9 Writing Blogs You Should Check Out

I was going through my Twitter feed of writing/book promotion blogs that I read regularly and decided that I should share. Here are 9 that you should check out. They are great resources for information and ideas. In no particular order, here they are...

1. Morgan Wright's Literary Avenue

2. Rachel Thompson's Bad Redhead Media

3. Career Writers

4. Wicked Cozy Authors

5. Jungle Red Writers

6. Kris Spisak

7. Colleen M. Story's Writing and Wellness

8. Jane Friedman

9. Victoria Griffin

What would you add to the list?

What I Learned about Social Media from Rachel Thompson of Bad Redhead Media

I attended a social media boot camp this week with Rachel Thompson, owner of Bad Redhead Media. Rachel has over seventeen years of experience in marketing, and she is also an author. Her tips are spot on for writers who are trying to build or further their brand. Check out her website for tips and the services she offers.

Here's what I learned...

1. Have a goal and know what you want to do with your platform. Come up with your key words and make them consistent across all of your media.

2. Look at your bios. Make sure that they are crisp and well written. Make sure to include a link to your current book.

3. Look at your header photos. You can subtly advertise your books by creating an image of your book covers.

4. You need to go where your readers are. Know the demographics and target audiences of the platforms you use.

5. Use a link-shortening site like Bitly for URLs that you want to include in your posts. Many of the sites have metrics for tracking clicks.

6. Think about adding a newsletter to your site. Newsletters via email are still effective ways to reach those interested in your work.

7. Use social media to build relationships. You need to contribute and share. You should not be the "buy my book" guy or gal.  People tune out noise.

8. Use the search feature on Twitter and other sites to find chats or hashtags on subjects that you're interested. You can also use them to find readers and bloggers.

9. If you blog, check out #MondayBlogs. It's a great way to promote a post and to share others' works.

10. Set up your blog/social media schedule. Be consistent and post something at least once a day.

11. You can pin an announcement Tweet or Facebook post to the top of your newsfeed. This keeps something prominent that you want folks to see.

Please stop by Rachel's blog or website for more great information. She is a wealth of knowledge, and her boot camp was worth attending.