Why SEO Strategies Are For Writers, Too

 What are some of the questions people ask when they read your work? What are some of the phrases or questions in those keywords? 

That’s SEO- or search engine optimization- the very thing that is used to evaluate the keywords and make sure that your work is the answer to the question, while determining where your website will rank from these keywords. 

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You can look at the keywords that best fit your work, and that are the closest to the front page of search results. This goes beyond the broad, basic keywords, but also highly specific, hyper local keywords. The basic keywords have a much higher search volume, but achieving a high rank on these keywords is very difficult. It is reminiscent of the social media strategy that targets everyone in a way that relies on high reach to yield a fraction of the potential return.

This is why it’s important to think about some of the most recent questions you’ve asked via search. You can think about what you read and what you learnt as a result of reading that. What websites did you discover? Which of those did you begin to trust and return to? Those answers all started with a particular question, and there are specific ways in which you can benefit from an SEO return on investment and you can become the answer to the questions asked. 

Some keywords have a lower search volume, so it’s easier to rank highly on them. And they are much more likely to be keywords searched by people in need of services and close enough to take advantage of what you have to offer- so if your published work is particularly niche, you can still be the answer to some very specific questions! 

Invest In Keywords

You may have identified the keywords you wish to own, and now SEO experts can help you build rank on those websites through using those keywords in your work as it is published online. The keywords may be used for inline links on the page which lead to other pages on your website. 

SEO experts can help to optimize your online presence, but there are some ways in which you could do it yourself. This includes writing blog posts that contain keywords within them and that answer the questions commonly asked about the subject you’re writing about. 

However, sometimes SEO expertise is absolutely necessary if you want more people to visit your website and read what you have to say. Some search keywords rank differently with slight variations of words or phrases. For example, if a word is at the beginning of the question rather than the end, for example, the ranking for the results can be completely different than if it is the other way around. 

Strong optimization positions a website to rank highly for as many of those keywords as possible.

Good SEO does a lot of the work for you. It steers you into the path of the people with whom you wish to engage with and when. 

How do you make the most of SEO when writing online?

4 Tips For Selling Your Book

 You’ve written a book. That’s incredible! Not many people can say they’ve poured all that time and energy into writing and finishing their own novel. Regardless of how long it is or what genre, it’s important to do what you can in trying to sell it. It might not be something you’ve thought of doing, but it’s a great way to be rewarded for your achievement. Here are four tips for selling your book.

Take Care In The Design

First, take care in the design of your book. This is an important element because a book is something that is enjoyed visibly. Whether it’s a digital one or physical, it’s going to be on display, and so you want an eye-catching cover. Think about what you want to achieve in the book art and whether you’re going to do it yourself or get someone to do it for you. There are lots of options out there when it comes to book design services, and it can be a great opportunity to get an eye-catching design that many book lovers will at least want to pick up and take a look at. You might want to look at previous designs of authors you aspire to be like or are similar in the genre of book you’re selling. Inspiration is a great source of creativity.

Approach Publishers

When selling your book, it’s a good idea to look at all the publishing houses available and to pitch to as many as you can. There’s a lot of competition that comes with publishing houses, and so you might be up against it when it comes to being picked over another author. However, publishing houses hold a lot of reputation in the industry, and having a certain publishing house that prints your book can end up giving you thousands more in sales if you’re lucky.

Consider Self-Publishing

Self-publishing is an avenue that you might want to go down if you find that going to a publishing house isn’t successful. It doesn’t by any means, indicate that your book isn’t good enough. In fact, it might be that the right people didn’t read it and you’ve still got a book that will sell to an audience. The internet is large and vast, which offers great opportunities for those wanting to sell online. Self-publishing is certainly something worth trying if you’ve done your research and believe it’s worth a try.

Advertise & Promote 

Even though publishing houses will have their own marketing and advertising departments, you should be advertising and promoting your book regardless. If you’re self-publishing, this is even more important, and you might want to think about pulling together a budget that will help invest in your career as an author. Don’t be ashamed of plugging your book at every opportunity, otherwise, how do you expect your hard work to sell?

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Selling your book is possible if you find the right publishers or work hard enough to get your name and book out there. Use these tips to make that happen!

The Hollow

In the

hollow

of your elbow

I bend
to
your will

In the

hollow

of the valley

I follow
the
wind to the

hollow

of your cheek
and lay
silently so I may catch every

hollow

word
that spills from your lips.

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Turning Your Blog Writing Into A Professional Career

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When most people start something like a blog, they won’t be imagining that they will be able to make a living out of it. People tend to go down this sort of route for fun, with the idea that they will have the chance to write about things they love being a good enough reason to get started. Of course, though, as time goes on and your audience grows, you will have the opportunity to start making money out of your blog. There are a few different paths you can take with this, and some of them can land you in a professional career.

News & Journalism

Becoming a journalist can be much trickier than you might expect. While you don’t need to speak perfect English for this sort of role anymore, there is a lot of competition, and this means that those who start out on their own blog can often give themselves a head start. It will be a challenge, but you need to make sure that you’re following the same strict standards that large publications will follow to ensure that people respect and value your content. It’s usually best to choose a niche topic when you’re doing this, or you may struggle to cover enough on your own.

Copywriting & Creative Writing

Writing exquisite copy and crafting intricate stories can be a lot harder than a lot of people realize. This has opened a huge market for writing services on the web, making it easy to pick up roles that will enable you to write. Of course, though, you need to make sure that you have the right skills before you can take on a role like this one. Copywriting workshops have been becoming increasingly popular over the last few years, and you can find loads of great options with a quick search around the web. This will be an incredibly satisfying role to have, while also giving you a lot of freedom.

Reviews & Opinion Pieces

Finally, as the last type of content to consider, it’s time to think about reviews and opinion pieces. Much like news and journalism, you have to be careful to make sure that the content you’re writing in this category is well-informed. You can write reviews for products and services, music and movies, and just about anything else that people have to spend money on. Writing a piece like this can be tricky, and it’s always worth spending some time reading other reviews before you get started, ensuring that you know exactly how to format your work. Of course, though, this doesn’t mean that you should copy other people.

With all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to start making your blog into a professional career. A lot of people like the idea of making money from their blog, but it can be hard to know what sort of content to make when you’re doing this. Each of the roles above can be taken on as a professional career, but you will need to get some practice in your free time before you can get started.

How Kids' Magazines Benefit Your Children

It is self-evident that reading is excellent for children for a whole host of reasons. The sooner you begin to read to them, they learn to read and then finally are able to read all by themselves, the better. One way to support and supplement the learning process is by having a range of reading resources available around the house at all times. And purchasing specific children’s magazines tailored to appropriate learning goals is a key way of achieving this. However, it’s critical that these magazines are catered to the child’s likes and dislikes so that they will view the activity as fun and worth giving up TV and video game time for!

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How Can Kids Magazines Benefit Children?

One of the main reasons that kids magazines are so advantageous to children is because they encourage them to read. There has been so much research done when it comes to the benefits of reading for children that it is difficult to not see the appeal of encouraging them to tackle the written word as much as possible. Interesting and engaging reading material of a variety of types can help encourage interest and assist in developing proficiency with language over time. This can also help with writing too, and they may feel encouraged to write their own stories. You can head to studentreasures.com for further information on inspiring children to write. 

One valuable way to provide such stimulation is by purchasing children’s magazines for them. The lessons learned can be carried over into school, enabling them to learn faster, and as a result get much better grades. This is rewarding in itself and encourages further achievement. Reading is also known to enrich a person’s vocabulary, so providing text such as magazines that introduce them to a wider world and new concepts outside of the routine school curriculum assists with development of language. The key is to find material that interests the child, to prevent them from getting frustrated and bored. One possible way to achieve this is to find a children’s magazine that they will be able to relate to and interests them.

What Are The Best Magazines For Children?

The response to the question "what are the best magazines for children?" is very subjective. The answer will typically vary from child to child. For instance, what interests your child more, English or math? Engage your child in conversation often on a range of subjects: what they have learned in school, how the world works and so on. 

Of course, there are skills other than those they will learn in school that can be highly beneficial to your children, and more places to learn them from than just magazines. Blogs are essentially digital magazines, after all, and sources like Daniel Lerner and David Lerner Associates can cover other topics that your children should learn about. For instance, financial literacy is vital for children to learn, more as they grow older, especially if they’re looking at getting a job or moving out for college. Find those magazines and online publications that can offer the lessons that they’re not going to get from school.

Even ask their opinion on their favorite lessons - what do they find interesting? By picking a subject for learning that has caught their attention, you will be better able to keep them engaged, and when children are engaged, they will naturally learn more. There is a wide array of magazines on the market that will ignite their imagination these days, from ones that will help with English skills to science magazines for children so you are sure to find one that fits the bill. Check that the material within the magazine is educational and written by expert child educators, otherwise what would be the point of using up your child’s time if they are not gaining anything from it?

What are your kid's favorite magazines?

College Admissions Coaching And Planning With Hallie Walden Bagley

Writing has been a part of my life since as long as I can remember. My mother and father had a gigantic library that I had free access to since I could read. I spent hours going through all of the titles and picking out which adventure I was going to start that day. My father built a reading nook in the house we lived in when I was little and it was by far my favorite spot in the house.

I began to wonder if I could make up my own stories while I was still very young. My dad was a journalist so we always had a computer and that is where I began to write my own adventures.

I have been a voracious reader ever since. When I attended college, my favorite assignment was essays, as you can probably guess. I was studying to acquire a Paralegal degree so I was used to having to research and couldn't wait to be able to do it full time! I decided to write one of my papers on mass hysteria  and loved learning about all of the different cases over written history. It has always been an interesting occurence to me since I first read about the Salem Witch Trials years ago. Other assignment essays weren't as easy to write, however, and I was always so glad to be able to find help and inspiration in reading and researching whatever I could about the subject as I could. When I couldn't make sense of it, it was time to call in more help and I am so glad that there were infinite resources on the internet to choose from!

Hallie Walden Bagley: College Essay Coaching And Planning 

One of my favorite publications, The Paris Review, always had something interesting to read and were always the most memorable to me. I have found some of my favorite authors there and it is still a great place to learn as well as finding new fiction! That's why I was really excited to learn that the managing editor, Hallie Walden Bagley, is offering college admissions essay coaching and planning! Hallie Walden Bagley holds a BA in English Literature from Dartmouth College and a Juris Doctorate from Columbia University School of Law and found her writer's voice on The Paris Review. She is ready to help you in any way to get into your school of choice! Your college admissions essay is probably the most important essay that you will ever write during college, in my opinion. My daughter is currently in her Junior year of college and I remember how she agonized over hers. It turned out that she did such a great job, she not only was accepted to her college of choice, but a second one as well!

If you find yourself struggling to write your perfect college admissions essay, whether it's because you need a little proofreading and coaching to make sure it's just right or because you can't even begin your outline, there is always help out there. Hallie Walden Bagley's college admissions coaching and planning courses are definitely a great start!

Where will your adventure begin? 

A Matter Of Pride

She's in the mirror again
using those words
familiar
as the spark blows
across your mind
igniting the fire
that began
it all

She's your reflection again
using all of the bits
you buried
or pretended you did
under layers of dullness
years of the nothing void you hid in
that accumulated into 
reruns of your mind that
the picture sitting 
on your mantle of pride 
now holds

the ghost
of fascination
constructed from the mold of you
that now suffers
because 
in the mirror 
all she sees is
you
running
away.

Run by Noah Stacey on ArtStation

Why I Love Being An Indie Author

Since the first time I wrote a story and let someone read it, I have wanted to be an author.

My father loved my story so much that it was published in the Virginian Pilot - Ledger Star newspaper in my hometown (where he just so happened to be an editor of said paper) when I was seven years old. 

All through my school career, my English teachers loved me, I was in the newspaper club, the yearbook staff, and I focused on writing in any way that I could. I never thought I could make a career at it.

Then, I got swept up into life and got married, had two children, and wrote when and where I could. As I learned and practiced more, I started to enter my stories into competitions on the internet. I won and was paid for writing my story for The Legendary. 

After that, I began to consider writing and being published. I wrote and saved over the days as I took care of my family and researched at night while they slept.

I wrote about Drive In Movie Theaters for FilmSnobbery for about a year and enjoyed every minute of it. Drive In Movie Theaters are the best way to experience all movies, by the way.

Just in case you forgot like a crazy person.

I kept writing on Tumblr, and Facebook, and Twitter, and all of those other places you find yourself immersed in online and stumbled across CreateSpace. That was it. CreateSpace helps you format and edit not only your words but your book cover! It gave me total creative control over my book and I excitedly started putting my first book together. 

Of course you can still purchase it here

It was done! I had done it! And people were buying it! It was almost a surreal experience.

My second book followed shortly after and I was so excited for the whole process again. I put it together using my own creative control, published, and it was well received as well!

Also still available for purchase 

 Now, there are some pros and cons I've found being a self-published author and I'm going to share them with you.

PROS

• You have 100% creative control. You decide what goes in and what stays out. You have all of the creative freedom in the world.
• It's an excellent way to learn the process of your craft, all the way down to how books are bound.
• You get as many copies as you need for promotions, giveaways, and signings for free. 
• YOU DID IT. Yeah, just that feeling. That feeling of accomplishing a lifetime goal is the biggest pro of being a self published indie author.

CONS

• MARKETING. Get ready to HAVE to learn everything you never cared about! You should be able to get a marketing degree from Google for all of the tips, tricks, stats, graphs, blahhblahblah you have to research to get even an inkling of a tip or trick to get your book out there. You are definitely going to have to eat it on marketing and just pay someone to do it if you can swing it. I've tried myself and I've paid others to do it and when I've paid others to do it, it always turns out much, MUCH better.
• You are now grouped in with "What's Up With Needles?!" by Anti-vax Mom and "Hey, Aliens Are Real, Join My Cult!" By Crazy O'Ridiculous or the zillion "Marketing Master Entrepreneur Real Pro Tips" By Basic Business Guy/Gal In A Business Suit on the cover as the type of authors people associate self published authors with. 
• You are going to learn a lot about royalties. You'll have to learn to negotiate and fight for your work to get the money you deserve. Although, once you can negotiate the right terms, you'll be so happy, especially when you get your first check!
• It's A LOT of work. Expect to put a lot of work into it. It's more than just writing once you are publishing.

But, it's so worth it. I love being an indie author! I love having complete control over my words and how I present them to the world. But most of all, I proved to that little seven year old girl that yes. Yes, you can write a book. And you will.

And, you did.

I'm working on my third book at the moment which will be another collection of poems. I hope to have it out by next autumn but maybe I will get it out sooner. Either way, I'm excited to be closer to my next publication! 

What do you love about being an Indie Author?

Deepest Dark

In my deepest
dark
You can't see me

look away

This is where I 
hide
just me
and my dreams

toss and turn
through 
the replay

down here
I'm not okay
I promise

In my deepest
dark

You can't hear me
silence
embracing me like an old
friend

grasping at anything to climb out

eventually

As for now,
I'm down in my deepest
dark
hiding
just me and my dreams.

Cartoon

You're a cartoon
he said

and just like that I was
dead

Cartoons
he said
we all are

Just scripts 
code
snippets
pictures
memories of

Caricatures
he said
We who live in houses
made of skeleton bones
paste over our real skin 
with misery's breath

You're a cartoon
he said

and
just like that
I was
dead.

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How To Start Writing In Your Spare Time

When you’re someone that dreams of writing, that dream never dies. It stays with you. Even when you go off into your career, when you forget about all things creative, and when you go off into your adult life. It’s still there.

Because writing comes with so much passion. When you love to read and create and get lost in an imaginary world, it’s only natural that your mind will often come up with characters and ideas, plots and plot twists. So whether you were a budding author as a child, or you were someone that just wanted to write features and stories and snippets from your life, you will still have that feeling until you put pen to paper. Or, perhaps more aptly, fingers to keyboard.

So, you might be interested in writing in your spare time with the intention of turning this into a career. Or selling a story. Or an article. But how do you do it? And how should you start? Well, let's find out.

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Just Start

First, you just need to get started. Right now! When you’ve finished reading this post, open up your word processor or your Google Doc and just get writing. Getting started is often the hardest part, so if you just do it, you’ve beaten that hurdle.

Set Aside The Time

But at the same time, you need to make sure that you’re actually doing it. Don’t just get started, write once, and then stop. You need to find time to write by making time for it. So schedule it in. Whether it’s an hour in the morning, on your lunch break, or in the evening, slot it in. Because when it’s in the diary and the time is set aside for it, you will write.

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Get Into A Routine

You then will want to make sure that you’re being consistent with it. So get into a routine of writing an hour a day or whatever you can commit. Because the more of a routine you get into with your writing, the easier it will be to build up a momentum.

Take It Seriously

But then there may also come a time where you feel ready to take this whole writing thing seriously. Maybe you want to look at online jobs from home where you can write to make money and then write in your spare time creatively too. Or maybe you want to think about getting a pitch together for a book proposal? No matter what you want to achieve, you will start to realize that there is a point where things get a little bit more serious for you.

Do Something Big

Finally, you may even want to make more of a move than that. You might want to do something big and exciting and different. Maybe starting a blog and publishing some of your ideas there could be perfect for you? Or maybe you would love to write your own book and self-publish it? Just make sure that you have some kind of goal that you’re working to, that something big you’re chasing that can help to keep you on track.

What are you waiting for?

Something Here

There is something
here

It whisps out from
there
between the lips of
sin

There is something
here

A quiet, sterile
painted gray brick 
in the way but
it weighs less than paper

There is something 
here


It's the familiar whispers 
on the bare floorboards
as he walks so silent so

purpose driven 
for the fourth time this week

There is something
here

And it wants to disappear.

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3 Reasons To Write Your Novel Quickly

Many aspiring novelists spend literal years just creating the first draft of their first manuscript. The struggling, aspiring artist, who hates his day-job and has been working on his masterpiece for 20 years, is a recurring trope in film and television.

But there are a lot of good reasons to not spend 20 years working on your “masterpiece”, not least of all because most authors have to do a fair bit of throat-clearing before they become good at their craft, and sitting on one book for a huge chunk of your life is a poor way of achieving this.

The author Joseph Conrad, originally Polish, wrote one of the great classics of the English language without even being a native English speaker. Resources like Effortless English Club could help you to do the same. But the point is, you need to get started, rather than procrastinating endlessly.

Great authors from Jack London to Stephen King have advocated a prolific no-holds-barred writing schedule. Here are some reasons why you should follow their example and write your novel quickly.

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It will help you to get into a “flow” state

Often, writers can become their own worst enemies, by obsessively over-analysing every single word they’ve put down on the page.

While this kind of analysis is useful, to a point, you should generally save it until after you’ve completed your first draft, at which point you can worry about ironing out some of the untidy bits, and polishing your novel into the masterpiece you want it to be.

Your first job, however, is to get the basic bones of the story assembled, and to put everything down in written form so that you have the “clay” that you can then fashion into a masterpiece.

Writing fast helps you to enter a flow-state where you’re not constantly second-guessing yourself, but are, rather, getting the words out.

It will help you to summon up your “muse” on a regular basis

Jack London is frequently quoted as having said that “you can’t wait inspiration, you have to go after it with a club”. 

There’s an idea among many creative types that you need to wait around for inspiration to strike, at which point you produce great art in a haze of mystical fervour.

While there is such a thing as a “muse”, however, it’s not the kind of thing you can wait for. You have to go after it, and the way you do that is by forcing yourself to write, regularly.

Before long, you’ll find that “inspiration” starts to find you more and more often.

It will allow you to learn in accelerated time

As mentioned above, writing is a skill that has to be developed. It’s developed partly by doing a lot of reading, but also through doing a lot of writing.

In all likelihood, you will have to churn out a substantial amount of written work before you’ve refined your craft sufficiently to be a success at it.

Writing fast allows you to speed through this process, adjusting and learning as you go.

8 Ways A Writing Career Benefits Your Kids

Today, I am honored to bring you a guest post from Samara over at TinyFry! Samara Kamenecka is a Virtual Assistant specializing in SEO and writing, based in Madrid. When she’s not chained to her computer, she likes to explore the city with her boyfriend, their two kids, and their dog. You can find her blogging about everything from pregnancy tips to parenting hacks over at Tiny Fry. 

8 Ways A Writing Career Benefits Your Kids

Some people think that writing is an easy way to make a living working from home, but if it was easy everyone would do it. The truth is that making a living from writing can be challenging, but if you’re good at it, many rewards come along with writing as a career. My favorite part of being able to work from home is how it benefits my kids.

       No Daycare

Not having to pay a daycare provider is two benefits in one. First of all, daycare is not cheap, and many parents seem to work just to pay for someone else to care for their kid(s). Secondly, you know exactly who is raising your child, and you never have to worry about what the daycare provider may or may not be teaching them.

 Flexible Schedule

Having a flexible schedule is the best benefit for you and your kids. There are not many people in this world who have the flexibility to pick up and drop off their kids from school, attend mid-day school events, and still be around to have family dinner and help with homework at night. It also doesn’t force you into a panic whenever your kid has a sick day, or the daycare cancels out of nowhere.

      

Grow Together

Working as a writer takes a lot of hard work and growth which can get a bit  frustrating at times, especially when there are little ones tugging at your pant legs while you’re trying to focus. Though some days can be tough, it allows you and your kids to grow together and understand each other better. You will both probably learn lessons in patience and time management while building a stronger bond.

       They See a Role Model

A lot of kids don’t understand the importance of work because they simply don’t see it. By seeing you working to provide for your family you are setting a good example for work ethic and helping them understand an important part of life as an adult. As a work from home mom, you are also setting the example that women are an equally important part of the workforce as men.

      No Commute

Some people spend two hours or more of their day commuting to and from work. Not having to commute is a benefit for anyone who works from home, but especially parents who get to spend that extra time with their kids. It also saves money and the environment, which is yet another benefit to your children.

       Financial Contributions

Some parents decide to start writing after they have decided to stay at home. So hopefully, that income can be used in surplus to the budget to do things like save for a child’s education or enroll them in enrichment classes. The money could even be used for a vacation potentially, and since you’re a writer, you won’t have to worry about taking time off!

       A Safe and Clean Home

One of my favorite benefits of being a writing mom is that I can take a break from work to clean a room or throw in a load of laundry. Being able to care for the home while working helps keep a strong work/life balance and also keeps my home cleaner and safer for my kids to play.

      Mental Wellbeing

This is perhaps the subtlest benefit for children with work at home parents. Just knowing that there is going to be someone home to talk to when they need it offers confidence and lowers stress. Being around all the time to offer a hug for a scraped knee or an emotional bruise goes a long way in the happiness of a kid. I can’t tell you how many times my kids have come and sat by me in silence while I worked just to be around me. Being this available builds an unbreakable bond between parent and child that not every parent gets to experience.

If you are choosing to pull double duty as a parent and a writer, make sure you are prepared with everything you’ll need to keep your babies and kids safe and occupied. Writing from home benefits your kids in many ways, but it is still a job and one that can get a little tricky to balance if you’re not careful. At the end of the day, it is one of the best careers in the world to have when it comes to the perfect balance between finance and family.