2012 is certainly starting off at a run! Ebooks are revolutionizing our lives as writers, and it's so exciting! I'm getting my first ebook ready to put up on Amazon in the next few weeks, and have another two lined up and partially written. As I think about where I want to take my blog in the new year, I know that ebooks will be a primary subject, in addition to the usual suspects: writing, creativity, platform building and book promotion.
Based on my readers' retweets and responses, these were my top 7 blog posts of 2011:
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WRITING EBOOKS
The new low priced Kindles, including the Kindle Fire color tablet, are going to mean higher ebook sales--so start writing your ebooks NOW!
If you've been thinking about writing ebooks, or like me have been working on several but have been too busy with other projects to get very far with them, it's time to make ebooks a TOP PRIORITY! And if you've already got some ebooks up for sale, it's time to kick it up a notch and add more. Even if you can only spend a half hour a day on writing or compiling content for your ebooks, think how many ebooks you can have up by the end of the year!
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BOOK PROMOTION
Writing Success Secret #1: Book Promotion Can Be FUN!
You're an author, which means that writing and promotion are always in the #1 and #2 positions on your daily “to do” list. They’re as inseparable as the two sides of a hundred dollar bill. So it’s time to let go of any resistance, fear, or judgment you may have about promotion, and make peace with it. Life's too short to be stressed out by something so essential to your writing success!
Here’s something that can help. I'm going to tell you a little secret, and you're probably not going to believe me, at first. That's okay. I can take it... Promotion can be fun!
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BLOGGING
7 Key Questions To Ask Yourself Before Creating or Revising Your Blog Categories List
Blog categories matter, so choose them wisely. A category list is NOT a dictionary, nor is it meant to be a comprehensive index of topics covered. Think of it more in terms of a book's table of contents. Categories are broad, yet specific topics of great interest to your blog's readers.
How to Quickly & Easily Increase Your Blog's Alexa Ranking (or... How I went from 2.9 Million on Alexa to 411,779 in only 90 Days!)
For those who may not know, Alexa ranks a website's traffic. The lower your number, the higher your ranking. The top three websites are #1 Google, #2 Facebook and #3 YouTube. Many people use your site's Alexa ranking in their decision making process. For instance, if you've asked someone to guest post on your blog they may check out your Alexa ranking, as well as your blog, to help them decide whether or not to accept your offer. Since your Alexa ranking reflects the number of visitors your site gets, what this blog post is really about is how to get more eyes on your writing.
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NON-FICTION AUTHORS
Book Writing FAQs: What’s the quickest way I can monetize my non-fiction book?
This is a question I often get from non-fiction authors. So, here are the two quickest and easiest ways to help your readers put the tips and techniques from your non-fiction book into practice, while also helping you make a living doing what you love.
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CREATIVITY & PRODUCTIVITY
Romance Your Writing: Five Exercises to Vary Your Creative Routine and Spice Up Your Writing Life
Whether you're struggling to find the right words or they're flowing fast and free, it's always fun and inspiring to vary your writing routine, or try something new, to get another perspective. When you're regularly "mixing it up" by writing somewhere new, or experimenting with different brainstorming or creativity techniques, your romance with words will stay fresh, and your writing will thank you for it.
Throw Away Your TO DO List and Get More Done!
While To Do lists can be a useful productivity tool and help you focus in on and accomplish all the many activities that go along with a writing career, they can also--far too easily--become a source of stress and self-condemnation that ends up dampening your creativity and sabotaging your productivity. f you've turned your To Do list into a taskmaster, the quickest and easiest way to turn it back into a fun and useful productivity tool is to reframe it and rename it.
May 2012 be overflowing with passion, creativity, LOTS of writing, and--you guessed it--ebooks, ebooks, ebooks!
If you'd like some coaching and support around writing, blogging, creating and selling ebooks, platform building, or book promotion to start 2012 off strong, I offer new clients an introductory hour-long coaching session for $50 (that's 60% my normal hourly rate). You can get more info here.
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If you'd like to read more of the best articles from Julie Isaac and WritingSpirit, check out:
