Joseph Hunt's Blog

#000 | Writing & Blogging!

I begin so often, stories, and sentences, jokes, conversations, and even relationships, I’m a huge lover of beginnings. It’s probably why I have so much going on in my life, and I would never make it a resolution to end anything, more along the lines of completing and staying true to myself, and what I set out to achieve.

Welcome to me, a WRITER of many genres under many names: JOSEPH EASTWOOD (Fantasy), JOE HUNT (Thriller), and JOE THOMAS (Romance). (Source)

I won’t tell you what my writing or publishing goals are, that will only set both of us up for disappointment. However, if you are a writer, aspiring author, or would-be English major, you might find some things of use. Of course, being a new blog, it might take some time to build the backlog of information you crave.

As a writer, it’s essential to write… right. I set myself a daily writing goal, and I admit to people if I don’t make it, there’s no point in beating yourself up if you don’t hit a target you set yourself, but I always remind myself that it’s up to me to make it work. I can’t blame anyone or anything else.

I’m not huge on excuses, I believe if you can take the time to create excuses, you can take the time to create. As long as what you’re creating goes toward a bigger picture… a short story, poem, novel… become a creator.

What are some of your writing goals?

JOSEPH EASTWOOD is the sole AUTHOR and BLOGGER of BLOG WITH JOEY. Also a WRITER of many genres under many names, you can find him as JOSEPH EASTWOOD (Fantasy), JOE HUNT (Thriller), and JOE THOMAS (Romance)

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#010 | Joey on Writing!

I’m no Stephen King, but I have thoughts too!

Writing is something I’ve done since I was young — yep, I’m a cliché. I’m a walkin’, talkin’, all action figure cliché. I’ve read a lot, seen a lot, even wrote a lot, and I’m going to share 50 random thoughts on writing. Short, straight to the point.

Also, if you have 50 thoughts of your own, write up a blog post, and share the link in the comments section below! I hope you find something from these points, whether it’s laughter, a smile, or just a nod as you read. It ain't Stephen King's on Writing, but it could help.Click To Tweet

1, It feels like a lot of work, until you’re doing it.

2, Don’t second guess yourself.

3, Don’t second guess the publishing industry. Write whatever you write!

4, Whatever you write, make sure you write it well.

5, Don’t get bogged down in edits while writing.

6, Be selfish with your writing time. That’s your time.

7, Social media will drain your writing time, and confidence.

8, Don’t write for the likes, followers, fans. Write for the characters inside.

9, All stories are worth writing, even if it’s under a pseudonym.

10, I’m not saying disconnect the WiFi — but it definitely helps.

11, Try set writing trends, don’t ride coattails of others.

12, Don’t rely too heavily on your circle of friends; they often lie.

13, Be open to harsh feedback. You need it.

14, Ask for help, but remember, writers have writing to do as well.

15, You’re not a special snowflake, you need to develop.

16, Love your writing, but don’t be blinded by an ego.

17, Have fun, if you’re not enjoying it, it shows in your writing.

18, Try to write first thing in the morning.

19, Try and write before going to bed.

20, Keep a dream journal, you never know when you’ll have a great idea.

21, Talk to people about it. Passion is an attractive quality.

22, Write non-fiction, maybe biographical.

23, Eat new foods and write about how they taste.

24, Keep yourself hydrated — with coffee, tea, water, lubricate the brain!

25, Write in short bursts!

26, Read widely. Different genres require different strengths.

27, Write without music.

28, Write sober, edit drunk! (Maybe it works!)

29, Take a long walk, a long shower, a long nap.

30, Blog about your writing, even if you haven’t written in months.

31, Write in all genres. Don’t publish in them all — but practice them.

32, Tell people about you writing advice.

33, Get life experience — there’s only so much TV and book will help.

34, Correct bad grammar — you don’t need that in your life.

35, Things you write within the first couple of years may never see the light.

36, The first 1,000,000 words you write will go unpublished — but not always.

37, Not all writing advice will apply directly to you — you can choose to take it.

38, Have a story to tell, even if it’s about that time you went to the shop.

39, Don’t envy the success of others — they worked hard. It wasn’t handed to them.

40, Forget the rules of writing, sometimes it’s good to let go.

41, Don’t be put off if people aren’t interested.

42, Pursue your dreams, but enjoy the journey.

43, Not everyone will support you, just ignore them.

44, Have character boards as reference guides. (It helps!)

45, New experiences mean you can now write about that realistically.

46, Even murder. But I do not condone killing for research purposes.

47, Participate on Twitter hashtags like #1k1h and meet likeminded people.

48, There’s no hard and fast rule to becoming a better writer — just write more.

49, Writing is a marathon of hurdles, not a sprint.

50, Italics can alter the meaning of a sentence. Joey on Writing; 50 random thoughts on writing!Click To Tweet

I hope these 50 random thoughts haven’t just ate up a few minutes of your time, and I hope you managed to get something useful from them. If not, that’s cool. Leave with a link to your 50 random thoughts on writ

Leave a comment if you enjoyed these!

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#009 | It’s a Keystroke Away!

Write about something you’re passionate about!

This could be anything, as long as you’re passionate enough to do your research and be able to add something new to the conversation going on online. If your passion lies in forensic science and getting rid of dead bodies — that’s also a pretty niche market, so you’ll have plenty of readers, from writers doing their research, to perhaps the NSA making sure you’re not actually killing people and conducting such research!

If you have a passion, there’s a blogging platform out there waiting for you to post content. Although writing great content doesn’t happen over night, it’s not something you’ll do right off the bat, great content comes with great scheduling and being disciplined in keeping it up. Handy infographic to help you write better blog content!Click To Tweet

Thanks to this infographic from WhoIsHostingThis.com – The Secrets of a Killer Blog Posts: How to Get Your Reader’s Attention

This one handy infographic is all you need to know about writing great content and bringing in readers to your website or blog! It’s a fool proof way to building your readership, and maybe even making some blogging connections along the way!

Remember: there’s no hard and fast rules where it comes to running a successful website of blog, it requires hard work. If you’re willing to put in the hard work, then you’re a shoe-in to take it all the way.

There is more to just writing a great blog title, you should also make sure to share that blog link on all of your different social media sites; Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and use the appropriate hashtags. Nobody is going to be looking out for your blog posts when you’re starting out, so make sure you’re making people see them showing up on their timelines, not spamming them directly, if you’re delivering some great quality posts, they won’t mind that you’ve posted the link two-three times a day.

People are in different time zones – I saw a woman earlier this week repost a link to her book saying she was posting it for the “evening crowd” – and rightly so, people might see your post in the morning, and some may only see your post at night. Also, if you have readers all over the world, you’ll want to go after all the different time zones.Writing great blog content has never been easier!Click To Tweet

Writing a great blog post is only the beginning…

Leave a comment if you found this infographic helpful!

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#008 | Five Hail Mary’s for You!

We’re All Sinners Here!

We’re all guilty, and I hear Hell has wonderful weather this time of year. Which of the seven deadly writing sins do you think you’re most guilty of committing? Wrath; angry at the world, or just the fact that you don’t find inspiration as easily? Sloth; constantly putting things off? Greed; writing solely for the money? Pride; do you have a genuine belief that you’re better? Lust; craving the attention of others? Envy; do you feel like your life is lacking something? Or Gluttony; burning yourself out!Sinners be damned! 7 Sins We ALL Commit!Click To Tweet

1 Wrath

An anger brewing in a writer — people often annoy you, and you know for sure that if they aggravate you too much you’re going to write them into a story, and you’re going to make sure that their death is painful and prolonged. Yeah? Familiar with this feeling? A constant state of Monday Blues? As long as you haven’t started to sharpen your teeth yet on pencils because it’s a more convenient way of sharpening your tools. *wink wink*

So, who hasn’t killed someone off in a story or at least THOUGHT (because thinking about doing it still counts) of the ways in which you’ll kill someone off. I’d also like to think that as a writer, we’re responsible for creating villains, so we’ve got to have some wrath inside is.

HOW DO YOU PLEAD?

2 Sloth

Ever have one of those days where you just can not be bothered? Often because you’re just all written up, and pressing any more keys might give you an aneurysm. Or perhaps you’re a serial sloth, you’re one of those writers constantly saying that they just don’t have the time to write. Or, you’re taking a break from writing. MAYBE you’re waiting for inspiration to hit, maybe you’re doing that while decidedly not moving anywhere for the duration of your day *ahem* week.

Your catchphrase might have been mistaken as “I’ll leave that until tomorrow“.

HOW DO YOU PLEAD?

3 Greed

You want MORE and you want it NOW! You want more people to like your Facebook page, you want more people to follow you on Twitter, and Instagram, and you want more of the little double-tap love heart things. No. You need it. You want to be pampered with attention, oh, and sales, without sales you can’t afford the lavish things you need in life i.e. coffee, and stationary.

Sometimes I just write books for the money. I don’t necessarily love writing, but I do love money, and I guess that’s all that matters when your bottom line is coffee. I tried that erotica thing that everyone was raving about. Yeah, I sold a gazillion books at 99c and earned enough for a low-fat soy skinny caramel latte. That was a good day.

HOW DO YOU PLEAD?

4 Pride

Would you like an actual head with that ego of yours? You’ve got a lot of belief in your own abilities, and you’re awesome about it as well. You find it very difficult to recognise others as equals because, well, you’re just better than they are. You’ve also by now taken it upon yourself to start hashtagging your name in everything that you do, because you want people to know just what you’ve done.

There’s believing in yourself, and then there’s delusion — but you prefer the term “superior” and you’re not afraid of showing it. And if someone else is doing something, then you know you’re going to be pushing yourself to the forefront of that trend. So how’s that film coming along?

HOW DO YOU PLEAD?

5 Lust

So you have a mild coffee addiction, that’s nothing to do with lust, lust is all to do with pleasures of the body… oh, yeah, coffee, chocolate, snacks, you name it, I will probably have a craving for it within the next twenty-four hours, and that’s not a promise to you, that’s a promise to myself. Writing is a craving that give my body pleasure — well, my mind, but still… and it gets quite heated when a write certain characters *wink wink*.

I guess you could say that I lust after people too, and attention. I like to show people everything, but only if it looks good.

HOW DO YOU PLEAD?

6 Envy

I try to keep my jealousy down to about three things a day — some days, I can use them up on one person. But I mean, jealousy isn’t oh wait, you meant writing. Yeah, I get jealous of people. Those people who can type really fast, especially those people who publish a bajillion times a year. I want what they’ve got. Just their skills. And I want their bestseller titles, I mean, how can gorilla erotica even be a thing? I want that originality too.

I get jealous of the popular kids. Like, how do they even do it? I want their popularity so bad, I’d sell a parent just to get half the attention that they get. *pout* kidding, right?

HOW DO YOU PLEAD?

7 Gluttony

Sometimes I don’t know when to stop — like, I’ll write my word goal of 1,500 words per day, but then I don’t know when to stop and I’ll just keep on writing and writing and writing and before I know it I’m in a writing coma and my fingers are all jittery. Sometimes I buy those “couples meals” and it says “FEEDS TWO” on the sleeve — I just take that to mean, “feeds two hands” and I have those!

HOW DO YOU PLEAD? Wrath, Sloth, Greed, Pride, Lust, Envy, or Gluttony? What's Your Biggest Sin? Click To Tweet

Leave a comment with how many Hail Mary’s you’ll be doing!

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The post The 7 Deadly Sins of Writing! appeared first on Blog with Joey.

#007 | And Best of All, it’s Free!

It’s no quick and easy, in and out – it takes time.

All bloggers want blog traffic, we want people to read what we’re posting. If that wasn’t the case, we wouldn’t be putting content online. If you wanted, you can always go back to posting your thoughts in a diary and use a lock and key to keep them guarded, but that depends on what you’re blogging about, and no matter what you’re blogging about, there are ways you can get traffic, even if you have no readers or subscribers whatsoever.

I’ve had several websites over the years, and a few of those have had zero readers, that’s how they all start. Some times, if you’re proactive enough you can gather a few people who are interested before the website is live, but not everyone will get to do this.More Blog Traffic with these 5 Simple Steps!Click To Tweet

1 Choose a Killer Title!

Hook, line, and sinker! You want a reader to actively click on your post, and you want them to stay, you don’t want them to click only to realise you’ve baited them into what could have potentially been a fantastic post. This is usually referred to as click-bait posting.

Look to the newspapers, it’s the headlines that sell the a papers, so in that respect, it’s the titles of blog posts that will initially pique your readers interests. If you’re looking for viral and perhaps comedy, go and see what The Onion is doing.

2 Add Social Interaction Buttons!

If people like what you’re writing about, they will share this information, and what better way to encourage sharing your great content than through click to tweet buttons and also a selection of other popular social networking websites.

You should also make an active decision to promote your work on your social media platforms. I’ve heard people say to focus on one medium at any one time, and I agree with that to an extent. I feel like you should focus on one, but you should also be sharing elsewhere — it would be foolish otherwise.

3 Comment on Other Blogs!

On most blog posts, you’ll find that when you comment you can add a link to your website. If your comment is of great value adding to the blog post you’re commenting on, you can receive hits from their readers. This is especially useful when reading blogger with a large readership. It’s a great technique that bloggers use to keep themselves in the loop about what people in their niche are discussing. Also, these people will also be more inclined to comment on your posts as a form of reciprocation, equalling more blog traffic.

4 Guest Blog Posts!

This is a two-way street, guest blogging on other people’s blogs, and allowing people to guest blog on your blog. This way, you’re both being exposed to the other’s audience. Make sure that you’re both in similar niches, or else, readers might be turned off. Best foot forward with a guest post, and good luck with boosting blog traffic through guest posting.

5 Schedule Yourself; Consistency!

Like with writing every day, if you blog to a schedule, it becomes part of a habit that’s hard to break. Being consistent with posting means that readers will know when there’s going to be fresh content on your blog and so should increase blog traffic on those days. For me, it’s Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with Sunday being used as Social Media Sunday. Being consistent is key to bringing back readers; returning readers should make up at least 30% of your blog traffic. Sweet & Simple Steps to Increasing Blog Traffic!Click To Tweet

Leave a comment if you use these and they help blog traffic!

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#006 | Best Advice is to Take ALL the Advice!

Don’t suffer information overload, only use the advice that helps!

Writers are coming out with hundreds of new blogs and posts every single week, and it can be caught exhausting to keep on top of all the websites you’re actually signed up to, even when you are getting emails each time a new post goes live on their website.

Sectioned off into “Writing Craft“, “Blogging“, “Freelancing“, “Publishing“, “Marketing“, and “Communities For Writers“. These 40 blogs will be places that I have frequented in the past, or places that I currently receive in my inbox, as well as those that have a great archive of information to delve into. Titles are hyperlinked, get clicking!  The internet is vast with hundreds of new posts on writing appearing daily. Here's 40 websites to check out!Click To Tweet

Writing Craft
1 Daily Writing Tips

I love DWT, I get emails sent direct when they upload a new post and it’s my favourite of all the emails I get a day because it’s always different, and it’s maybe something I never knew or something I’d never even asked myself before, like what’s the difference between word and word. It’s really good like that. They might even have answers to questions you’re currently asking.

2 The Procrastiwriter

This is one of my favourite recent finds. Get these posts by Shanan straight to your inbox. She’s a self-professed procrastinator, and she’ll help you on your way to find the motivation and skills to hone your craft.

3 Grammar Girl

Learning is fun with Grammar Girl and the Quick and Dirty Tips website. Mignon, the author and writer for the website has books out alongside the blog, and they’re fantastic in helping you become a better writer.

4 Inky Girl

Debbie Redpath Ohi’s website is especially helpful if you’re writing young adult or children fic. I’m a huge fan of the art from Debbie, and I’ve shared a lot of it online. There are plenty of information; interviews, blog posts in the archives that will be sure to keep you occupied and entertained for hours.

5 Advice to Writers

Probably one of the greatest quote collections ever created. Jon Winokur’s collection is my go-to-place for inspiring quotes, it doesn’t matter what time of the day, his Twitter feed and website are always up to date. A great resource for writing honing their craft.

6 Writability

One of my favourite blogs. I’ve followed Ava Jae and Writability since 2012. She’s full of so much writing know-how, tips, and tidbits. She’s also recently, in the past couple of month, began doing vlog posts. She’s always so consistent and on the ball, not to mention her debut novel, Beyond the Red is releasing in March 2016. A great resource for writers.

7 AutoCrit

AutoCrit is a great website if you’re looking to invest a couple dollars a month in getting detailed reports that might be missed by an editor or a writing group. They allow for a free run through so you can see what you’ll be getting. I’ve used AutoCrit for short stories and even processed a full novel through them out of curiosity. It’s very revealing.

8 Grammarly

I love the Grammarly extension, but they don’t only offer the support that comes with tightening your sentence structure and word choice, they also have a popular blog with some great information. The extension is free, and they send you weekly reports straight to your inbox on how you’ve used the service. They also offer a paid service, from which you can download the Grammarly Microsoft Word application.

9 The Kill Zone Blog

Specifically for thriller and mystery writers, The Kill Zone Blog is one of my new favourites since I started reading in early 2015.  The blog is updated daily and they also offer a first-page critique, they’re done anonymously from several of the Kill Zone writers, and even the readers have a chance to say what they think about the first page.

10 The Write Life

This is a great all-rounder website, with information and blog posts on publishing, marketing, blogging, and writing. The website is always up to date and boasts about helping writers to create, connect with other writers, and also earn money from what they do!

Blogging
11 CopyBlogger

With a constant influx of posts to their website, CopyBlogger is a great site to go to when it comes to getting your content out there and writing the most informative posts possible, because when you’re writing a blog post, people are coming for the information, that’s why a blog is a great and effective marketing tool.

12 ProBlogger

With a quarter of a million readers, ProBlogger has a huge readership. They also now have a podcast and video posts, if you’re looking to blog for the long haul, you need to check out the information from Darren Rowse at ProBlogger. Especially useful if you’re looking to make a full-time income from blogging.

13 Sark e-Media

If you’re looking for real results within a timely situation; 30 Days, you definitely need to check out Sark e-Media’s 30 Day Blogging Challenge. Not only is Sarah from the UK, but the blogging challenge is free! It’s very motivational and you’ll be sprinting through your one post a day!

14 Boost Blog Traffic

We all want more traffic, more traffic means more eyes on your writing, and hopefully some conversions to actual readers. It’s great because a lot of it is about marketing and writing the best articles possible, also about which articles will go viral and which articles might be better off in the notes section instead of fleshed out on your website.

15 Be a Freelance Blogger

If you’re serious about making money from blogging, this is the place to go. There’s an impressive backlog of posts that will help you get paid to write blog posts for online blogs and magazines! There’s plenty of resources on the website run by Sophie Lizard.

Freelancing
16 About Freelance Writing
17 Funds for Writers
18 Productive Writers
19 Make a Living Writing
20 My Freelance Life
21 Writers in Charge
Publishing
22 A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing

One of my all-time favourite informaiton spots. Author Joe Konrath of both traditional and self-publishing was the first blog that I really started to follow when I was 16 (he’s been going for a while). Within the archives of Konrath’s blog you’ll find yourself sucked in and exposed to the valuable pockets of knowledge.

23 Dean Wesley Smith

My first encounter with Smith was through a blog on pricing a short story, and that’s always stuck with me. At the time, I even created a post reflecting on the information from that post. With over 40 years experience in the industry, expect to find lots of information.

24 Goins, Writer

I like Jeff Goins’ information posts because they’re always thought-provoking pieces, however, I noticed a trend to speak about religion and I’m not down to drink that Kool-Aid, so if you can look past all of that and get to the information on the industry, he’s great.

25 Jane Friedman

Jane Friedman has a lot of resources for writers, and with over 15 years experience, her information is just as invaluable as the rest. Jane is very interactive with her community of writers, being hired out for events and also offering online classes.

26 Indies Unlimited

Run by a team of authors, writers, and other members involved in the publishing community. With quite an archive, this site will keep any writer busy for a while.

27 Terribleminds

Definitely not safe for work, Chuck Wendig employs humour and profanities to express himself in his snarky blog posts. I find his posts to be the most true to what it means to write and publish. He’s just a regular guy who doesn’t play it safe.

Marketing
28 Novel Publicity

With their blog and their ebooks, you’re on the right track to getting a better understanding of how to market your book/service. They also offer paid services precuring book reviewers for you.

29 Social Media Examiner

My favourite website for infographics and posts, always relevant and always highly detailed. Follow them on Facebook for their updates and they’re also highly interactive.

30 The Book Designer

Alongside designing books, this blog has a lot of information to offer in its blog; advising people on the how best to market their books etc.

31 Michael Hyatt

Marketing expert Michael Hyatt’s blog posts are of the greatest quality; branding, developing a relationship with a readership. He has it all. Definitely a blog to explore, not to mention the killer design and layout.

32 Kikolani

A powerhouse blogger, Kikolani will teach you how to market your blog and how to get readers directly to your landing pages. An invaluable resource and wealth of information for all writers here.

33 Firepole Marketing

With plenty of free resources to get your on your way, Firepole Marketing will educate you on topics you’re struggling to grasp, from optimizing your content to web with SEO building and networking.

34 Social Triggers

Through teaching you real-world examples, Derek Halpern will get you 5,000 subscribers. He uses psychology to his advantage and uses that to develop the way he markets his work; definitely a lot of lessons to be learnt from here.

35 The Story of Telling

I know that for a lot of authors and writers marketing doesn’t come easy, and the author of this website Bernadette Jiwa, also knows that, she also knows just how to market your books. Check out her blog for more on brand marketing, strategies and more.

Communities for Writers
36 KBoards
37 Wattpad
38 Writers Cafe
39 Kristen Lamb
40 She Writes

Becoming a better writer has never been easier than with this comprehensive list of 40 websites! Click To Tweet

Leave a comment if you’ve used the above sites, or maybe suggest more!

Titles are hyperlinked, get clicking!

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The post 40 Best Websites for Writers! appeared first on Blog with Joey.

Hello, and welcome to the first Social Media Sunday, here I will discuss ways in which you can boost your social media presence, network with other authors, and also some tidbits that I have learnt along the way. As always, I welcome your comments and look forward to developing a dialogue with those who interact with these posts!

An Author’s Guide to Social Media Etiquette!

I’ve learnt a lot from watching authors online and being an author myself, and putting some of these rules in motion has definitely got me on my way. I’m definitely an offender and I have sinned, so forgive me!

Are you turning people off online? 6 tips to rectify that!Click To Tweet
1 Facebook Rants!

One of the pieces of feedback I was given when I asked what people enjoyed seeing from authors on Facebook was that they disliked it when people were negative, which makes sense, nobody likes negativity. I’ve been known to rant occasionally on Facebook, but they’re not angry the world is against me rants, they’re often rants that annoy me and they’re often rants that have humour in them to some extent. Ask yourself; do I really want to put this out there, or am I just venting?

2 “Likes” Are Thank You’s!

When I was in university, I did a term of creative writing, and the teacher was telling everyone about how social media is changing the face of publishing. At the time I knew this, so I kind of rolled my eyes at it, I was one of those cocky people you probably hated, but I knew what I was good at, so as you can imagine, I failed that semester. The teacher told people she was baffled with “likes” and “liking”, but it had always made sense to me, and I think it’s a bit of common sense, it shows people that you’re reading their comments. “Like” the comments people post, it makes them feel valued. Also, reply to comments if they ask you questions. Unless you get hundreds of comments, it’s not an impossible feat.

3 Raise People Up, Don’t Drag them Down!

I have seen a lot of authors dragging other authors online, this might be down to the genre that they write, their sales and promotional tactics and strategies, or just out of jealousy. This might be an obvious rule for you if you’re a genuine kind-hearted person, but because of the stressful environment that we subject ourselves to as writers, it becomes easier to say off-handed and dismissive comments like “they only get sales because…” and this might be something to do with using their sexuality, pushing their books through a team of people a.k.a to some as spamming, and through this we’re reducing people down, when what we should all really be doing is commending our fellow author — congratulations on taking control of your own body and being able to sell your books with it, underwear designers do it, it’s good advertising.

Also, when you raise people up, people will raise you. Be kind and don’t harbour any negativity, the only person that affects is you. This also goes for not promoting hate – don’t do it.

4 Favourites & Retweets!

Similar to likes as thank you’s, favouriting and retweeting people allows you a more direct and public stream of conversation — I know people who tweet thank you’s to people who favourite and retweet their tweets, I’m not one of those people because I can imagine it takes a lot of commitment to keep up. I do however think that whenever someone tweets you, you should always favourite that tweet, as long as it isn’t negative. Another thing I’ve learned with Twitter is that people might tweet quotes you’ve said, or blog topics you’ve created, and they might use your name only, not your Twitter handle — so use the search function to search for posts containing your name, of course, if your name is a common name, this might be a problem, if it isn’t, you might be in luck and could potentially find a few posts, and possibly a few more fans and readers!

5 Overposting–Oh No!

Some days, I feel like I’m overposting online, other days, I don’t post enough. Or maybe I’m just being silly. There isn’t a perfect formula to posting, I like to make sure I post two to three times on my Facebook. In the past, I’d post almost ten times per day, and that was great, but if you’re posting for the sake of posting something, it might not always be the best idea. Also, look to see when people are most engaged and online, it varies from day-to-day, and you do get these analytics in your Facebook settings.

Twitter, is another ball game. The lifespan of a tweet can be anywhere between a couple of seconds to a couple of minutes. This all depends on how many people your followers are also following, if someone if only following 10 people, and you’re one of those 10, your tweet will more likely be viewed. If they’re following 2,000 people, your tweet might last three seconds. Of your last TEN posts on social media, 1 – 2 of them should be blatant promotional posts, any more and people consider your spamming.

6 Does This Engage my Audience?

The real reason we all have social media profiles is because we want an audience to engage with us, we want to have people talk to us and get involved. As the publishing game has changed some since the early 2000s, we can no longer be the reclusive authors and writers — we have to be our own marketing and PR people — until you’re in a position to have those hired for you. Before posting anything online, ask does this engage my audience? The likelihood is, posting a book link isn’t interactive at all, but posting a link and saying your book has been awarded some award 20xx etc. might interact with a few people.

Using hashtags, like #writing, #writer, etc. will engage a select audience from the tags, and increase visibility and engagement. Since Facebook have also began using hashtags, it might also improve engagement across the board. Be Mindful Online! Navigate the Vast Social Media Landscape with Care!Click To Tweet

What are some of your social media etiquette rules?

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The post An Author’s Guide to Social Media Etiquette! S.M.S #001 appeared first on Blog with Joey.

#005 | & Novice Writers, well, All Writers!

Young writers, they’re the adult writers of tomorrow!

Teenage writers are in a great position, mainly because they’re in such a great time with social media and the exposure that comes with it, but they’re also – if they start early enough – able to brand themselves in the public eye. They’re blank slates! And they have to be very conscious, they can’t delete their identity and start again. (They could, but it’s not easy!)

When I was a teenager, I was looking for tips on becoming a better writer, and I found plenty of tips. Now I have tips of my own based on things I’ve been through. I’ve been writing and publishing for years now, watching the self-publishing and traditional publishing platforms and industry as they change.Your time will come! Patience is your best friend.Click To Tweet

1 Understand You’re Not Amazing!

With all the encouragement and positivity we get when we try our hand at something new, it’s no wonder why we see so many people who believe that they’re amazing. You’re not amazing, and it’s a tough lesson to learn when you’re trying to be self-confident, but there’s a difference between that and delusion.

If you’re wanting to pursue a career in writing, then you have to first realise that you’re not amazing, you might have quips of brilliance, but trust me, you’ve got a lot of room for improvement (I still do), we all do, and we all will, constantly have room for improvements. Everyone’s writing is crap when they first start out. Remember not to let that bog you down and keep on writing.

2 Don’t Define Yourself!

You’re too young to say that you only write poetry or fantasy or romances, similarly with your reading, you’re not allowed to only read fantasy or romances etc. read the things you hate as well. It’s great practice to try writing in different styles and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. If you can’t write romance, then challenge yourself, grab a flash fiction prompt and shut the world out. Write for yourself. Write because you want to get better.

3 Be Writing All the Time!

Write every day! Keep writing. Work from writing prompts or images; get your juices flowing. Try not to procrastinate over which prompts or images you use, I do this a lot, so I guess it’s hypocritical to tell you not to, but if you can keep your procrastination muse at bay, you’ll do just fine. Unless you have a project, I would stick to prompts, writing smaller pieces of fiction allows you to better capture an emotion or feeling, and then build from that, go on to writing short stories, novellas, and then novels. Or disregard that and write a novel off that bat (like I did) again, sorry to be hypocrite, but I’ve learnt that writing flash fiction and short fiction helps you massively. So just write. Maybe set yourself a daily goal.

4 Housework is Fun!

Cue the sighing. I absolutely hate chores, until I made the whole process into a game that would benefit me. Whenever I had to do one of the absolutely mundane tasks like, cleaning up, washing the pots, food shopping (I find that quite fun though), walking your pet dog, iguana, cat, etc. it’s actually one of the best times where you can think about writing, think up plot twists, have inside conversations with characters. Be creative. Chores don’t have to be boring, and who knows, it could become a form of procrastination!

5 Gather Experience with New Things!

You have to go outside sometime, and you have to live a little bit. You can’t write realistic text because there’s no realism in you. I’m not saying that you should give up writing or dreams of publishing while you’re young, I’m just saying that having a good time with friends and exploring different places once in a while isn’t going to hinder you. People often say write what you know, although this isn’t really true to fantasy authors, you can go out on walks and adventures, and then write about that. It could be somewhat like keeping a diary, but don’t put too much pressure on writing while you’re young. Just write.

6 Other Interests!

Having other interests is always good… like stamp collecting! No, but seriously, you can’t just have an interest in writing. But having an interest in reading probably goes without saying. I have a lot of interests, such as vampires, werewolves and all of that fantasy stuff, I also have an interest in spiders (even though I hate them SO much) it’s somewhat a sadistic interest, and I have an interest in people, more importantly, people watching! I’m also interested in palm reading and yoga — more so, failing at yoga.

7 Know the Industry!

Before you even think about self-publishing or going down the traditional route you first need to do A LOT of research on the subject. Recently there has been a lot of movement on the self-publishing front, there are new means of publishing, there are new companies popping up onto the scene, some very shady companies and some that do what they say. YOU need to do research, if you go into it blind then you’re going to bang into all of the walls, and just like the maze that publishing is, you’ll get stuck and frustrated at yourself for not waiting and perhaps letting some of the haze and mist settle. There are forums, and Google is your best friend for this.

8 Publishing, Now?

When I say “publish” I don’t mean start formatting your 70,000 word manuscript and upload it to Kindle Direct, I mean start small, start publishing in a school newspaper or newsletter, maybe even submit to magazines for teenage writers… there is so much out there for teenagers who want to get on the writing scene, you just have to look for it. Maybe even submit your poems for anthologies etc. perhaps start a blog, that’s publishing, at the right hand side there’s a button with publish for this post. Publish your writing on sites like Wattpad.

9 Getting Rejected!

Every writer will experience rejection, because face it, your book is not going to be for everyone… a lot of people hate Twilight, a lot of people love it… and that can be said about every book! You just have to find ONE person to love your book, hopefully they’re a literary agency or a publishing company. Just remember that rejection is one step closer to acceptance. And every writer should experience rejection, it shows them that they’re not amazing and that they could be better. I can be better, and so can you, so don’t let rejection bog you down, accept it as a right of passage, especially if you’re submitting to agents and publishers.

10 Critique Partners!

Actively seek feedback on your work. As I signposted above, join Wattpad, it’s awesome there. Try not to rely on friends, they might not have constructive criticism for you, it could perhaps be “this is good” or “you’re doing a good job, keep it up”. Perhaps try and find yourself a critique partner, they will give constructive critique, and ask you to do the same to them, the first few times it might hurt because your writing is your baby, you don’t want anyone to tell you anything is wrong with it, but in time, you’ll learn to appreciate critiques as you develop a thick skin.Don't be afraid of what people will think of your writing; just write!Click To Tweet

Leave a comment if you use these or if you have any new ways!

Use the social sharing buttons up at the top to tweet, like, and share this post. And keep up with me on different social networking sites below. Thank you!

The post 10 Tips for Teen Writers! appeared first on Blog with Joey.

#004 | Not a Get-Rich-Quick Scheme!

Authors either love Amazon Kindle, or they hate it!

The minimum wage for a full-time worker of 40 hours a week in the US is $1,250 a month before tax (that’s around £800 in the UK, but the minimum monthly wage is around £1,000 in the UK). We’ll be using the US figure to work out how many books an author must sell and through KDP, how many pages must be read in order to meet the figure to fit their monthly minimum wage goal.

I’ve compiled a list of 20 figures from friends who self-publish, as well as those with traditional or independent presses with information on their royalty rates and how much money they make a month.  Not a Get-Rich-Quick Scheme! Self-Publishing is Serious Business!Click To Tweet

There are several other platforms you can publish to beside Amazon, but most recently, Amazon came out with their pay-per-page method instead of paying per borrows from their Kindle Unlimited subscription service. This was met with two people; the lovers and the haters; those who embraced it, and those who decided to slam Amazon for what they were doing almost like they announced their new abattoir and money from Kindle sales was funding it!

Self-publishing with Amazon gives you two different royalty rates; 35% and 70% – with the 70% royalty your book must be priced above $2.99 and below $9.99, if it’s below $2.99 or above $9.99 then you must use the 35% rate.

Cost
35% Royalty
Cost
70% Royalty


 $       0.99
 $       0.35
 $       2.99
 $       2.09


 $       1.49
 $       0.52
 $       3.99
 $       2.79


 $       1.99
 $       0.70
 $       4.99
 $       3.49


 $       2.49
 $       0.87
 $       5.99
 $       4.19

To make $1,250 min monthly income, you need to sell 3,571 books at $0.99 or 598 at $2.99. Those numbers seem really high, especially if you’re an author who doesn’t sell a lot of book each month, often, sales for a self-published author who are promoting their work will be around 15 eBooks a month. Optomistically = $5.25 (35%) or $31.35 (70%).

Is Kindle Publishing for You?

If you’re wanting to put your book into the Kindle Unlimited bookstore (KDP Select), you need to offer Kindle exclusivity of your book. There are pros and cons of this; pro you’re able to access a wider readership, con you can’t publish anywhere else, pro you’re able to put your book up for a discounted price, while also being able to reap the benefit of a higher royalty rate, pro you can also have the higher royalty rate from Amazon India, which you can’t access unless using KDP Select for your book, con you might feel iffy about the pay-per-page model because $0.0057 doesn’t sound like a lot. You may have more pros and cons of your own; share them in the comments.

Kindle Edition Normalized Pages abbreviated as KENP is what has taken over from the Kindle borrow standard payment, it’s now a pay-per-page method of paying an author; so the ebooks with more pages are clearly the ones that will be earning the most. A small ebook at 50 pages would’ve gained $0.29 in July 2015 when the KENP payout was $0.0057 per page. But if that book is read 100 times, the payout becomes 5,000 pages and $28.5. Likewise, a 400 page mystery would earn $2.28 if each page was read. If that was read 100 times, the payout would be 40,000 with a $228 payout.

KENP
50
100
250
500
1,000
2,500
5,000
10,000
20,000


$0.0056
$0.28
$0.56
$1.40
$2.80
$5.60
$14.00
$28.00
$56.00
$112.00


$0.0057
$0.29
$0.57
$1.43
$2.85
$5.70
$14.25
$28.50
$57.00
$114.00


$0.0058
$0.29
$0.58
$1.45
$2.90
$5.80
$14.50
$29.00
$58.00
$116.00


$0.0059
$0.30
$0.59
$1.48
$2.95
$5.90
$14.75
$29.50
$59.00
$118.00


$0.0060
$0.30
$0.60
$1.50
$3.00
$6.00
$15.00
$30.00
$60.00
$120.00

Here’s how many pages you’d need to be read if you wanted to earn that monthly minimum wage of $1,250. You would need around 220,000 pages read, or for you 400 page book, it woud need to be read 550 times, or 4,400 times for your 50 page book.

Of the people I’d asked to fill out an anonymous online form, I had 20 responses:

1 person had over 6 full-length books out under their own name. They’re earning between $3k – $4k a month. In the comments, this person said the figure was derived from their total yearly income.

7 people were earning between $0 – $250 a month. The amount of books they had out varied between 2 and 6+. 2 people said they were earning over the $1,250 minimum monthly income. 6 people were earning over $250 a month. 4 people were yet to receive any payment from Amazon or their publishers.

Of the 20 people, 12 of them had titles with traditional or independent publishers. In the royalty box, all 11 of them said 50% and 1 said 60%.

9 people said they used Amazon solely, a further 4 responses said their trad/indie publishers solely used Amazon Kindle.

It was an informative finding, and I think it goes to show that publishing isn’t the money-making machine some believe it to be. With the change in payment system from KDP Select with KENP, I do believe that more authors will be earning more. I also think that the bigger books will win out, and the outcry of hate for the change came from the authors who write short fiction, because they were getting around $1.30 per book after 10% was read, and now are getting around $0.29 per 50 pages read. A $1 loss. Don't be Fooled by the Payout! Self-Publishing Requires a lot of Work!Click To Tweet

Leave a comment if you self-publish with where and why!

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The post How Much Do Authors Really Make from Amazon Kindle? appeared first on Blog with Joey.

#003 | Write or Don’t Write!

Just don’t complain that you haven’t written.

One of the issues people bring to me after asking how I have so much time to write, is about them not having a lot of time to write, and with what little time they do have, they don’t think they can get anything substantial out. That is one in a long line of excuses people use when they tell you they’ve barely written anything.

I have the same amount of time anyone else has. Currently single, without children, and after graduating university, I’m on the hunt for a job, don’t get me wrong, writing pays a few bills for me, but realistically, I can’t and about 90-95% of writers can’t live off their writing alone. (That percentage is probably smaller, there are millions of would-be authors and writers out there.)  Write your future! The faster you write, the quicker that future will arrive!Click To Tweet

I’ve compiled a list of a few rules that you can use in order to write faster, say you want to get 500 words out in the next half an hour, I’ll share with you just how to achieve that! There are no shortcuts when it comes to writing faster. These are set in stone rules, they’re things to be mindful of. When writing the average word per minute (WPM) count is 43, but I think you can write more.

1 Have an Outline!

I mentioned this in a previous post, and it’s essential lifeblood of a getting a first draft out quickly. Those who do write by the seat of their pants, pantsers, are often those who will have to go back several times, reworking and drafting their novel, but having an outline allows you to see your book as whole before putting the content down on the page.

2 Don’t Look at Your Screen!

Do not look at your screen when you’re writing. I feel like this goes against a lot of what you’re told at school, or what people have told/taught you in the past, but when you look at your screen, you’re going to notice errors as you write, and maybe even typos. Ignore those for now! Keep your eyes on your fingers, or turn the screen of your computer off (you’d be very brave to do that).

Another option, if you just cannot help looking at your screen is to use a light grey font. The colour will blend with the background, and although you might not see the words on the screen (a plus), you will see the word count go up on the bar.

You can also turn the word count counter off, that way you’re not constantly looking at it or obsessing!

3 Mute the Music!

I love, and I know a lot of writers love to listen to music when they’re writing, but truth be told, the music you’re listening to is actually affecting the amount of words you’re able to write. I like to write listening to music because it blocks out the sound of the environment.

Music is a distractor. I sing, I sway… I’m not to be trusted. So when I am writing with a word count goal in mind, I will do that without any music at all. It works in the same way as occupying your mind space, the less clutter going in, the more productivity coming out.

4 Spellcheck Be Gone!

There’s nothing worse than that red squiggly line beneath a misspelt word, it stops you in your tracks and all productivity goes down the drain. Turning spellcheck off is a godsend, it means that you’re able to write distraction free, and that’s the best kind of writing!

Spellcheck will be in the setting, and can be manually turned off, and then back on when you need it. But don’t edit once you’ve written, editing before or whilst writing can and often will stifle your creativity, creating a block where you feel that you can’t write anymore because you’ve seen the errors! Remember, only you can see them, people will see what you show them, you can draft and edit before that stage.

5 Feel the Flow!

Are you a two-finger typist or with both your hands? Either way, you need to up your game if you want to write faster. You probably have a go-to stance for your hands, positioning them before going to battle with your keyboard. I know, feel the flow, might not be the most inspiring thing you’ve heard all day, but once your fingers are in place and you’re raring to go, the words will come. Mixed with not listening to music or wiggling around, the only way you’ll be able to express yourself is through the sound of tapping on your keyboard! Write like the wind, Bullseye! Say NO to 43 wpm!Click To Tweet

Leave a comment if you use these or if you have any new rules!

Use the social sharing buttons up at the top to tweet, like, and share this post. And keep up with me on different social networking sites below. Thank you!

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