Inspiring writers to write and get published

Writers and Stumble Upon

I would like to point writers in the direction of Stumble Upon. I have used this for a number of years and the service regularly brings traffic to this blog. The basic premise is that people using the service install a tool bar, highlight the topics they like (e.g. writing) and hit the stumble button. They are then taken to pages that have been identified as potentially interesting. Readers rate these pages meaning only the best material floats.

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Writers and Adwords

You know those text ads that you see in search results on Google. Well those are text ads that advertisers write and Google displays in relation to relevant keywords. The advertiser then pays each time someone clicks on the ad

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Boosting a writer’s online presence [video]

As we move into 2010, and all it holds, I would like to point all writers who are looking to develop an online platform to the video below. It shows marketing guru Chris Brogan talking about how a publisher (or in our case writer) should use the internet – it is still the single best place to start when looking to build an online platform.

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And What Do You Do?

It is a modern truth about writers that very few are able to make a full time living from writing books. One solution is to work a normal 9-to-5 job and write in your spare time. However, another route is to treat writing as a part time job, and take of three or four other part time jobs to produce a number of income streams to pay the bills. If you are considering taking this approach (apperantly it is called Portfolio working), or already do, then And What Do You Do? is the book for you.

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Non-Fiction book proposals

The main difference between a non-fiction book proposal and a fiction book proposal, is that for a fiction book proposal the chances are that the book will already be written. However, for a non-fiction book proposal the book will probably NOT yet be completed.

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8 things Horrible Histories taught me about writing

When I first started on my writing career I was lucky enough to work for Horrible Histories writer terry Deary. I spent a number of years working with alongside Terry as a researcher on a string of Horrible Histories titles. Looking back this was more than just a job, it was an apprenticeship. It opened my eyes to, not only, writing children’s non-fiction, but was also an insight how big publishers works and how it was possible for writers to actually make money in a very competitive industry.

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Why not start your own book publisher?

This interview tells to stroy of Miriam Wakerly, author of Gypsies Stop tHere. She decided to skip the traditional route of proposals and rejections and set up her own publishing company. Find out how she established a distribution chain and tried to overcome the biggest hurdle – getting a book into a bookshop.

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This is Social Media by Guy Clapperton

It sets out to explore the world of social media from a layman’s point of view and the bulk of the book looks at different sites, how to set up an account and how to use them, gettinh the most out of the experience in the process. I could waffle on, but when you consider Clapperton covers fourteen different services, including smaller site as well as the big boys like twitter, you will get the point.

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6 tips to getting published in 2010

The publishing world may be changing with technology, ebooks, iphones, Kindle, DRM, and self publishing all looking to be important factors for this year. However, the bedrock for any writer remains the same, and that is that content, narrative and networking remain king.

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The problem with Twitter

Twitter is a great way to build a network. The fact that it’s free, well populated and easy to use makes it a great platform for writers, businesses and individuals. Add to this the fact that the Retweet and open follow mechanisms make it easy to quickly build a large following and you have a winning formula for building an active network.

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