How Much Are We Responsible for our Guest Posters?
Most of us who blog think having guest posts is a “good” thing. We bring in others outside our expertise. We expose our blog to their followers. We get to take a break in our blogging schedule. Heck,...
View ArticleThe Inbox Explosion: How Do You Manage Yours?
I fully admit that one of my weaknesses is an out-of-control email inbox. Between my accounts for writing and day job, I have an obscene number of unread emails. (As in, a hundred times the number...
View ArticleHow Fake Reviews Hurt Everyone
I had the idea for this post over a month ago after seeing a Slate article about the “epidemic” of niceness in online book culture. Their point boiled down to whether all the friendliness on social...
View ArticleGoodbye, Feedburner! Hello, Ownership of Our Platform
Months ago, I wrote about the death of Google Friend Connect (GFC). Many people who used the GFC social media and feed reading service couldn’t believe that Google would drop a service used by so...
View Article‘Tis the Season to Be Chaotic, Is Reblogging the Answer?
I don’t know about anyone else, but this is a rough time to get any writing done. I did great throughout November for NaNoWriMo, but since then I think I’ve gotten in only 7,000 words. And most of...
View ArticleBehave…The Internet Never Forgets
When we interact with people in real life, we’re often advised not to talk about politics or religion. Bringing up those emotionally charged topics is a good way to start arguments with strangers and...
View ArticleWhere’s the Line between Spamming and Sharing?
Anyone reading this post probably doesn’t intend to be a spammer, but it’s possible to cross the line and not realize it. If we’re lucky, a friend will let us know. However, how we react to that...
View Article9 Tips for Making Online Friends
In my last post, I talked about the online opportunities for writers, including fully interactive writing conferences. So now is a good time to rerun this post about about how to reach out to other...
View ArticleFacebook: Should We Use a Profile or a Page? — Guest: Lisa Hall-Wilson
To those who know me, it’s no secret I enjoy Twitter more than Facebook. Currently, I use just a Facebook profile (the normal accounts for individuals). But if one was necessary, I didn’t want my...
View ArticleDo Authors Need a Website and Blog?
Today I’m opening two workshops to help beginners set up websites and blogs. With that in mind, I want to go back to “step one” and review why authors might need a website and blog. Years ago, authors...
View ArticleWhat Should an Author Website Include?
Some writers—understandably—don’t want to blog. Blogging can take away from our writing time. Thinking of post topics can be difficult. And if we don’t gain a readership (or our blog readership...
View ArticleDoes Your Site Welcome Disabled Readers? — Guest: Linda Adams
I wanted to give us a break from the all-website-all-the-time posts I’ve had here lately, but then an idea hit me that was too good to ignore. More accurately, Linda Adams left a comment on my post...
View ArticleWhen Should We Upgrade to a Paid Site?
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve shared several posts about websites and blogging. I promise I’m almost done with all that. On Thursday, I’ll resume my usual balance of craft, author...
View ArticleAsk Jami: WordPress Questions and Answers
My two WordPress workshops are next week, so this is the last time I’ll mention them here on my blog. Try to contain your disappointment. *grin* Today, I’m summarizing the questions and answers from...
View ArticleHandling Bad Reviews: Lessons from Amy’s Baking Company
On Facebook a few weeks ago, my friend Angela Ackerman dared me to order a pizza from Amy’s Baking Company and send it back (and to record the confrontation). Not one to create drama, I declined....
View ArticleShould We Use a Blog Commenting System?
I’ve mentioned before that I wish I could change how comments work on my blog. I’d love for readers to easily see when someone replies to their comments here or provide the ability to subscribe to...
View ArticleThe New Face of Book Pirates: Plagiarists
Surprisingly, many authors haven’t bothered worrying about book pirates. They figured a few copies going to readers who never would have paid for them anyway didn’t matter. Heck, some authors even...
View ArticleWhen Should We Start Building Our Platform?
In my post about book pirates and plagiarism, I mentioned that book bloggers and reviewers are now more wary of debut authors, especially those who are self-published. I don’t blame them. Some people...
View ArticleAre Genre Stories More Stupid?
I make no secret of the fact that I’m a genre girl. I prefer genre stories (of almost any genre) over most literary fiction. Ditto for movies. Give me an action, sci-fi, comic book, or adventure...
View ArticleGoogle’s Fickleness: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
If one thing is constant with Google, it’s that they always change. Over the past couple of years, they phased out most of Google Friend Connect and stopped supporting Feedburner. However, I realized...
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