Tag: guest post

9 Top Blogging Trends for Building an Audience in 2021

Post author By Lisa E. Betz
Post date August 11, 2021
No Comments on 9 Top Blogging Trends for Building an Audience in 2021

Blogging is one of the foolproof ways of building a good audience. It isn’t easy though, considering that it takes quite a lot of time and work just to even keep your blog alive.

Nonetheless, the good news is that if you’ve managed to build an engaged and responsive audience that you can connect with at one click of your mouse, you already have the best chances of hitting your business goals. Now, if you’ve built an audience and you fully understand them, you can set on providing value for them.

This way, you build authority in your space and create trust with your audience. Authority and trust with your audience will be a valuable tool in your arsenal if you have products to promote or you just want to stand out as a subject matter expert.

But is Blogging still a Thing in 2021?

For most people who are considering beginning blogging, a relatively popular question some of them constantly ask is ‘is blogging still relevant?’ If you’re also worried about whether blogging is still a thing, then you could be in for some surprise.

Blogging is still relevant and profitable in 2021 because a whopping 77 percent of internet users still refer to blogs as their preferred source of information 2021. The only snag is that blogging trends change pretty quickly, and something valuable five years ago may no longer be relevant today.

Therefore, to still remain relevant, it is prudent that you be proactive and willing to implement the new trends in blogging. Here are the 9 top blogging trends you can use to build a valuable audience in 2021.

I. Quality of your Blog Trumps Everything

The first step to building a valuable audience in 2021 is to ensure that you provide them with quality. According to this Growth Badger survey, top bloggers rely on good content, engaging headlines and intro, SEO, email list subscribers, social media presence, and blog name and URL to be able to still dominate in 2021.

If you have been blogging for some time, you probably already know about this. In providing quality, you should ensure that your web content resonates with the reader.

They should find it useful based on factors like; accuracy, comprehension, ease to skim through, in-depth, and original. The bottom line is to provide the quality your audience is craving and then present your content nicely.

II. Common Topics are not Really Interesting

For many beginner bloggers, some of the things you may want to write about when you get into blogging are the topics you find interesting. In some cases, some of these topics are pretty common.

An advantage of writing about something common and interesting to you is that you pretty much already have tons of information about that topic. The problem with this approach is that it may not allow you to stand out in the crowd, and the competition could also be pretty stiff.

This doesn’t imply that you should only go for the most complicated of niches, as this may also be draining in the long run. Your best bet, in this case, would be to be very specific when creating your niche.

If, for instance, you wanted to start a fashion blog, you can choose to write about sewing patterns or fabrics. Make use of that approach for any niche you wish to blog on and build popularity with it.

III. Video Content is more valuable than Ever

If you’re a blogging enthusiast, you must have noticed that several bloggers are beginning to incorporate video content in their work more. The standout advantage of video content is that it preserves your time, increases engagement with your audience. Besides, your audience can easily retain that information.

This is realistic considering that readers can retain 95 percent of the message you present to them when watching it than when they read it in text. Interestingly, video content will also benefit your SEO ranking. Several Content Management Systems (CMS) such as AgilityCMS allow you to embed interesting YouTube videos into your posts, so this is something worth trying.

IV. Frequency of Blogging Counts

If data from HubSpot are anything to go by, you can generate 3.5X more traffic when you blog 16 times every month than if you blog just four times every month. This may seem like a huge workload, but it really shouldn’t.

You can achieve this by creating realistic goals you can achieve and basically aim at publishing at least one blog post daily. If you may struggle to crank more content, you may want to consider hiring a blog writing service.

If you’re studying and you struggle to create enough time for your blogging and studying, you may also want to look for a research paper writing service to handle your essays. This way, you will be able to concentrate on one important thing at a time.

V. Use of Featured Snippets

Snippets have been appearing on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) content since way back in 2017. Today, savvy bloggers use the featured snippets as a valuable tool for increasing their visibility on the search engines, driving clicks, and building authority.

According to the reports of college paper reviews, if things remain the same, it shouldn’t come as a surprise if this trend goes through or peaks in 2021. Just so you know, featured snippets are the short text snippets you see at the top of your Google search results when you type in a query.

VI. Use of List-based Blog Titles

Studies suggest that 36 percent of internet users prefer list-based topic headlines. The argument behind this is that internet users find the lists easier to skim through.

This trend has also been there for some time, and it really won’t change in 2021. To write good list-based blog titles, be sure to include the problem or product in your headlines.

VII. Web Hosting Quality

Website speed is something you can’t overlook if you wish to offer a great content experience to your audience. A significant fraction of internet users will bounce back if your pages take more than 30 seconds to load. This isn’t something you may want for your website because high bounce rates can negatively affect your rankings.

A more straightforward hack for web speed is choosing a good web hosting provider. The hosting should be fast, guarantee security and scalability to accommodate your brand’s growth.

VIII. Visual Content will dominate

Visual content is gaining more traction as more bloggers are favoring them in their pieces. They come with SEO benefits and are also effective in keeping your audience engaged.

If you wish to use visual content, you may want to use screenshots when writing tutorials. You may also want to use charts, polls, and stock images in your content.

IX. Quality Backlinks

Backlinks are the links you get from other blogs to your website. Their purpose is to drive organic traffic to your website.

Quality backlinks are also helpful for your SEO rankings because they make it easier for Google to determine your website’s quality. With quality backlinks, Google will view your web content as being qualitatively good, thus ‘reward’ you with free search engine traffic.

With these benefits, the use of quality backlinks is a trend that will still dominate in 2021 and may still last way past 2021. If you’re just getting started, you can generate quality backlinks by writing high-value guest posts on other websites and then linking back to your website.

Other than the backlinks, it would also help if you interlink the blog posts on your website. This way, your audience will find more value in getting more information on your site. The high amount of time they spend on your website will also make it rank positively on the search engines.

In Closing

Blogging trends are dynamic, implying that you should always keep an eye on new and upcoming changes, so you aren’t left behind. Other than the trends, always aim at providing value, and your audience will continue expanding.

Tiffany Harper is a training guru who’s been working in the corporate sector as the technology expert for several years now. She is a management graduate and loves to share her experience through blogs and expert articles. For her love of writing, she provided online consultations for the dissertation writing service department, while working with EssayMama. Please do not hesitate to contact her on LinkedIn.

Tags blogging, blogging advice, guest post

Guest Posts

12 simple and powerful tips for successful freelancing

Post author By Lisa E. Betz
Post date June 28, 2021
1 Comment on 12 simple and powerful tips for successful freelancing

Working for yourself has its own set of rewards and can be extremely lucrative. Being self-employed means being responsible for the money that you make and the amount is dependent on your ability and the kind of work which you’ll do.

Since the pandemic, many individuals have turned into freelancing to earn an extra income. In this article we’re going to give you several important tips on how to boost your career as a freelancer.

12 simple tips on how to become a successful freelancer

Becoming a freelancer isn’t an easy task. It’s like managing a business only your employee is you. The money you make will depend on the kind and amount of work that you do.

1. Plan of action – As a freelancer it can be very easy to take long breaks and blame it on not being able to find work. When you have a detailed plan of action in place, you will likely work according to that. Create various plans of actions based on your daily goals, your weekly, monthly, yearly and 5 plans. It’s also important to set realistic expectations and plans otherwise you’ll be disappointed when your plans don’t come to fruition.

2. Build your own brand – Building a brand takes time and requires resources before people start recognizing you for your work. As a freelancer, look for ways to enhance your CV. Ask yourself questions like is this the best way to build my website, how do I make my blogs better, how do I gain more visibility. Everything you put online is a means of acquiring more business and hence more money as a freelancer. Clients are more likely to hire those who have a proven track record so get those positive reviews so that you can gain clientele even through word of mouth advertising.

3. Be wise when quoting your price – When it comes to freelancing work there are mainly two types of payments that are done. Hourly and per project basis. You know the amount of work that goes into the completion of a project. The opportunity for a client to nitpick and negotiate an hourly rate and for the client to make comparisons about the work and the time it takes in its completion. Having said that, you know what works best for you as a freelancer so decide on a payment method that’s comfortable to you.

4. Setting up a system that works for you – Throughout your freelancing career, there’ll come many obstacles which you’ll have to overcome and things become 10 times more difficult if things haven’t been organized properly. Set up systems such as an invoice system, mark dates on your calendars, track your work record and find a filing system that works for you and makes your life that much easier. Use calendars to mark important meeting dates or to mark work events. These things will help you keep a track of the work that you’ve done and will also help when it comes to filing taxes.

5. Networking – As a freelancer, the onus of finding work rests on you. The more you network with your industry professionals the chances of you getting work increase. It’s also important to network with fellow freelancers as you can get many important job leads through them. While some of you may want to stay away from other freelancers from your industry, it’s a better strategy to work with them, build on their contacts and share the success rather than doing everything alone.

6. Learn to say no – It may be tempting to say yes to every work offer than comes your way but know your limits. It’s better to say no to a project while already working on something and giving it justice rather than taking on multiple projects and giving none of them any justice. Also, try to visualize how you want your work to be and focus on doing work related to that. You’ll have to adapt and change a few things along the way, however don’t completely stray off topic because it’s difficult to achieve success when being pulled towards multiple directions.

7. Make sure to have the terms and conditions written down – This point is often overlooked by freelancers when it shouldn’t. When you get on board with an agency or a client, make sure to have the terms and conditions of the work written down tight down to the payments. One problem many freelancers face is the issue of payments. A lot of the time payments are delayed or employers give less amount of money that was agreed upon. To save yourself from situations like these, it’s always better to have a written contract rather than a verbal one.

8. Create an LLC – While this may sound extreme, here us out. LLC or a limited liability company is a business structure wherein owners aren’t personally responsible for their companies debts or liability. An LLC will separate your business finances from your personal belongings and finances. This is just a precautionary step freelancers must take incase you get sued by the client. Another advantage of creating an LLC is that it makes taxing things much easier and also manageable.

9. Attend networking events – One way you can get more work is by attending networking events in your field. You can attend seminars, conduct seminars where you get to interact and connect with those from your field. Be on the lookout for events where you can meet potential clients. Once you are at these networking events, don’t shy away! Your main purpose of being there is to talk to as many people as possible, getting them interested in your work and making an impression.

10. Do a thorough research on your competitors – Spend as much time as you can getting to know your competitors. How they brand themselves on social media, how they find work and while you’re at it, also do thorough research on the kind of clients you want to work with. Getting an idea of what they’re looking for may give you ideas on how to better market your work and will eventually help you in acquiring new projects and clients to work with.

11. Set boundaries and take care of yourself – As freelancers it can be tempting for it to take over every aspect of your life and ignore the other essential things. Don’t let freelancing and overworking ruin your physical and mental health. Working up until the point of exhaustion won’t help you or your loved ones. One great thing with working as a freelancer is that you decide your own working hours and can therefore take breaks whenever necessary.

12. Don’t quit your day job immediately – If you’ve just started work as a freelancer then right now isn’t the right time to leave your day job in pursuit of becoming a full time freelancer and the reason behind this is that freelance work doesn’t guarantee you money every month like a day job does. Day jobs provide stability and a regular income source. You can only quit a job on good terms once you feel completely settled as a freelancer.

In Conclusion –

As with new things there will be a certain amount of getting used to this lifestyle. Working as a freelancer has its own set of advantages and disadvantages as does any other line of work. Freelancing will give you the freedom a regular 9-5 job won’t provide and it’s probably one of the reasons why more and more people are opting to be working as freelancers rather than just full time employees.

Ruby Smith is a career and productivity copywriter who believes in the power of networking. She’s passionate about blogging and writes web content for a variety of clients. She is currently dedicated to Online Jobs Academy as a gig worker, she understands the benefits and challenges of the industry. Blogging about education and career regarding ideas to grow is something that she loves doing.

Tags boundaries, branding, freelance, freelancing, guest post, networking

Guest Posts

Starting Your Writing Career as a College Student: 5 Things to Consider

Post author By Lisa E. Betz
Post date June 26, 2021
No Comments on Starting Your Writing Career as a College Student: 5 Things to Consider

Aspiring to become a writer as a college student may seem retro from a certain point of view. With so many modern occupations related to IT, AI, and digital industries, becoming a writer can seem antiquated.

However, book publishing is still on an upward trend despite eBooks and audiobooks becoming more popular. As a college student, you are in the perfect position to shape your writer’s career into something truly special. Before you jump into it, here are a few things to keep in mind as you start your writing career.

1. It Might Take a While Before you are Published

Before you devote yourself to a writer’s career, you should know that getting published isn’t easy. Take Brandon Sanderson, a giant of modern fantasy literature, as an example. Sanderson wrote 13 novels before he managed to sell even one, after which publishers took notice of him and the rest became history.

His story serves to drive an important point home – you will need supplementary income to live off of before you go big as a writer. While he was developing his literary universe of interconnected works, Sanderson worked full-time in a hotel. Becoming a writer takes passion, dedication, and discipline. If writing is your calling, this bump in the road won’t stop you in the slightest.

2. Look for Inspiration in Contemporary Writers

While you can look for your writer’s muse in the literary geniuses of the past, it might be better to look to contemporaries for inspiration. Depending on the literary genre you feel drawn to, and whether you gravitate toward prose or poetry, there are dozens of writers to look to. Haruki Murakami is a writer whose surrealist writing is juxtaposed with existing historic facts about art, philosophy, and music.

He is the prime example of how pouring “yourself” into your writing can result in mesmerizing, world-renown writing. Research their careers and look for the roots of their writing career to see how they came to be where they are now. Taking “writing” from a pedestal and seeing it objectively will allow you to get a much better perspective on how to succeed going forward.

3. You will have to Dedicate Time to Develop your Writing Voice

When it comes to the subject of writing, originality isn’t as important as much as your writing style and voice. Take Dan Brown, the renowned author of Angels & Demons, and many other Robert Langdon books. His writing style is far from beloved by literary critics. However, each book he publishes is a best-seller almost immediately – why is that?

It’s not so much about “what” you write about as it is about “how” you write it. This is why you should also look for admission services help if you are writing your admission papers as a future freshman or college student. Put in the effort to hone your writing skills and a style unique to your personality – that’s what publishers and readers enjoy about authors.

4. Set your Daily Writing Schedule and Stick to It

Discipline is a major component of becoming a successful writer. While it is true that you cannot create art under pressure, writing a book is a monumental task that will take months, if not years. For a good example of a disciplined author, we need to look no further than Stephen King, who needs no introduction.

His writing habits consist of working on new materials four hours a day, each day. This has resulted in King producing writing materials for his publishers at an unprecedented pace. As you begin to develop your career as a writer, you will have to create a strict schedule and abide by it. Writing a few sentences here and there won’t help you reach the point of looking for a publisher any time soon. Put in the time to express your ideas in writing every day, and the results will speak for themselves.

5. Consider Freelance Writing as a Professional Exercise

Lastly, there is a way for you to both work on your writing style and earn an income while developing your career. Platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr offer a plethora of projects in a variety of niches for writers such as yourself.

You can work as a blog writer, ghostwriter, or content creator for websites in need of different types of writing. This will help you manage your financial situation until you reach a point where you are ready to present your work to a local publisher. Freelance writing is also flexible, meaning that you can pause or quit if a better opportunity arrives, making it a good choice for college students.

Getting from Here to There (Conclusion)

If becoming a writer is what you are passionate about, there will be no stopping you once you hit your stride in writing new materials. Be mindful of the reality that writing isn’t easy and straightforward. However – it is a battle with yourself to remain focused and dedicated enough. If you can manage that, you will build a successful career as a writer straight out of college, doing what you love.

Author’s bio. Jessica Fender is a professional writer and educational blogger at Bestwritingadvisor, an aggregator for useful college resources and websites. Jessica enjoys sharing her ideas to make writing and learning fun.

Image source: pexels.com

Tags career advice, college students, guest post, patience, writing career

Guest Posts

5 Tips for Running Your Author Business

Post author By Lisa E. Betz
Post date June 10, 2021
No Comments on 5 Tips for Running Your Author Business

You’ve dreamed of becoming an author for years, and now, you’re preparing to submit your first manuscript to agents and start offering additional writing services through your new small business. And while you’re excited, you might also feel overwhelmed; after all, you have a lot to learn about being an author and an entrepreneur! The following resources can guide you through everything from tackling writer’s block to marketing your book, and these tips will help you master the best practices for managing a thriving writing business.

Shift Your Mindset

It’s important to shift from thinking of yourself as a freelance creative to thinking of yourself as a small business owner. This means that you need to uphold professional standards in all of your communications, set up organized systems that help you stay productive, and make decisions with your future reputation in mind. Have confidence in your writing abilities!

Establish a Payroll System

Eventually, your business might grow to the point where you need a couple of employees to keep everything running smoothly. When that time comes, it’s best to set up an organized payroll system so that you can manage your 2021 payroll calendar and make sure everyone receives their paychecks on time. Using a payroll template can be a good choice if your business is too small for an automated payroll system. Payroll template software can also include helpful functions like time tracking, invoicing capabilities, and employee scheduling.

Paying Taxes

You will need to pay taxes on the earnings that you make through your writing business. Yes, this means setting aside a chunk of your income from book sales and any other services you offer through your business! Paying your taxes late — or neglecting to pay them at all – can have serious consequences down the road. It can be a good idea to work with an accountant for guidance in this area. Wealthfront recommends looking for an accountant who has relevant experience working with businesses similar to yours, so see if you can get any recommendations from other writers you know!

Join Your Chamber of Commerce

As an author, you want to spend lots of time networking. You never know when those connections with other authors will come in handy! If you have a writing business, you could consider joining your local chamber of commerce. Founder’s Guide recommends joining your chamber because it allows you to have a voice in your business community, make new contacts with people in your industry, and promote your business. You’ll be able to attend events with entrepreneurs you might not have met otherwise!

Ongoing Marketing

Naturally, you’ll want to spend most of your time writing and editing, but you also need to leave room in your schedule for marketing. Even if you’re working with a publisher, maintaining a public presence and letting your readers know where they can find your book is important! And if you provide other writing services, you have to make an effort to get the word out. When you’re busy, it’s all too easy to put marketing on the backburner, so automating social media posts is one simple way to ensure that you’re always promoting your business.

Starting your journey as an author can be difficult. Every author’s career is unique, and building your professional writing business will involve lots of highs and lows. But with these tips, you’ll start taking your business seriously from day one so that you can invest in your future success.

Are you ready to become an author and publish your first book? Almost An Author can help you navigate your new career path. Check out our resources for aspiring and new authors today!

As a former banker, Jim McKinley uses his background and skills to provide advice and valuable resources to anyone who needs help with their financial literacy. In his spare time, Jim spends time with his family and his dogs and he maintains his website Money with Jim.

Photo via Pexels

Tags business, guest post, marketing for writers, the business of writing

Guest Posts

How to Build a Career in Marketing Copywriting

Post author By Lisa E. Betz
Post date May 11, 2021
No Comments on How to Build a Career in Marketing Copywriting

To put it simply, a marketing copywriter is a person who creates texts to sell products. It can be email messages texts to send them to probable customers, materials for advertising, articles for company websites, or short slogans for TV or radio. In other words, it does not matter what kind of text marketing copywriter delivers, but it does matter how it impacts the company sales volume.

The need for marketing copywriting specialists is huge: there are 3,406 Marketing Copywriter jobs on the Glassdoor site with an average salary of $25-200K per year.

Where to Start

The main must-have skill for a marketing copywriter is the competence to create in readers the desire to act. For instance, to click the Buy button right after reading the text in the company blog, or to visit the company website after hearing the advertising slogan on TV. Therefore, a proficient marketing copywriter knows how to make entertaining content and understands how it will impact readers.

So, if you are interested in a marketing copywriting career, you should find out more about marketing strategies and PR. It will be not enough just to catch the main trends or tricks for marketing copy. Still, since selling is very connected with human emotions and behavior, it will be incredibly useful to study a bit of psychology.

Also, you must not forget about writing skills themselves. Although a marketing copywriter sells products, his or her tool for doing so is words. That means, your materials must be easy to read, informative, catchy, and entice customers first read till the end and then react in accordance with your marketing intentions, whether it is purchasing, checking the website, or something else.

Additional knowledge can enhance your copywriting CV. For instance, if you want to get a marketing copywriter job in an IT company, a degree in Computer Science will look like a strong advantage.

Steps to Become a Marketing Copywriter

Step 1. Defining your current skills

Now, when you know where you want to be, you need to define where you are at this moment. Maybe you are an experienced freelance writer; then you have to improve your skills in marketing. Or maybe you have just started your way, but you have already successfully participated in some volunteering projects. Explore your potential: sometimes, it is not apparent what heights you can reach.

Step 2. Boosting your skills if needed

Once you have defined where you have a gap in knowledge or experience, fill it with training or practice.

Step 3. Create a portfolio (you can get some freelance orders for that at low price)

It is essential for the copywriter to tell potential employees about the quantity of your experience and showcase the examples of what you can do. So, your portfolio becomes as important as your CV or even has more weight.

How to create a marketing copywriter portfolio:

● Find a task at the freelance exchange, from your friends in the field, or even create it on your own. But the first two options are preferable. Why? The explanation is below.

● Fulfill the task and measure its results. The master in marketing copywriting creates not just grammatically correct and interesting copy, but copy that helps to achieve some marketing goals. So you need to show this to potential employees. That is why it is much better to take a real task than to come up with it on your own. This is not always easy without experience, so just do the best you can.

Step 4. Finding an internship or full-time jobs

The path really begins on this step. Many newbies think that the hardest part is getting a job, but actually, you have to work even harder once you get it.

How to Make Progress at Work

While working as a marketing copywriter, you need to continue improving your writing and marketing skills. To do it effectively, you must learn to take an example from other people’s work, ask the right questions, and critically evaluate yourself. Specific marketing metrics will significantly help you with this last point: checking whether the copy achieved its goal with conversions, a percentage that shows how many customers read the text and how many of them did desirable action (buy, click, etc.).

You will also find the following tips helpful:

● Read more. The more you read examples of other people’s good work, the more you understand what to strive for, and the faster you notice your own mistakes. For writing skills, any text is fine, but only marketing samples are useful for mastering your selling techniques.

● Determine for whom and for what you write. It’s essential to do this every time before you start working on a new piece. Always keep in mind that your text must accomplish the task. Draw in your head a portrait of your potential reader and answer the questions: what he or she wants, what he or she is interested in, and, most importantly, how to hook them.

● Follow the trends. Marketing is a very changeable area, so it’s important to know what is essential and relevant now or you will be hopelessly outdated. You can find out what’s trending on Medium from the blogs of the top experts.

How to Grow

A specialist in marketing copywriting can work on enhancing one’s skills in the niche or move into related areas. The first option might involve career growth to becoming the head of the department. The position will require writing articles, building strategies for development, and giving subordinates tasks. The second option is possible due to the fact that marketing copywriting already combines two specialties. So you can grow in the direction of pure marketing, up to the creation of your own agency.

Marie Barnes is a Marketing Communication Manager at Adsy, where you can write as a guest blogger. She is an enthusiastic blogger interested in writing about technology, social media, work, travel, lifestyle, and current affairs.

Tags copywrite, copywriting, guest post, marketing, writing career

Guest Posts

TikTok For Beginners: Ultimate Guide To Market Your Brand In 2021

Post author By Lisa E. Betz
Post date April 28, 2021
No Comments on TikTok For Beginners: Ultimate Guide To Market Your Brand In 2021

TikTok is currently one of the most popular video sharing applications in the social media world. It’s filled with lots of videos such as dancing, lip-syncing, duet, performing stunts, and comedy clips.

Once you start to scroll TikTok videos on the For You page, you won’t want to stop. Because TikTok videos encourage users to watch videos again and again. Whether you’re relatively new to TikTok or already a member, the following tips will help you to go viral on the TikTok app.

However, whether you’re just a viewer or planning to upload videos yourself, you have a clear idea about how to use TikTok to become a famous person in time.

TikTok – Short Intro

TikTok is the combination of all social media content with short and long form videos from 15 to 60 seconds. It has an effective music library, comedy, dancing, and trending videos. You can find popular videos, follow people and explore hashtags on this platform.

There are two main reasons that TikTok is really unique:

Type of content you post
How posted content is reaching your audience

Set Up Your TikTok Account

Before you get the TikTok For You page, you need to create a TikTok account. Here are the steps to create a TikTok account:

Go to the google play store/ App store.
Search the TikTok app in the search bar and download the app.
Once downloaded the app, sign up for your account by using Facebook, Twitter, or email.
Otherwise, use your email to create a new username and password.
Once logged in to your TikTok account, you’ll get a TikTok homepage to access videos.

Optimize Your TikTok Profile

Are you ready to edit your profile?

A profile is a place to show your identity across the world. You can add your unique profile image, username, short bio with clickable links, and attractive emojis.

To edit your TikTok profile,

Tap the ‘Me’ profile icon in the bottom of the screen.
Click edit profile.
Here, you can change your profile picture. TikTok allows you to choose either a static image or a video.
Next, you can add a unique username that easily remembers and identifies your audience.
Add a short bio to your profile, and it will appear at the forefront of your profile.
You can add your website link, Instagram, and YouTube profile links in the bio section. It will display at the bottom of your bio, so people can directly visit your website.

Create And Upload Your TikTok Videos

TikTok is the best social media platform to create amazing videos and engage people to follow your profile. Here are few ideas to create your TikTok videos:

Click the + icon at the bottom center.
The camera will open, and you can start to film your videos.
But before starting to record videos on TikTok, you need to choose your song.
However, if you want to capture videos at the moment, you can skip the option and start filming videos without music.
Like Snapchat, TikTok provides AR filters and effects, which helps to change the look and color of videos.
Click the effects option on the left-hand side to find more features.
The world tab includes options like environment and the effective background designs.
On the right side of the recording screen, you can see a beauty button to change the look of your face.

TikTok allows you to create videos from 3 to 15 seconds, and you can also merge multiple clips together for up to 60 second videos.

Once you start to post videos regularly, try duets, dance, and lip syncing features because these videos are more popular among the TikTok audiences and viewers.

TikTok For Marketers

Nowadays, many applications have helped businesses to promote their products and services and reach target customers. TikTok is undoubtedly a fast moving platform to get maximum reach and reach your message to the viral audience. Marketers use different strategies for brand awareness and increasing sales growth.

Here are some most effective strategies to brand a particular product or service on TikTok:

Make a Trend

TikTok is the best platform to find trendy content and hashtags. One of the best ways to increase brand awareness and drive traffic to your website is by making the most recent content and using a perfect hashtag to get your content in front of the exact audiences.

Engage With TikTok Users

Engagement is a two-way process! Uploading engaging content for your TikTok followers is important. Additionally, spending some time to see your post comments and commenting back to the audience is also needed. You can also comment on other users while watching trending videos, which helps to create good conversation and build strong relationships.

Promote Hashtag Challenges

Hashtags are the most popular and inspired activity on every social media platform. It will help you to generate audiences and spread your message organically. Hashtags challenges are a non-sponsored method to reach potential customers. Even you can grow organic TikTok viewers by using trending hashtags that may help you achieve immense growth.

Partner With TikTok Influencers

Like other social media platforms, TikTok’s influencer presence and growth are huge. Partnering with TikTok influencers to promote your brand is a great way to increase brand awareness and generate sales.

In fact, people are more likely to trust a brand and buy products based on their influencer recommendations. That’s why influencer marketing helps to improve your marketing growth and establish your brand to loyal followers.

Conclusion:

TikTok provides endless opportunities for users to create TikTok accounts and become more popular among younger audiences. Incorporating TikTok into your marketing strategy is a long process. But, with a perfect guide, you’ll be able to create awesome content and attract many people to visit your TikTok profile. Therefore, don’t miss this amazing platform for your business success!

Alison Williams is a social media content writer who works at Flatfitty, she is an experienced social media analyst, and her passion is to contribute to engaging content for authority blogs and websites. You can also visit her online at Twitter.com!

Tags branding, guest post, marketing strategies, social media, technology, TikTok

Guest Posts

5 Tips For Better Guest Post Writing

Post author By Lisa E. Betz
Post date April 26, 2021
No Comments on 5 Tips For Better Guest Post Writing

Guest post writing is one of the best tools you can use to create a good reputation and help people find out about your business. You reach out to different sectors of your target audience and get great results. Quite simple, isn’t it?

However, many people ask “How to write a blog post that will drive people to action?”

While there are a lot of “how to” articles, here you will find 5 essential tips that will level up your game. Some of them might seem easy, but are you actually using them in your writing? Think critically, and if the answer is “No”, I’m not sure“, etc., then try these techniques out as soon as possible.

1: Have Your Own Unique Style But Be Ready to Adapt a Little

If you want to be recognized as a blogger, you need a style. It may develop as you write. To find out if you have one, ask for feedback. Let your family, friends, coworkers, or a test group of readers provide honest, constructive comments.

You can also create a poll asking your followers about your writing style and whether there are any recommendations.

And finally, it’s crucial to get inspired in order to develop your unique tone of writing. Reading favorite bloggers will motivate you to create a combination of special features of your own. This doesn’t mean you should copy a fully-developed style of a person that’s been working hard on it.

You just read, interpret, combine, and create your own unique “language” if you will.

However, be ready to adapt it a little bit for some websites. You see, many webmasters are concerned about a single style of writing on their blog. So, if you know you’re working with such a person, do it as a beautiful gesture of respect (and to be actually published).

2: Know How to Find Proper Platforms for Writing Blogs

You may have the best guest post writing skills, but if the platforms you choose aren’t fit for the purpose, it’s a losing game (like in that sad song).

Here are some recommendations on finding a perfect match:

Use Google.
First of all, using Google to find blogs that accept writing contributions is an incredible hack. Type keywords like “guest post by”, “contribute to my blog”, etc. While there will be many articles about writing if you type “guest post writing”, focusing on phrases that would be on the needed platforms will provide a better result.
Only collaborate with relevant blogs.
Only look for blogs that share a topic with yours or that have a focus niche somewhere near yours. The exceptions are news platforms and general blogs where you can post about anything. There, you’ll find potentially interested people. But on sources close by spirit to yours, there will be a curious audience passionate about the topic.
Become an inspector.
Don’t just believe claims some blogs make. Analyze them, see what people write about them, where they are in the ratings, etc. Only after that, consider communicating with the owner.
Be a good talker.
Considering you write guest posts, this shouldn’t be a problem. Talk to the owner, offer your posts, and then maybe you’ll find a chance to offer your terms as well.

3: Browse Useful Content

The sheer amount of amazing professional recommendations online is staggering. But not all of it is suitable for you. A lot depends on the topic. If you’re writing business content, the recommendations as to the style, tone, vocabulary, etc. will differ from a florist writer.

The purpose of your article writing also changes the need for tips. If you want to build backlinks, you need more tricks on how to incorporate them naturally. In case your goal is to get more exposure, you’ll have to learn how to make your brand an eye-candy first.

Nevertheless, it’s useful to browse general content editing tips by professionals to avoid common mistakes. Because both business and flower arrangement writers may encounter similar mishaps.

Over time, you’ll see many lists of the same common issues and solutions, which means you’ve learned enough and are ready to proceed to more difficult topics. These may be:

New SEO strategies
Link building
Profile improvement
Storytelling
Portfolio creation, etc.

4: Collaborate with Professional Services

In the first couple of months, it might be tough to constantly improve and learn. Here are some things you may have problems with:

One of the most difficult things for many beginner writers is including links naturally, for instance. There’s a guest posting service where you can read more about building links and get help when things get too tough.
If you have issues with material uniqueness, adopt anti-plagiarism tools that will test your articles in minutes. You can also turn to professional bloggers that rank TOP on Google and read their tips.
If the lack of ideas is your main obstacle, use creative tips and tricks from professional writers.
And in case grammar isn’t your best feature, there are Grammarly and similar services.
If many blog owners say your posts are too difficult to read, maybe there are readability issues. Hemingway will become handy in such situations.

There’s a service for every stone you stumble upon. But let us give you one general tip. Read a lot on the topics you write about. Don’t copy articles or their ideas. Instead, read them fully and keep the most important recommendations or examples in your head. A couple of months of such information feeding, and you’ll become:

A better writer in terms of uniqueness and grammar
A more creative writer with lots of ideas
A more logical writer with an example and proof for every argument

5: Practice Makes Perfect, and It’s True

We’ve all heard it at school, and many of us were so irritated by this saying. But it works.

Here’s an idea. Find your first piece for guest posting and compare it to the ones you create now. It’s the result of constant practice. If it’s not constant or you don’t see a lot of improvement, then practice!

Think about the topics you are passionate about and write about them. Look for ideas, read relevant information, implement tips from the useful services we’ve mentioned earlier. And be consistent with it!

A Wrap-Up

Never stop learning and implementing these recommendations. Even if you consider yourself the best professional who doesn’t need an example or tips, don’t underestimate theory and practice.

You may know everything about writing blogs, but are you sure you remember all the information? Maybe it’s time to freshen it up a little?

Just try to do it once, and you’ll get on a new level, the one you never knew existed. Improve and adapt your writing style, learn how to look for better platforms this year (each year has its updates). Don’t hesitate to ask for help when necessary, there are so many amazing services for guest blogging, editing, etc.

Seek advice, don’t be too arrogant. There are people who evolve in a different way; maybe they have something you’re missing from your strategy. And finally, keep practicing and incorporating new engaging elements in your blog posts.

Nancy P. Howard has been working as a journalist at the online magazine in London for a year. She is also a professional writer in such topics as blogging, IT and marketing.

Tags advice for writers, Content marketing, guest post, guest posting, platform

Guest Posts

The Key Differences Between the USA And UK Book Markets

Post author By Lisa E. Betz
Post date April 23, 2021
No Comments on The Key Differences Between the USA And UK Book Markets

The book publishing industry is one of the largest in the world. In 2020 alone, printed book sales increased by 8.2 percent. Due to the pandemic, a lot of people rediscovered their love for reading and books. For example, in the UK, the time people spent reading books doubled. The US and UK rank 2nd and 3rd in book publishing worldwide. Therefore, it will be interesting to know the major differences in their respective book markets.

Just like culture and environment have an effect on what people eat, movies they watch, clothes they wear and so on. It also impacts what people read and how they perceive book design. The best writing companies understand this difference and use it to their advantage. Below, we will discuss some major differences.

Book Cover Design

Publishers understand that book cover design is essential. They appeal to cultures in different ways. Therefore, they pay attention to the design when introducing a book to a new country.

What this means, for example, is that the book “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara has one cover design for the US book market and another for the UK market. Usually, the book titles don’t change, even with the difference in market tastes. British books are associated with darker colors, while American books have more bright covers.

Additionally, American publishers are often comfortable with portraying the characters on the book cover, contrary to what most British publishing firms would do. They usually leave the readers to imagine what the character looks like.

A book series that explains this difference is Harry Potter. You notice the variance in the different editions. Even more, the publishers changed the title of one of the novels to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (US edition) from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

Appreciation of Story Tone

You will always find authors whose books become bestsellers in both the UK and US. Most of these books also go on to become best sellers in other countries. Some of these authors include Stephen Kings, Ruth Ware, and Paula Hawkins.

But popular authors are not the only bestsellers. There are other authors who are able to become best sellers in only the US or UK, respectively. The tone of the book greatly impacts how the different audiences receive it.

British humor is quite different from American humor. In the same light, there are differences in the use of words and phrases between these two cultures. These affect how readers relate to a book, and ultimately, how the book sells in each county.

Author Gail Honeyman, for instance, is a successful UK author. Her books contain some dark tone and humor that most British readers appreciate. However, US lovers of women’s fiction would rather have family drama and romance without the dark side.

Standard Book Sizes

Pocket Book (4.25 in x 6.87 in) vs. A-Format (178 mm x 111 mm):

The pocketbook is the US easy-to-carry version used to print cheap paperback fiction, while the A-format book is the UK easy-to-carry version. Many classics, humor, or self-help books are written in this version.

Digest (5.5 in x 8.5 in) vs. B-Format (198 mm x 129 mm)

The US trade size comes in different categories. Digest is the smallest and often used to print fiction and non-fiction books. The B-format is UK’s most popular publishing standard. Most paperback fiction is printed in this format.

US Trade (6 in x 9 in) vs. Demy (216 mm x 135 mm)

US Trade 6×9 in is the most common trade standard size. Most publishers demand this size for paperback fiction. The Demy standard is the UK’s large-format paperback used widely for airport fiction, in place of A-format books.

Hardcover (6 in x 9 in to 8.5 in x 11 in) vs. Royal (234 mm x 156 mm)

US Hardcover sizes vary widely. They are used for premium fiction and non-fiction, and mostly by publishing firms. Royals are UK hardcover standards used for novels and nonfiction. They are larger than other UK standard sizes.

Conclusion

Most writers want to serve readers across the globe. But it’s important to understand the inclinations of the readers in various cultures and pay attention to reviews. Paying attention to little differences like words and phrases, book cover, and book size will impact how much your work will be appreciated in the US and UK book market. Talk to your editor about how to balance your writing to reach your desired audience.

Frank Hamilton is a blogger and translator from Manchester. He is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital marketing and self-education. He also loves traveling and speaks Spanish, French, German and English.

Tags book markets, guest post, UK book market

Guest Posts

How To Get Over Writer’s Block

Post author By Lisa E. Betz
Post date April 19, 2021
No Comments on How To Get Over Writer’s Block

Every writer’s heart stops when I utter the words, ‘writer’s block’.

We’re ready to write: we have our tea, our snacks, our pens and we’ve told everyone in the house we’ll be writing upstairs. But then we sit down. We munch on our snacks and stare at the incessant blinking of the cursor on MS Word.

We’re people. We have lives. We’re constantly distracted by our phones, friends, families and work. Everything and everyone demands our attention. It’s easy to get lost in it all and lose focus when it’s time to write.

It took me three years to write my first novel and then less than a year to write my second. That’s because I learned some tricks along the way which I’m going to share to help you out if you’re feeling stuck.

1. Make sure it’s not really something else

‘Writers block’ isn’t always simply being stuck for ideas. Sometimes it’s a mindset. Before you skip to the next step, take a moment to evaluate how you’re feeling about yourself and your writing.

Is the reason you’re feeling ‘blocked’ because you think your writing isn’t very good? Bad writing (and good writing now I think of it) is subjective and yours isn’t as terrible as you think it is, trust me. Be brave and believe in yourself. The rest will fall into place.

Writer’s block can also stem from other struggles, health or be situation related. If you’re struggling with more than your writing and you need to talk to someone, I encourage you to seek support.

2. Start with the characters

Do you have well-rounded characters with extensive backgrounds? Shallow characters don’t live interesting lives. Once you’ve created a remarkable person, they will likely write the story for you.

3. Re-imagine the story

Once you’ve determined the characters aren’t the problem, take a step back. What do you already know about the story? Walk yourself through it from the beginning and trust your instincts on what has to happen next.

If you already know what genre your story can be categorised under, I recommend researching plot structures. They provide general advice in how to shape your story and will probably give you the boost you need to get you back on a roll!

4. Make a plan

It’s recommended that you write a plan before you write a novel. I’ll admit, my fourteen year old self disregarded this advice. (It could be argued, that’s why it took me four years to finish my first book.)

My mistakes aside, writing a plan is an effective way of getting out of a rut. Write it as a mind map, bullet points or a paragraph summary and then take a step back.

What’s missing? Where are you going with this story and how are you going to get there? You don’t have to stick to your plan, but I can almost guarantee it will help you get back on your feet.

5. Content

Is there too much going on in your story? Is it chaotic with too many loose ends, things to tie up? Cut it. Be brutal. If a character isn’t contributing anything to the story, do they have to have a happily ever after? Do they have to exist at all?

Is there too little going on? Is your story too straightforward? Add some emotion. Get distracted with a romantic subplot. Sprain your main character’s ankle and have them limp for the rest of the journey. You know what you need to do. Do it.

6. Build up

Sometimes a lack of foundation can lead to an uncertain future. If you don’t know what’s going to happen next, maybe you need to revisit what’s happened already. Does something more have to happen or is that the end?

7. Seek inspiration

Sometimes nothing works. We spend hours pouring over the characters and the plot and still feel as though our writing is speeding downhill.

Take it easy. Read a book or go outside. It will come to you eventually. It always does. Don’t overthink it.

As Paul Di Filippo said, “If the writer is not surprised by the events, then chances are that the reader will not be either, and grow bored.”

You’re a writer and you have a story here. Sit down and write it. You’ll surprise yourself.

Deborah Rose Green is the author of Dragon Pearls (2019) and Crown My Heart (2020). She’s the Contributing Editor for the ‘Hey Young Writer’ blog and starting her Creative Writing degree in September.

Tags distractions in writing, guest post, inspiration in writing, writer's block

Guest Posts

Do You Know These Benefits of Writing Poetry?

Post author By Lisa E. Betz
Post date January 26, 2021
No Comments on Do You Know These Benefits of Writing Poetry?

Poetry is such a beautiful form of literature. It allows you to say so much without having to write pages and pages. Through symbolism, rhymes, rhythmic, and aesthetic language, poetry can truly express the author’s deepest emotions and wildest thoughts. And, the best thing about poetry is that it brings certain benefits to the author.

The benefits of writing poetry might be a mystery to you, but we’re here to tell you more. We’ve put together a list that will help you learn just how good poetry can be for you, mentally and physically. Let’s take a closer look.

1. Expressing Emotions

The number one benefit of writing poetry lies in expressing emotions. This is crucial for those people who have trouble dealing with how they feel.

And, one thing’s for sure- you should never swipe your emotions under the rug.

Through writing poetry, you’re able to:

process the emotions you’re feeling
use creativity to express them
deal with them in your poetry and let them go

That means that poetry helps you let go of certain feelings instead of constantly holding on to the past. And, this is extremely beneficial for your mental health and inner peace.

2. Escaping Reality

We all need a break from our reality every now and then. And, poetry allows us to create our own little world and escape in it whenever we like.

People who write poetry regularly report that they feel shifted away whenever they’re in this process. Here’s what that means:

writing poetry takes you to your happy place
you feel relaxed, stress-free, and inspired
you can rest from the daily noise and tension

Escaping your busy reality is a good idea, and poetry is one of the best ways to do it.

3. Building Self-Awareness

Learning about ourselves and getting in touch with our inner-selves is never a bad idea. This is something we should try doing for as long as we’re alive.

Why?

Because it helps us build self-awareness and grow stronger on a personal level. Here’s how poetry helps you build self-awareness:

you express your ideas and emotions in your poems
you do it intuitively, which makes it honest
you re-read those lines and gain new insight about yourself

Poetry allows you to learn about yourself, grow, and improve.

4. Memorizing Important Moments

When certain things happen in our lives, we like to hold on to them. Whether it’s a beautiful memory or a life-changing event, it’s good to be reminded of your past experiences.

But, holding it all inside can be potentially harmful to our mental health. This is why it’s a good idea to write it down through poetry. This way, you’ll be:

getting it out of your system
making sure it’s never forgotten
allowing yourself to re-live it whenever you read the poems

Angela Baker, a literary critic, and editor at Trust My Paper, says:

“Poetry is one of the best ways to preserve some of the most important moments of your life. When you turn them into poetry, they’ll forever remain alive and available for you to re-live them. That’s the beauty of poetry.”
Angela Baker

5. Remove Emotional Pain

Some of the most beautiful poems were written as a result of great emotional pain. When we suffer, we feel most inspired to write poetry because we feel the need to ease the pain we’re feeling.

Poetry helps us remove this emotional pain, and here’s how:

we bring it out of ourselves
we deal with all the emotions we’re feeling
we find relief and peace

Writing poetry benefits those who are struggling to heal from a recent emotional episode and need a hand to do it successfully.

6. Improving Cognition

Poetry isn’t just beneficial for our emotional side. It also has a positive impact on our brand and cognition, so we can almost say that it’s making us smarter.

Here’s why this is the case:

writing poetry is a complex process
it requires us to combine the words, hidden meaning, symbols, rhymes, and rhythmic
this process makes our brain active and stronger

Poetry helps us train our brain into being sharper and working smoothly. As a result, our overall cognition, memory, and focus are improved.

Final Thoughts

Writing poetry is an immensely enjoyable and beneficial process we should all try. People who write poetry experience significant benefits and improvements in their well-being.

Hopefully, the benefits listed above helped you understand just how valuable the process of writing poetry is. Use it as inspiration to start enjoying writing poetry more.

Donald Fomby is an experienced freelance writer and amateur poet. He currently works as an editor at Supreme Dissertations. Donald mainly focuses on literature-related topics and aims to provide practical advice his readers can apply easily

Tags concise writing, creativity in writing, guest post, poetry, rhythm, symbolism, writing poetry

Guest Posts

5 Ways Content Marketing Affects Your Book Sales

Post author By Lisa E. Betz
Post date January 24, 2021
No Comments on 5 Ways Content Marketing Affects Your Book Sales

Perhaps, among all the ways to promote your book, content marketing is the most powerful tool since it allows you to instantly reach out to your target audience online and start your conversation with them. Here is how content marketing can be helpful in your book promotion directly affecting the level of sales and the number of engaged fans.

#1 Content Marketing Improves Your Landing Page’s Conversions

First and foremost, consider creating a dedicated landing page for your book. Landing pages have been effective for ages and are still widely being used by all kinds of sellers. Fortunately, they are particularly useful for promoting and selling a particular product instead of focusing on a wide variety of products which means selling your book with the help of a landing page will be the perfect route to go for you.

That being said, it’s important to understand that what you place on the landing page is what really will help you sell your book. You might be directing a lot of traffic to the page, but without good content, it won’t work the way you want it to. For example, some key characteristics of your book, a synopsis, reader and critic reviews, and a sample from the book can be placed throughout the page as well as a button for purchasing the book. This way, you will keep all the attention only on the book itself while promoting it.

#2 Content Marketing Allows Your Readers to Stay in Touch with You Via Social Media

Social media marketing is known to be one of the most effective types of online marketing – and it’s a part of content marketing. Indeed, all the content you create for social media as a part of your campaigns will actually fall into the category of content marketing. This means that you can tie social media into your campaigns seamlessly and integrate them or attach them to other platforms you use for promoting your book (e.g. email marketing).

The best thing about social media platforms is that they help authors stay in touch with their readers at any time from any place. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or any other platforms you decide to use as a writer will help you connect with your audience better while providing some kind of insight into your life to your most dedicated fans. Having an online social media following will also help you maintain a base of readers that will always come back to get more content from you – and more books.

#3 Content Marketing Boosts Your SEO Results

SEO or search engine optimization has been a major part of all digital marketing campaigns for ages now. In addition to that, SEO is needed both on your website and on your social media which means it is crucial for your content marketing as well. Optimizing your images and videos, adding keywords to your articles and blog posts, using hashtags on social media – all of this is a part of SEO just as much as it is a part of content marketing.

As Jocelyn Fry from the essay writing service reviews site Writing Judge puts it, “Content marketing and SEO go hand-in-hand. If you don’t adjust your content correctly, it won’t be discovered organically by search engines and your website won’t rank in search results. Likewise, it will be harder for you to get discovered on social media if you don’t use hashtags and tags. Many people who are just starting out forget just how important SEO is, so if you remember about it and you do everything right, you will have a big advantage.”

#4 Content Marketing Establishes Authority with The Help of Your Reader’s Testimonials

It’s easy to forget that content marketing is not just about the content you create – it’s also about the content your readers create that you can then share with your audience. No matter how much you try to persuade your potential readers to try to buy your book – other readers will be able to do it much better which is exactly why UGC or user-generated content is so important for the success of your content marketing and digital marketing campaigns. Here are just some examples of UGC that you can use:

Reader Testimonials: Reader testimonials or reviews help you establish authority and show that you are a good author writing good books. In other words, it’s a way to attract more potential customers and persuade them to actually buy your book.
Fan Content: Fan content such as fanfiction, fan art, cosplays, etc. helps you get more exposure, especially on social media, and attracts even more potential readers to check out your book. Such content can also help you create a stronger bond with your audience and create a lasting relationship with returning readers.

#5 Content Marketing Helps Leverage Your Efforts with Paid Ads

Last but not least, content marketing can help you improve the results achieved by your paid ad campaigns. Paid ads are usually used to generate more traffic (to your website, your landing page, or your social media page), but the content is what actually helps you sell your book once the paid ad has taken your reader to the place you want them to be. Moreover, knowing how to create good content will also help you write better ads that will be more efficient and effective.

If you aren’t so sure about your marketing abilities, it’s definitely worth checking out some books about marketing your own book before you launch any digital marketing campaigns. After all, if you want to achieve success, you need to be ready to have to learn some new tricks and techniques that will help you promote your book the right way.

Final Thoughts

All in all, content marketing is definitely an amazing tool that will help you improve your digital marketing campaigns and will help you best the sales of your book. Use the tips in this article to improve your content marketing strategy and start promoting your book more effectively.

John Edwards is a writing specialist who is looking for ways of self-development in the field of writing and blogging. New horizons in his beloved business always attract with their varieties of opportunities. Therefore, it is so important for him to do the writing.

Tags Content marketing, guest post, marketing for writers, marketing strategies

Guest Posts

The Power of Words in History: How Written Words Changed Nations

Post author By Lisa E. Betz
Post date January 12, 2021
No Comments on The Power of Words in History: How Written Words Changed Nations

What makes us human? For some, it’s our cognitive ability, for others, it’s our ability to feel empathy, compassion, and other complex emotions. Many experts might also argue that part of what makes humans so special is our innate needs and desires to document, to write, and to create.

From speculative fiction stories in fantasy worlds to grand political and philosophical texts, people have always seemingly felt a need to mark their experiences and share them with others in some form. We can see many examples of this from delving deep into the past. Cave paintings and ancient hieroglyphs show us that people wanted to document things for posterity from the earliest age.

This tradition, which began so many years ago, has persisted throughout time, shaping civilization and society as we know it, strengthening cultural understanding between people, laying down laws and rules by which we live, broadening the minds of scholars and readers across the globe, and so much more.

Indeed, in many ways, the written word has played a more instrumental role in forging human civilization than almost anything else. Take religious texts, such as the Bible or Qu’ran, for instance, which were first formed many years ago but continue to hold great spiritual and religious significance for countless people today.

We can also take a look at powerful legal documents like the Magna Carta or the Declaration of Independence. These texts show how the simplest of things – nothing but paper and ink – can be imbued with immense power by those who forge them.

Then, there are the works of fiction, tales told by the likes of Dickens, Austen, Twain, Hemingway, Woolf, Orwell, Tolstoy, Shakespeare, and so on that have been enjoyed and admired throughout the ages. They continue to exert great influence over society right into the modern era, performed on the stage, adapted for the screen, and studied in great detail by readers worldwide.

These texts, in all of their forms and guises, have helped to shape and change the world we live in. Without newspapers, vast swathes of the public would have been uninformed of current events throughout their nations. Without dictionaries and literary aids, literacy rates would never have risen as they did.

From a political perspective too, we can see the amazing influence writers can have. The likes of Mary Wollstonecraft helped to lay the groundwork for the feminism of today, while iconic figures of the past like Martin Luther King Jr. made use of their own writing abilities to forge a more equal and understanding society.

Without political writing and musings, key events throughout history like the French Revolution or the American Civil War might never have happened or might have played out entirely differently. Without the works of great philosophers like Plato, Kant, Descartes, and Hume, our very conception of the world around us could be completely different.

From scientific and medical standpoints, written documents allowed researchers from all four corners of the globe to make great strides in their studies and developments, building on the foundations documented by those before them and guiding their descendants towards new discoveries.

There are countless examples of written words helping to transform and indeed form the world in which we live, and it can be argued that not a single key event of the last few millennia would have played out quite the same way without the intervention of documents, texts, books, papers, and journals.

But whether we’re talking about classical romantic poetry, adventure stories for children, legal texts that form the foundation of entire societies, or grand religious documents that inspire the faith of millions, all forms of the written word owe a great deal to one man in particular: Johannes Gutenberg.

In 1439, Gutenberg became the first European to make use of movable type, inventing an entirely new process for mass-printing movable type and pioneering the use of ink in printing books. He formed the printing press, changing the course of history forevermore and allowing people all around the civilized world to have far easier and more widespread access to written words.

Gutenberg’s creation allowed words to proliferate further than ever before, broadening their influence and enhancing their power. It’s no surprise that in the centuries that followed, mankind saw some of its finest inventions, its greatest developments, and its swiftest pushes towards the modern societies we know today.

Still, now, in this digital age of connected devices, social media platforms, and always-online societies, written words continue to hold immense importance for all, and while the printing press of Gutenberg is more of an intriguing artifact than a functional device in the modern era, we’re still seeing societies build and expand on the foundations he laid down.

Written words continue to hold great power, even in the digital space. Short messages and personal stories shared across social media led to the rise of massive global movements like Me Too and Black Lives Matter, while aspiring authors continue to share their tales on a bigger scale than ever before.

At a time when anyone can head online and have their written words read by thousands all over the globe, the importance of those words has never been greater. It’s up to all of us to acknowledge the incredible influence and power we can wield with our words and take heed of the past to use them in the best possible ways.

Leon Collier is a blogger from the UK, who loves to write about everything: pop-culture, history, travel, self-development, education, marketing. He also works as part of a team of professional essay writers, offering dissertation writing services to those who need help. When not writing, you can find him behind a book or playing tabletop games with his friends. Follow him on Twitter @LeonCollier12.

Tags guest post, history, power of words, written word, your words matter

Guest Posts

Finding a Deeper Purpose as a Writer

Post author By Lisa E. Betz
Post date May 18, 2020
No Comments on Finding a Deeper Purpose as a Writer

I’m wondering about what motivates people to start writing. After all, it’s not the easiest thing to do, and more often than not, it doesn’t pay all that well. But some people tend to have this innate love for the language that permeates their whole life.

I’m endlessly fascinated by etymology, word choice, exotic idioms, and how language serves as source code for reality and how we use it to explore our inner and outer worlds. But is there anything besides playing around with linguistic concepts or enjoying a masterfully crafted novel?

What is the deeper purpose that motivates you to do what you do? If you feel there is none, it’s high time to start looking for it.

It’s not only about projects and deadlines (and money)

It’s easy to get lured into the chamber of words with its promise of independence, remote work, and completing exciting projects. However, once you start writing, you realize that even though you enjoy what you do, there are a lot of tasks you do purely for the monetary gain.

Then there are nagging deadlines that push you to get your work done in a timely fashion. I’m not against paying your bills or submitting work on time, but I think it’s much better to treat writing not as a job, but rather as a calling that you’re passionate about because it can change people’s lives.

What was the last thing you’ve read that completely shifted your mindset and pulled you in a different direction? Are you a source of this kind of prose for your readers?

The impact you make doesn’t even have to be so momentous. Maybe you specialize in providing useful information on a specific topic, or your aim is to put a smile on someone’s face when they need it the most. Whatever it is, keep this guiding principle in mind when you sit down to write another page.

Why did you decide to become a writer in the first place?

It’s crucial to have a reason behind your writing efforts. As Nietzsche said, “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” This is absolutely true when applied to the writing life.

Why do you want to write? Does it serve as a means for accomplishing one of your major goals? Do you want to steer the political conversation in a different direction? Is there a cause that more people should know about?

By tying the craft of writing to a deeper mission, you elevate yourself to a higher realm of meaning. Now it’s not only about smashing your quota, boosting traffic on your blog, or finding ways to increase your income. It’s about how you show up in the world and what kind of impact you want to make.

This turns you into a much more powerful individual and lets you enjoy the process of writing so much more. Remember that it’s not about the destination or some kind of an accolade that you’re after. It’s about serving your readers and enjoying every step of the way.

Look deep inside to add spice to your writing life

There are hidden depths to you that you rarely acknowledge or pay attention to. These hidden motivations nudge you in the right direction, but you choose to ignore them because that’s more comfortable.

To get a better understanding of what you’re after, decide to sit down with a piece of paper and muse on things that give your life meaning. It might be something completely unrelated to your current writing projects, like chamber music, the medieval culture of Japan, or saving the oceans. These eclectic sources of inspiration give uniqueness to your writing style.

Instead of trying to suppress them, it’s time to give voice to them. It’s time to live your life in a more conscious, passionate way and be grateful for every day you have. If you can make this shift in your mindset, your whole writing life will become more enjoyable.

So take out your journal and think about ideas discussed in this post. They will help you find a deeper purpose as a writer.

Rafal Reyzer is a full-time blogger, freelance writer, and web content editor. He started RafalReyzer.com to provide readers with great tools and strategies they can use to achieve freedom from 9-5 through online creativity. His site is a useful source of knowledge for bloggers, publishers, content enthusiasts, and freelancers who want to start their own sites, become independent, earn more money, and create beautiful things.

Tags calling to write, guest post, make a difference, Writing purpose

Guest Posts

8 Ways to Market Your Book and Get Reviews

Post author By Lisa E. Betz
Post date November 18, 2019
No Comments on 8 Ways to Market Your Book and Get Reviews

Book reviews are critical as a social buy-in for your book and to market your book through higher placement online, for getting ad copy quotes, and for boosting your author brand. It can be daunting starting out as an author and trying to get reviews. These are 8 different ways to market your book and get good reviews.

1. Use a Call to Action (CTA) in your book.

This is a simple, easy, and effective way to get some reviews because you just need to include it once and then move on. On the last page of your book once published, include a short CTA requesting that if they liked the book, readers leave an honest review on their favourite online reading site or store.

2. Have a free ebook online.

The best way to get a lot of reviews is obviously to have more people read it. If you have a free copy of the ebook online, you’re more likely to get downloads and therefore reviews. If you publish it with certain companies, you can make ebooks free for only certain days of the month as a promotion. You can also make it permanently free on Kobo or iBook sites and Amazon will eventually price match it.

3. Email your mailing list.

You should have a mailing list with all of your readers’ email addresses. As Penelope Ludlum, a marketer at Writinity and Last Minute Writingexplains, “once you have it set up, you can email them and ask for honest reviews of your book. You can set this up so they go out automatically, even when a new person joins your mailing list.”

4. Have a street team read in advance.

Once you have a big enough group of readers and followers, you can ask your readers if any want to be a part of your advance reader team. These people would receive the book early, read it, then review once published. For this option, you have to be clear that you want their own opinion without anything offered in exchange or you’ll be violating some online platforms’ terms of service.

To set this up, send out regular emails asking for volunteers, perhaps as one of your automated messages. You can name the team with a special name to create a sense of camaraderie and community. This team is also great at doing a final review of the book for anything that the editors may have missed.

5. Reach out to book bloggers in your genre.

This strategy is free to follow but it can be time consuming. Many book blogs have reviews of books in a specific genre, so you can research to find the right bloggers for your genre and who accept books for review. Once accepted, book bloggers will review your book on their own platform in addition to Goodreads and Amazon. Be sure to review the site’s submission requirements so you’re not wasting your time submitting somewhere that won’t accept your novel.

6. Research Amazon reviewers.

Similar to the previous point, you can research book reviewers on Amazon and reach out to them and ask them to review your book. To do this, find books that are similar to yours and then read through the review section and each reviewer’s profile to see if they’ve provided their contact info or website. Then, send a polite and personalized email asking if they would be interested in reviewing your book and explain how you found out about them.

7. Use social media.

Pick a couple of social media platforms and become familiar with them, without trying to use them all. Then, Robert Woods, a blogger at Draft Beyond and Research Papers UK, says to “engage in conversations with followers, asking them what they’re up to, or asking their opinion on something unrelated. As part of these posts, you can ask for reviews with a link to your book’s page, but you certainly don’t want to be only posting about that.”

8. Join a Goodreads group.

Some Goodreads groups allow for contributions from authors whereas others are for readers only. Look for one that meets your criteria and your genre, and get used to the culture before diving in and asking for reviews.

Ashley Halsey, a professional writer at Lucky Assignments and Gumessays.com, is involved in many marketing and professional projects. She enjoys helping entrepreneurs and small businesses develop their customer base and increase customer loyalty. She attends business training classes and travels in her spare time.

Tags book reviews, guest post, marketing, Reviews

My Writing Journey

Sometimes You Need a Story

Post author By Lisa E. Betz
Post date April 3, 2019
No Comments on Sometimes You Need a Story

My life is divided into before and after. I’m in the after now.

Eight years ago, this coming April, my world turned upside down. Eight years ago, this coming April, I began the slow journey back. I hadn’t written a book then. Since that time, I have finished penning three.

When I got sick, my daughter became frightened. Who wouldn’t be? It was the summer before her freshman year of high school, and she spent her vacation taking care of her mother who needed assistance walking and bathing. It didn’t matter what I told her, or how many reassurances were held out, she was terrified. All the soft gentle words and reassurances never made it past her fear wrapped worry.

Sometimes you need a story.

I wrote her a book about a girl who was afraid her mother would die and leave her alone. In the book, the mother does die. The girl is not left alone, however. She has family and unlikely heroes to depend on. I wrote my daughter a book to make her laugh and cry, but most of all to help her see she was not alone and it wasn’t up to her to save the world. I think maybe it was both comforting and uncomfortable for her to discover how much I understood her.

She’s not a character in a book, and she is not this character. But young girls everywhere get angry with their mothers, at times think they’ve been abandoned, and generally feel treated unfairly by life. They’re often surprised when they discover their mothers were once girls and understand all of these deeply held, secret feelings.

Among the pages of this made up place filled with pretend people my daughter finally understood what I was trying to tell her. She wasn’t alone.

Sometimes you need a story.

A funny thing happened. Out of the story, two more grew. Each of these novels stand alone, and while they don’t lean on each other, they do rub shoulders, exploring the lives of the various characters in the same fictional small Texas town.

It’s quite a surprise to find at the end of these eight years I have three complete novels. I’d freelanced in my former writing life, and even written a novella, which resides in the dark recesses of my computer files, but I’d never attempted a novel length work.

As my health improved and my responsibilities shifted, I had more time to write books. With each novel, I learned better and went back, refining and polishing. I hunted down critique partners and entered contests. I was quite pleased with the feedback I got. Now I’m ready to start querying agents.

I’m telling you this tale because, as with all of my stories, I want to encourage and bring hope to the reader. Because sometimes you need a story.

Donna Jo Stone writes YA contemporary novels about tough issues but always ends the stories with a note of hope. She blogs at donnajostone.com.

Tags become a writer, guest post, My Writing Journey, story

Dear Young Scribes

Insta-Savvy for the Socials: 5 Tips for Boosting Instagram Growth – Guest Post by Caroline George

Post author By Tessa Emily Hall - Becoming an Author
Post date July 9, 2018
No Comments on Insta-Savvy for the Socials: 5 Tips for Boosting Instagram Growth – Guest Post by Caroline George

Social media provides a new frontier ready for settlers. We gaze at its complex landscape of influencers, followers, and likes, and we often elect to spend our time at a coffeehouse, lost in the dip of an overused lounge chair and writing session than develop our online presence.

Writing matters most, right?

Spoiler alert: Publishers want authors with platforms.

Due to changes within the publishing industry, authors bear the responsibility of marketing their work. If they don’t have an audience for their marketing endeavors, they won’t sell their books. And if they don’t sell their books, they risk losing future publishing opportunities.

Most social-savvy individuals agree Instagram dominates the media world. With its diverse methods of content delivery and communication, the platform offers users the chance to engage with their audiences and expand their reach.

Authors, we need to take inventory of our social media tool-belts and decide which instruments best suit our target audience. For example, each social media platform caters to a specific demographic. Facebook tends to reach more users over the age of 30. Twitter also houses a mature demographic and presents business-geared content. Other platforms (Snapchat, Pinterest, etc.) inhabit the social media world, however, in this post, I aim to provide tips to help you boost your Instagram growth.

Some Instagram features to note . . .

Insta-Stories: Temporary posts that appear when a user clicks on an illuminated profile image. Each post lasts 24 hours.
Highlight Reel: Insta-Stories saved on a profile’s page, beneath the bio. These posts do not expire.
Profile: A user’s main page that houses images, highlights, and stories.
Business Profile Analytics: Information stored in a profile’s upper right-hand corner. Shares demographic, best times for posting, content engagement, and more.
Linked Accounts: Other social media platforms connected to the Instagram page. Linked accounts share content with each other.

These features combine the experiences of Snapchat and Facebook, which is why, according to Statista, Instagram currently has over 1 billion active users. The platform welcomes various age groups and focuses on engaging audiences with image-centered content.

What does this mean for authors?

Potential for tremendous reach.
Ability to grow platform with self-curated content.
Chance to connect with readers and build community.

I write for young adults, so Instagram helps me share my content with a teen and millennial audience, book-bloggers, fan girls, and other authors. Using the following 5 tips, I managed to boost my Instagram @authorcarolinegeorge from 500 followers to over 12 thousand followers in 2 years.

5 Tips for Boosting Instagram Growth . . .

Find your niche.

The first step of growing your audience is knowing your audience. What’s their age range? What type of content do they like? How do you reach them in a unique way?

Create your brand.

A brand can simply include color scheme, type of content posted, and overall message.

Know your voice.

Determine how you want to sound on social media. Are you fun and friendly? Do you write blog-style captions or share puns? Will users recognize your writing style? Consistency is key, so once you find your social media voice, stick with it.

Use Instagram’s tools.

To reach your target audience and grow your following, harness the power of hashtags. Sites like Top-Hashtag.com share the most popular hashtags for the type of content you publish. More ways to garner engagement:

Use the Business Profile Analytics to pinpoint the best posting time for your account,
Follow accounts like yours,
Add gifs, polls, and such to your Insta-Story. The more Instagram features you use, the more likely your content will appear in users’ feeds.

Collaborate.

Team up with similar accounts to boost your following! Idea for a collaboration: Offer bloggers a free copy of your book in exchange for a book-themed photo and honest review.

Anyone can become Insta-Savvy with these 5 steps!

Want to know more about social media marketing for authors? Follow me on Instagram @authorcarolinegeorge and Twitter @CarolineGeorge_ for more platform tips.

About Caroline:

A 2017 Belmont University graduate with a double-major in publishing and public relations, Caroline aims to pursue a career committed to helping authors, publishers and organizations project their stories to their publics. She spends her time blogging, writing for various magazines and authoring young adult fiction books (her current publications include “The Prime Way Trilogy” and “The Vestige”). She considers herself a not-so-southern Georgia peach, coffee-junkie and delights in being best known for writing the phrase, “Coffee first. Save the world later.”

Tags caroline george, Dear Young Scribes, guest post, instagram, marketing, platform, promotion, social media

Guest Posts

How to Use the 4-P’s of Marketing While Waiting for Your Book to be Published by Lauren Crews

Post author By Donna L.H. Smith-Managing Editor
Post date April 8, 2018
No Comments on How to Use the 4-P’s of Marketing While Waiting for Your Book to be Published by Lauren Crews

I heard a recent statistic. It takes three to eight years to publish a book. For a writer, especially a newbie, that statement can be a deflating. The wait can be challenging, but in the world of building platform, the wait is worth it. There is vital work to be done while waiting to be published.

Gone are the days when we wrote a book and sat back as the “professionals” took over our sales and marketing. Today, publishers require us to work as hard as they do in promoting and selling our book. This can be a daunting task, and if you self-publish, the job becomes even more paramount. So where and when does one begin? It may be helpful to start thinking of yourself and your book in marketing terms-Product, Price, Promotion, and Place and take steps now towards the work of marketing and promotion before you have a book to offer.

Begin Fine-tuning Your Brand Immediately.

Your brand is you not your latest project. Your book may be fabulous, but your branding image is attached to it. Consider this your Product. Fine tune your brand by asking yourself – What is my passion? Does it show? Then, create a brand statement to use in your bio and all your promotional work.

Your brand statement should include:

1-2 Sentence
What you do best
Who you serve
How you do it

For example, my passions are digging deep into Bible study, the Hebrew language and culture and teaching what I learn to others. So, my brand statement is – Introducing Christians to their Hebrew roots.

Stay true to your brand in your blog writing, your online presence, and promotional material. This includes a consistent headshot, use of colors and if possible profile names. Take time developing how you want to be received by the market because their perception moves with you into your next project. Until your book hits the market and becomes a bestseller, you are the visual and the voice of your brand.

What Price are You Willing to Pay?

I’m sure you’ve heard the adage, “You have to spend money to make money” this applies to marketing your brand. These are items you may want to spend money on to begin promoting your brand now.

Business cards
Bookmark
Pens
Banners
Website
Items to leave as giveaways when you speak. I had rubber bracelets made with my hashtag #StrongWomanA2Z. I also splurged and had silver cuff bracelets made with the hashtag, and I use one per speaking engagement as a door prize.

Before being published, be sure the focus of these items is your brand, not the book. This is because the title of your book will likely change – several times. You will want a base of products to use book before during and after the book is out. After you are published, you can always reorder book specific items. Be sure to include your website, a headshot, brand statement and contact information.

Begin Networking Now.

The goal in marketing your brand is to establish yourself as an authority. You want people talking about you in a good way. This is Promotion. Some aspects of networking you can do now are:

Post a positive book review for another author and share the link across your social media. You’re promoting someone else, but your name is getting out there.
Write a more in-depth book review as your blog post and share it.
Be a guest blogger for others.
Friend everyone you meet at writer’s conferences.
Follow like-minded people on social media and interact with them.
If you open your social media profiles to public, remember your “brand” is now out there for everyone to see. Be sure to represent that brand well, and all that you post, share, or retweet reflects your brand.

I’m in year three of the publishing journey, but it has been worth the wait. I started as an unknown in the Christian writing world with a private Facebook page. Networking has been my most significant area of growth. Last year I began applying these strategies to my brand, and in one year my social media following grew by 2,000% (really!). I have a solid foundation of subscribers on my blog, and I’ve guest blogged for others which has put me in front of more than 2,300 additional blog subscribers. My platform would not be considered record-breaking, but I’ve come a long way, and I’m delighted with the growth. You will be pleased when you see tangible results as you update your book proposal.

Hone in on Your Target Market.

Where can you find your target market? Publishers will work to get you in stores, but where else can you focus on sales? This is the Place you will target to find customers. If you’re trying to reach women, they are often involved in home-based businesses like Pampered Chef, Mary Kay or LuLaRoe. These groups often meet in public places for monthly business meetings. Find a sales consultant, find out where they meet and ask if you can speak with them. Offer a copy of your book as a drawing prize through which you have collected their contact info. (Hey, they do it to us at those home gatherings!) Then follow up. Sometimes they will share additional contacts or networks. Other locations you might find your target market are:

The Coffee shop
Library
Trade shows
Craft/Farmers markets
The Gym
The Gun Range
City Rotary networking events
Rotary club
Women’s clubs
Men’s clubs
Country clubs (golf and tennis)
Readings at school, colleges, bookstores, club meetings, scout meetings
Can you take advantage of the book’s setting, your character’s interests or hobbies?
Where would you find your character?

Once you’ve identified where to find your market, mingle with them. Set up an informational table, leave promotional material, read for them or write for a website that reaches them. Do whatever you can to get your information in front your market.

Marketing starts well before your book is published. I was asked by a publisher at a writing conference, “what do you want in a publisher?” My answer, “I want a publisher who will work as hard as I do and let me show you what I’ve already done.” If you begin to refine these skills early, you will become an asset to your future publisher-one harder to resist.

BIO

As a Bible teacher and speaker, Lauren encourages Christians to explore and understand the Jewish roots of their faith. She lives in north-east Florida with her husband and two chocolate labs. She is mom of three fantastic young adults and recently welcomed a daughter-in-love to the Crews crew. She is represented by Credo Communications and working toward the publication of her books Rethinking the Proverbs 31 Woman: Breaking the Myth and Revealing her Legacy and Jesus: The Alef and the Tav. You can connect with Lauren on the web at www.laurencrews.com.

Tags Almost an Author, guest post, Lauren Crews, Marketing while waiting for publication

Guest Posts

3 Steps to Take You from Stay-at-Home Mom to Stay-at-Home Copywriter By Rachel Schmoyer

Post author By Donna L.H. Smith-Managing Editor
Post date March 30, 2018
2 Comments on 3 Steps to Take You from Stay-at-Home Mom to Stay-at-Home Copywriter By Rachel Schmoyer

My youngest child was almost ready for kindergarten. After being a stay at home mom for ten years, I was ready to think about what I could do to bring in some income for our family. The catch was that I wanted a job that allowed me to be home when my children were home.

I asked my mom friends what they did for income. One friend said she sold product for multi-level marketing company. That wasn’t for me because I didn’t want to be away from the family on evenings and weekends. Another friend suggested babysitting. I didn’t like the sound of that either. I didn’t want to be tied down by someone else’s schedule.

Then one of my friends said she was a copywriter. I had never heard of that job before, but it piqued my interest. I had always received good feedback from my writing in high school and college and I loved writing letters and keeping journals. I asked my friend to tell me more.

First, she loaned me some books so I could familiarize myself with the business of writing. Writer for Hire: 101 Secrets of Freelance Success by Kelly James-Enger defined the terminology that I would need to know. 102 Ways to Earn Money Writing 1,500 Words or Less: The Ultimate Freelancer’s Guide by I.J. Schecter opened my eyes to the writing opportunities all around me. Anywhere there are words, someone was paid to write: cereal boxes, fast-food tray liners, book blurbs, catalog descriptions, etc.

My friend also shared other tips from her own experience.

Here are her top 3 tips which got me started as a copywriter:

Start with who you know. Because it’s hard to get paid for writing without experience, you can gain experience by writing for friends, family, or businesses that you frequent. I started with a local farmer from whom I had been purchasing a weekly share of vegetables for several years. I noticed that he had been trying to write a weekly email letting his customers know what vegetables were in their box, but he was too busy to write consistently. So I approached him with an idea. I asked if I could write a weekly email describing the veggies and giving recipe suggestions to keep his customers engaged in exchange for bread and eggs. To my delight, he took up my offer. I was thankful for the low pressure experience that I could add to my resume later.
Create a website/blog with writing samples. After writing for the farmer for a while, I started to get random ideas for writing about parenting, crafts, or Scripture. So I started a very simple personal blog so I had a place to post these ideas. While creating my blog, I had the nagging thought that I was wasting my time since I wasn’t going to post regularly or put ads on my site, but the blog came in handy for the next step in my copywriting journey!
Don’t be afraid to try something new! One day I overheard another friend talking about how difficult it was to write blog posts about electronic components. I stopped to ask her more. It turned out my friend was working as a social media manager for a digital marketing company. I didn’t know that writing was a part of social media! I blurted out, “That sounds like a fun challenge. I could write about that!” Immediately, I felt my stomach lurch and a cold chill down my spine. What did I just do? Could I really write about electronic components? She told me to send in my resume since they were thinking of hiring a writer. Despite my apprehension, I sent in my resume and the web address to my blog. The boss of the company was attracted to my writing style because of the blog and I was given my first official freelance copywriting job!

It’s been three years since I first heard about copywriting. Now I have enough copywriting to keep me busy for all the time that my children are in school.

If you are interested in becoming a copywriter, think about who you know who could use some writing for their business or organization. It could even been someone’s side hustle. Start a simple, free blog or website with some samples of your writing. WordPress and Blogger are free and easy to use. Don’t get paralyzed by the fear of the unknown. Pursue copywriting with a teachable spirit and a drive for excellence and, before you know it, you will have clients coming to you.

BIO:

Rachel Schmoyer is a pastor’s wife, mom of four, and a copywriter. She also helps Christians find the simple truths in the complex parts of the Bible at readthehardparts.com. Her other writings and publishing credits can be found on rachelschmoyerwrites.com.

Tags Almost an Author, guest post, Rachel Schmoyer

Novelists Unwind

Novelists Unwind by Johnnie Alexander

Post author By Donna L.H. Smith-Managing Editor
Post date March 26, 2018
No Comments on Novelists Unwind by Johnnie Alexander

Jane M. Tucker & Family Charm

Genre: Historical Fiction

The charm and fascination of her husband’s large family inspired Jane M. Tucker as she imagined the series that begins with Lottie’s Gift.

An Iowa farm,

Family reunions.

A gazillion aunts (LOL!)

All these went into the “idea hopper.”

[bctt tweet=”Join Jane M. Tucker on #NovelistsUnwind @JaneMTuckerAuth #ChristFic” username=”@A3Authors @JaneMTuckerAuth”]

In our interview, we also talk about the dynamic between sisters, the publisher’s suggestion that made Jane laugh, and the Great River Road.

Connect with Jane on her website, Postcards from the Heartland, or on Facebook.

Purchase Links: Lottie’s Gift and Lottie’s Hope

Lottie’s Gift

Despite the Great Depression, Lottie Braun enjoyed a happy childhood in rural Iowa. Her mother had died, but her father and sister, her aunts, uncles and cousins surrounded her with their love. But her quiet, idyllic life ended with tragedy, and a secret that tore the two sisters apart.

Forty years later, Lottie is a world-class pianist with a celebrated career, but an empty personal life. She moves from city to city, guarding her privacy with fierce vigilance, all to protect herself from the past.

One sleepless night Lottie lets herself remember, but she discovers that memories, once allowed, are difficult to suppress. Can she make peace with the past? And will she ever find her way home?

Lottie’s Hope

After forty years as a world class musician, Lottie has come home to Iowa, where a lovely old house and a new job await. Grateful for this fresh start, she sets out to show the town of Collison that there’s an approachable side to The Great Lottie Braun.

Nobody thinks she’ll stay: Not the surly young neighbor whose garage band plays late into the night. Not the stoic contractor who agrees to build Lottie a music room. Certainly not Lottie’s angry niece, who refuses to move her belongings out of the house.

Lottie is determined to prove them all wrong—and then the trouble starts. At first she shrugs off the incidents as random petty crimes, but as they increase in intensity, she must face the fact that someone wants her gone for good.

Can Lottie sort her friends from her enemies before it’s too late?

Your Novelists Unwind host:

Best-selling author Johnnie Alexander imagines heart-tugging stories in multiple genres. Her debut novel, Where Treasure Hides, has been translated into Dutch and Norwegian. She also wrote the Misty Willow Series: Where She Belongs, When Hope Arrives, and What Hope Remembers. Since Johnnie loves to talk about writing, she interviews inspirational authors for Novelists Unwind, co-hosts a weekly online show, Writers Chat, and teaches at writers conferences and on Serious Writer Academy. Johnnie recently moved to Oklahoma with Griff, her happy-go-lucky collie, and Rugby, her raccoon-treeing papillon. Connect with Johnnie on her website or her Facebook Author Page.

Tags Almost an Author, guest post, johnnie alexander, Novelists Unwind

Guest Posts

Using Ancestors’ Stories in Fiction By Ora Smith

Post author By Donna L.H. Smith-Managing Editor
Post date March 8, 2018
2 Comments on Using Ancestors’ Stories in Fiction By Ora Smith

Just how far back into your past can you reach to find new ideas for writing? Family history (genealogy) is the second most popular hobby in America, making it easy to find information online. Have you ever considered using stories or unusual events that happened in your ancestors’ lives in your novel? As writers, we must always be willing to look for new and creative concepts. When writing fiction about ancestors, you can balance facts with imagination.

Learning about your ancestors can be a treasure trove for character building, plotting, settings, and so much more. One of the most famous examples of an author using his progenitors in a novel would be Alex Haley when he wrote Roots. But did you know Nathaniel Hawthorne loosely based The Scarlet Letter on his strict Puritan ancestors? Or that Emily Bronte in the gothic novel, Wuthering Heights, based the unusual and imbalanced character of Heathcliff from an ancestor?

Our ancestors’ stories often hold potential for great plot lines. You can write their stories as historical fiction, or bring their experiences forward into contemporary times or even the future. It’s possible the struggles your progenitors experienced on the Oregon Trail or settling a new land may be the very same experiences a colony in space may come up against. If you’re an American, then its more than likely you have immigrant ancestors. Often their stories are full of learning, strife, hate, fear, and misunderstandings from both the country they left and the one they settled. Assimilation is usually not easy. Finding the motivation behind these issues might be where a story lies.

You can find ideas on how to create well-rounded and interesting characters from people in your family tree. Experiences, hardships, and relationships make us different from one another. Rarely are people all-good or all-evil. Create fully dimensional villains by thinking of the worst person in your family then round them out with at least one redeeming quality. People are always more complex than they seem, as your characters should be. From one of my ancestors I formed a character who steals from his mother, lies without hesitation, has alcohol and drug abuse issues, and has spent time in prison for crimes you shouldn’t speak of in polite society. Yet, he’s partially redeemed by his sensitivity and the memories of his family he holds close to his heart.

People’s life experiences shape them. Find out social, economic, religious, and political backgrounds. Did they grow up in a big family, or were they an only child? How much education did they receive and was it traditional? Were they illiterate? Did they love the earth and farm the land? Did the family carry traits from their homeland brought to the country of immigration? Did their name spelling change? Did they have to learn a new language?

Interviewing the oldest living relatives in your family is a good place to start. Ask what they remember about their parents and grandparents. Writing about family members means researching clues to figure out what kind of life they led, who they loved, how they loved, and what they did with their lives.

To find your ancestors, you could use family history websites such as ancestry.com, chroniclingamerica.com, cyndislist.com, and archives.com. Some of these websites can help you track down living descendants of your ancestor’s siblings. It’s a great way to find photos because people usually didn’t keep their own portraits, but gave them away to family members. A face is worth a thousand words—let your imagination go wild and write those thousand words from your ancestor’s likeness.

Old census records can be valuable information for how many were in a family and what their occupations were. And it’s amazing what can be found in a courthouse. They hold records of births, marriages, deaths, and so much more. Court records can help you find drama about relatives who were criminals, but also those who were victims. Land records could demonstrate an ancestor’s lifestyle and wealth. Perhaps they didn’t own land, but instead followed the migration to uncharted territories of the Wild West.

Researching and writing about your ancestors can help you come to respect them for who they were and the paths they chose. In knowing who your ancestors were and writing about them, you can shed light on their adversities giving their experiences significance and perhaps new insight. Transform them into characters that suit the needs of your story. You could even write yourself as a fictional character searching for his or her past and unlocking family secrets. Don’t forget to leave room for your imagination to take your readers to new and interesting places.

Bio

For more than twenty years Ora Smith has taught family history classes at conferences and given individual instruction. She received her Master of Arts in Nonfiction Creative Writing at Wilkes University. She also writes fiction and recently won the 2017 Phoenix Rattlers contest for historical fiction. You can connect with her through her blog Writing About Ancestors, Facebook, Twitter

Tags Almost an Author, family history, guest post, Ora Smith, Using Ancestors' Stories for Fiction

Guest Posts

Sometimes the right road isn’t even on the map by David Rawlings

Post author By Donna L.H. Smith-Managing Editor
Post date February 24, 2018
4 Comments on Sometimes the right road isn’t even on the map by David Rawlings

All roads to the finding an agent and the dream of publishing led through the Conference.

I’d planned, scraped together the money to fly to Nashville (which was significant from Australia, and required some divine help to pull together!) and cleared the calendar. I had to recover from a 12-hour jet lag in a day-and-a-half, but I was going to make it work.

I had no publisher, no agent and no profile. I was going along as a Genesis finalist – which helped with visibility – but I needed to work hard to make sure I made the most of it. At the Conference I took every opportunity to grab every conversation and lead I could. I speed-dated a handful of agents and publishers, grabbed snatched pitches while waiting for sessions, and trotted out my elevator pitch that I’d practiced for 13 hours in the air, in between turbulence and in-flight catering.

As I sat in Nashville International Airport on my way home, I was buoyed that there were requests for my manuscript. I was on the right road to being published. I now had a map to follow with the roads clearly marked – four agents were interested, as well as a publisher. One of those roads would lead me to the Holy Grail of seeing my book on the shelf. Surely.

When I got back home, I emailed one agent, who politely turned down my manuscript while suggesting I write another. So I embarked on manuscript number two.

Two more agents said no. The other agent just didn’t get back to me.

Then a thought loomed large: how was I going to get published if all the roads to get there were slowly blocked off?

The initial agent – who thought I could write but thought a different story would suit – then turned that story down. Another road closed.

Then the publisher, my final avenue, got back to me. They liked the story and were ready to make a decision on it, when other business conditions shut the whole conversation down. They declined.

So how do you get to a destination without a road to get there? I felt like I’d already been on a massive journey (which technically I had), but hadn’t left the driveway.

Sometimes the best road isn’t on the map (and I’m not just talking about Apple Maps). You see, I’d worked hard in Nashville to map out my journey to my destination, but I also did something else. Something that I thought was just something small that wouldn’t lead anywhere particularly. Something almost insignificant.

I’d sent a Facebook message after the Conference. My manuscript didn’t win a Genesis Award, and as I was sitting there at the Gala, shrugging off the uncomfortable heavy cloak of the loser, James L Rubart made a speech that I really needed to hear at the time. He talked about not being validated through our writing or by winning awards, but that we were validated anyway.

So after the Conference, I shot off a message to Jim, thanking him for his words and not really expecting an answer. After all, I’m an unknown Aussie flying back across the globe crammed into cattle class and he’s an award-winning, best-selling author.

But Jim did respond, and he asked me a question for which I’ll be forever grateful. He asked “How are things now?” That question lead to a conversation, which opened a discussion about mentoring and I’ve been working with him since.

We’ve talked about platform and publishing, and he provided invaluable knowledge – and contacts. Another road opened up. One that wasn’t on my map.

I approached another batch of agents with Jim’s belief and backing with now not one, but two manuscripts. Several months later, one of those agents—Steve Laube—asked to represent me and now I have the privilege of working with him. He’s now on the road with me.

This road didn’t appear on my map and the journey didn’t go as I planned, that’s for sure. But instead of sitting back and saying “oh well, it was meant to be,” what’s the lesson here?

I think of it this way: every little thing counts. I wouldn’t have worked with Jim had I not sent him that message, and Jim’s endorsement of me to agents wouldn’t have happened either.

And sometimes the road to get you somewhere doesn’t appear on your map, instead opening up in ways you could never imagine.

Bio

Based in Adelaide, South Australia, David Rawlings is a sports-mad father-of-three with his own copywriting business who reads everything within an arm’s reach. A qualified journalist and corporate copywriter, he can spot a typo from across a crowded room and always makes sure his text messages are grammatically correct.

Over 25+ years, he has made writing his career and paid the bills with words, developing from sports journalism to corporate communication. Now he has shifted to fiction, finaled in the ACFW’s Genesis competitions and the OCW’s Cascade Awards, as is working with the Steve Laube Agency to find that elusive publisher.

Tags Almost an Author, David Rawlings, guest post, Roads to publishing

Guest Posts

Finish the Work! By Carol Sparks

Post author By Donna L.H. Smith-Managing Editor
Post date February 19, 2018
2 Comments on Finish the Work! By Carol Sparks

You never would have thought of such a thing on your own. It had to be God. He gave you an idea for a novel, short story, poem, or non-fiction book. You looked around, but you were the only one with that stunned look on your face and that peculiar-to-writers gleam in your eye.

Maybe you jumped right in with both feet, excited for a new project. Maybe you dipped the tip of your big toe into the idea of writing this particular thing and drew back as the deluge of information began roaring toward you. I agree; it’s overwhelming at first.

You worked on this new project for a while…until the luster wore off, until your life got busier for some reason, or until you began to question the initial impetus. Oh, it had seemed like such a good idea, but then the doubts and distractions arose.

Do you have adequate experience or education to write this sort of thing?
Don’t you have other responsibilities that are more important?
When are you supposed to find time to write something this challenging?
Since you can’t make it perfect, why even bother to write it at all?
Where will you find the resources to do the necessary research?
Isn’t someone else better qualified to write it?
Aren’t you too old/young/fat/skinny/rich/poor to write something like this?
Haven’t you been rejected by all those agents and publishers already?
How would you possibly get it published in today’s climate?
Who’s going to read it anyway?

I’ve said all these to myself. Your particular doubt may sound a little different, but it’s no less effective.

About twenty-five years after Jesus’ ascension, the small band of believers in Jerusalem faced big trouble. They were persecuted and oppressed in every way, and they were completely out of money. Things were desperate.

The apostle Paul responded out of the depth of his relationships. He called upon fledgling churches throughout the region to help their brothers and sisters in Jerusalem. The Corinthian church was among the first to raise their hands. They were generous and sincerely desired to help. But even into the next year, they hadn’t finished taking up their collection (2 Corinthians 8:10). I wonder why.

Maybe they felt inadequate, thinking they set their goal too high.
Maybe they got distracted by other responsibilities and problems.
Maybe, because they hadn’t heard anything recently, they thought the situation in Jerusalem was better now.
Maybe they just forgot after Titus left.

Things happen—to New Testament churches and to modern-day writers. And sometimes we need a “swift kick in the rump,” as we say here in East Tennessee. Paul generously provided that figurative kick to the Corinthians, but his words apply just as well to us writers.

Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. -2 Corinthians 8:11 NIV

Paul goes on to remind his readers that it’s not about how much you give but your willingness to give (2 Cor 8:12). God will make it sufficient. “Your plenty,” Paul says, “will supply what they need” (2 Cor 8:14).

Do you need a “swift kick” to complete the task God has given you? Now is the time; finish the work! Match your earlier eagerness with a completed composition. God will use it to supply exactly what your future readers need.

What Bible verse or quote helps you stick to your writing goals? Please encourage us all by sharing in the comments below!

Bio.

Author Carole Sparks sometimes does “butt kickers” in her workouts because she needs a swift kick in the backside, and she’d prefer to administer it herself. Afterward, she’ll go finish at least one writing project, hopefully! If she’s not working out, you can probably catch up with her on Twitter or her blog.

Tags Almost an Author, Carol Sparks, Doubts and distractions, Finish the work, guest post

Guest post archive

Why a Pastor Writes Speculative Fiction by MB Mooney

Post author By Donna L.H. Smith-Managing Editor
Post date November 22, 2017
3 Comments on Why a Pastor Writes Speculative Fiction by MB Mooney

My pastor and mentor, Larry, grimaced at me back in my early twenties. “Why do you like those scary movies and books? They’re disturbing, violent, and weird.”

I grinned at him. “Have you read the Bible?”

God got a hold of my life at the age of fourteen, and I dove in with everything I had, learning, growing. I couldn’t get enough.

I also loved speculative fiction. I read and watched horror, sci-fi, fantasy, superheroes, all of it. Novels, movies, stacks of comic books. I consumed it all.

Now, I love all kinds of stories, but I always felt drawn to the weird and dark ones. Today, as a pastor and author of epic and urban fantasy, I have studied writing, literature, and scripture, and I understand why.

The best of sci-fi and fantasy (even horror) does the same as all great literature – makes commentary on the human condition. Whether it was Verne with the Time Machine or Tolkien with the Lord of the Rings, these stories connect and endure because of universal questions of identity, humanity, or good and evil. Oh, there may be spaceships or dragons or serial killers, but at the heart, they tell us something about ourselves.

As I told my mentor, there are disturbing parts of the Bible that I didn’t learn about in Sunday School. Judah has sex with his daughter in law, who he thinks is a prostitute, and then she gets pregnant with a kid God used in Jesus’ lineage. And in Judges! We would love to forget the Levite who allows his concubine to get raped, and then when she dies, he cuts her into twelve pieces to motivate the other eleven tribes to go to war with the Tribe of Benjamin.

I could go on with stories from David or Lamentations and even the New Testament. They express an important truth. Life is sometimes tragic and violent and disturbing. Is God good in those moments? Can God redeem those stories and the people within them? He can and does. Christian literature, whatever the genre, should show the tragedy and the redemption.

C.S. Lewis said, “Since it is so likely that (children) will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.”

Jesus spoke in parables, stories to teach a point. Often, however, those stories only confused people. His disciples begged him to stop speaking in parables and rejoiced when he spoke clearly (John 16:29). Jesus didn’t speak in parables to fully express the truth but to start a conversation, to hide the truth and see who would dig further than a story into the God telling the Story. (Matthew 13:10-17)

Not to mention, God is a creative God. His people should be the most creative. Speculative fiction gives us new worlds, future technology, and impossible creatures. Sounds like our Father.

And here is where writing speculative fiction, at its best, comes in. Yes, it can entertain, but it should use that wild imagination to begin spiritual conversations. Who better than pastors and Christians to be creative and tell the types of stories that engage the culture?

Tips for Christian authors as they write speculative fiction:

Learn the language. Like any missionary, know your audience. Read and learn to love the best of speculative fiction. Find your favorites and watch for themes and universal emotions.
Be creative. Don’t copy other writers. Pray and wait for those original ideas that make people say, “I never thought of it that way before.”
Kill your fears. Connect with human fears and flaws in your story. The best way to do this? Find what your greatest fear is, and write a story that kills that fear with the truth of faith, hope, and love.
Be redemptive. It is more common to have stories in our culture from an amoral, nihilistic worldview. But if we believe we are created in the image of God, people long for stories of redemption, hope, and moral good. Tell those stories. And be ready for the conversation.

Peace.

MB Mooney has traveled and ministered all over the world. He writes fantasy and non-fiction, works for #CoffeeThatMatters, and pastors a church where he lives in Suwanee, GA with his amazing wife and three great kids.

Tags Almost an Author, C.S. Lewis, guest post, MB Mooney, spec-fic, Why a Pastor Writes Speculative Fiction

Guest post archive

Four Ways to Recover from a Writers Conference by MR Shupp

Post author By Donna L.H. Smith-Managing Editor
Post date November 16, 2017
2 Comments on Four Ways to Recover from a Writers Conference by MR Shupp

Overwhelmed. Exhausted. Enlightened.

I struggled to stay awake on the drive home from the Ohio Christian Writers Conference, my conference companion and I too tired to even speak to each other. Air1 and 104.9 in the background, I sang along to myself, thoughts drifting to the wonderful time of worship at the conference then to the conference itself. Those three words became the basis of my thoughts.

The OHCWC was my first writers conference. I’d attended writing workshops before, but never a conference with pitch appointments or that many agents, editors, and publishers. I didn’t realize how tired I would be.

Three days of sitting around taking notes, listening to writing workshops, pitching my WIP, and connecting with other writers shouldn’t be that tiring, right? However, I, and I think a lot of other writers, forget how mentally taxing writing is.

As you prepare for your next writers conference or are readying to return home from one, take time to recover afterwards. I’m sure upon your return home, family and friends will flood you with questions: “Did you publish your book?” “Who did you meet?” Your brain will need a rest from all that happens at a writers conference, and questions can quickly become overwhelming.

That recovery time is needed; thus, here are four ways to recover from your next writers conference:

Let your family and friends know that you will need alone time.

Writers conferences are a wonderful time of networking with others. When you return home, you won’t want to be swarmed by more people and questions. While it’s great that your family and friends care to know about the conference, make sure that you tell them before your departure that you will need alone time afterward. Tell them that you appreciate any and all questions about the conference, but to please, save them for the day after you return.

Take a shower.writers conference

It’s a strange yet well-known fact that writers think well in the shower. When your brain is overloaded from all the information you received at the conference, a nice warm shower may be just what you need to relax and to begin processing all you learned.

Drink some tea (or coffee!) and read a book.

You’ve learned so much about writing and talked so much about your own book that it will be beneficial to disappear into the world of another author for a few hours. Curling up on the couch with your favorite drink and taking a break from reality will help you relax and recover from the conference.

Journal your thoughts.

After the OHCWC my thoughts were in a jumble. All the information from the sessions swirled around in my head, and I didn’t even know where to begin sorting through them. So, I pulled out my notebook for writing thoughts, a ballpoint pen, and I wrote. The writing wasn’t pretty. It was hardly coherent. But by the end, I knew where to start formulating my writing plans and knew how to answer the questions others would undoubtedly ask me.

Most of us won’t have much time to relax and recoup after a writers conference, but these four ways don’t require a lot of time. A couple of relaxing hours will go a long way to helping you continue your writing journey.

If you’ve ever been to a writing conference, how did you feel afterwards? What did you do to recover?

Galaxy tights, mismatched socks, and a cup of tea in her T. Rex mug often accompany Megan when she sits down to write. Her passion for story has impacted her life since she and her sister first began enacting stories with their dolls and using their imaginations to create worlds of stories in their backyard. After graduating with her BA in English, she is currently earning a Graduate Certificate in Editing through UC Berkeley. Megan is using her love of story and purpose of serving Christ to write and edit at Literary Portals Editing. Find more about her services at www.literaryportals.com.

Tags Almost an Author, Four Ways to Recover from a Writers Conference, guest post, guest posting, MR Shupp, Writers Conference, writing

Guest post archive

Intro to Technical Writing

Post author By Donna L.H. Smith-Managing Editor
Post date October 16, 2017
1 Comment on Intro to Technical Writing

Technical writing is a different kind of writing. As a matter of fact, it is a very different kind of writing. It is different from fiction, which primarily focuses on entertaining the reader with intriguing stories and absorbing plots. It is different from non-fiction, which seeks to both entertain and educate by employing fact-based narratives. But unlike fiction and non-fiction, technical writing is never read for enjoyment.

Tags Almost an Author, guest post, technical writing