Monday, July 22, 2019

Looking for a different social media network? Pinterest!


Looking for a different social media network? 
If you’re reading this you must be a writer or you want to be. We know that you’re,  like 2/3's of the population of the world, on Facebook, Twitter and probably Instagram, but, are you on Pinterest?
Here are 10 Pinterest tips for writers and bloggers that will help you find new readers and help you market your writing!
WHAT IS PINTEREST?
Well, it’s been around for a while – but more of a hidden social media network. You hear about people finding all kinds fo cool things on there but mostly it’s a place to hold your photos. Or so we thought. Pinterest, is one of the fastest-growing visual social networks and can be a great way to reach your audience for your book. It’s not surprising that it’s quickly becoming a favorite marketing platform for authors to reach a wider audience for their work. And at this point, don’t you need all the help you can get?
We have put together some tips to help you effectively market your book or blog on Pinterest – take a look.
1. CREATE INTERESTING PINTEREST BOARDS:
If you don’t know - Pinterest organizes all the pins/photo into boards. You can create these boards to reflect any category you’d like. We recommend creating larger boards that have a minimum of 100 pins/photos on them. Think about your target audience – what interests them? Something that will hold their interest and offer you the opportunity to sell your book/work.
2. BUILD UP YOUR FOLLOWERS:
It’s social media – of course, you need followers. Like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram - without followers, no one will see your content. And no one will see your book. Follow your fellow authors and readers. Find friends via Facebook and other social media sites and invite them over to your new page. This helps you get in front of a broader audience. You can also add a Pinterest button on your website that can attract more followers. Don’t have a website? Get one!

3CREATE IMAGES OF QUOTES FROM YOUR WRITING:

If you’ve used any social media site for any amount of time, you’ve likely noticed that quotes are quite popular items to post. Use that and create your own!
As an author, it is a good idea to make sure you have a board specifically for quotes. Once you have that, create some images with quotes from your book or from your blog.
Make sure when you upload the quote image that you link the quote to your author website or book sales page. This will help pique people’s interest, as well as help you build name recognition the more people see your quotes.
There are a number of free online apps that can help you create images with quotes you can place on your account, or you can try making your own in a photo editing program.

4. USE ENTICING IMAGES FOR YOUR BLOG POSTS:

That whole – a picture is worth a 1,000 words – is true. If you are writing really amazing blog posts, you’ll want to make sure you use an enticing image for the post and pin the blog post to your Pinterest board. Just a hint – the images you place should be at least 600 pixels to have the greatest click through rates.

5. ORGANIZE YOUR BOARDS:

No one wants a sloppy book cover – it’s your calling card. Make your social media sites the same. Make your most important boards visible “above the fold” – think of a newspaper – all the important articles are above the fold line of the pager. No one wants to search for information so your followers shouldn’t have to scroll down your page to see your best work. This is what people will see first when they visit your Pinterest profile. Be sure too that each board has a nice cover photo that encourages people to want to follow it.

6. LINK TO PINTEREST ON YOUR WEBSITE:

You’ll definitely want to make sure you include your Pinterest link on your website in addition to any other social network such as Facebook or Twitter. If you have a business account, you can also include widgets on your sidebar or at the bottom of your posts that feature pins from your favorite boards.

7. You’re a writer for crying out loud – make SURE YOUR PROFILE IS INTERESTING:

Write about who YOU are, what YOU do, and of course, link to your blog or website. Make sure you use the same profile image you use across other social media platforms as that will help people to recognize you more easily. Be sure that you use words relevant to the topics you write about, as this will help increase the odds your profile and boards will appear in Pinterest search results.

8. Like anything else worthwhile - PIN CONSISTENTLY:

You may think this extreme, but you should post and pin at least 5-10 new things each week. Try to add new fresh content from the web, not just repins of things you’ve found on Pinterest already. Unless you’re just starting out and need to build your page up - be careful not to overload your followers with too many posts all at once – this can be overwhelming or annoying to them. It is for me.

9. PIN SELECTIVELY:

Don’t pin every single thing you see – actually, take the time to click through the pin to see what it links to and make sure it provides value to your readers and followers.
It is also a good idea to write your own comments and descriptions about the different things you pin, as it shows your audience why it is “pin-worthy”.
And for our sack as well as your own - leave your issues and struggles out of your posting schedule. Everyone has their own issues - they don't need to see yours. 

10. USE PINTEREST FOR STATS:

If you convert your account to a business account, which is easy to do on the website, you will be able to see a number of stats and information about the content you’re pinning. Use that to your advantage.
You can also check to see what pins are the most popular from your website. This will help you identify better with your target market as well as to create more content that appeals to your readers.
By understanding what your readers enjoy reading, you will be able to create better content and write new blog posts on your website that will make them excited to keep returning for more!
Like any other social media site - Pinterest can be a great way to connect with a broad audience for your website or book.

Do you have any Pinterest tips for authors you’d like to share? We’d love to hear them in the comments section below!
As always, Breaking Rules Publishing continues to accept submissions in all genres from writers around the world. Simply email us at info@breakingrulespublishing.com



We are still looking for guest bloggers - if you're interested please contact us via the info@breakingrulespublishing.com email. 






We are still looking for poets and short story writers to fill the pages of The Scribe Magazine - if you're interested - check out our website at www.breakingrulespublishing.com or email us at info@breakingrulespublishing.com.








And lastly - we still have space in our Breaking Rules Publishing Short Story Book Project. The release date is Oct 1st - the submission deadline is Sept 15th. Please email us at info@breakingrulespublishing.com. The theme for this issue is Horror/Halloween - all those involved with the book will get a portion of the royalties. 








Thursday, July 18, 2019

Why Blog? By Guest Blogger Richie Billing



A Fantasy Writers’ Handbook Teaser: Blogging
Posted on May 15, 2019 by richiebilling


On June 12, 2019 A Fantasy Writers’ Handbook was release, and today I'm delighted to give you another glimpse inside the covers. When somebody first suggested blogging to me I told them in no uncertain terms to ‘eff off’. My concern was that I had nothing worthwhile to say, nothing anyone would find interesting. In this teaser chapter, I reveal what changed my mind, what I’ve learned in my years of blogging, and some ways to make some cash in this developing field.
There have been a couple of advanced copy reviews on Goodreads so far. Here’s the latest…
“This is the most comprehensive book I’ve read on the subject. And unlike most nonfiction books, the tone of it was light and interesting, where I’ve come to expect dry and boring. I’d recommend this for anyone that’s interested in writing, not just fantasy writers. And I think the world-building and character portions would also be great for role play.” Amber Christiansen.

Blogging
When somebody first suggested blogging to me I told them, in polite terms, to eff off. I thought it’d be a waste of time—who even still reads blogs? Turns out, a lot of people do. Today, if somebody asked me what I thought about blogging I’d tell them that I should have started sooner, that I should do it more often, before reeling off all of the reasons behind why they should do it themselves. In this chapter, we’ll look at these very reasons.
Why blog?
People blog for different reasons—an expression of their creativity, for the fun of writing, to highlight a cause, to share their experiences with others. You can pretty much blog about anything you want. And I suppose this is part of the problem when starting out. What in the seven hells am I going to talk about? In that moment you feel as if you know nothing at all.
But ignore that thought, because you do know things. Things that other people don’t. Experiences that other people haven’t endured. Have confidence in your words, and if you come up with an idea, start writing. One of the best things about blogging is the freedom of it. There aren’t any hard and fast rules, no fixed formatting guides, no editor telling you what you can or cannot say or do. There’s just you, your keyboard and a blank slate for you to fill.
Being helpful
Earlier on I said you want to showcase your writing to the world. But what if you have none? A blog is an excellent way of changing that. Not only is it a fantastic way of reaching out to fellow readers and writers but it drives traffic to your site.
A blog is a means of helping others. For me, I chose to blog about the things I’ve learned while studying the craft of writing so that others could benefit too. It’s geared toward expanding people’s knowledge and skills and helping them to become better writers. If they improve their craft then we all benefit from the better writing and the brilliant ideas they produce, and now, in this crazy era of ours, we need it more than ever. Forget about gains in exchange. It’s sad that as humanity grows, we’re becoming more insulated as individuals, more focused on the self than on the whole. Those who merely blog about themselves, particularly if they’re not that interesting, aren’t so enjoyable to read. Who cares at the end of the day? I’m so grateful to the bloggers that share their knowledge and experiences for the benefit of others. I’ve learned so much from them. And now I follow them, read their every post, and buy their books.
When thinking of what type of content to write, think about what kinds of skills you have and experiences you’ve lived through or any specialist areas of expertise. What have you learned that you can share with the rest of the world? Don’t worry if someone else has already done it. You can do it your own way.
Are you doing a creative writing course? Have you been to a workshop? Why not share your notes on what you’ve learned? I once visited a castle, took some pictures and blogged about it, and it ended up being one of the more popular posts on my site. You can blog about anything! So be helpful. You have something to give to the world. We all do.
Consistency
If you’re a sufferer of procrastination like myself, then blogging can be tricky. It requires commitment and dedication. Time must be spent thinking of new and original ideas, planning, drafting, editing, formatting, sharing. A single blog post could take weeks or months to write.
In the beginning, it helps to work out how much you want to produce, and how much you physically can. With all the will in the world, there are times in our lives when we’re just unable to do the things we yearn to do. Not long ago I decided to increase my rate of blogging to three times per week. With my job, family and friends, it left me with little time to work on my fiction writing. I kept it up for about a month before reducing it back down to once per week. That’s been my average for the vast majority of my time blogging. It works for me, and that’s what it comes down to: what works for you. Because if you’re doing too much, it’s going to affect the quality of your content and readers will be able to tell. And besides, you’re not going to enjoy it.
I recommend keeping a feasible schedule. Every Tuesday, for instance. Or every Monday or Friday. Schedule your plotting and drafting around it and allow it to become part of your week. Once it becomes routine, it becomes easy.
Promoting your blog
Once you’ve published your first blog post or you’ve just finished polishing your shiny new website, you need to get promoting. People have written whole blogs on this point alone. Here are a few of my favorite pointers:
·         

     Read other people’s blogs and engage with them
     
     The blogging community is incredibly supportive and co-operative. Bloggers love to read each other’s blogs. If you take the time to connect by reading posts and leaving a comment, it goes a long way. Chances are that person will go and read your blog, engage with it, maybe share it, getting your blog out to many more people.

·        Guest blogging. Once you get your foot in the door on the blogging front and you’ve made a few friends, why not invite a few other bloggers to write a guest post. Likewise, you can ask other bloggers if they’re looking for guest writers. You’re collaborating to help each other out. It’s win-win. I’m always looking for guest writers for my blog so if you’re looking for opportunities, please drop me an email.

·         Join writing forums. In joining writing forums you can make connections with people who appreciate helpful content. Some have rules about self-promotion, which personal blogs fall under, so watch out for those.
·         Use social media. Twitter and Facebook are the two platforms I use most. I have more joy with Facebook. There are loads of genre-specific writing groups on there filled with people who’ll appreciate your content. On Twitter, use hashtags like #amwriting #amwritingfantasy or #writingtips, to link your content to potential readers. Check out this very helpful article on marketing on Twitter. When posting always bear in mind the time at which you do so. First thing in the morning, say around 9-11am works well, and another peak time for me is around 1-3pm. Most people who read my blog live in the US so 2pm for me is 9am for them.


Making cash
When most people think of blogging they think of pasty teens bashing away at their keyboards in their bedrooms. Few people take it seriously, but I think the times of change are upon us. Blogging is shifting to the forefront of people’s sources of information. People are making careers out of it and earning significantly more than most of us.
One of the simplest and most effective ways to make money from blogging, while also promoting your blog, is through Medium. If you’ve not heard of it before, it’s a monetized blogging platform. Some content is free, but others require a subscription in order to read it. And it’s through the funds generated by subscriptions that writers get paid. Medium calculates it as fairly as possible: it goes by the number of unique reads and interactions your post gets, if I’m not mistaken, though they do tend to change it up every now and then. There’s no limit to what you can earn, and everyone at least earns $3.50 a month.
On Medium you’ll find hundreds of magazines on topics ranging from health and travel to mindfulness and creative writing. Some have readerships of hundreds of thousands. And you can write for them. And earn money for doing so.
I cannot profess to be an expert with Medium, but there are plenty about, and if you’re serious about giving this a good go, then I encourage you to read as much as you can about how it works and what the most successful bloggers on there do. There are plenty of helpful articles knocking about, mostly on Medium itself. Here are a few quick pointers to get you going:
·         Familiarize yourself thoroughly with how Medium works: formatting, presentation, image permissions and most important of all, the Partner Program. You’ll need to enroll in this to make money and select your posts as being available only for subscribers.
·         Get your Medium profile up to a good standard with links back to your own platforms.
·         Sign up for Smedian, a sister website of Medium (smedian.com). On this site, you sign up to write for different magazines on Medium. Once accepted, you’ll be able to submit your posts to those magazines on the Medium website.
·         Remember to credit all of your images. If there’s no source link for an image, a publication is going to reject it outright.

Breeding opportunities
Blogging, in a sense, is a form of networking. Ah, networking. That vague term they bandied about in university. As I’ve gotten older my understanding of what it means has grown. And indeed, it means opportunity.
I dislike the phrase ‘it’s who you know, not what you know’. Knowing people, befriending them, helping and supporting them, can open doors, and this, in a nutshell, is networking. So when you comment on another bloggers post, that’s networking. Easy?

If you’d like to receive word of any new teaser chapters before anyone else and be in with a chance of winning a free copy, just fill out the form below. All subscribers to my mailing list also receive free lists of publishers of short and long fantasy fiction, a list of fantasy book reviewers, and a bunch of short stories.



Thank you to Richie Billing for being one of our very talented guest bloggers. 

If you are interested in being a guest blogger - please email us at info@breakingrulespublishing.com.





As always, Breaking Rules Publishing continues to accept submissions in all genres from writers around the world.  Simply email us at info@breakingrulespublishing.com. 


Thursday, July 11, 2019

A Love Letter To Collaborative Writing - Guest Blogger O.E. Tearmann


A Love Letter To Collaborative Writing
O.E. Tearmann


Psst. Check this: O.E. Tearman is the writer of the queer cyberpunk series Aces High, Jokers Wild.

But O.E. Tearmann has no birth certificate. No social security number. No junk mail gets addressed to them. O.E. Tearmann is actually two writers in a trenchcoat; one cis woman and one gender fluid person. And we started writing together because we love to play with words. 

I’m not kidding here. We started writing because we both liked to write. These books started as a collaborative play-by-post game, way back when. We got our fears and our hopes, our joys (along with some jollies) and our pain out through our characters. We played with words.

And it was one of the best things that ever happened to me.
I know a lot of terrible things are said about collaborations. It’s one of the reasons we decided to write under a pen-name: we didn’t want the nasty cachet of a co-authored book. And finding that person you just click with is hard work.

But here’s the thing: a healthy collaboration can drive you to heights you didn’t know you could reach.

Here’s the setup: 

One bubbly bisexual cis woman. Friendly, outgoing, trained in the sciences. Acts confident to the point of exuberance. Talks faster and faster the happier she is.

Goes home after a setback, hides her face in a pillow and sobs silently. Comes from a family ridden with the issues of intergenerational poverty, anxiety-depression disorders, and genetic conditions. Deals with anxiety that can leave her a shaking mess. Desperately tries to be good enough in the eyes of those around her.

One thoughtful gender fluid person. Well-read and well-versed in literature. Obliquely sassy. Quietly competent. They can tell you anything you ever wanted to know about a pocketful of fandom’s and they know Norse mythology up, down and backward.

They can tell you what depression feels like. They know how dark it can get behind your eyes. They know that sometimes even the body you’re in seems like the enemy, and the world just asks too much.

Somehow, these two odd birds met. The chipper girl with the two-bright eyes sat down next to the warily watching person at a geeky event and started chattering away. And the stories started coming out. Shapeshifters. Other Worlds. Grand battles. Wonders.

Telling stories together was a lifeline through shitty jobs, through family problems and bad days. It was a place to dance with dreams, to stop being ourselves or let some part of our psyches out for some cathartic exercise. Under the auspices of chatting about our games, we celebrated each other’s successes and talked to each other through our troubles. 

As 2016 grew difficult, the stories we told got a little darker. We worked out our fears on the page. Both of us felt the despair of wanting to do something valuable. Neither of us are built for going to rallies, calling politicians or yelling at political opponents.
But we needed to do something real. 

So we decided to take what we’d written and turn it in a story that would keep the hopes of the people like us alive.

This is the thing about good collaborations: it’s a way to complement one another’s strengths. Both people in this collaboration found in the other person something they needed. 

The girl looked confident, but she never would have had the courage to start getting serious about fiction writing if her buddy hadn’t gotten her into stories she fell in love with.

The person was a great writer, but depression could bring them low for months, unable to put down words that were intended for publication and came weighted with the exhausting pressure of judgment. They needed that weight off their backs to enjoy writing again.

The girl had been taught to do ‘important work’ and not to ‘waste time’. She wrote carefully researched non-fiction essays for public consumption. She never would have had the courage to write fiction for sale if her friend hadn’t shown her it was valid.

The person had trouble valuing their work, no matter how much they’d put into it. Old pain and old failure made it hard for them to believe they could ever do work worth publishing. They never would have considered turning the stacks and stacks of stories into a serious book if their friend hadn’t grabbed their shoulders and gushed ‘dude, do you realize we have something seriously good here? We could really do something with this!’ Since the day we said that we've put out two queer, hopeful cyberpunk books about a crazy found family and their fight for democracy in an America you wish you didn't recognize. We've gotten a publishing deal with Amphibian Press, and put out an audiobook. And we never would have done it without one another.

Tearmann is the Irish Gaelic word for the concept of a safe harbor or sanctuary. And that’s what collaboration can be: a safe place to explore ourselves and our dreams together. A safe harbor. A sanctuary. As we batted first drafts, second drafts and proofreads, cover designs and blurbs back and forth between us, we always knew one thing: No matter what, we were safe to try things. We were safe, in each other’s company.

To readers: if you’re feeling stuck, think about doing some collaboration. What you get out of it might surprise you.

To my co-writer: Thanks. For all of it. I didn’t just get good stories out of this. I got an amazing friend.

And also: Dude! We wrote A Book! We're writing A Series!

Dude. We rock!



Thank you to O.E. Tearmann for guest blogging for us. We certainly do appreciate it and their story.

As always - Breaking Rules Publishing continues to accept submissions in all genres from writers around the world. Please email us at info@breakingrulespublishing.com.




You can find more about Breaking Rules Publishing - The Scribe Magazine as well as the Short Story Book Project on our website at www.breakingrulespublishing.com.



Monday, July 1, 2019

Know Your Writer's Terminology - by Janet Fears

Know Your Writers Terminology!   


 

As a writer, there are many things you have to know on your writing journey, but most important is what terms are used in fiction writing, and what they mean.  

Often you will be confronted by readers who have read your piece and have questions about the story or characters.  They may want to know about how you chose your plot.  So, of course, you need to know what plot is, or how can you explain it to them.  They may ask why you used irony in a certain scene, or what a particular flashback was for, or that they really love your antagonist.  

You're at a lost for words if you don't know these terms, and can give them the answers they want to hear.   People don't just want to read, they want to know why you put the story together the way you did.  This often happens at book signings, so you must be a knowledgeable author, able to hold your own with the reader.  There may be future inspiring writers watching you, and if you falter, it could make them reconsider their choice to be a writer because the questions you were asked were to difficult for you to answer.  

If someone says to you, "I loved the climax"  what are they talking about?   Or, why were there so many complications in the main characters life?  Climax, complications, setting, background.  You must know all these terms, and more.  

You must be able to explain your work, and why these were present in your story. Of course, it is best to know and understand these terms as you develop your writing talent.  Take time to look up common terms in fiction writing, read them thoroughly, and get to understand them.  

Editors, and publisher will often use these terms when evaluating, and considering your piece for publication.  Showing you where you are in error.   Knowing the common writer's terminology will make you not only be a better writer, but a knowledgeable one as well, and draw you closer to seeing your work in print, and prepare you for that book signing that's in your future!


Want to know more writers terminology that will benefit you as a writer, then check out the link below!



As always - thank you for stopping by.   And thank you to Janet Fears for volunteering to be one of our guest bloggers.    

                                                            If you are interested in becoming a guest blogger for Breaking Rules Publishing, please consider emailing us at info@breakingrulespublishing.com.                                                                                      


Breaking Rules Publishing continues to accept submissions in all genres from writers around the world. Simply email us at info@breakingrulespublishing.com.









Have you taken a moment to check out the most recent issue of  The Scribe or Horror magazines. The Scribe Magazine - October 2020 Issue $1...