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Technology
To Blog, or Not to Blog
by, Jill Swenson
June 7, 2022

Six or seven years ago my advice to aspiring authors of nonfiction books was to build an audience platform by blogging. An example of how critical blogging could be to securing a publishing contract can be found in the case of Ann Marie Ackermann, author of Death of an Assassin: The True Story of the German Murderer Who Died Defending Robert E. Lee. After an… [Read More]

Filed Under: Ann Marie Ackermann, blogging, connection, Death of an Assassin, HARO, Help a Reporter Out, Jean Benedict Raffa, Jean Raffa, Medium, Newsletters, Patreon, Social Media, Substack, The Soul's Twins
1 Comment
Booky Call – Book Matchmaking for the Modern World
by, Audrey Arnold
November 16, 2021

According to a recent survey, 62% of women would rather spend Friday night reading a good book than out on a date, and the similarities between how people talk about both reading and dating is fascinating. Given these similarities, and with the success of popular dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, Match, Grindr, and eHarmony, Brant Menswar and Jim Knight, the founders of digital book marketing… [Read More]

Filed Under: book app, book discovery, book recommendation, Bookshop, Bookshop.org, BookstarPR, Booky Call, Brant Menswar, Bumble, dating app, eHarmony, Grindr, Jim Knight, Tinder
No Comments
The Business of Being an Author: Email Etiquette
by, Jill Swenson
February 16, 2021

When you send an email to query an agent or publisher, or to pitch a podcast or book review, do you sometimes wonder whether your message disappeared into cyberspace because you did not receive a response? Did it end up in a spam folder? Is no response a “no”? Could your email address be the problem? If you’re using an account from AOL, Yahoo, or… [Read More]

Filed Under: email tips, professional author email, Query letter
3 Comments
The Immediate Future is Virtual
by, Jill Swenson
October 13, 2020

Publishing, overall, is an industry that pivoted fairly quickly and easily to conducting business during a global pandemic. Despite postponing the release of some books and a logjam at printing presses, publishing is doing business much as usual. Acquisition editors are interested in new book projects. Book sales have been brisk, even with bookstores mostly closed. For many writers and editors, working remotely is nothing… [Read More]

Filed Under: Google meeting, Gotham Writers, The Loft Literary Center, virtual conference, virtual meeting, virtual workshop, working from home, Writing Workshop, WritingxWriters, zoom
No Comments
Webtoon – Innovation in the World of Comics
by, Audrey Arnold
March 24, 2020

You may think of comics as panels in a newspaper or as physical serialized issues featuring superheroes, but today, a new trend has taken hold in the form of Webtoons. While the concept of online comics is not a new thing, one comic app in particular is transforming the way readers consume this content. Launched in South Korea in 2004, LINE Webtoon features full-color comics… [Read More]

Filed Under: Comic Creator, Free Comics, LINE Webtoon, Online Comics, Web Comics, Webtoon, What is Webtoon
2 Comments
What to blog about?
by, Jill Swenson
January 23, 2018

Does an author really need to blog? Not necessarily. If you are writing fiction or a children’s storybook, probably not. If you’re writing nonfiction or memoir, probably so. To answer the question, you must ask yourself whether you can reach the audience who will buy your book with a blog. Children rarely make consumer choices about books, but their parents do. Tina L. Peterson wrote… [Read More]

Filed Under: blogging, Cathryn Prince, Elizabeth Rynecki, In Media Parentis, Linda J. Spielman, sales funnel, Tina L. Peterson
1 Comment
Finishing Touches to Your WordPress Website
by, Jill Swenson
January 16, 2018

If you’ve been following this blog the past month as you build your new author website, you’re almost ready to launch! Now that you’ve uploaded your text and images into your new Pages, you can see what each one will look like when it goes live if you click on the Preview button as you are customizing the Page. When you are satisfied, hit the… [Read More]

Filed Under: Add Media, Appearance, Askimet Anti-Spam, Categories, Easy Forms for MailChimp, Google Analytics, Menus, New Post, Tags
No Comments
Ready to Build Your Author Website Using WordPress?
by, Jill Swenson
January 9, 2018

Have you completed the steps I’ve outlined in the last four blog posts? 1) Picked your official author name and purchased the domain? 2) Decided on your internet service provider and webhosting, and ready to install WordPress? 3) Put together a list of your design preferences? 4) Prepared the text and images for the pages on your new site? If so, then it’s time to… [Read More]

Filed Under: Appearance, blogging, Pages, Plug-Ins, themes, Twenty Seventeen, WordPress
No Comments
Designing Your Author Site
by, Jill Swenson
December 26, 2017

The past two weeks I’ve described how to determine your author name, purchasing your domain name, finding an internet service provider, determining who will host your site, and what web-site building software you will use. You may recall I strongly recommended WordPress to build your site. One of the reasons I like WordPress for author sites is because it IS possible to Do-It-Yourself with their… [Read More]

Filed Under: design features, DIY, templates, WordPress
No Comments
Choosing an Internet Service Provider, Webhosting Service, and Content Management Systems
by, Jill Swenson
December 19, 2017

Last week I wrote about deciding upon your author name to determine your domain name. Once you have purchased your domain, the next step is stake out your own real estate on the internet. Before you build your author website, you will need to answer three questions.   (1)  Who will provide you with internet service?  Internet service providers (ISPs) are those who bring the… [Read More]

Filed Under: Internet Service Provider, Webhosting, WordPress.org
1 Comment

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