For the first time in three years I didn’t post my weekly blog post…for two weeks in a row in fact. It was certainly an odd feeling, breaking habit. But I have had a lot in, including moving into a new house (only just got internet!) and interviewing for a new job. Still, it’s good to be back and I’m looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. As such, I’ve had a little break from writing, and now I’m back at it I thought I’d share the do’s and don’t of taking a break.

Do enjoy your time and relax
If you are taking a break, enjoy that time. Whatever the break is for, allow yourself to fully focus on it. Be it work, school, a vacation, a house move, a wedding, to spend more time with your family… allow that to be your main focus. And…

on Smart Authors Lab:

Your book is finally live on Amazon, congratulations! But now what? In this post I’m going to reveal the five things you must do once your book is live on Amazon. These will make sure it gets discovered and bought. Plus I have a bonus tip that you’re not going to want to miss.

Being on Amazon is not enough

You probably know by now that it’s not enough to simply have your book listed on Amazon. For readers to find it, you need to position it in such a way that it can readers can actually discover it. And when people do find your book, you need what we in marketing would call a ‘conversion focused’ listing. That means when people land on your book page, they’re more likely to click the buy button.

Two things that are really important for a book to do well…

on Anne R Allen:

Q: How do you know you’re a “real writer?”

A: Your back hurts.

So do your shouders and neck. (And maybe your hands and wrists don’t feel so great, either.)

Sorry about that—I truly am—but I’ve been there and I (literally) feel your pain. Not just the existential kind resulting from rejection and lousy reviews, but the physical kind that comes from hours spent hunched over a computer or notebook, plopped on a living room sofa, standing at a kitchen counter, perched over a night table, sprawled on a bed, or, in one memorable instance, making-do at child-sized desk in a borrowed summer home.

We’ve all read the articles telling us that sitting can kill us. What those articles don’t say is that before it does, sitting can make us so miserable with lower back pain that sometimes we almost wish we were dead.

Continue reading…

on Just Publishing Advice:

If you are serious about book marketing and building your author platform, you will probably consider a self-hosted WordPress site.

To get the maximum value from all your posts and pages, you need plugins that will help increase your site traffic and, in turn, your book sales.

At the same time, you need to make sure that your WordPress website is secure.

Here is a list of free WordPress plugins for authors and writers that I use on my sites. All of them are ease of use, functional, practical, and have good support.

Get Full Details HERE