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June 23, 2019 By Anne R. Allen 133 Comments

We’re all Bozos on this Bus: 10 Lessons from 10 Years of Blogging

We’re all Bozos on this Bus: 10 Lessons from 10 Years of Blogging

by Anne R. Allen Ooops. I seem to have missed my 10-year blogiversary! I posted my first attempt at blogging on Friday, March 13, 2009. Yes, Friday the 13th. Apparently I have a need to tempt fate. But I immediately lost the blog for about three months, and didn’t write my second post until June […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors, Social Media and Marketing For Writers, Writers Dealing with Reviews and Rejection Tagged With: Author blogs, Blog community, blogging for authors, The Author Blog: Easy Blogging for Busy Authors

March 11, 2018 By Anne R. Allen 73 Comments

Want More Readers for Your Blog and Books? Fix These 5 Website Mistakes.

Want More Readers for Your Blog and Books? Fix These 5 Website Mistakes.

It turns out authors make lots of website mistakes. by Gill Andrews You didn’t sign up for this. Writing and sharing your ideas with others – sure. But this website thing? You just wanted more people to read your stories. But now you spend hours agonizing over blog post topics, looking for free images, and […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors, E-Books and Technology for Writers, Social Media and Marketing For Writers Tagged With: Author blogs, Gill Andrews, website design. author websites, website mistakes.

February 18, 2018 By Anne R. Allen 93 Comments

Blogging isn’t Dead: 8 Reasons to Start an Author Blog

Blogging isn’t Dead: 8 Reasons to Start an Author Blog

An Author Blog is still one of the best ways to build platform By Anne R. Allen If you tell your non-writing friends you’re thinking of starting an author blog, you’ll probably hear some noise about how blogging is “totally over.” People have been pronouncing the demise of blogging for a decade. Google “blogging is […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors, The Publishing Business Tagged With: Author blogs, Author Platform, Catherine Ryan Hyde, How to Be a Writer in the E-Age, self publishing, The Author Blog: Easy Blogging for Busy Authors

December 3, 2017 By Anne R. Allen 77 Comments

Easy Blogging for Authors: 10 Tips for a Successful Author Blog

Easy Blogging for Authors: 10 Tips for a Successful Author Blog

The Author Blog: Easy Blogging for Busy Authors is here!   by Anne R. Allen I’ve made some spectacular blunders in my blogging career. But since we learn from our mistakes, I’ve got a boatload of information now. As Ruth and I say: “We made the mistakes so you don’t have to.” The worst decision I […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors, Social Media and Marketing For Writers Tagged With: Author blogs, Barb Drozdowich, Blogging, blogging for authors, Book Marketing, Easy Blogging for Busy Authors, slow blogging

August 6, 2017 By Anne R. Allen 75 Comments

10 Reasons to Start an Author Blog: And Why It’s Easier than You Think

10 Reasons to Start an Author Blog: And Why It’s Easier than You Think

An author blog is the best way to build your writer’s platform by Anne R. Allen Some people have been saying blogging is dead for a while now. But for authors, it’s anything but.  On a recent list of the most overrated marketing strategies, blogging was close to the bottom. Only 6% of marketers thought it […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors Tagged With: Author blogs, Blogging, blogging for authors, No Place Like Home, slow blogging, Social Media Marketing

June 18, 2017 By Anne R. Allen 56 Comments

Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Blogging Can Lead to Many Career Paths

Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Blogging Can Lead to Many Career Paths

Blogging can open up many career paths for writers by Anne R. Allen Most people who choose a career in writing first imagine ourselves as novelists or memoirists, not nonfiction writers. But these days, writers, even novelists, can’t just write books. We need to start “A Multi-Media Author Business.” And that involves writing a lot of […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors, The Publishing Business Tagged With: Author blogs, blogging careers, blogging for authors, Catherine Ryan Hyde, How to Be a Writer in the E-Age

April 9, 2017 By Anne R. Allen 130 Comments

Author Newsletter vs. Author Blog: Five Reasons I Prefer a Blog, and Six Reasons You Might Not

Author Newsletter vs. Author Blog: Five Reasons I Prefer a Blog, and Six Reasons You Might Not

by Anne R. Allen “The one with the biggest email list wins” is the current mantra of pretty much every book marketer on the planet. The author newsletter is supposed to be the most important weapon in your book marketing arsenal. Marketing experts tell authors their #1 goal should be to collect as many email […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors Tagged With: Author blogs, Author Newsletters, Kristine Katherine Rusch, The CAN-SPAM Act, The Gatsby Game

March 19, 2017 By Anne R. Allen 94 Comments

Your Author Blog: What Should an Author Blog About?

Your Author Blog: What Should an Author Blog About?

An author blog can be fun if you ignore the rules intended for business blogs. by Anne R. Allen The most common question I get from authors who are thinking about starting a blog is: “What should an author blog about?” My answer isn’t the same as what you’ll hear from the major blogging gurus. […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors, Social Media and Marketing For Writers Tagged With: Anne R. Allen, Author blogs, Blogging, Boomer Women, Elizabeth S. Craig, How to Blog Your Book, Insecure Writers Support Group, Joel Friedlander, Kristen Lamb, memoir writing, slow blogging, Tara Sparling

February 5, 2017 By Anne R. Allen 104 Comments

Author Blogs: 5 Bad Reasons for Authors to Blog and 5 Good Ones

Author Blogs: 5 Bad Reasons for Authors to Blog and 5 Good Ones

 Author blogs: Are you blogging for the right reasons? 5 Bad Reasons for Author Blogs 1) Getting Rich Quick Nothing infuriates me more than those books and blogs promising writers they can make a gazillion dollars of “passive income” with a blog in the next month if they take this overpriced course or buy that […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors, Social Media and Marketing For Writers, The Writing Life Tagged With: Author blogs, Blog community, blogging for authors, Catherine Ryan Hyde, How to Be a Writer in the E-Age, slow blogging, social media for authors

July 17, 2016 By Anne R. Allen 102 Comments

6 Tips For Getting More Traffic on your Author Blog

6 Tips For Getting More Traffic on your Author Blog

 Is your author blog getting crickets? by Anne R. Allen You finally did it! You started your author blog. And put up your first post..and the second and third and fourth… Now…you’ve got crickets. Nobody’s reading your deathless prose. Sigh. Don’t give in to despair. It takes a while to build a readership. Usually a […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors, Social Media and Marketing For Writers, Writing Craft Tagged With: Author blogs, Guest blogging, how to write for a blog, how to write Web content, The Lady of the Lakewood Diner

September 13, 2015 By Anne R. Allen 91 Comments

Does an Author Really Need a Blog? 10 Reasons a Blog May Help Your Career

by Anne R. Allen   “Blogging doesn’t sell books.” “Don’t waste your time blogging.” “Make book trailers! Email those newsletters! Spend more time on Pinterest and Instagram! Blogging is so over!” I’m hearing this stuff every day. But I still think a blog is one of the best uses of an author’s time. Even if […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors, Social Media and Marketing For Writers, The Publishing Business Tagged With: Author blogs, Blog community, Blogging, blogging for beginners, how to blog, slow blogging, So Much for Buckingham, The Slow Blog Manifesto

April 12, 2015 By Robin Houghton 55 Comments

Ten Reasons for Authors to Blog

Ten Reasons for Authors to Blog

by Robin Houghton   One of the questions I’m most asked is “how do you find time to write a blog?” I can answer this quite simply – I find the time in the same way that I find time to do the grocery shopping, or read poetry, or stroke the cat. We all find […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors, Social Media and Marketing For Writers Tagged With: Anne R. Allen. SLO Nightwriters, Author blogs, blogging for authors, Blogging for Writers, Golden Quill Awards, how to blog, Why Blog? Robin Houghton

April 20, 2014 By Anne R. Allen 125 Comments

How to Write Blog Content: 9 Tips to Entice Readers to Your Author Blog

How to Write Blog Content: 9 Tips to Entice Readers to Your Author Blog

 Blog content is easy to write if you know a few tricks by Anne R. Allen You started a blog. Congratulations! But nobody’s reading it. Sigh. Don’t give in to despair. It takes a while to build a readership. Usually a long while. For the first six months I blogged, my followers consisted of my […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors, Social Media and Marketing For Writers, Writing Craft Tagged With: 21st Century prose, Ann Timmons, Author blogs, C. Hope Clark, Google Authorship, How, how to blog, how to write Web content, Janet Reid, Publisher's Lunch, SEO for authors, What to blog about

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writers digest 101 best websites for writers award

Anne R. AllenAnne R. Allen writes funny mysteries and how-to-books for writers. She also writes poetry and short stories on occasion. She’s a contributor to Writer’s Digest and the Novel and Short Story Writer’s Market.

Her bestselling Camilla Randall Mystery Series features perennially down-on-her-luck former socialite Camilla Randall—who is a magnet for murder, mayhem and Mr. Wrong, but always solves the mystery in her quirky, but oh-so-polite way.

Ruth Harris NYT best selling authorRuth is a million-copy New York Times bestselling author, Romantic Times award winner, former Big 5 editor, publisher, and news junkie.

Her emotional, entertaining women’s fiction and critically praised novels have sold millions of copies in hard cover, paperback and ebook editions, been translated into 19 languages, sold in 30 countries, and were prominent selections of leading book clubs including the Literary Guild and the Book Of The Month Club.

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