Myths and Realities of Blogging

  • Myths and Realities of Blogging

    I recently spoke at a meeting of the Writers of the Mendocino Coast, a branch of the California Writers Club, on the subject of blogging.

    I recommend the blogs and books mentioned below. And of course there are many other blogs, books, and information about blogging on the world wide web.

    Highlights from my talk on “Myths and Realities of Blogging”

    If you don’t have a blog, but think you should, something to think about is why?

    Why should you have an author blog?

    “Blogging is simply a medium that allows you to connect with people who love the same books, hobbies and activities you do.”  — Gabriela Pereira, May/June 2018, Writer’s Digest magazine

    Author Blog

    Find Your Target Audience: Read the reviews of books in your genre on Amazon or Goodreads. Use words from the reviews for your headlines and tags in your posts.

    What to Post

    Stories about you: Your interests, hobbies, pets, hometown. Interviews.

    Platform

    One way to build your platform is to be a guest blogger. I welcome your essays about encouraging writers and writing tips on The Write Spot Blog. Go to “Guest Bloggers” to see what others have done (800-1200 words).

    Book reviews are also welcome on The Write Spot Blog.

    The Benefits of Blogging for Writers by Nancy Julien Kopp

    • Name recognition in the Writing World
    • Helps promote your books
    • Connections with other writers
    • Can exchange guest posts with other bloggers
    • Makes you write regularly/inspires other forms of writing

    A few blogs for writers:

    Marlene Cullen, The Write Spot Blog

    Nancy Julian Kopp, Writers Granny’s World           

    Jane Friedman, Blog for Writers                 

    Books on Blogging

    How To Blog a Book, Nina Amir

    The Author Blog, Anne R. Allen

    The Write Spot Anthologies: Prose, poetry, and prompts to spark your writing

    The Write Spot to Jumpstart Your Writing: Discoveries

    The Write Spot to Jumpstart Your Writing: Connections

    The Write Spot: Reflections

    The Write Spot: Memories

    Should you host an author’s blog to build your platform? You don’t have to, but it’s a good idea . . . as long as you stay focused on your “main” writing . . . your fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoir. And if you love posting on your blog . . . do it! Just write!

    Marlene C

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  • “The key to a good essay is conflict, and . . . Victoria Zackheim

    “The key to a good essay is conflict, and the story’s (and character’s) arc. People have to change during the story, whether fiction or non-fiction. — Victoria Zackheim, interviewed by Chris Jane in JaneFriedman.com.

    Victoria Zackheim is the author of the novel The Bone Weaver and editor of six anthologies:

    He Said What?

    Women Write About Moments When Everything Changed

    The Other Woman

    Twenty-one Wives, Lovers, and Others Talk Openly About Sex, Deception, Love, and Betrayal

    For Keeps: Women Tell the Truth About Their Bodies, Growing Older, and Acceptance

    The Face in the Mirror

    Writers Reflect on Their Dreams of Youth and the Reality of Age

    Exit Laughing: How Humor Takes the Sting Out of Death

    and the upcoming FAITH: Essays from Believers, Agnostics, and Atheists (Feb. 2015).

    Victoria’s play, The Other Woman, based on her first anthology, will be featured in OneNight/OnePlay, and her play Entangled, an adaptation of the memoir Entangled: A Chronicle of Late Love, is in development at Z Space in San Francisco.

    Victoria’s first screenplay, MAIDSTONE, is now in development. She is story developer and writer of Where Birds Never Sang: The Story of Ravensbruck and Sachsenhausen Concentration Camps, aired nationwide by PBS.

    Victoria teaches Personal Essay in the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program. Victoria was a 2010 San Francisco Library Laureate.

    Note from Marlene: I have taken classes by Victoria. She is an amazing teacher, well worth the price (and it wasn’t that expensive!).

    Want to challenge yourself?  Take one of your characters (fiction or non-fiction) and do what Victoria suggests . . . give him or her a conflict.  Spend thirteen minutes on a freewrite. See what happens.  Need a boost?  Take a look at Prompts 132 and 133 for ideas on character development.

    Marlene C

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  • Guest Blogger Amanda McTigue talks about marketing your book

    So, you’ve got your book written, or almost written, or you have an idea for a book, but you’re stuck dead in your tracks because you detest the marketing aspect of the book business

    Amanda McTigue says, “No doubt about it: we writers love to write, hate to sell. How could it be otherwise? We’re the odd balls who’d rather spend vast quantities of time alone in our imaginations. And yet these days, we’re told not only must we craft (and sometimes publish) our works, but also find readers to read them: a daunting challenge compounded by our own dread. What’s a writer to do?”

    Amanda shares resources on one of our least favorite challenges: marketing yourself and your book.

    “The Psychology of Writer Promotion. How to Promote Yourself,” Chuck Wendig

    “Book Marketing 101,” Jane Friedman

    “Five Mistakes You’ll Make on the Way to Publishing Success,” Carmen Amato via Jane Friedman

    71 Ways to Promote and Market Your Book,” Kimberley Grabas

    15 DIY Tools to Promote Your Book,” Writer’s Store

    Amanda McTigueAuthor, playwright, stage director and storyteller, Amanda McTigue has also worked for decades as a creative marketing consultant for such clients as Walt Disney Entertainment, Paramount Entertainment and design firms such as Thinkwell and The Hettema Group in Los Angeles. Her novel, “Going to Solace,” was cited by public radio KRCB’s “Word by Word” as a Best Read of 2012. She also makes regular appearances at Petaluma’s “West Side Stories” and “Get Lit.” She’s busy completing short stories and a second novel. Click here for Amanda’s Resource page.

    Amanda will be the March 19, 2015 Writers Forum presenter.

    Marlene C

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