Never spam your followers, friends or fans with messages to buy your book or sign up for a giveaway.
Pat attention to the 80/20 rule. Eighty percent of the time you’ll need to post Not interacting socially with other writers. It’s important to be friendly on Twitter, meet other authors – even those who write in your genre (perhaps especially those authors) – and promote other authors. The more authors you meet and promote, the more they will suggest your books to their readers.
On Twitter, don’t retweet praise of your books or blog posts. Promoting yourself in this manner is akin to bragging.
The author of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference. In addition, she’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com, blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks, and blogger at Bowker’s Self-Published Author. She’s written several social media books including The Author’s Guide to Goodreads and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for my free email course.
Practical Tips for Marketing Your Books on the Social Web
Confused about whether you’re being effective on social media? Get the free email course and the bonus book for free.
The post 10 Things Your Competition Can Teach You About Social Media appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
December 16, 2016
Indie Author Weekly Update December 16, 2016
Welcome to another edition of the Indie Author Weekly Update. There were so many brilliant posts on the internet this week that I hope I’ve captured the finest among them. Or at least I’ve gathered those that will most serve you in your writing career.
I chose the above picture today because lately it seems to either rain or be foggy. I can’t complain though. The drought has been, well, awful and I welcome any form of moisture that comes from the sky. Besides, I grew up in Monterey, which has the same weather patterns as San Francisco, so I rather like the fog. I hope you’re enjoying the weather and the season wherever you are.
Indie Author Updates
Today’s Indie Authors Are Media Owners from Joel Friedlander: “Have you ever thought about the fact that you’re a media owner? It’s a weird thought, isn’t it? Yet, it’s probably true. Yeah, probably. Why the modifier? Well, not every author has a self-hosted blog and website. But if you have both, guess what? You’re definitely a media owner.”
Twitter Analytics for Best of 2016 Tweets by Elizabeth S. Craig: “If you’re like me, you’re in the middle of a very busy time of year. I’m trying to wrap up a project (definitely not releasing it in December…January is better, sales-wise) in the midst of shopping, decorating, and driving my daughter to her own events. Besides all that, I’m still trying to keep up my online presence. One of the ways I make this easier around the holidays is to schedule my ‘top tweets of 2016’. The past couple of years I’ve used a very convoluted method of discovering and then scheduling these ‘best of’ tweets. But with Twitter analytics, I’ve found a better way.”
The Most Important 15 Seconds in the Life of Your Book by Joan Stewart and from Joel Friedlander: “Fifteen precious seconds. It isn’t much time. But it’s all you get if you want to convince a bookstore to buy your book, prove to a journalist that you’re worth interviewing, or persuade John Grisham to write a blurb for the cover of your mystery novel.”
Merchandising For Authors from Joanna Penn with Melissa Addey: “Many indie authors have got to grips with producing ebooks, print-on-demand and audio, but we’re only just starting to look into merchandise. In today’s show, Melissa Addey will give you some ideas.”
The Growth of Audiobooks from Digital Pubbing and by Sabrina Ricci: According to QZ, audiobooks are growing more than ebooks. MarketWatch wrote that some audiobooks are selling more copies than their print counterparts, and according to The Digital Reader, “audio can outsell print when audio is treated as its original format and not produced as an after thought.”
Why You Only Need to Sell Your Books on One Social Media Channel from Digital Book World by Chris Syme: “There are hundreds of social media networking sites on the Internet. Of those, there are 10 or so that most people can identify. According to data from Smart Insight, there are around 2.3 billion people on social media worldwide.”
Quote of the Week
The author of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference. In addition, she’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com, blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks, and blogger at Bowker’s Self-Published Author. She’s written several social media books including The Author’s Guide to Goodreads and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for my free email course.
Practical Tips for Marketing Your Books on the Social Web
Confused about whether you’re being effective on social media? Get the free email course and the bonus book for free.
The post Indie Author Weekly Update December 16, 2016 appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
December 12, 2016
Looking Forward to 2017 Plus Insights from Cheryl Strayed’s TED Talk
What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. ~ Zig Ziglar
Call me inept at living in the moment, but I’m already thinking about 2017.
I know, I know. Christmas is weeks away, and here I am thinking about what I’ll accomplish by December 2017. I haven’t finalized my goals, but I’m thinking about them and perhaps by discussing my old goals I’ll get both of us thinking about our new goals.
That’s my hope.
A Look Back at 2016
Actually, last year was the first year that I sat down and wrote goals for myself.
As I look back, it was a good way to focus my mental energy and decide on the books and other projects I wanted to tackle. I named the projects, gave myself deadlines, and kept track of when I accomplished them.
Here’s the list under the category of books that I accomplished:
Revised Twitter Just for Writers
Updated Pinterest Just for Writers
Wrote the 2nd edition to my Social Media Just for Writers, my first book (it will be available later this month)
Published Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day
Decided to publish The Authors’ Guide to Goodreads
Pulled together a new book, Social Media Primer with Advanced Guidelines (this wasn’t on my original list)
I also completed my first email course (not on my original list of goals), and for Joel Friedlander I wrote a hefty Social Media Toolkit for Authors complete with templates and cheat sheets. Also, I’ll soon finish an audio course I’ve been working on with Howard VanEs. The course wasn’t originally on my list either.
Under courses that I paid for, I easily finished Nick Stephenson’s course, Your First 10,000 Readers, but have yet to finish another, which will remain unnamed for now. The way I figure it, I still have time to meet the goal.
I also worked on landing pages for my website. I created a landing page for my social media audits, which includes testimonials, and I finally added some fun facts on my About page.
In addition, I wanted to diversify where my books are available for sale. So I joined Join other retailers, including Kobo, Smashwords, and iBooks.
There were some unplanned changes in 2016. I let go of podcasting. My sound issues lingered and I didn’t have the energy or want to spend additional resources or time trying to fix them. So after I let the podcast go and Joel Friedlander suggested I started a webinar series, Conversations with Frances, I jumped on the idea. The series began with a bang with interviews of Joanna Penn, Joel, and Jane Friedman. I have an excellent lineup in 2017 as well, in case you’re wondering.
I wanted to produce a media kit and put it on my website. Somehow, that project slipped through the cracks. So I need to add that goal to 2017.
Another goal was to have a new author photo taken. If you look at my About page, you’ll see one of the new photos I chose.
I’m not sure what my list of goals will look like in 2017. I know I want to finish my historical fiction novel that I started long ago. (I started it in 2000. Can you believe it?) I’ll use Joanna Penn’s course to help me complete it at long last.
There’s another social media book I want to write and an accompanying course I want to create.
The truth is, I need to give 2017 more thought. Last year I devoted a couple of hours to decide on a goal list, and I need to repeat that process for my new list of targeted projects.
5 Tips on Establishing Goals for 2017
Now it’s your turn. What will your goals be for 2017. How will you derive at them? I have some suggestions for you.
Set aside some time to dream. Go to a park, a coffee shop, or wherever you can have some uninterrupted time to just dream about 2017. Thank about what you want to do or how you want next year to be different than 2016.
Think about what motivates you. In my case, writing is what I love to do so my goals were heavy on writing. Do you want to try a new genre? Will you decide to write a new series? Will you work on box sets or audio projects? Try to determine what is most exciting for you.Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself.
Be specific with your goals and decide on deadlines. What if you miss a deadline? That’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up. (I still haven’t finished a course from early 2016 but I know I will.) Just decide on a more realistic deadline and try to stick with it.
Write down your goals. I find that whether it’s a grocery list or a to-do list for work, if I don’t write the tasks down I don’t finish them. So once you give yourself some time to just imagine what you’d like to accomplish in 2017 write down your goals. In my case, I typed up my goals and posted them on my office door to keep me focused.
Don’t give up. Just take your goals one-by-one, knowing that if you remain focused, you will accomplish them.
Cheryl Strayed’s TED Talk
I recently listened to a TED Talk featuring author Cheryl Strayed. She said, “What we accomplish is built on what we failed at.” I think she’s right. If you look at successful entrepreneurs, it seems they all underwent one or more failures before rising to their current level of success. Failures can be like rungs on a ladder that help us rise to the peak we’re trying to reach. It’s odd, isn’t it?
Strayed also said during her TED Talk that “our deepest treasures are buried in the crappy detritus of our lives.”
So I failed at podcasting, but at least I tried. I flew to Georgia to learn how to podcast, spent money on three mics and other equipment and programs, and recorded and re-recorded sessions until finally, I let it go. And I believe that I let it go to open my life to new experiments, such as the webinar series, which, by the way, I enjoy producing so much more.
I produced more books than I expected and it was fun. I also took on a new blogging gig with BookWorks, which wasn’t on my original list but came as a gift.
In some ways, the goal sheet was just a starting point for my professional life this year. And I think that’s as it should be. Whether you formally write your goals for 2017 on an Excel spreadsheet, a Post-It, or don’t write them down at all, at least give them some thought.
As Cheryl Strayed says, we’re all ordinary and extraordinary. So think about 2017. I wish you an extraordinary year.
If you’d like to see Cheryl Strayed’s TED Talk, be sure to watch it here.
The author of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference. In addition, she’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com, blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks, and blogger at Bowker’s Self-Published Author. She’s written several social media books including The Author’s Guide to Goodreads and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for my free email course.
Practical Tips for Marketing Your Books on the Social Web
Confused about whether you’re being effective on social media? Get the free email course and the bonus book for free.
The post Looking Forward to 2017 Plus Insights from Cheryl Strayed’s TED Talk appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
December 9, 2016
Indie Author Weekly Update December 9, 2016
I hope you enjoy this week’s edition of the Indie Author Weekly Update. Be sure to start reading Joel Friedlander’s series on how he got his start in blogging and soared to success. It’s a fascinating story.
So why the dogs in the image above? Why not? Those who know me well, know that I love dogs. I have an English Lab and fostered dogs for the Golden Gate Labrador Retriever Rescue. Why the snow in the above picture? It doesn’t snow where I live, but it is brisk and feels like it might snow.
I hope you enjoy this week’s selection below and that you have a lovely weekend. Keep warm!
Indie Author Updates
Video Will Be Huge in 2017…Get Ready! from BookWorks: “Video is incredibly popular. Experts estimate that in 2017 and beyond, video will make up 69% of consumer internet traffic. Back in 2015, consumers spent an average of five-and-a-half hours a day watching video content. That number continues to rise. On Facebook alone, some 500 million users view 8 billion videos on a daily basis. Video, because people watch so much of it, is useful in book marketing. At the same time, it’s important to keep your videos to approximately 90 seconds. Five percent of viewers will stop watching a video after 1 minute and 60% by 2 minutes.”
41 Blogging Tools Every Serious Content Marketer Should Know About by Adam Connell: “Do you ever wish that certain parts of the blogging process could be easier? Maybe it’s writing, crafting headlines, managing social media, lead generation or something else. The good news is that all of this can be easier – with the right tools. And in this post, I’ll show you the blogging tools that every marketer should know about. We’ll cover everything from content creation to marketing automation and in-depth competitive research.”
A Blogger’s Progress: First Steps Into a New World by Joel Friedlander: “This is the first in a series of articles charting the founding, successes, failures, and lessons learned from 7 years of blogging. Authors ask me all the time about how to build a blog that will help their book marketing, and I’ve often recommended—especially to nonfiction authors—that building a blog and a community is actually a more pressing task than publishing the book they’ve been working on. I hope that you’ll be able to profit from the lessons I’ve learned along the way, and maybe you’ll make fewer mistakes than I have.”
Productivity For Creative People With Mark McGuinness and from Joanna Penn: “There are so many things that authors need to do now as well as write, plus there are a lot more distractions. So how do we stay productive and creative in a crazy busy world? I discuss this with Mark McGuinness.”
How to Use Fiverr to Create a Book Trailer from Writer Unboxed and by Therese Walsh: My husband first told me about Fiverr after the company he works for used their services to have a video created as a teaching tool for their staff. He raved about not only the quality of the video, but the experience of working with a Fiverr artist and the price tag that came along with it.
Promoting a Sequel in a Book’s Back Matter (With Examples!) from BookBub: “The end of a book is some of the most valuable marketing real estate an author or publisher has to promote a sequel. This is the exact spot where readers are primed to continue the characters’ story. But if the sequel isn’t effectively promoted in a book’s back matter, the reader might not even realize it exists!”
Quote of the Week
The author of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference. In addition, she’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com, blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks, and blogger at Bowker’s Self-Published Author. She’s written several social media books including The Author’s Guide to Goodreads and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for my free email course.
Blogging Just for Writers is packed with best practices, suggested topics, and loads of applications and plugins to ease your blogging. Buy it on Kindle or wherever you like to purchase your eBooks for just $2.99.
The post Indie Author Weekly Update December 9, 2016 appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
December 5, 2016
How Writers Can Improve their SEO without Pricey Experts
Google and Facebook are similar in one way; they frequently tweak their algorithms. It’s only Google that changes its algorithm for SEO.
And while Facebook announces its algorithm revisions without assigning names to the changed algorithms, Google does assign monikers to its changes.
In August 2012, Google introduced its mighty Pirate update, followed by one of the most famous updates in September 2014, Panda. You could practically hear SEO experts wail across the internet as they anguished over what the changes would mean for them and their clients’ websites.
To be honest, Panda was a good thing. Some SEO consultants were playing tricks and using chicanery, and Panda leveled the playing field for people like you and me.
Then in October 2014, Google introduced the Penguin update. (Don’t you love all these cuddly names?) In September of this year, Penguin 4.0 came out.
Writers: SEO has never been easier for you Click To Tweet
What does all this mean for writers? A lot, actually. If you use Yoast – and every writer should use this plugin on their website – you will notice a new feature, readability. Yep, if you want to rank on Google, you not only have to build SEO into your blog posts, they also need to be rank for readability.
Let’s delve into this, shall we? This topic isn’t nearly as scary as it may sound.
Yoast SEO Primer
Step One: Get and Install Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO is a WordPress plugin that lets anyone enhance the search engine optimization on their blog and website. The benefit of using this plugin is that you don’t need to know anything about SEO to gain Google’s recognition. You just need to move through the plugin, filling out your keyword and adding data for social shares.
Yoast SEO features include:
Focus keyword and content analysis
Post titles and meta descriptions
Readability check.
Here’s how to get and install this plugin:
Go to WordPress.org and search for Yoast SEO or use this link: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo/
Download the plugin, in this case, Version 3.9
Go to your website’s dashboard, click Plugins and then Add New
Upload the plugin and make it viable on your site.
Step Two: Use Yoast SEO
The new Yoast SEO includes a test for readability. It will analyze the length of your sentences and paragraphs, whether you use transition words and subheadings, and determine how often you use the passive voice. As part of the readability score, Yoast SEO assesses your Flesch Reading Ease, which determines a readability score based on your sentence lengths, numbers of words in your sentences, and the number of syllables per word.
Basically, as a writer you have a leg up, so to speak. If you ban the passive voice from your posts and keep to short sentences and paragraphs, your readability score will rise, improving the SEO of your blog post and web pages.
5 Readability tips to improve your website's SEO Click To Tweet
My November 28th blog post received passing scores in both SEO and readability. To attain a passing readability score, I minimized the passive voice from my post and kept my sentences and paragraphs fairly simple and short. When you pass Yoast for SEO’s test, you’ll know by seeing this score, captured in the screenshot.
Step 3: Complete All Aspects of Yoast SEO
The first step is to select your focus keyword. In my case, it was email marketing. I included the keyword in the post title, in a subhead, and throughout the post.
Next, work on the snippet that will appear on Google. The snippet needs to include your focus keyword. This was mine:
There’s a piece of advice that authors everywhere are receiving that you can’t ignore: start your email marketing list and grow it.
Go to Readability to determine what improvements you need to make.
The final step is to prepare your social share image and wording. Your options are for Facebook and Twitter only.
5 Readability Tips
Here’s a summary of points to help you make your website and blog copy SEO friendly:
Keep your content concise and interesting.
Shorter paragraphs are easier to read. Copyblogger has been writing posts with short paragraphs since they emerged on the blogosphere eons ago and look where they are today.
Use headings and subheadings to direct your readers.
Refrain from using small or hard-to-read fonts.
Add color images. Your readers will thank you by reading your entire blog posts.
I don’t think there’s been a better time for authors to improve their SEO ranking. You, perhaps more than any other blogger on the internet, already know what constitutes good writing and what’s readable and what’s not. You’re in a prime position to do what you know best: write for your readers.
The author of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference. In addition, she’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com, blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks, and blogger at Bowker’s Self-Published Author. She’s written several social media books including The Author’s Guide to Goodreads and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for my free email course.
Practical Tips for Marketing Your Books on the Social Web
Confused about whether you’re being effective on social media? Get the free email course and the bonus book for free.
The post How Writers Can Improve their SEO without Pricey Experts appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
December 2, 2016
Indie Author Weekly Update December 2, 2016
This week sees a return to the Indie Author Weekly Update with posts from Jane Friedman, HubSpot, Joanna Penn, Ross Simonds, and Writers in the Storm. I hope you enjoy the selections.
Thanksgiving is over and Hanukkah and Christmas are on their way. Regardless of how you celebrate the season, stay warm, make time to cozy up to some great books, and keep writing.
Indie Author Updates
If you only read one post, make sure it’s this one:
Do You Know What You’re Capable Of? – from Writer Unboxed and by Jane Friedman: “When I first started running more than 20 years ago, I was slow and couldn’t last for more than 5 or 10 minutes without taking walk breaks. I more or less kept at the same pattern (and same trail) day after day, not expecting much of myself. I didn’t feel like a runner, but I had the strange idea I should try anyway.”
11 Examples of Facebook Ads That Actually Work (And Why) from HubSpot: “One average, Facebook is home to 1.18 billion daily active users — from CEOs, to students, to companies. And while the community is clearly there, connecting with them from a marketing standpoint isn’t always easy.”
Harnessing the power of YouTube for books from The Future Book: “Can YouTube really sell books? Naomi Bacon’s answer is a resounding yes – and she’s developed a three-step strategy to help you get there. This digest of her presentation from Frankfurt Book Fair is a must-read for any publisher hoping to improve their success with social video.”
From Author Entrepreneur To Creative Business Empire With Sean Platt from Joanna Penn: “When you’re writing that first book, it can seem inconceivable that you might want to run an author business someday. But inevitably, things change! Today I talk about the journey from author to entrepreneur to creative business empire with Sean Platt.”
How to Preserve Your Creative Self In Times of Trouble from Writers in the Storm: “This is not going to be a political post. But I am going to talk about politics. Sort of. As writers, we’re sensitive souls. We observe the world around us, and as Kimberly Brock called us in a beautiful post earlier this week, we’re lightning collectors. I loved this analogy; it’s so perfect. I wait for the idea that always inevitably comes, whether it be a plot twist, a scene conflict, a character. Our subconscious does most of the heavy lifting.”
Secret Keyword Research Strategy for More Traffic from Ross Simonds: In this example, Ross Simonds uses an already ranking page to get more traffic and leads using the strategies that he describes.
Awards
Women Lead The Five @CostaBookAwards Shortlists by Dennis Abrams and from Pub Perspectives: “Two-thirds of the shortlisted candidates are women in the UK’s Costa Book Awards. The newcomer to the Costas on that Novel Award list is Sarah Perry, for The Essex Serpent, a book that some had expected would draw a spot on the Man Booker longlist.”
Quote of the Week
The author of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference. In addition, she’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com, blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks, and blogger at Bowker’s Self-Published Author. She’s written several social media books including The Author’s Guide to Goodreads and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for my free email course.
Practical Tips for Marketing Your Books on the Social Web
Confused about whether you’re being effective on social media? Get the free email course and the bonus book for free.
The post Indie Author Weekly Update December 2, 2016 appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
November 28, 2016
Author’s Guide to Email Marketing plus 3 Best Practices
There’s a piece of advice that authors everywhere are receiving that you can’t ignore: start your email marketing list and grow it.
As you can tell from the abundance of blog posts on this topic, I’m not the only one who agrees with this advice.
Moreover, email is the fastest, cheapest, most powerful way to engage with your readers at scale. No other service (not even social media) is as personal as email, and if done right, you’ll sell way more books through email than you could any other way. Tom Morkes
As effective as social media is for engaging with your readers – not to mention discoverability – there’s nothing that quite compares to a robust email marketing list.
There’s nothing that quite compares to a robust email list Click To Tweet
Right about now you probably think that it’s an excellent piece of advice but just how can you accomplish this goal? That’s exactly what this post is about so lean back, take a sip of your coffee, tea, or tequila (or bourbon or wine), and keep reading.
Start with MailChimp
I use MailChimp. I researched a variety of email marketing applications five years ago and settled on this one. Some people like Constant Contact (I don’t) and others swear by Aweber (never tried it), and some are now using a new program called Convert Kit.
I’m sticking with MailChimp. (Notice that I’m not using an affiliate link for MailChimp.)
Once you sign up, you’ll need to start a list. Don’t worry that you don’t have any names to add to the list; that will happen with time. The first task is to create a list name. Click the parallel lines to open a menu and click lists.
Next click Create List, complete the details, and Save.
Once you create a list, click signup forms and then click Select next to general forms. Now you’ll work on writing a series of sign-up and confirmation forms for your list. Keep your branding in mind when creating the forms.
For example, what are your brand colors? What does your website banner look like? In my case, I use my Social Media Just for Writers logo.
As the drop-down menu changes, you’ll be able to work on different forms in the series of emails your subscribers will receive.
Email Marketing Signup Tips
Now that you have your forms set up, you need to move to your website and insert a widget that encourages signups. (You may need your webmaster to create the widget for you.)
The best way to encourage signups is by offering something for free. Your reader will receive the freebie once he or she turns over an email address. It’s what Joel Friedlander calls the ethical bribe.
What can you give away for free? Here are some ideas:
A checklist.
The first chapter of your new book.
The first book in a popular series.
A short story.
A cheat sheet.
What you give away is as important as how you phrase your signup widget. Here’s mine:
Notice that I never use the word subscribe. Instead, I promote the benefit of the freebie and then use the words Get It Now! Avoid using the words email list or subscribe when creating your signup widget.
I also offer a free email course on social media. Here’s the sign-up form:
Again, I stress the benefits and never mention the word subscribe, which tends to turn people off.
Use clear calls to action in your email newsletters Click To Tweet
Email Marketing Best Practices
The folks at Hubspot, an internet software and marketing company, recommend these three parameters before venturing into email marketing.
Create and use a simple template. You want to focus on your content, not the form.
Keep your template within 600 pixels. This way your recipients, if they use Outlook, can see your content in the vertical preview pane.
Don’t neglect to follow CAN-SPAM rules. All of your marketing emails, including your series of gratitude emails, must contain the word “unsubscribe.” In addition to providing an unsubscribe option in every email, you must also include your company name and address.
Here are some more tips I recommend:
Write compelling email subject lines. What would entice you to open an email? Try to replicate that.
Use actionable language in the present tense.
Personalize your introduction.
Edit your content carefully. People don’t like to read long emails so make your content concise, meaningful, and useful.
Use clear calls to action, and just use one per newsletter.
Write compelling email subject linesClick To Tweet
Do you need help getting started with your email marketing program? Send me an email and let’s see if I can help you get started.
The author of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference. In addition, she’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com, blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks, and blogger at Bowker’s Self-Published Author. She’s written several social media books including The Author’s Guide to Goodreads and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for my free email course.
Practical Tips for Marketing Your Books on the Social Web
The post Author’s Guide to Email Marketing plus 3 Best Practices appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
November 25, 2016
A Quote from Elena Ferrante
It is the day after Thanksgiving in the U.S. so instead of my typical Indie Author Weekly Update I leave you with words of inspiration from author Elena Ferrante.
Whether you live in the U.S. or elsewhere, I hope you have a lovely weekend!
Inspirational Quote from Elena Ferrante
The author of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference. In addition, she’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com, blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks, and blogger at Bowker’s Self-Published Author. She’s written several social media books including The Author’s Guide to Goodreads and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for my free email course.
Practical Tips for Marketing Your Books on the Social Web
Confused about whether you’re being effective on social media? Get the free email course and the bonus book for free.
The post A Quote from Elena Ferrante appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
10 Twitter Tips Writers Need to Know
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