O is for Oops

It's also for, "oh, dang, I don't have a blog post for the A-Z Challenge and I'm out of town."

So here's a picture of an orchid I have in bloom right now.

Talk about pulling something out of an orifice!

N is for News

There are two kinds of news that come to mind: personal news about you, and what’s happening in the world. Both are great things to write about.

If you’re an author or a publisher, the public can’t get enough information about what you’re doing from day-to-day. Readers want to know what your word count is, what other novels your moodling, what conference you’ll be attending next. The same goes for publishers, and recaps of recent events with photos are always a boon to blog traffic. Don’t forget to share information about yourself on your blog!

World news works a little differently, because when you write about a current event, not only do you share your opinions but you also tap into a huge and sticky web of similar posts on the Internet. Linking to outside news sources is a great way to increase the notice-ability of your blog. If you’re writing about an earthquake, for example, Google the word and see what news articles are first in your search results. Then mention the keyword and link to that article in your post. Also try to add the keyword to your blog post title and label. When it comes to news and blogging, relevance and timing are important to factor into your scheme, so don’t hesitate mentioning important world events when possible.

K is for Knowledge

Yesterday, I talked about increasing blog traffic and building a voice of authority through your writing. What do you know that sets you apart from other bloggers, something that might attract a very narrow, but perhaps large group of readers?

What brings people to this blog is information about blog book tours. So that narrows my readership to authors who want to promote their new titles on the Internet.

In the past five years, I’ve become something of a sage (I hesitate to say "authority figure" as it sounds so unfriendly) about blog book tours, and it all started as research for my own book promotion. I didn't invent the idea by any means (it goes back at least 20 years to author, M.J. Rose). After many years of promoting a business with related traveling, hotel conferences, and other “face-time”, I knew I didn’t want to do any of that to promote my own book. It was too expensive, too time-consuming, too strenuous at my age, and an environmental nightmare. It was this last issue that decided my interest in online promotion, and it was a short jump to the blogging platform and it’s obvious potential, that led me to researching and planning online tours.

Five years later, I still think blogs, blog book tours, and other Internet platforms like YouTube and podcasting, are powerful book promotion tools, which have changed the publishing game, and tilted it in favor of the author. If you’re interested in a quick how-to be sure to read my Quickest Blog Book Tour Guide Ever and then consider taking a class to plan your own tour. Not only will you pay less out-of-pocket to plan your own tour, you’ll have a better one. Because nobody knows your book as well as you do, and nobody cares more about its success. Sign up for the next class here, and acquire the knowledge you need to build your own blog book tour.

J is for Jumpstarting

One of the most frustrating things in the early days of a blog is getting daily readers. Even bloggers who post every day don’t always get the results they want very quickly. This is where a group effort comes in handy to jumpstart results.

In the blog book tours classes, we usually have a blog-a-day challenge for one month. This serves several purposes.

1. It develops a good habit in the blogger, because infrequent blogging is the death knell of even the most attractive blog.
2. It increases traffic to a blog through visits from team members, and consequently makes the blog more noticeable to search engines.

Both of these elements are vital for jumpstarting a blog. Projects like the current A-Z Challenge, the basis of the blogs you are currently reading, are even more powerful. (Click on the link at the top of the page.) Almost 1,200 bloggers are teaming up in the same project, egging each other on, visiting member blogs, back-linking to each other. The Google ‘bots must be going crazy. Which, of course, has us all jumping for joy!

H is for Help

How-to blog:

I often have folks sign up for my classes thinking they'll learn to blog. You have to know how before you sign up - the point of the class is to learn about blog BOOK TOURS. So you need to be fairly adept at blogging to sign up. The best way to learn how to blog is to simply Google "how to blog". Then see what comes up. Here's one example to try on YouTube, and you might have to search around for updated links since last year's Blogger upgrade, but the information is at your disposal. Seek and ye shall find.

Hit counters:

Everyone needs one and two favorites are Statcounter.com and Sitemeter.com. I prefer Sitemeter, and like to show actual hit count since a good high number makes the blog more attractive to readers.


Holiday blogging prompts:

Last week, I found a really great site that lists all those crazy holidays we're always hearing about like National Naked Rat Day and National Black Licorice Week. This site lists hundreds of those holidays by month, and what great writing prompts for your blog! Go here for more and be sure to bookmark this site.

Hurdles like word verification:

I've noticed during this month's A-Z Challenge that quite a few of the blogs have word verification and moderated status activated. I would definitely get rid of the word verification, as I and many people, don't return to blogs that create comment hurdles like that. I've even turned it off on this blog, despite having the blog shut down for six months by Blogger for excess spam visits. Bloggers new spam filter is really quite adequate for the job. If you're still not sure, then moderate comments, but even this is a mental hurdle for your fans. You'll lose too many to make it worth the bother. Remember, you WANT comments, because it makes your blog stickier to the search engines.

Hint-of-the-Day:

Collapse your archive in the sidebar. It's ugly, takes up too much space, and nobody uses it anyway. Make it a nice tidy little box like mine in the sidebar. See it? Now compare it to yours. Which is better?


Finally H is for Happy blogging!

D is for Dates

 I'm not talking about the ones we all wanted on Saturday nights when we were young.

What I mean is the date you might find on a letter... or on a blog post like this one. Do you notice anything? I have a day of the week above right and a time at the bottom of this post. But no actual date. Why? Because many of the posts are timeless, and apply to many situations or from one blog book tours class to the next. There is no need for me to rewrite the post. Often I bump a post up by going into Post Options and changing the date so the blog post reappears at the top of the blog. Clever, no?

You can do the same thing. An added advantage is that the blog never looks stale to a newcomer, who might wonder why I haven't posted anything since last month, if the month stamp could be seen.

Tomorrow, I'll bump a prior post I use often that explains the Elements of a good blog. Stay tuned.

Blogging for Books at the BBT Cafe

I never really learned to blog. I jumped in feet first about five years ago when my friend, Ann Parker, and I attended a Women Writing the West Conference and they needed someone to photograph and report about the doings each day. So we tried it, rather successsfully I might add, and I was hooked practically overnight.

Today, I still think blogs and all the social networking sites available to us, are the best and certainly most affordable ways to promote books. My passion is also environmental. It takes a whole lot less petroleum to go on a blog book tour than drive or fly around the country using up petroleum.  I became so vested in this idea, I learned everything I could about the process until I ended up teaching classes to other authors and hosting blog book tour stops on my own blogs. I now even chaperone tours for others for a fee, although I limit that service to only books I love and read. Children's literature and cozy mysteries are my favorites.

When you're thinking about promoting an up-and-coming title, be sure to sign up for a blog book tours class and really prepare yourself to market this way. Many of the people in the A-Z Challenge can tell you what a difference it makes. I'll hope to see you at the classroom sometime soon! Oh, and feel free to join the BBT Cafe anytime, for ongoing chats about blog book tours, writing, publishing, and anything else we feel like discussing. It's a great group of supportive writing friends, and we always welcome newcomers.

A-A-A-pril Fools!

I need another drink quick!

Anyone who has taken a Blog Book Tours class with me knows there is usually a Blog-a-Day Challenge involved. It's a great way to make your blog sizzle in a hurry, and it is especially beneficial when a group of people are linking to each other, leaving comments, and just generally adding to the support and fun. I've seen blogs go from Absolutely Awful to Ztellar. Okay, maybe that's a stretch, at least in the spelling department.

Special thanks to the pals from the BBT Cafe (our blog book tours alum and social spot) for organizing the A-Z Challenge. Alex J. Cavanaugh and Stephen Tremp, you guys are nuts! I have no idea how I'm going to interact with almost more than 1,000 bloggers over the next month, but as Steve points, at least they are allowing us to take Sundays off, unlike yours truly who had  no such mercy in any class. Paybacks are tomorrow's letter, huh?

Please click on the A-Z Challenge tab above to see all the great bloggers playing the game this month. My goal? To make this blog a little stickier with the search engines, possibly set the stage for a Google 5 ranking, and be poised to start hosting authors I like when they have their blog book tours, something I haven't done much up to know. Leave me a message if you have a new book coming out this year. And be sure to follow the blog by clicking at right, friend me on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter. The more fools, the merrier!