Pointers on Writing a Blog by J.Q. Rose Updated, Facebook Live Videos

Blogging
Courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
Photo by Stuart Miles

I love blogging and enjoy penning blog posts. Besides writing, I enjoy reading blogs. 
I can see that scowl of disbelief forming on your face. But, yes. I DO love sharing information, inspiration, and fun with readers. 

Most of all, I like receiving comments. Writing is an isolating job, so when blog readers actually respond with a comment, I feel more connected to the world. Thank you to all who take time to say hi, leave a thought about the content of the blog, or ask a question. I know you have lots of other things to do, so I appreciate the time you spend here on the blog.

Reading blogs is one of my satisfying "hobbies." I don't do it and leave a comment strictly for marketing purposes. I love meeting new folks and keeping in touch with friends. Blogging is the vehicle that allows me to do that.

TIP:  By the way, when you do leave a comment on a blog, please leave a way for the blogger to return your visit. Here's the secret formula, well maybe not so secret anymore, for constructing the HTML link to your blog so a blogger can click on the link and be taken right to your site!

You MUST copy this exactly, especially being careful not to add or delete a space in any of it, in order to make a correct link. 

<a href=http://yoursite.com>yoursitename</a>

Replace the bold sections with your information. 

Then go to your blog and in your own comment section, c/p the link and submit. You will see immediately if you have the link correct because only yoursitename will show up.--no symbols or letters. Good luck! It may take you a few tries.

Updated--Pointers on Writing a Blog by J.Q. Rose
originally published on this blog in October 2015

In my marketing research, my experience,  and reading blogs, I've picked up a few pointers I thought I'd share with you. I hope you find them helpful. Please add to the list so we can all learn more.

• When I come across information or have an idea for a blog post, I go immediately to my blog page and click new post. I make a few notes, copy the URL of an article that got my attention, and type in a working title. These ideas already collected in my behind-the-scenes unpublished blog posts give me a bit of peace when I'm struggling to think of a post. 
• Choose a day each week that you can commit to posting up your blog. Keep it like you do for a dental appointment or your kid's soccer practice. Your appointment with yourself to write your blog should be on your calendar every week or more often if you wish.. 
• All the blog gurus encourage us to have a photo of ourselves on the top of the page. The purpose of a blog is to connect with readers, so having a picture helps them to do that. Not an avatar but a real-life photo of you.
• Images help attract and keep readers. Take your own photos or look them up online. WARNING: Please be sure you can legally use the photos on your blog. Sites for finding images are freedigitalphotos.net (my favorite as you can probably tell,} pixabay.com, presentermedia.com, and makerbook.net. Leave a comment to let us know your favorite sites for images.
• Video is coming to the front as a real draw to attract readers and keep them on the site. You can make your own video from your laptop, phone, camera, record it on YouTube, Hangouts, and PowerPoint programs. 
• LIVE video is all the rage and it's fun. On FB Live, visitors can leave comments and you can interact with them in real time. Or if they have a question, they can ask and you can return to your video post and answer questions later. You can also post the Facebook video on Youtube to increase viewership and share it on all your social media. Watch my FB Live video below--Writing Tip: Focus on the Holidays 
• Make attractive, eye-catching graphics with quotes or poems quickly with Quotes Cover and  Quozio. Canva is another choice for making lots of kinds of graphics, but it takes a bit of experimenting and practice to get a decent product.

Quote image made using canva.com

TIP: When adding an image to your blog, be sure to add a caption. Phones and tablets don't always show the images, but they will display the caption to let readers know what the picture is. 

• When offering a link to a page, don't use" click here." Instead, write out the name of the URL link so the reader knows what page they will be jumping to. Be sure to set your blog to allow a new pop-up box for the link the reader is going to instead of leaving your blog completely.
• At the end of your post, ask the reader to subscribe to your page. Direct her to the location on your page so she can easily find and add her email.  The Follow by Email should be above the fold so the reader sees it right away.

Jeni Elliott, the Blog Maven, suggests bloggers not include their social media links on their website because clicking on the page will direct the reader away from the blog. What do you think of that idea? You can read more about it and other tips in her FREE guide, Five Things You Can Do to Increase Subscribers. She offers lots of resources for bloggers on her site.

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FB Live Video--Writing Tip: Focus on the Holidays

VIDEO--Writing Tip: Focus on the Holidays by J.Q. Rose

If you have time, click here to watch more of my videos at the J.Q. Rose, Author Facebook 
Page including "How NOT to Make a FB Live Video." Warning! I'm just learning and experimenting with this new way of connecting with folks.

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Thanks for spending time at the J.Q. Rose blog. Do you enjoy reading articles like this one with helpful tips and information for writers/bloggers? Do you have some suggestions for topics for this blog?

And just as I schooled you, please enter your email address in the Follow by Email box in the sidebar so you'll be notified of new posts on the J.Q. Rose blog. I promise, NO SPAM. Thank you!

My Writing Career and Yours--Lessons Learned: Author Platform, Critique Groups, Video, Podcasting

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 
March 17

Greetings from sunny Florida!
Hope you'll be celebratin' the wearin' of the green on Tuesday! Tampa, Florida, colored the waterway downtown green for the occasion. Mayor Bob Buckhorn is an Irishman. Chicago, Illinois has dyed their river green for many years. Do you know of any other cities that do this? It's a unique way to celebrate, but I wonder if the water fowl and fish turn green too?

Let's talk. Grab your coffee/ tea and pull up a chair to the kitchen table and join me.

Four years ago in March my first e-book, Sunshine Boulevard, mystery/light horror, was published by MuseItUp Publishing. To me, signing the contract with the publisher and actually having a way for readers to read my work was the official beginning of my career as an author. Previously, I had non-fiction articles published in newspapers, magazines, and e-zines. After publishing this fictional piece, I felt I could add author to my resume because I had succeeded in releasing a story from my imagination. 

Through these four years I have learned a LOT about the business of writing. A few of my realizations are:

• Building an author platform seems to be the first requirement and first step to becoming a successful author--along with writing a great story!
• Building relationships with readers is important. Don't just yell buy my book, buy my book all the time.
•  Good-old fashioned networking with people in the business helps to get your name out there. This is a mutual partnership in which we all help each other to move forward with writing and publishing careers

Lessons Learned by J.Q. Rose

Here are a few points I have learned along the way. Perhaps you can glean a few nuggets of information to help you in your determination to make writing a career.

• Support Group--I have two mysteries published by a small press, MuseItUp Publishing. I would never have been a published author without the support and input I received from my critique group. You need someone to help you with your writing. Don't write in  a vacuum. 
• 
  
• Presentations/Speaking--I joined my critique partners in  two presentations in our local communities. The most important thing I learned at these presentations/book signings is you need a print book to sell. My mysteries (and all my books) are eBooks. I love them, but they are not a product you can sell face-to-face at a gathering. I've tried coupons, but folks don't want to deal with paying for the book, THEN go home to download it. When my first eBook was published in 2011, noone knew what the heck an eBook was. I spent my time educating people on this new reading opportunity, where to find it, and the device to read it on. Nowadays people will actually take my post card and put it with their iPad or Kindle cover to look up the book later. That is encouraging, but not a sure sale like a print book is.

• Guest Bloggers--Guest blogging and hosting authors really does help you get your name out. D'vorah Lansky's Book Marketing Challenge workshop inspired me to get proactive in marketing, so I invited romance and mystery authors to my blog to share writing tips. I thought the series would only be in the fall, but I had such a wonderful response from authors, the event spilled into February. This spring  an eBook filled with the authors' writing tips and new material will be released. You can find out more about my experience with this challenge in my February 26 post, Your Book is Just the Beginning. Subscribe to this blog so you will be updated on the progress and release of the Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing ebook filled with helpful writing tips.

• Videos and podcasts are the buzz words nowadays. They help to build your audience and establish you as an expert/author and expose you to more readers. Videos actually do catch a surfer's attention, and the video will keep the reader at your site longer. You can teach a program or offer an interview.  I've learned to use the audacity.com program for audio and then the audio can be uploaded for a podcast program. At this time I don't have a desire to commit to offering a podcasting program. I have used Power Point to make a video presentation and played with Powtoon.com for a cartoon style presentation. I'm no expert after trying all these out, but I do plan to do more with Power Point in the future. My next big challenge to overcome is interviewing authors on Google Hangouts on Air. I will be interviewing my guest authors who want to "be guinea pigs" this spring and uploading  the Google videos to this site. I had a great time participating in a promotional video from the creative mind of Miss Mae. The official unofficial cyberspace reporter, I.B. Nosey, interviewed me about Coda to Murder. Take a peek.

Video:

Video:An I.B. Nosey Interview with J.Q. Rose

Consider learning how to make some videos for your site. There are lots of helpful Youtube videos from folks who know how to create video.  I especially enjoy watching video expert Lou Bortone. He also has courses available.

• Book Series--After reading articles on improving book sales, the information supports the idea to use a book series to build audience and sales. It makes sense that if people like you first book, they will come back for more and tell their friends. (the best advertising you can get). Plus the more books you have to sell, the more for readers to  buy and read. I'm developing a series on vegetable gardening to try out this theory. And I'm loving it. My husband is the expert and I am the writer.

• Finally, I discovered not to use initials for a pen name.  Yes, it's a bit late for this realization. For instance,  if you typed J. Q. Rose rather than J.Q. Rose, the search will not find my name. Nor will it find JQ Rose, because in both instances, the spacing of the letters are different from the original. Think twice if you are planning to use initials in your pen name.

Now, it's your turn to share what you have learned as you proceeded along the path to publishing? Please leave your comments or questions below. Thanks for joining me today. 

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