Every author needs a website. Your blog serves that purpose whether you choose to blog books or blog about the topic of your books. To create an effective author website, however, your blog needs some key elements. 1. An author bio You want visitors to your site to know who you are. If they know, […]
Why Your Blog Needs a Privacy Policy
You’ve probably received privacy policy notices at your doctor’s offices. Did you know that your blog needs one as well? I’m just about to add this legal notice to all four of my sites. In this guest post Helen Sedwick (@HelenSedwick) explains why you need a privacy policy and how to create one. Today’s writers […]
Copyright: How to Protect Your Blogs and Blogged Books
I frequently get asked legal questions, such as “If someone blogs a book—actually composes it in the form of blog posts they publish on the Internet—do they need to worry about a copyright issues?” Or “Is my blog content safe from copyright infringement?” Well, I am not an attorney—let alone an intellectual property attorney—so I […]
Essential Plugins and Widgets for Blogs and Blogged Books
A WordPress.org blog comes with the essentials. You might call these the basics—some widgets and plugins. To make your blog run smoothly and efficiently with less work on your part, add plugins. If you are blogging a book, also install specific plugins to help your visitors read the book. Plugins add features to your site […]
Why You Need to Own Your Blog Site
Over and over again I repeat the same advice: Own your blog site. Let me explain what I mean by this statement and why this is so important. How to Own Your Blog You own your blog by purchasing a URL, paying for hosting and using a blogging platform like WordPress.org, which is technology (or […]
6 Steps to Create a WordPress.com Blog Site
You want to begin blogging your book, but your resources are limited. You feel like you can’t get started, since you know the best avenue is to begin with a WordPress.org self-hosted blog. You’re not super techie, though, which means you don’t think you can set up your site by yourself. But you don’t have […]
6 Reasons You Don’t Want a Free WordPress.com Blog
If you’ve been reading this blog for very long, heard me speak at an event, or read my book, you know I recommend WordPress.org self-hosted blog sites over WordPress.com hosted blog sites (or any other type of sites). Given that I get asked about this so frequently, I thought I’d offer a detailed explanation. What’s […]
Do Subscribers Really Matter?
Most bloggers primarily focus on subscribers. One they get traffic to their sites, they want them to subscribe to the blog. But do subscribers really matter? Should this be your primarily focus, especially if you are a published or aspiring author or an author building a business around your book? Not necessarily. Subscribers represent a […]
Pressbooks: An Option for Blogging Books and Booking Blogs from Start to Finish
I’m always on the look out for ways writers and bloggers can easily blog their books or book their blogs. For some time now I have been aware of Pressbooks.com, but I haven’t had the time to try producing a book using their technology. Thus, I was hesitant to recommend the service. I’ll be trying […]
Are You Allowing Readers to Share Your Blog Posts?
Just about every week I get a call from a blogger who wants to know how to increase blog readership. When I visit the blog, I discover the same problem: The blogger has not provided a way for readers to share blog posts. Shared Posts Equate to More Readers It’s important to get readers to […]
