Author Archives: admin

9 Tips for attracting Twitter followers

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If you’re using twitter, particularly if you want to promote your blog or website with it, you’ll need followers. How can you attract twitter followers without making an annoyance of yourself or coming off as a spammer?

  1. Say something useful. Or funny. Or at least mildly entertaining. Don’t spam, and don’t make every post about driving people to your site, getting them to join your affiliate network, buy your e-book, etc. Twitter users can spot spam a mile away, and they’ll drop you right away if you come off like that.
  2. Follow others. In general, you won’t get many followers if you’re not willing to follow people. You don’t have to follow everyone who follows you, but I do to start. If you turn out to be a spammer, or worse, I have no problems un-following you though. Be careful, following hundreds (or thousands) of people hoping some will reciprocate is a great way to get labeled a spammer.
  3. Make it easy to follow you. Provide a link to your twitter profile in your post, on your sidebar, somewhere.
  4. Ask! Ask people to follow you. That may seem obvious, but I often have success posting something like “I need X more followers to hit YYY. Please follow me.”
  5. Ask for retweets. When you post a particularly useful tweet, ask your followers to retweet it. This will get you more exposure.
  6. Give retweets. If you posts of people you follow that you think YOUR followers would like. Your followers get good information, and the person you retweeted is more likely to follow you and retweet your material too.
  7. Use the hash (#) tag. If you write a lot about basketball, then you’ll want to use #basketball in your tweets. Think keywords, and preface each with #. This will help people find you when they search for those topics on twitter.
  8. List yourself in twitter directories.
  9. Be patient. It takes time to build a twitter following. Take your time, enjoy posting and getting to know your followers, and the followers will come.

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Unlimited Ideas

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If you’re a blogger, creating content weekly or even daily can be a challenge. If you’re writing articles for a living, then you’re probably facing similar problems. How do you find topics to write about?

One of my favorite ways is the list post. Everyone has written them. Let’s take a recent one of mine for example.

50 Ways to Improve Your Health

If you’re looking for article topics or more post topics, then try expanding an entry into a post or article. Again, let’s take “meditate” from the article and work on that. Here are some samples to get you started.

  1. Learn to meditate
  2. Types of meditation
  3. Benefits of meditation
  4. Meditation and spirituality
  5. Meditation and relaxation
  6. Advanced meditation techniques

You get the point, I’m sure.

One benefit is that you can do research on one topic, meditation in this case, and then use that research in multiple posts or articles. If you’re only making $10 or $20 per article, then it’s to your advantage to write more articles from the same amount of background research.

If you’re a blogger, then turn the posts into a series on your site.

What, you don’t have any list posts of your own to mine? Use others’ posts for inspiration, but be a good internet citizen and give credit for your inspiration.

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Remember, this is a do-follow blog, so you get link credit for your comments.

I’m always looking to expand my twitter and stumbleupon network. Follow and friend me — I’ll reciprocate.

Publishing your short fiction

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You may have a great short story already written, or the seed of one wriggling around somewhere, and you’d like to know where and how to publish it.

Ralan.com is a good place for speculative, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, etc. He keeps the site up-to-date, and there are hundreds of listings there, divided up by pay amount, so it’s easy to find something in the level you’re looking for. Ralan is free to use.

Duotrope is another free online market database. It includes most genres, not just speculative. It has a good search feature so you don’t have to go digging.

Writers Market is another one I use. It’s not free (about $40/year). It has searchable market listings, although the search features here aren’t as good as those on duotrope! One nice feature is the ability to input your submissions and track when you sent them out, to whom, and when you should expect to get a response. I think that’s worth the $40/year price, not including the market listings. They do offer a monthly payment plan if you don’t want to commit right away.

Which comes first, market or story?

O.K. you have an idea and a few markets, what’s next? Do you write the story and then search for a market to fit the length, genre, and other specifics? Or, do you find a market and tailor the story to fit?

If your primary goal is getting published, then tailoring to the market is easier in my experience. Some markets have very off-the-wall requirements, so you’re better off working that into the story from the beginning if possible. I know purists will turn up their noses at that, but I said if your goal is being published, writing to the market is easier. If your goal is art, then by all means, write first and market later.

I’ve done both successfully, and for me it just depends on the story. If I have something more or less fully worked out, I write that and try to find a market that it will fit. And, honestly, that can be tough. Often I’ve found a great market for it just to realize that it’s too long, too short, should have taken place in Maine or on a pirate ship, etc. Having a great story and nowhere suitable to send it is frustrating, to say the least, and one reason that I tend to make sure I have a market in mind before I put in too much work.

Submissions

You have a story, you have a market, you’re all set. Right?

Not quite. Not yet at least.

First off, put the story away for a week or two. You need time away from it to do a good job editing and proofreading. Here are a few other tips I use for editing my work before it goes out.

  • Read it out loud. Nothing will help you pick up on awkward construction like hearing it.
  • Get someone else to read it. This person should be someone who can help you proofread and edit.
  • Make sure characters’ names are different enough that they’re not easily confused.
  • Read each characters’ dialogue to make sure everyone doesn’t sound alike. No, the forty year old mom should not sound just like her seventeen year old teenage son.

Next, you need to look at the submission guidelines for the market you’ve chosen, and follow them. Follow them to the letter. You want your work to stand out because it’s good, not because you ignored what the editors asked for. Talk about getting off on the wrong foot!

If you don’t know how to format your manuscript, then this search for “manuscript submission format” will help. Sometimes markets will have their own guidelines that conflict with these, if so, do what the market says.

Last step, send it out. It’s all too easy to get carried away editing and preparing and never get anything submitted. It’s something I think most writers struggle with, so set yourself a deadline and get the story out. Even if it’s rejected, you’ll feel better about yourself for trying.

Eight Magazines that Want to Buy Your Short Stories

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Clarkesworld Magazine

Pays 10 cents per word for Sci Fi, Horror, Fantasy. The site is worth visiting just to read the list of what they don’t want.

Strange Horizons

Pays 5 cents per word, $50 minimum for speculative fiction. They also have a list of what they don’t want.

The Paris Review

There’s not much information on the site as to what they buy or pay, but from the look of the magazine, I’m guessing literary.

Bent Magazine

Pays $5 flat fee for romance and erotica.

Chapman

Publishes literary fiction and non-ficiton. There’s no mention on the site of payment.

Descant

There isn’t much information on what they accept. However, it takes up to twelve months to hear about a submission and another twelve for publication and payment…. of $100 per story.

Cobblestone and Cricket

Several children’s magazines are listed, along with their submission guidelines.

GlimmerTrain

Publishes literary fiction. See the site for specific monthly themes. There’s no mention of pay that I could find.

Story Starter

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Suffering from a little writer’s block. Here’s a little thought experiement / story starter to get you going.

Imagine that people no longer die from disease or from old age, for whatever reason. Maybe it’s medical advances or something supernatural, but the reason doesn’t really matter (unless you make it matter). The birth rate also has not changed. In fact, due to improved health, people may be having more children, not fewer.

Think about all the problems this would cause. Crowding. Hunger. Resource shortages.

Now, solve the problem.

Bonus, don’t do something obvious like colonize another planet or start killing off the elderly.

You might want to start thinking about how China has dealt with its population issues, how Tokyo is notoriously crowded, or how hunger and disease have ravaged Africa. How would a constantly increasing population make these types of problems worse? What kind of creative, or even violent, solutions would people come up with to relieve the pressure?

Find Freelance Writing Jobs

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Whether you’re looking to be a ghostwriter, freelancer, or just simply want to find a writing job, there are plenty of reputable places online to help you get started.

Elance is a good option. As of today, there are 705 jobs listed under Writing and Translation. Here are a few breakdowns for you, keeping in mind that some jobs fall under multiple categories.

  • 372 eBooks
  • 441 Creative Writing
  • 963 Web Content
  • 298 Academic Writing

To get started on elance, you’ll need to register and complete your profile. This can be a bit time-consuming, but buyers will use this to decide whether to hire you. One of the toughest things for me was putting together a portfolio, or having any samples to offer when bidding.

I’m not sure if this is the best solution, but it has worked out for me. I use blog posts as samples for potential buyers. I also have copies of articles I’ve sold elsewhere online that I can attach for samples. The whole idea is to give the buyer something of yours to look at that’s similar to what they’re purchasing.

Don’t be tempted to under price yourself. You’ll be tempted to bid low, particularly when you’re just getting started. Charge a fair amount for your work. Underbidding can backfire by making buyers think that you’re not worth any more than you’re asking for.

When bidding, write a custom bid for each job.  Address each question or requirement that the buyer has, and provide samples of work that demonstrate your ability to deliver what’s needed. It’s helpful to explain how you arrived at your fees so buyers can compare what you’re offering and charging to others’ bids.

When you have the job, deliver what you promise, well done, and early if possible. Communicate frequently and clearly with your client. Don’t outsource the work to someone else unless the client approved it before you bidded. Often a client is looking for a long-term relationship, so doing a good job on the first project will mean you get the first offer for subsequent projects.

Job Boards are another viable option, but one that I don’t use, so I can’t speak to them specifically. Here are some options for you to explore.

The same rules apply as with Elance. Provide a custom quote for your services and relevant samples of your work to land the project. After you’re hired, communicate with your client and provide what’s asked for professionally and on time.

Other

If you’re looking to make money from your blogging or writing, then check out some sites that pay you to do so. You’ll write articles and sell them through their sites. You won’t get rich, but you will learn what sells well and what doesn’t. You’ll get feedback on your work (sometimes), and you’ll have some articles to add to your portfolio of published works.

I’ve had some success with Constant Content. It’s a nice way to sell some articles that you don’t have a place for. However, if you’re writing something that’s close to your blog topic, I think you’re better off posting it on your own site and gaining the traffic. Just my opinion…

Anyone care to share other sites for writing jobs, freelancing jobs, etc.?

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Grammar Helper: Farther vs. Further

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Farther and further are often mixed up in writing and in speaking. Luckily, they’re also very easy to use correctly once you know the difference.

Farther is used when a distance can be measured.

  1. I ran farther yesterday than I have all summer.
  2. Cincinnati is farther from here than Pittsburgh.

In both examples, the distance is measurable. We can measure how far we ran in number one, and we can measure how far away each city is in number two.

Further is used when no measurement of distance is possible.

  1. We need to discuss this further before making a decision.
  2. We’ve gotten further on the project today that I expected.
  3. Janet wants to further her education by attending college.

In the above examples, none relate to measuring distance.

If you find this article useful, read more Grammar Helper articles.

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CornerScribe changing to Dofollow

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Do you know what do-follow means, in terms of your blog and comments you leave elsewhere?

Usually, blogs default to no-follow in their comments. That is, links in comments are not treated as “real” links, meaning you get no credit for them in google. So, commenting isn’t going to do much for your google page rank because you’re not really creating links back to your site.

Except… If the blog you comment on has the comments set to do-follow, then you DO get credit for a link when you comment on the blog.

Wondering where you can comment on such blogs? Frank over at TechJaws has a great article on this topic, A list of Dofollow blogs to Improve Your Pagerank, and a list of PR 4, 5 and 6 blogs that are do-follow.

I had wondered whether changing my own comments to dofollow would have an adverse effect on my google pagerank, but Frank assures me it will not. One word or warning though, you’ll want to run something like Akismet and watch your comments so that spammers don’t take advantage of you. You don’t want to provide links back to disreputable sites.

So, CornerScribe is changing to dofollow, tonight if I can do it easily, so come back and comment often.

Thanks, Frank!

9 Ultra Useful Writing Sites

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I’ve been busily at work on the novel, but I thought you might appreciate a list of useful sites for writers. These are a few I’ve run across lately. You’ll want to subscribe to a few of these RSS feeds too, I bet.

E Publishing Reality
If you’re trying to get published, one of the best things I think you can do is read what published authors have to say about how they “made it.” Go to Genreality.net. Subscribe. Now.

On Avoiding Writing
This is a funny take on what writers do instead of write. Wow, that would never be me. Ahem.

10 Overused Words in Writing
This one is probably best for bloggers, article writers, non-fiction writers in general.

Hook Your Readers with Tension
This is a good article for fiction writers. Tension is what keeps readers reading.

5 Tips for Blogging Around the World
O.K., so most of us probably won’t get the chance to travel the world and blog, but it’s fun to read about it anyway. Also so great tips for bloggers on the go.

5 Killer Ways to Improve your Writing
ProBlogger is a long-time favorite of mine. Definitely worth an RSS subscription.

Common Errors in English
Is it affect or effect? Insure and Ensure? Back when I taught English, this type of instruction was often what students appreciated most.

Tools for Writers
Small presses and literary magazines where you can submit.

10 Tips for Writing Horror
Ten tongue-in-(rotting)cheek tips for horror writers. I like #7, if there’s a boring part in your story, “fill it with zombies and set it on fire.”

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Wanted, One Good Goal

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I’ve been working steadily on my novel, making decent progress, but I still don’t feel any closer to being finished.

Hm.

And today I decided that what I need is a goal. A deadline. Something to shoot for that will let me say “It’s finished and ready for the public.” Often, without a deadline, I’ll meander along forever, doing a lot, accomplishing a little.

So, with that in mind, here goes.

I will send out my first agent query letter for the novel by September 1. Of course, that means the novel will have to be finished and ready for review. I’ll also need whatever the agency typically wants (synopsis, sample chapters, etc.)

Anyone else working on a novel with no end in sight? Care to announce your goal and join me for a summer not just of writing, but of finishing as well?