Let's Talk Blogging!

Here I am in front of my computer getting ready to write my new post. I always have toys of some type near me when I write... just for fun

Today my interview is with a fellow blogger, Liberty Speidel. We have a lot in common as we both love to write (which we have been doing for years) have an affinity for politics, write book reviews, and are both part of the same monthly blog chain. Since I’m coming up to my 100th blog post, I thought it would be interesting to talk about blogging and how it is a part of our writing. So let’s get to the questions for today.

How long have you been blogging?
I started Word Wanderings in late May/early June of 2009. Before that, I had a semi-regular personal blog that was an outlet for whatever happened to be on my mind. Gratefully, I've shut that blog down.

Is Word Wanderings your only blog outlet?
I have just Word Wanderings, although I do book reviews for Christian Children's Book Review, which is in a blog format. CCBReview.blogspot.com. I've also served as a communications chair for a statewide political group, so I've done a teeny, tiny bit of blogging for that group--though my last year has been so crazy, I didn't do nearly as much as I should have.

How has your blog writing changed since it began/evolved?
While I think I still have a lot to learn, and the focus of Word Wanderings is evolving, I think just by the act of writing, I've developed a better focus. I'm starting to figure out what works, what doesn't. My monthly posts for ChristianWriters.com are always popular... I wish I could say the same for the rest of the month!

What have you learned about writing from blogging?
How to make things more succinct. I've been a novelist for a very, very long time, close to half my life. When you're dealing with stories that range in span from 50,000 - 120,000 words, you have a lot of freedom to meander through your story.

In blogging, I have about 1,000 words (usually less) to make my point. Sometimes, I have to really think about what my point is, and how to make it effectively. It definitely has made me appreciate the value of each word and how they're strung together.

Do you have any special tips that you’ve learned about blogging that you would like to share?
Blog regularly. Tell your readers what they can expect from you. Be open and honest. Work on creating a dialogue with your readers. You want to engage them so they'll comment, or at least come back. And, if they are kind enough to leave a comment, respond back. It goes a long way if they know you'll be responding to their comments or questions.

What do you do to promote your blog and grow your following?
This is something I'm working on right now. For a long time, I've been stagnant at around 60 - 70 followers. Sometimes, having a contest has helped. But, I tend to hit the social networking a little harder, though I should be better about it than I am.

Utilizing Twitter (twitter.com/righter1) and my Facebook page (facebook.com/LibertySpeidel) have helped, as long as I am working the process to make people aware I'm out there. Since I never really know day-to-day (sometimes hour-to-hour!) what is going to happen, having a minimal amount of scheduled tweets/posts throughout the week that highlight my current blog post or the fact I've got a Facebook fan page really helps. Hootsuite (and other programs like it) are a God-send for busy moms/writers like me.


What is the “networked blogs” link on your blog page?
Networked Blogs is a Facebook application that a growing number of bloggers are utilizing to highlight their blogs on Facebook pages. It creates a stream--as soon as you publish your blog, and as soon as Networked Blogs reviews your blog, a post is created on whatever page or pages you have it set to run on.

In my case, it runs on my personal Facebook page, as well as my author page. It's just one more tool for bloggers to use to promote their blog and get the "sticky eyeballs" effect. The reason why it's good is the fact that not everyone has a Blogger.com or Wordpress.com account, nor do they want to create one. But, they can still follow you through Facebook by using Networked Blogs.

On your blog you show details of some of your stories and you note that you have “beta readers.” How did that come about?
Author K.M. Weiland was a big influence on me starting a blog. Around the time I started Word Wanderings, she and authors, Lynnette Bonner and Linda Yezak, started AuthorCulture.(It now includes Johne Cook and John Robinson. All 5 are ChristianWriters.com alumni.) When I was looking around the various blogs to figure out what to include on mine, I noticed how Ms. Weiland noted what her current projects were and their statuses. I thought this would be a good thing to include on my blog. Initially, this was in a sidebar on my homepage. I recently tweaked my blog appearance for a cleaner, less cluttered look, and it shifted to being included on my "About Liberty" page.

How have your beta readers helped you?
I love my beta readers. Most of them are in my local critique group, but I have a handful of folks in the cyber world who have agreed to look at my stories as well. They've helped me refine my stories; see my stories in a different way, allowed me to be me in some ways. They'll tell me when I've gotten off on a tangent and when something's just not working with a story. I don't think I'd be the writer I am today without having beta readers.

Have you sent out any of these books to agents or publishers yet?
Two of these books are still in the first and second drafts, so they are nowhere near going out. The third book, I sent out--about 3 - 4 years ago, I think. It was entirely too early, and the story has taken shape in some ways I hadn't seen. It's also gotten a bit of a "haircut" so to speak. When I was sending it out, it had a word count right around 110,000, which is lengthy, and near the top end of allowable for a mystery by a first-time author. It's since gotten trimmed to around 90 – 95,000. I haven't gotten any feedback on it--all the responses from agents were either non-responses or form letters. I'm gearing up to (hopefully) send it back out sometime in the next six months--but that's dependent on a lot of factors, mostly familial.

What do you mean when you say one of your books is mild sci-fi?
I am primarily a mystery/suspense writer. But, since I was a little girl and I would watch Star Trek: The Next Generation on TV with my Dad, I've had a huge interest in science fiction. That only got stronger as I was introduced to Star Wars and, as of late, the superhero movies by Marvel Comics. It seemed like it was only natural for my creativity to start leaking a sci-fi story at sometime!

When I say mild sci-fi, I'm referring to the fact that there are aspects in this story that are most certainly of a sci-fi genre, but the primary story is a mystery. It's more setting that makes it tickle the sci-fi side of things. I try not to get into the technical aspects of the science thing--I'm interested in it, but it's not the focus of my stories--so I kind of do the Star Wars thing on how they explain the Force in Episode V. (I am *so* hearing Yoda in my head now! :D)

In the synopsis of Beyond Dead, your work in progress, you note that the main character can resuscitate murder victims. Tell me a little more about the story.
Beyond Dead was my first attempt at writing a book that could fit squarely within the guidelines of the CBA market--everything else I've written is almost fully ABA. So, there's a definite spiritual component with this story, and the sequel I've been poking at off and on the last six months or so. For instance, my main character, Detective Darby Shaw, is a Born Again Christian, but she's been "gifted" with the ability to resuscitate murder victims (there's a lot of factors, but it has to be, generally, within a week of death.) She constantly questions why God gave her this gift, and it's something her partner Detective Mark Herman, who's not a Christian, watches her struggle with it.

Beyond Dead was a blast to write--I did it as part of the National Novel Writing Month in November 2009. I've sworn off NaNo--twice when I've done a NaNo, I've gotten pregnant! I didn't know I was pregnant while writing Beyond Dead, and I honestly have no idea how I managed to get it done between the morning sickness and extreme fatigue--but I did, and with time to spare. I finished it on Thanksgiving Day.

To learn more about Liberty and her writing go to http://libertywordwanderings.blogspot.com

Best Blogging Tips from Around the Web to Get You Started and Keep You Going

In my weekly interviews with authors, editors and publishers the talk always comes around to the importance of promoting yourself by blogging. So I thought I would add a "Best Of" post to highlight some of the best posts on the web about blogging by specific topics. Hope it will encourage you to start a blog if you haven't already done so and give you some encouragement if you are already blogging.

Choosing a Blog Platform
Where are you going to post your blog? That is the first question you should consider. The two most well known are WordPress and Blogger. Also many chat room forums include the option of putting up a blog on their site. I have a blog on BookBlogs as well as this one. When you start the process of choosing a blog platform you need to consider what your plans are for your blog. These are some opening questions to consider first:

Will blogging be long term process or just a passing hobby?
What will be the main purpose of your blog?
Will blogging be used for a professional basis to promote yourself or your business?
Will you include advertising on your blog to make additional income?
Click here for more tips on deciding on a blog platform

Finding a Niche For Your Blog
Now it's time to decide on a theme for your blog. Don't think of it as one of those hated writing chores like in the movie, "Christmas Story." You get to choose the topic and what you want to write about. If you want a following of readers, your theme needs to be a popular topic that will draw in a large amount of people.

Many bloggers write about their favorite subjects as it is something that will personally hold their own interest in writing and will excite them to continue writing. To start, get a sheet of paper and write down a list of your hobbies, special interests and your expert training or skills. Do you travel, love music or read lots of books? That could also be the start of a blog.

Having a hard time coming up with a list? Click here for more ideas.

How To Keep Motivated
Blogging can be great fun as you share a favorite topic or hobby to encourage others about the subject. But how do you keep going and finding new info? First off, remember to be yourself. Unless you are an expert, you don't always have to write like one on your subject. It's more important to show your passion for the topic. Read other blogs and see what interests you and draw from that. Just remember you can't do a cut and paste from that blog or website without their express permission. Just like in school that's called plagiarism.

Don't think you can come up with continuous ideas? Here's a link to to see 10 Ways Blogging Can Improve Your Life, just click here.

Interview with author, J.D. Holiday on her books, Janoose the Goose and The Great Snowball Escapade

Today's interview is with author J.D. Holiday who currently has two children's books in print. She is not only the author but the illustrator as well. If that wasn't enough, she also has her own book publishing company. So let's get on with the interview and find out what keeps Jan so busy.

On your blog, for The Book Garden Publishing, it says “Our mission is to promote reading in children that will last a lifetime!” Can you explain what you mean by that?
First let me say thank you for having me on your blog. I believe in order to keep children interested in most stories the story must move along quickly and flow well to keep their interest. I structure my stories to do just that. Once children find reading fun they will keep at it.

What inspired you to create Book Garden Publishing?
After years of submitting manuscripts to the traditional publishers and waiting for the rejection letter, I had enough. I’ve had editors interested in my stories. I’ve had some short stories published, including some in a Chapbook. I even had an agent, but in the end, no books published. Then, finally, along came publishing services so at first I tried one of them. That did not work out well, so after much thought I knew I had to be my own publisher. I started Book Garden Publishing and hired a printer to print my books.

Print services, like AuthorHouse, CreateSpace, etc., are middemen that authors use to publish (or really) to PRINT their books. Print services hire printers (the book makers) to print the books and charge the authors more money than it actually costs to print the books. This is why books done by these service are priced out of the market. Books done this way can't compete with books traditional publisher sell because print service made books do cost more since the middlemen take their cut!
Printers, themselves will not, for the more part, work with authors. They work with Publisher/publishing houses that know the publishing business. This is why I had to start my own publishing business and learn about it so I could hire a printer.

What were some of the pitfalls you ran into?
As I mentioned, I tried a print service company. I thought at the time this was it. I would be published, finally. I had been told the book would be ready in eight months. We got everything in motion. Flyers to be mailed to newspapers, bookstores, libraries, and letters to accompany the review copies of the book were all ready to go.

Then the galleys arrived. I thought they would look great and be ready to sell. But they weren’t. They were a MESS. Among the things wrong were that the pages where the pictures should be covering the entire page, with the text embedded in the pictures, were on half the page with lots of white space around them. The text ran through the picture all right, but also out of the pictures into the trim off area. There was no way this was a finished book. I knew enough about PhotoShop to show this company how each page should look. I sent the galley back with my examples.

Weeks later, coming to my book release date, the galley came back. They failed to correct almost everything. A release form accompanied the galley. It said, according to this company, the book was ready to be published! Somebody recommended I call the Better Business Bureau. I decided to contact them by email. I thought this would be wise in my emotional state of mind. I was put half out of my misery in 150 words or less, and I got my money back in full.

Who gave you help and guidance?
I got help and guidance from Small Publishers of North America and their online discussion group of self-publishing professionals. What I have learned from this discussion group, the resources SPAN has for its members, and the books I’ve read put my publishing future into focus.

You’ve now done two books that you both illustrate and author. I’ve always read it’s hard to sell both your text and illustrations. You say you’ve worked with an agent. Did the agent try to get you to submit your stories without illustrations?
Back when I had an agent, almost twenty years ago, they would not take authors who illustrated their own work for the most part, unless the author/illustrator had a selling track record already. They are still telling authors that today. My agent was only submitting my stories.

What suggestions do you have for author/illustrators who want to get their combined work published?
I would tell them to try submitting their stories with their own illustrations to traditional publishers first. They might just be lucky. But I would also tell them to stick to it. If they are turned down because the publishers do not want their illustrations, and they feel their work is as good as any other illustrators out there, then they should do their own homework and look into self-publishing. I have found that self-publishing is not for everyone.

Tell me about going from illustration to the printed page. What type of medium do you use?
For my first book, JANOOSE THE GOOSE, I painted the pictures in watercolor. For my second book, a chapter book for 6 to 8 year olds, The Great Snowball Escapade, I did the sketches by hand and inked them in art program, Painter Essentials 4. I designed the book by using a book software program called, Indesign CS 3.

What other things do you have to consider when that medium is being changed to the printed page?
Once you have a printer to print your books, you can get from them the templates and all the measurements and specifications, usually in a manual, they will need to print your books. They will need you to follow all instructions carefully.

What doesn’t translate well from an original work of art to print?
I have found that my paintings and drawings translate very well. As long as you read and understand the printer’s needs and adhere to their templates and specifications there should not be a problem.

Do you consider yourself more of an artist or an illustrator?
All illustrators are artists. So it doesn’t really matter to me but there are artists who prefer to be called illustrators.

An illustrator's job is to do the pictures for book, magazines, cartoons. This can include a series of drawings and paintings for animated TV shows and movies as well. Most people believe that artists are people who draw, paint or play music. I have seen where actors and dancers also feel they are artists as well. There are probably other professions that feel that way too.

Which do you do first? Does a picture inspire words or vice versa?
I always come up with a story first. I don’t do the pictures until I’m going to make the book.

There are lots of blogs for writers. What about for illustrators?
Just like writers, illustrators blog and have networks. Illustrators use their sites and blogs to showcase their work, works of other artists and do works in process where they show how they do their pictures and paintings and other mediums.

Who encourages or critiques your art?
My family loves my artwork. They encourage me.

Your site shows note cards and your books for sale. What other art work items do you have?
I sell my artwork at Zazzle.com http://www.zazzle.com/jdholiday as paintings, cards, caps, shirts, and a mouse pad using a painting that my grandson painted when he was three years old. My grandson is five now and loves to draw and paint.

Looking through your blog, you’ve got a lot of ways to promote yourself and what you do. You also show a link to “submit your site to dozens of top search engines.” For those new to blogging, can you explain why that is important?
Listing yourself, your site and/or blogs and your books on search engines (SEO or Search Engine Optimization) is a must. This can be done for FREE, so don’t list on search engines where they want you to pay.

There are plenty of SE’s that have a free listing, though it is not always easy to find the SUBMIT A LINK tabs! When you do find it make sure you add smart keywords when listing your site, book, yourself, etc. That’s how the internet works; searches look at the keywords to find you. That link on my site and blogs that you referenced is Search Engine Submission Biz: http://www.searchenginesubmission.biz/
Some other search engines are: Dogpile.com, Google, Alta Vista, Yahoo, SearchSight.com, META CRAWLER, Bing, Ask.com and WebCrawler

What are some of the best suggestions you’ve learned for promoting and growing your blog and your writing?
Write articles about what you know about writing and publishing. Do reviews of books you read and interviews with authors and others. Post them on your blog as well as join free article sites, (if you are posting articles) and post your articles on them. Places your articles, review, etc. on sites like Facebook, Myspace, as well as other sites you are networking and Twitter about your latest ones. Don’t forget to add those keywords or tags so that search engines can find your postings and you. Network on sites for authors and sites where you might find your audience. But watch out for sites that have restrictions on promoting yourself. Some sites/companies frown upon that.

Bauu Institute has lists of sites to place your books, articles, press releases, social networking, marketing and more. Though not all the places will be free or in use any longer but it is well worth the picking.
http://www.bauuinstitute.com/Marketing/Marketing.html

We always see ads for "monetizing your blog." What have you learned in working with Google Adwords?
If you want ads on you blog you need to sign up for them. Google Adwords places ads on blogs at blogger. You click on Settings then the tab Monetize. That is where you will find out about "monetizing your blog." You have you choice of ads with text and images or just text. You can choose what type of products you would like to have as well. If your visitors click on the ads you can make a small percentage of money. There are drawbacks which you will have to read about but one drawback is that you only get paid after the amount reaches $100.

That's all the time we have for today's interview. To learn more about J.D. Holiday you can visit her website at: http://www.thebookgarden.net
JD blogs: JD’s writers Blog http://jdswritersblog.blogspot.com
And Independent Publishing News http://ipubnews.blogspot.com/

Tips on Creating an Author Presence and Blogging -- Interview with author, Jo-Anne Vandermeulen

My interview today is with Jo-Anne Vandermeulen who is an expert blogger and one who is willing to offer free marketing tips to other bloggers. She is also the producer and hostess of “Authors Articulating” on Blogtalkradio. And if that is not enough, she is also the founder and marketer of the online marketing business “Premium Promotional Services.” So let’s get on with it and get some of her tips!

After you published your novel, Conquer All Obstacles, you started writing a book on tips for writers which became Premium Promotional Tips for Writers. Why did you think you could write a book on helping other authors after writing just that one book?
Great question...I knew Premium Promotional Tips for Writers would make a great resource book from reading all the comments from my ‘suddenly’ HUGE following. In less than 3 months, I had over 100,000 followers and my daily blog hits were averaging around 200 a day. With this massive traffic, there were many comments about the same request...they wanted to read more marketing tips and would love to read these tips in a resource book. I knew this book was in demand from the many requested comments.

What type of response have you gotten from your readers?
Around 98% of the readers left 5-Star reviews with amazing comments of how much this book helped them conquer their online marketing feat. They felt inspired and encouraged to tackle the once daunting task of having to market themselves. They were impressed that the tips were user-friendly and all free. They learned another avenue of writing they never even knew existed...and many now enjoy online marketing.

How did you get started in writing the Tips book? Did you just use your own experiences for the book or did you draw from other writers as well?
I first read blog posts from other online marketing experts. Soon, I discovered a passion for the content. I started my first blog in October 2008 titled ‘Conquer All Obstacles – Professional Support Network for Writers’. Initially, I wrote posts about writing techniques; but by December 2008, my new passion took over and I wrote about all the incredible information I was reading from these online marketing experts.

I not only wrote about the ‘how to’ market; but also, (being a teacher for 20 years) was able to condense this somewhat technical information into user-friendly morsels of valuable content that my fellow writers could simply implement—a unique online marketing resource book different from the other self-help books for authors.

One of the concepts that I like is that you tell writers to start marketing their book before it is even published. Why do you think that is important?
Basically, I knew I had to create an author platform even before my first book was published so I took all that I read and shared the knowledge with others. There are 2 main reasons why it is important for an author to market even before the book is published:
1.) It takes time to generate an online presence.
2.) The marketing focus should be on the author first and then the book.

How do you define the term creating a buzz?
Creating a buzz is generating talk among others. I call this viral promotion—a VERY powerful method for online marketing. Basically, I compare viral promotion to a snowball rolling down a hill. Once the author starts to make an online presence and shows they have valuable content for others to explore, these new followers will be excited to share this information with others—the snowball has now started down the hill...and as more and more people read about this amazing content and where they can find even more, they will then tell even more folks...these folks will tell others, etc—now the snowball is building—growing bigger and bigger, faster and faster. Soon, the author (with the appreciated help of his/her followers) will have created a buzz throughout the Internet.

One of book segments is called “targeting mountains instead of molehills.” Could you explain that concept?
Targeting mountains instead of molehills refers to the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) graph. Whenever an author has a blog, he/she needs to register in the 3 top Search Engines (Google, Yahoo, and MSN). After he/she publishes a post or article, it is very important for them to ‘ping’ their post by sharing the highlight of the content and a functioning link with the webcrawlers or social bookmark networks such as Digg, Delicious, Reddit, Stumbleupon, etc.

Finally, with this post, the author should list keywords (including their name, the name of the post, and the title of their book) as tags. The webcrawlers from the Search Engines will then be able to snag on to your tags, content, and link, submitting them into the Search Engines. With more posts and more pertinent tags, soon your blog will elevate higher and higher in the Search Engines—the SEO graph will be spiked like a mountain. People who are searching for you, your book title, or even the subject/topic will now be able to find you without having to scroll through pages and pages in the Search Engines. Can you imagine being on the first page of Google? ...talk about massive exposure because now you are easily found.”

For someone who is new to blogging, what should be the first steps they should take to formulating their blog?
Keep it simple. Abolish ALL fears of doing things wrong or making a mistake. Write about your passion. For free, choose a template (design) from Blogger.com . Explore the dashboard or skeleton of your new blog. Go ahead and add a short article. View your creation and then edit from there. Once you’re happy with the appearance and post, click publish. That’s it!

Trust me, you’ll be surprised how simple blogging really is....and like most ‘things’ in life, your posts will become better and better with more experience...and with this building confidence, you’ll find yourself ready to modify your blog to make the entire appearance custom designed just right for you...your voice will ring true and your readers will begin to flock.

In your book you say you need to provide great content. That might scare some bloggers off in thinking they need to spend hours on end creating posts. Could you explain what you mean by that?
Creating great or valuable content is publishing articles with information your readers can use. What would bring a new reader back to your blog?
If you’re writing about your passion, there shouldn’t be any writer’s block. Again, keep it simple and write 2-4 paragraphs per post. Edit after.

How important is it to be techno-savvy in designing a blog?
With the right attitude, even a beginner with no tech background can learn as they go and have their own blog. They don’t have to design it if they grab a free blogger.com template...everything is done for you!

I guess that’s why most of my book ‘Premium Promotional Tips for Writers’ is written with the ‘voice’ of inspiration and encouragement. I wanted my readers to feel confident. I use my own experiences as being a new marketer and the tips as a reflection of how I conquered the tech terminology. I then turned what I learned into user-friendly online marketing tips for them. I wanted my readers to know that if I can do it, they can do it too. I really didn’t want to keep anything inside. I keep no secrets. Honestly, I measure my success when I know I can share the wealth of knowledge and help others.

What other books do you have in process now?
I have another Marketing Tips book that is at the Editors. Just today, She wrote saying that I should be expecting the first draft proof very soon...YIPPEE!!!...I cannot wait!...lol...

This Online Marketing Tip Book is written for authors and anyone who has products to sell online. I’ve learned to expand my audience—I can help authors and other people who need help marketing themselves and their products.

That's it for now. That's a lot of material to work with! If you'd like to know more about Jo-Anne's writing, click here. Or if you want to purchase the book, here's the info for her publisher - http://www.thelauruscompany.com/store/9