Last post was some tongue-and-cheek fun pointing out how brands (particularly author brands) abuse Twitter. Today, I want to shift gears and chat some about how writers—actually ALL brands—can use Twitter far more effectively.

Currently, too many writers are like Stormtroopers—lots of shots fired  tweets that hit NOTHING.

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by ARHuelsenbeck

Disclaimer: I do not have an agent, but I am looking for one, and I have accumulated a lot of information in the process which I am willing to share so that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

on Just Publishing Advice:

RSS is nearly as old as email but do you know what it can do for you?

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) has been around for a very long time. It is also sometimes called rich site summary.

In the early days of the Internet, it was an easy way to gather the latest news in your web browser.

The familiar orange RSS icon was on almost every website, and by clicking and adding the feed, you could read the latest updates in your browser.

In browsers such as Internet Explorer and Firefox, the RSS icon appeared automatically in the address bar to indicate that a site had a feed. With one click you could add it to a feed reader.

The most popular RSS reader at the time was Google Reader. I remember using it every day for years to collect new blog posts and news.

But when mobile devices…

I use YouTube on a daily basis: to show the wee one her favorite cartoons. When it comes to using it to promote my books, however, I’m hopeless. I don’t even have a book trailer, let alone a YouTube channel. Which is why I found particularly interesting this guest post by Jay Chambers.

7 Reasons for Using Videos in Your Social Marketing Campaigns

Image: Pixabay

YouTube is currently the second largest search engine on the web. Unfortunately, many authors do not take video marketing seriously, so, they miss out on an incredible marketing opportunity. Some authors fear using video in their marketing strategies because they feel that it’s costly, which is not true. While the quality standards of video production have gone up, the cost has decreased significantly. Therefore, you can find quality video easily which will, in turn, lead to better conversion rates. Here is why you are…

I have been asked a few times about the program I use for writing my novels.  So I thought I would take a break from the World Builder series to go through the basics of Scrivener.

Stolen from Writers Write website.

Do you struggle with first-person narratives?

I do. Even though it’s my favorite point of view.

I love writing, and reading, first-person point of view stories. But getting it right can be a struggle. I was thrilled to read a recent post on writing techniques from Bookfox. 

Writing in First Person: 4 Tricks and 6 Pitfalls

The article breaks down the simple do’s and don’ts that make writing in first-person simpler and easier. And reminded me, there are some wonderful, famous authors who wrote in first-person. In addition to thousands of classic works of literature. Selecting first-person POV need not be a hindrance to good writing.

How these writing techniques clicked for me.

• To find a character’s voice, give them attitude.
• Do not let the narrator be dull. Don’t want to put your reader to sleep.
• Showcase your character’s blind spot. We all have them and so should a…