Okay, so I haven't had a dedicated website for myself in years. If you typed in elanajohnson.com, the magic monkeys behind the Interwebz would redirect you to...this blog!
But, over the past couple of weeks, I've decided to buy web hosting and make some websites. This is mostly because I have two personas now, and I'm publishing a lot of books, and I feel like I need a more permanent landing page for my fans.
While I was doing all that (which is actually kind of fun for my right and left brains!), I contemplated what to do with this blog.
See, I've been here for years. Eight to be exact. I've loved interacting with all of you. I have scads and scads of (I think) helpful articles about publishing, marketing, querying, and yes, losing weight. Ha!
At first, I thought I'd migrate them all over to WordPress, one post at a time. I was actually getting on today to redirect people over to the new blog site!
But I just can't do it. I've loved this little corner of blogdom, and I don't want to leave it. I have neglected it for a few months, but hey, writing and publishing a new book every 11 weeks can cause some virtual neglect.
I am determined to get back to blogging. I love doing it, and I've been learning lots of new things. And I'm going to do it here. I'm just going to link from my new website back to this blog. I think that will actually make things easier, and things won't get lost.
But, if you want to check out my new website, please do! And if you're interested in my adult romances, you'll have to check out Liz Isaacson's website. She's me. But with a different name. :)
What have you been doing this summer? I hope it's been better than building websites while your kids swim with their friends. Just sayin'.
Dude, you guys! Have you seen this site? inkPageant is the place to be checking for the most informative posts in the publishing and writing industry.
Here's what the site is, but let's face it, you're going to be clicking over there in a minute anyway.
About inkPageant: inkPageant is an online parade of high-quality blog posts for those who are interested in writing and publishing.
Each box you see is a link to a relevant and informative blog post. Clicking on the title will take you directly to the post. Clicking on the photo will show you the profile page of the blogger who submitted the post.
inkPageant is a great place to submit your own blog posts. This will benefit other writers and put your blog in front of a wider audience. Just register, review our submission guidelines, and submit! You can also submit blog posts from other websites.
So basically, you can submit the posts you've written that you think other writers will enjoy, and you can use this huge, awesome resource to find articles that appeal to you. It's a great way to build your platform as well, and get more people to come to your blog. The content is king.
As if that's not awesome enough, their October contest is a $50 Amazon gift card! So get out there and find those posts that either you've written, or that you've bookmarked and submit them to inkPageant!
Follow @inkPageant on Twitter.
Where are you going to get your blog fix these days? Who writes some amazing how-to posts in the writing industry?
Okay, lean in a little closer. Closer... closer... Okay, that's a little too close. *grins* (And I should send you like, a dollar if you know that movie.)
More secrets today. Are you ready? Some of these are not really secrets. Maybe just things to think about. Things that might make your blog easier, faster and more entertaining to read.
Let's start with the basics.
1. Your blog layout.
- Dude, consider carefully before you use a black background. I used to have a dark bluish one, and I loved it. But I realize it's hard on the eyes, and I like light backgrounds much better.
- Absolutely no neon type, please. I'm begging.
- How big is your font? Too small, and I'm skimming from second one. I won't squint to read your blog.
- Look at your white space. Consider the principles of design found here. (Yeah, I teach these in the computer lab. So sue me.)
- Look at the length of your paragraphs. Huge blocks of text intimidate me. They make me think I'll be stuck on your blog reading and re-reading that monster graf for the rest of my natural life. And that's never good.
2. Your blog content.
3. Your blog audience.
- Be yourself. Share a bit of personal stuff without going overboard on the big 3: Religion, politics or sex. Right? Right. Remember your blog audience.
- Rants should be saved for private Skypes, chats or emails. Remember your blog audience.
- Share about your book, successes and whatnot without shoving it down our throats. We all want to celebrate, but we don't want every giveaway to be your book. We don't want every post to be your book signing schedule, etc. Remember your blog audience.
- Give your blog audience what they want. Don't know what they want? Figure it out. Then deliver. For this, I leave you with one of my favorite quotes of all time. You can insert anything you want for "street sweeper." Writer. Blogger. Whatev.
“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”
~Martin Luther King, Jr.
Tell me what you like about blogs. What do you think of mine? How are you doing on your blog layout, your blog content and your blog audience? Do you consider all three of these things? If not, dude, maybe you should...
I'm going to address something entirely different next week (or whenever I feel like it): "But my blog is for me. I started it for me."
So feel free to leave me your OP on that too. You know I won't hold back!
