Inspiration

SEO tips for your website.

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Welcome to my blog. Today I thought I’d share 3 quick ideas about how you can improve the SEO on your website or blog. SEO is important as in ensures the visibility of your website and helps your content discoverability by search engines. This means that if someone puts a word in the search engine to find a topic, that your page is higher on the list than other peoples pages.

1.  You need SEO to provide clear navigation for the search engines to find your site. Make your articles relevant to your page and don’t veer too far off of subject. Too many terms on one site become confusing and don’t rank your site.

2 .  Write content that will keep visitors on your page and use internal links to interest them enough to stay on your site for longer. If they enjoy one article, they may like another you have written.

3.  Don’t load too many photos onto one page or have too much content. If a page is slow to load, people will rapidly click off of the page and find another website with quick loading times. Always name photos what they are and not pic 1,2,3,5, or 5! The picture for this article is called Lizzie Chantree SEO tips.

 

View Lizzie’s Books Here: Click link.

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Meet Author Rose McClelland.

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Author pic
I’m thrilled to introduce you to author Rose McClelland, who is published by Crooked Cat.

Rose writes women’s fiction with a splash of romance and comedy. She writes about dating and relationships in a humorous fashion, placing plenty of twists and turns along the way. Perfect for fans of Marian Keyes or Sophie Kinsella.

Rose lives in Belfast but divides her time between the sofa and bubble bath. When she’s not writing, she’s reading. It’s a bit of an addiction actually. That, and the chocolate Freddos. She can often be found on Facebook posting photos and stories about her cat, her cooking or book reviews.

She has written a few short plays and finds it a buzz to see actors performing her words on stage.

Please follow her on Facebook or Twitter – she’d love to hear from you!

Book cover pic

 

Author Q&A:

  1. What made you decide to be a writer?

I always had my head stuck in a book as a child. I loved our weekly library trips and would have gobbled the books up by the time we had drove home! I remember at the age of ten telling my mum that I’d like to be a writer. But the book that really made me want to write was “Rachel’s Holiday” by Marian Keyes. I loved the style of writing – the raw honesty mixed with humour.

  1. Tell us about your latest book and how long did it take you to write? 

My latest book is called “The Year of No Rules”. It took me between 9 months to a year to write. It’s about a couple and their relationship. Believe it or not, he gives her a list of rules to follow and for a while, she goes along with it. Needless to say, this tests her patience to the max. Throwing the rulebook away, she then takes matters into her own hands and plays the game her way.

  1. Do you want each of your books to stand alone, or become a series? 

My three published books are all stand alone. I am writing my fourth novel at the moment and because of the setting and the characters involved, I can see possibility for a series. This would be great as the characters are firmly lodged in my head.

  1. How did publishing your first book change your writing process?

It made me read even more and think more about what I want from books as a reader.

  1. What excites you most about being an author?

I still love reading and find the best way to relax is by being engrossed in good book. I love the process of tucking myself away and putting pen to paper. It is so much fun watching what the characters will get up to and recording the story as it unfolds.

  1. What is the best money you ever spent as a writer?

A laptop. I used it to write my morning pages and do an online writing course with my friends in Brighton. That was the course that really helped me get started on my first novel.

  1. How do you balance writing and marketing your work?

With great difficulty! I love the writing side of things, however I struggle with the marketing. If I had my way, I’d tuck myself away in an ivory tower and write to my heart’s content. However, there’s not much point in writing a novel if you’re not willing to share the finished product!

  1. Have you become friends with any other authors and has this helped or hindered your writing journey?

Yes, I have be-friended lots of other authors – in particular fellow Crooked Cat authors. It’s a massive help to chat with other authors and motivate each other.

  1. What did you edit out of your current book?

My editor helped me to edit the minor characters by writing a bit more of a back story about them. I had a tendency to just make small parts appear out of nowhere to move the story along.

  1. What is the most difficult part of your writing process?

Becoming overwhelmed by the endless amount of marketing jobs that could be done. That is when I tend to bury my head in the sand!

 

Book cover pic

“The Year of No Rules”

BOOK BLURB

When Sasha falls in love with Kirk, she can’t believe her luck. He’s gorgeous, charismatic and charming. Within months he’s even discussing the ‘M’ word – marriage.

But there’s one problem – he’s given her a list of rules to sign.

Blindly led by her infatuation (and the fact that she’s been single forever) – she agrees to sign it and abide by them until everything goes horribly wrong.

Picking herself up and boldly moving on as a ‘No Rules’ girl, Sasha goes on a string of disastrous dates, and eventually meets Sam through mutual friends. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, she keeps him at arm’s length.

Can he tame her independent streak? Or will she be able to make Kirk come crawling back?

 

Contact Rose:
Book link:
Facebook:
Twitter:
Blog:

Book launch tips.

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Happy new week everyone! Today’s Monday Marketing is about book launches. I’m currently working on my own new book launch for Ninja School Mum and thought i’d share some of the tips i’d learnt with you.

1.  Set up a blog tour team three months before your launch date. This is a great way to find people who want to support your launch and keeps them updated on the progress of your plans.

2.  Set up a document with all of the information you will need to send to the launch team. This should include blog posts, Q&A’s, promo information, book cover art, book blurb, author photo etc. Make the document easily accessible, so that the tour hosts can grab the details they need, with minimal fuss or extra work.

3.  Create a page on your blog about the blogs/websites of your tour hosts. Make a page for them on your website and add their site links. This is a great way to say thank you and to let others know about their blogs/websites.

 

If you would like to check out or join my tour team, the link is here:

Ninja School Mum Tour Team.

 

Twitter Marketing.

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Lizzie Chantree Monday Marketing2

Today’s Marketing Post is about Twitter Marketing. I’ve noticed a lot of writers talking about how hard it is to promote their work lately and I have mentioned that supporting each other on Twitter is a good idea. Most writers will support others, but it is only fair to return the favour. Here are 3 tips for Twitter marketing.

  1. Join book groups on Twitter. They often have hashtags and will RT your book tweets with their hashtags in, as long as you do the same for other members of the group. Two of these groups are #RRBC and #ASMSG The members of Rave Reviews Book Club and ASMSG are very pro-active in retweeting book tweets with their hashtags. #RRBC have member of the month, and other prizes to be won for supportive members.
  2. Tweet support. Find some authors and bloggers with the same genre interests as you. Agree to support each other’s work across Twitter with RT’s. This is a tweet support team. You can set up automated tweets with their book links and Twitter handles in them and they can do the same for you. Apps like SocialOomph have free options and can schedule the tweets for you.
  3. Engage in discussion with your followers on Twitter. If you don’t talk to your followers in tweets, they won’t know anything about you other than you are selling books. If your genre is Romance, then tweet about things that would interest people who enjoy this genre. That could be relationships, travel, friendship, interiors, love, family, life goals, or anything related to romance that has a natural connection to your writing.

 

Love's Child TwitterAd 12

Love's Child New Apple Award

 

Link backs and SEO.

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Lizzie Chantree Monday Marketing2

Welcome to another Monday Marketing post. I hope you’ve had a relaxing weekend and are ready for a brand new week?

Today’s topic is link backs and raising the SEO rankings of your blog or website. I recently discovered that a great way to generate more views on your site is to add internal links.

  1. Write an article or post with original content. Google notices if content is the same somewhere else on the web.
  2. Add internal links within your post. This is a great way to create more page views within one article. People often only stay on a page for a few minutes, but may click links to other related topics if highlighted in the post and stay on your website or blog for longer, which in turn will boost your SEO and make your site more visible. I have added links in this post for you to see what I mean. Click the highlighted text and you will be taken to other articles on my blog.
  3. How to add an internal link in WordPress: Highlight the word in your text that you would like to make an internal link, then click the insert link button in your control panel. Open a new tab/webpage in your browser and open a different page on your website that is relevant to the keyword you have highlighted and copy the link. For example: The word marketing in one of my posts, could be part of the current post, but could also lead you to another post i’ve written on the topic, which you might also enjoy. Then paste that link from the browser into the insert link box in the article you are writing. Check the open in another page box to ensure a new window opens with the alternative page, then click, add link. This will make your chosen word into a live internal link.

Pay it forward.

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Today is Rave Reviews Book Club’s Pay It Forward day (#PIF). It’s my pleasure to introduce you to an author who is so supportive of others and I’d love to help you discover her work.

D.l. Finn

D.L Finn

Author D.L. Finn is an independent California local, who encourages everyone to embrace their inner child. She was born and raised in the foggy Bay Area, but in 1990 relocated with her husband, kids, dogs and cats to the Sierra foothills in Nevada City, CA. She immersed herself in reading all types of books, but especially loved romance, horror and fantasy. She always treasured creating her own reality on paper. Finally, being surrounded by towering pines, oaks and cedars, her creativity was cradled until it bloomed. Her creations vary from children’s books, young adult fantasy, adult paranormal romance to an autobiography with poetry. She continues on her adventure with an open invitation to her readers to join her.

Click the book covers to buy your own copy and start reading!

Review for No Fairy Tale:

No Fairy Tale takes a look at the author’s life from childhood to adulthood and the struggles inherent along the way. What makes this memoir unique is that the author chooses to tell it in third person substituting a “princess” for herself throughout the narrative.

I was initially wary of reading this, knowing it would touch on issues of abuse, something I have a hard time reading about. But the narrative is so strong and heartfelt, it’s impossible not to be caught up in the writing. The journey is rewarding, especially seeing how the author grows and is able to find peace, not only in her life, but with those around her.

The second half of the book is devoted to poetry. Reading through these, the mood often conveys what the writer was experiencing in her life at that point. Some are beautiful, others sad and dark. My favorites are Meadow, Valentine Kittens and Get Old.

Well written, No Fairy Tale, has the capability of aiding others in similar situations to rise above circumstance.

This Second Chance by [Finn, D.L.]
Book blurb for This Second Chance:
D.L. Finn’s first adult fiction, which has just been released!
Newly married Rachael Battaglia finally had it all. The only detail that stained Rachael’s perfect wedding was a gift she received. It was the exact present that her late ex-husband had given her on their wedding day — a snow globe. That marriage was not what she had envisioned, and she endured years of his abuse and charm until one night she escaped with two kids and one on the way.
Now Rachael was headed to Hawaii with an amazing man and her chance at happiness. Unbeknownst to Rachael, she had an Angel on her side, although this Angel might not be able to save Rachael and her family from the evil that surrounded them. This is a tale of love, past relationships, things unseen, and redemption. Will Rachael find her happy ending, or will this evil thing get its way?
More books by D.L.Finn
An Unusual Island by [Finn, D.L.]   Elizabeth's War by [Finn, D.L.]   Things on a Tree by [Finn, D.L.]
You can find D.L. Finn on Twitter: @dlfinnauthor 

Team Building.

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Lizzie Chantree Monday Marketing2

Happy new week everyone! Today’s Marketing Tips and are about team building. Being a writer can be quite isolating and I’ve found that networking and talking to others really helps me to be inspired and more confident. Here are some tips to gather your own team of confidants, creatives or co-workers to share your working life with. Some might even become good friends!

Networking: Networking is now big business, but the fundamentals remain the same. Networking isn’t always about furthering your career, it can be a great way to meet friends and share creative ideas. There are groups on most social media sites and they usually have a topic name. I run a networking hour on twitter called #CreativeBizHour and it’s for anyone who enjoys creativity and likes to meet other people and have a friendly chat. To join these chats, just add the hashtags to your tweets, but it has to be during the networking session times.

There are networking hours for so many industries or interests from working mums and dads to food lovers, fashionistas to people in specific areas of the world and the list is endless!

You can usually find networking groups locally by doing an internet search. These can be great fun and give you contacts with others who live in the same region as you and have similar interests.

Group Chats: Facebook is a great place to find groups of people with similar interests to you. If you love books, just type book groups into the search bar and lots of variations of book group will appear. See which ones interest you and ask to join. The page admins will then have a chance to check out your application, make sure the topic is a genuine interest to you and add you to the group.

Local hobby groups: Most small towns, villages and cities have local hobby groups. An internet search will usually find them. This is a place to meet people in your area with the same hobbies as you and a great way to network in person and make friends who enjoy the things you do.

 

 

Monday Marketing. #3QuickTips

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Welcome to today’s Monday Marketing and #3QuickTips. These tips are about looking after yourself as a writer.

1.  If you work in a distracting environment, like an open plan office, you might need to work out a few strategies to be able to concentrate enough to get some work done. A good idea is to make some mental distance and create a detached view of your working space. This technique is known as self-distancing and helps you to focus on the work in front of you and not the irritation of any distractions around you.

2.  Know when you’re done. Once you have planned, written, rewritten, edited and polished your work, be mindful of pondering. At some point you have to stop over analysing and just go with it. Be thoroughly prepared, but objective. Don’t miss out on moving forward because you can’t finish the last project.

3.  Take care of your body and mind. As writers, we often forget time and space and days can whizz by without us remembering to look up from a manuscript. You will be much more alert if you take regular breaks and eat and exercise properly. It gets your blood flowing and wakes up your mind.

 

 

Grab a new Summer read!

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Tips for writers.

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Today’s Monday Marketing and 3 tips that are quick and easy to read are about writing. The tips can be used in any writing, including emails, novels, blog posts and more.

1.  Focus on how your reader can really jump in and enjoy your work. Will your reader understand the terminology you use? You don’t have to avoid technical jargon, but be aware that your reader’s knowledge might be different from your own. Choose words or phrases that most people will understand, unless you are aiming for a more limited audience.

2.  Create a compelling opening to your work. The first paragraph is all important. This is true of books, emails, marketing campaigns, blogs etc. If you fill the first few sentences with information, you might send your readers to sleep! Use catchy tagline for emails and try and use the name of the person you are sending to in the address. Most people ignore email addressed to an email address and not a person’s name.

3.  Be confident in what you are telling people. Keep your work to the point and don’t fill it with flowery words that are unnecessary. If you show your work in short manageable paragraphs, it helps the reader to stay with you. This is especially helpful in newsletters where you have to grab someones attention quickly and keep them interested in your topic.

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First Draft. #AmWriting

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I’m currently working on the first draft of my new novel, which is about two women who are both completely misunderstood by their families. It’s great fun to write, but I as I have now signed a publishing deal, which could possibly include a sequel to the book they are publishing, I need to make my workflow easier.

I’m not very good at writing lists, as I often forget where they are. This is what should be on my list during the time my publisher is editing my upcoming novel.

Marketing schedule for new book.

Complete 20,000 words for current manuscript.

Edit/proof current work.

Cover design ideas.

Book blurb.

Keep up with social media commitments, including hosting #CreativeBizHour on Twitter.

Start sequel for soon to be published book.

Write 2 blog posts a week.

Newsletters.

Obviously this includes family commitments and household chores. But by this time I’m scared of my list and have hidden it somewhere I will never look again. A good idea today seemed to be under the dog’s bed!

As with most jobs, we all have to multi-task and the kitchen timer on my writing desk does beep and tell me to get on with it, but as a bit of a dreamer (which helps with my job), it means better planning needs to creep into my day and the usual ‘make it up as I go along’ vibe might have to take a back seat for a while.

I’ll let you know how I get on:)

Pepper