Last week I explained the importance of using metadata to optimize your website or blog for search engines. Metadata, as you will remember, helps drive the right traffic to your page and makes your content more accessible. Brilliant! Your web traffic is growing and you are expanding your author platform. But now that visitors arrive on your homepage and take a first look, how do you plan to bring them back? Once a visitor leaves, is the transaction finished? Is your website or blog a one-show pony? I sure hope not. As contradictory as this may sound, I don’t want authors spending more time in front of a computer to keep an audience interested. It is silly to spend all your spare time working on a platform; after all, you need that time to actually write the stuff you need the website or blog for! Here at Swenson Book Development, we are all about the right tools to use and manage social media easier. One reason we like WordPress so much is that they provide an array of tools and most of them are free. These tools go by two common names: plugin and widget. These are distinct items for your blog or website and they function differently. Plugins are downloaded and installed into the coding (HTML) of your page. Once activated, plugins function independently and require no additional work from you. Some plugins have settings for you to specify parameters or preferences, but they always work in – and can be restored to –…
Through the years, I’ve had a lot of experience using Canva to create flyers, signs, social media materials, bookmarks, and even playlist covers—almost entirely with a free Canva account with no subscription. Sure, there are more options available with a paid subscription, but even with a free account, Canva is still a valuable tool with a ton of resources and design templates. It’s amazing what… [Read More]
Filed Under: book trailer, Canva, free resources, The Land of Everlasting Sky, video creation
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From her start as one of the youngest activists in US history, Pauline Newman helped shape the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU) into a dominant force in industrial America. In For the Love of Labor: The Life of Pauline Newman, Cathryn J. Prince tells the story of a self-educated Jewish immigrant who dedicated herself to a legion of causes and lifelong battles against sexism… [Read More]
Releasing this month, Blooming Hollyhocks: Tales of Joy During Hard Times by Naomi Helen Yaeger is a work of creative nonfiction telling the story of the author’s mother growing up in a small prairie town in the 1930s and ‘40s during the Great Depression and World War II. “With faith, family, and grit, she rose from heartbreak to hope, offering a story for anyone who’s… [Read More]
Duluth-based journalist and creative writer Naomi Yaeger is counting down the weeks to the launch of Blooming Hollyhocks: Tales of Joy During Hard Times. This work of creative nonfiction is the author’s story of her mother, Janette Minehart, who grew up with four siblings in a small Minnesota prairie town during the Depression and came of age during WWII. Not yet available for pre-ordering, Blooming Hollyhocks will be published in October… [Read More]
Filed Under: author events, Blooming Hollyhocks, book events, book launch, Naomi Yaeger, new releases
There is something special about summer, especially in Wisconsin where warm weather happens for only a few treasured months of the year. And while reading is a favorite pastime all year round, summer has always felt like prime time for reading. So in the tradition of creating summer bucket lists, here are a few book-centered ideas add to your list. Take yourself on a book… [Read More]