Six weeks of sabbatical from blogging this summer passed quickly. Too quickly. Sweetly slipped through my fingers.  Like melting ice cubes. Rippling waves against ancient cliffs on Lake Superior’s shores. Finding the time and space and inspiration to write and do research without worrying about what anybody else thinks. Need I say more? The website redesign gave me the perfect excuse to pause and reflect after more than 300 posts in the last three years. I took the opportunity to read more blogs by authors, editors, and publishers. Here’s a list of tips I compiled from the best practices used today by successful authors on their blogs. You can use it as a checklist for writing your next post. Write a catchy headline. Brief. Clear. Play on words. Lists are popular. Hyperbole is not. What will hook readers’ interest? The headline needs to include your keywords to pull the right readers. Start with a vibrant photograph. Pictures pull people into your writing. When you share your blog posts on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, your image will load along with your headline. The photo is as important as the catchy headline to motivating readers to click through to read. Be caring and careful of copyright on images. Use your own photographs or make sure you obtain copyright permission to use others’ images. Like a news story, let the reader know who, where, when, and what in the opening sentence. Hook your readers with a sentence which gives them…

Although the majority of the traffic to your site will come through social media engagement, an author can’t ignore getting found through Google and other search engines. Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, refers to practices used to get a higher rank in search engines – in plain English, it’s the difference between being on the 1st or 7th page of Google results. But, you might ask, if I’m getting most of my readers through Twitter, Facebook, and direct contacts, why do I have to worry about getting found through search engines? SEO will help you keep focused on your keywords. Keeping your blogs within the scope of your essential phrases will ensure you don’t lose sight of your message. SEO will let new readers discover you. A single blog can be a source of major traffic to your site if it’s a high-ranking hit of an often-searched phrase on Google. SEO will ensure you are the #1 result when people search for your name. If you have a common name – or if there is someone else online with your name with a web presence – SEO is not optional. Googling someone is now as commonplace as shaking hands. If you don’t have search engines in mind when designing your site and making content, you won’t be the top result for your name. SEO will draw traffic to your site. Although Marketing Strategies are more than a numbers game, having lots of visitors to your site is always a good…

Are you on the start of your journey to publication? Authors’ names are their brands, and satisfied readers exercise brand loyalty. They shop for titles by author name, and when they come across a real find, they recommend it to friends. Those friends do the same, and the chain continues. But a book is more than a cover or jacket. It is the embodiment of a human voice to which the reader seeks connection. Thus, loyal readers attend book signings, subscribe to newsletters, and use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media platforms to make contact with favorite authors. The deeper the social connection between reader and author, the more likely the reader will act as the author’s sales agent. There is nothing better than word-of-mouth advertising for a book. Cultivating an audience for your writing is something you are expected to bring to the table when you have a manuscript for them to consider for publication. In creating your author platform and establishing your name as your brand, you want to be consistent and constant. If your name is Amy Anderson, your professional contact email will be amy@amyanderson.com; your gmail will be amyanderson@gmail.com; your website will be www.amyanderson.com. Your Twitter account will be – drumroll please – @AmyAnderson. Do not use the title of your book. Do not use any catchy taglines or slogans. Use your name. But first check that your name is available. Since Amy Anderson is a common name, you may need to use a legal…