Ready to begin blogging in 2012? Have you completed Steps 1-5? If so, it’s time to install WordPress.org, following the instructions provided by your webhosting service provider. If BlueHost.com is your provider, it is a simple, one-click installation. Word Press’ video tutorials offer a quick and efficient way to set up a basic design and utilize important features by familiarizing you, the new user, with dashboard commands and operations. We recommend that you follow the tutorials before installing a THEME. To install a WordPress theme: Click on Appearance on the left sidebar/dashboard. At the top of the Themes page, there are two tabs beneath the WordPress icon and the name of your site. One says Manage Themes and the other says Install Themes. Click on Install Themes. You will be on a search page. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and hit Find Themes to view all available themes. To see what a theme looks like, click on the Preview link beneath the sample thumbnail and theme name. If you like a theme, click on the Install link beneath the theme name. Once you have installed a theme, click on the Appearance button on the left sidebar. Make sure the theme you installed is the current theme. To edit your theme and customize colors, background images, widgets, and more, click on any of the links next to the OPTIONS text, beneath the theme description. You can also customize theme appearance through the sub-menu on the left sidebar (beneath Appearance). Standard available options…
When you are building your author website from the ground up and trying to keep expenses low, it helps to have a friend who knows a thing or two about website design and development. You know, that friend you have that helps you out in a pinch and who can show you the ropes? Who asks only for your friendship – and maybe a free… [Read More]
Filed Under: Author Website, best Twitter practices, DIY online platform, free, social media icon sets, social media lessons, start a blog in 2012, stock images, writer DIY, writer's blog
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Swenson Book Development, LLC was in the thick of publishing madness two weeks ago – two members of our team, myself and Jill Swenson, checked out the trade floor and events at Book Expo America. BEA is the place for movers and shakers of the North American publishing industry. From event interviews of famous musicians-come-authors to Harlequin Romance shilling for their latest salacious-covered paperback, from bustling New… [Read More]
As an editor, I see the use of passive voice as a red flag in a manuscript. It strips out all the action and agency. Makes the text boring. Passive voice frequently appears in academic writing. The stuff no one wants to read. You can edit your own book manuscript for passive voice and hone your talents as a powerful writer with a few simple… [Read More]
Filed Under: action, Active Voice, agency, Passive voice, reader comprehension, Verb tenses, voice of victims
That container gently bubbling in the kitchen, a jar of vegetables and spices and antiseptic salt, is an exercise in patience. It’s a testament of expectation. It’s going to be your sauerkraut in just a few weeks if you can just wait, and taste, and trust. Ellie Sandor Katz’s seminal work, Wild Fermentation, has been considered the gateway text into a world of natural fermented… [Read More]
Writing dialogue is about capturing a character’s voice and revealing her or his motivations. Good dialogue engages the reader in a dynamic exchange between characters. It quickens the pace when there is no action and moves the plot forward. Bad dialogue only relays expository information, which doesn’t feel real to the reader who can’t believe your characters would talk like that to each other. Although… [Read More]
Filed Under: Dialogue, Grammar, Italics for internal dialogue, Punctuation, Quotation Marks, Rules, Style