Part 2, Grants for Writers

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Would you like a free work-vacation stay, maybe in Paris, France or in Bellagio, Italy? Sometimes even paid… as a Writer-in-Residency? Book mark these tips and links and check periodically the deadlines for grants, fellowships or writers residencies. Besides accommodation, writers often receive a stipend and travel expenses paid. A great way for writers to get out of their routine, find time to write, solitude and possibilities to advance their career. See also Part 1 of Grants for Writers.

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Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio, Italy, Residencies
Four-week residencies between March 10 and July 31, 2015. Open to composers, novelists, playwrights, poets, video/filmmakers and visual artists from around the globe, with the goal of bringing together people of diverse expertise and cultures in a thought-provoking creative environment. Spouses/life partners may accompany the resident, or may apply for a concurrent residency. The Center also offers collaborative residencies for two to four persons working on the same project.
Must demonstrate a history of significant achievement in their discipline. Individuals from developing countries and young artists with significant accomplishments — exhibitions, publications, performances — are particularly encouraged to apply. Residency provides housing and studio/work space. Residents are responsible for travel, food, and materials.
Deadline: May 1, 2014.
http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/bellagio-center/residency-program/arts-literary-arts-residency/overview

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Illinois Road Scholar Program
From the history of Motown to the moral tribulations of Albert Einstein, our curiosity can lead us to unexpected places. As an IHC Road Scholar, you’ll have the freedom to wander….take Illinois along with you!
Deadline May 5, 2014.  http://www.prairie.org/roadscholars

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Grant / Residency California and Arizona
The Creatives selected will be awarded a one-year opportunity to engage the residents in one of two affordable housing communities in Southern California and Phoenix, AZ to ignite social change through sustainable practices and programs. The Creatives selected – individual and or collective groups, will be given housing (or a housing stipend), a working stipend, and a small budget to execute their projects.
Deadline May 23, 2014.
http://grandcentralartcenter.wordpress.com/2014/03/10/grant-residency-opportunity-a-social-practice-initiative-of-living-resources-and-grand-central-art-center/

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Hedgebrook Residency
Hedgebrook retreat for women writers is on Whidbey Island, about thirty-five miles northwest of Seattle. Situated on 48 acres of forest and meadow facing Puget Sound, with a view of Mount Rainier, the retreat hosts women writers from all over the world for residencies of two to six weeks, at no cost to the writer.
https://www.hedgebrook.org/programdetails.php?id=1

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Jentel Residency
Jentel has two sessions and two deadlines. All application materials, including contact information, resume, work sample, and reference contacts must be completed online through Submittable by September 15, 2014 for the January 15 – May 13, 2015 residencies. The Jentel Artist Residency Program lies in the Lower Piney Creek Valley with spectacular views over scoria topped hills to the majestic Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming.
Deadline Nov 15. http://www.jentelarts.org/

 

Mark Your Calendar for Next Year, 2015:
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Japan Residencies for Writers
The Japan Creative Artist Residencies Program awards up to five three-month residencies, each of which includes a monthly stipend of $20,000 for living expenses, housing, and professional support. Open to published U.S. poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers to live in Japan and pursue creative projects. Each residency also includes a travel grant of up to $2,000. Writers who have published a book or at least 20 poems in five or more journals or five stories or essays in two or more journals are eligible.
http://www.jusfc.gov/creative-artists-programs/

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Horned Dorset Artists & Writers Colony
Emerging and professional artists working in the fields of writing,translating, musical composition, visual arts and interdisciplinary arts will be eligible to apply for a 4-week residency in the rural town of Leondardsville, located in central New York State.
http://www.horneddorsetcolony.org

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American Library in Paris – Visiting Fellowship
The Visiting Fellowship offers writers and researchers an opportunity to pursue book projects in Paris for a month or longer while participating actively in the life of the American Library. The Fellowship award, a stipend of $5,000 is intended to cover travel and housing costs for the Visiting Fellow. He or she will be expected to present the work-in-progress to the public in a weekday evening talk at the Library and to conduct one or two workshops for Library members on a subject of common interest. Fellowship applicants should be working on a book-length project, fiction or non-fiction, which resonates with the Library’s Franco-American traditions and interests and which might benefit from an extended presence in Paris.
http://americanlibraryinparis.org/events-programs/visiting-fellowship.html

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Georgia Fee Artist/Writer Residency, Paris, France
The goal of the Georgia Fee Artist/Writer Residency in Paris is to support and invest in emerging artists and writers, to provide an opportunity for them to advance their work and explore and engage with the cultural landscape of Paris, to encourage experimentation, and to increase exposure of their work to an international audience. The Residency is open to visual artists of all mediums, art writers, critics, poets, and creative writers, 24 years or older. Recent graduates are especially encouraged to apply. Applications start in February and stay open about a month.
http://www.artslant.com/la/foundation/index

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Hambidge, GA, Residencies
Apply through April 15th for the September through December residency period. Hambidge provides a residency program that empowers talented artists to explore, develop, and express their creative voices. Situated on 600 acres in the mountains of north Georgia, Hambidge is a sanctuary of time and space that inspires artists working in a broad range of disciplines to create works of the highest caliber.
http://www.hambidge.org/program-overview.html

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For more grant offers check out these websites periodically: Mira’s List and Res Artis (can be sorted by deadlines or countries, however not all are free in this list, some are paid retreats).   Read also our former posts: Get the Money! Apply! and 10 Important Steps when Applying for Grants.  Don’t forget: one in three proposal is typically funded in average. Study the requirements carefully, ask for copies of grant proposals they have previously funded. Some samples can even be found on their websites or other resources available online. Write your proposal in a positive manner and language and proof-read it carefully. Explain how your project can benefit others.

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,060 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

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Upcoming Grants for Writers

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Are you living in the USA, Canada or United Kingdom? The following grants, fellowships or writers residencies are mostly offered on a yearly basis, sometimes even twice a year. Bookmark their links and check periodically their deadlines. Besides accommodation, writers often receive a stipend and travel expenses paid. A great way for writers to get out of their routine, find solitude and time to write in order to advance their career.

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Iowa Artist Fellowship
The Artist Fellowship provides support to individuals who demonstrate exceptional creativity in the arts and the capacity for continued contributions to the excellence and innovation of the arts in the State. The Artist Fellowship Program seeks to elevate the arts in Iowa by advancing the artistic careers of Iowa artists through funding and professional development. The Iowa Arts Council awards each fellow $5,000 to support the development of their artistic career.
Deadline May 1, 2014. http://www.iowaartscouncil.org/funding/overview.shtml

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Gladstone Residencies, UK
Gladstone’s Library’s immensely successful Writer in Residence program is now seeking submissions for residencies to take place in 2015. There will be four residencies offered in 2015. Each of the winning writers will be awarded a full month’s residency in the wonderfully creative atmosphere of Gladstone’s Library. During that month, each writer will publish two blogs about their stay, run a one-day workshop on the craft of creative writing, and host an evening event where they talk about any aspect of their writing life. Each residency comes with full board and lodging, travel expenses within the UK and a stipend of £100 per week.
Deadline June 30, 2014. http://www.gladstoneslibrary.org/writers/
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Nebraska Mini Grants
Mini Grants are designed to provide quick access to funds supporting a variety of arts projects that use artists or arts activities as a key component. Examples of project types include exhibitions, performances, poetry readings, commissions and/or support of new work development, arts festivals, community murals, and cultural heritage projects. Eligibility: Nonprofit organizations incorporated in Nebraska that are federally tax-exempt, public agencies and subdivisions of governmental agencies. Organizations may submit up to two Mini Grant applications per fiscal year. Maximum request: $100 – $2,000. Deadline: At least six weeks and no more than twelve weeks prior to the project start date. http://www.nebraskaartscouncil.org/grants/grant_categories.html/title/mini-grants
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Residencies in Southern California and Phoenix, AZ
Specifically, the Creatives selected will be awarded a one-year opportunity to engage the residents in one of two affordable housing communities in Southern California and Phoenix, AZ to ignite social change through sustainable practices and programs. The Creatives selected – individual and or collective groups, will be given housing (or a housing stipend), a working stipend, and a small budget to execute their projects.
Applications should be submitted to arrive no later than 11:59 p.m. PST on Friday, May 23, 2014.
http://grandcentralartcenter.wordpress.com/2014/03/10/grant-residency-opportunity-a-social-practice-initiative-of-living-resources-and-grand-central-art-center/

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New Orleans Arts Council Grants
The deadline to submit applications for FY2015 grants through the Arts Council of New Orleans’ Online Granting System is before midnight on May 15, 2014. Grants are available for arts activities to take place in Assumption, Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptiste and Terrebonne Parishes between October 1, 2014 – September 30, 2015 through the Louisiana Decentralized Arts Funding Program. Grants are also available for arts activities to take place in Orleans Parish during the 2015 calender year through the Community Arts Grants Program.
http://www.artscouncilofneworleans.org/index.php?topic=grants.announce
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Red Gate Residency in China
Red Gate Residency in Beijing is currently accepting applications for October, November and December of 2014 and all of 2015. Red Gate Residency is an international artists residency program providing artists, curators, writers, and academics with the opportunity to live and create work in China. Our objective is to provide facilities for artists to easily start their projects and offer a community in which they can participate as much as they like. Artists working in any medium, writers, academics, and researchers are all eligible.
http://www.chinaresidencies.com/residencies/red-gate-residency
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Island Art Residency Michigan
The Hill House Artist Residency supports talented artists—emerging songwriters, writers at all stages of their career and many kinds of non-studio artists—with the time and space to create new work. Artists age 21 and older from anywhere in the world may apply. Solo artists as well as collaborating teams of up to four people are welcome. Application deadlines: April 1 and October 1.
http://www.artmeetsearth.org

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Florida Artist Fellowship
The Individual Artist Fellowship Program recognizes the creation of new artworks by individuals of exceptional talent and demonstrated ability. Fellowship awards support the general artistic and career advancement of the individual artist.
Deadline June 2, 2014. http://www.florida-arts.org/programs/fellowship/

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Fellowship for Editorial Writing
The Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship was established to enable a mid-career editorial writer or columnist to have time away from daily responsibilities for study and research. The cash award allows Pulliam Editorial Fellows to take courses, pursue independent study, travel, pursue other endeavors that enrich their knowledge of a public interest issue. The Pulliam Fellowship awards $75,000 to an outstanding editorial writer or columnist to help broaden his or her journalistic horizons and knowledge of the world.
Deadline June 22, 2014. http://www.spj.org/a-pulliamfellow.asp

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Arts in Education, NH
The Council invites applications from professional artists in all disciplines who are experienced in their field/s and can make a strong personal commitment to working in an educational setting with students, educators, administrators and parents to apply to the Arts in Education (AIE) Roster. Interested artists should contact the Arts in Education (AIE) Coordinator Catherine O’Brian to discuss their application prior to submitting it.
Deadline May 2, 2014. http://www.nh.gov/nharts/grants/artists/aieroster.htm

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Canada Council for the Arts Travel Grants 
These grants contribute to travel costs associated with participation in professional and career development activities in order for applicants to network, share knowledge, gain skills in specific arts practices and engage in dialogue about equity in the arts. No deadline. You may apply for one of the following fixed amounts to help cover your travel costs, based on excursion fares: $500, $750, $1,000, $1,500, $2,000 or $2,500. However, the two highest amounts ($2,000 and $2,500) are available only if you are traveling to or from northern Canada or to international destinations other than the United States and Europe. These grants cannot be used for travel that occurs before the date that the application is submitted.
http://canadacouncil.ca/en/council/grants/find-a-grant/grants/capacity-building-initiative-travel-grants

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,060 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://www.111publishing.com
http://www.e-Book-PR.com/
http://www.international-ebooks.com/
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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17 Social Media Mistakes to Avoid on Twitter

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Falkland Island Penguins Photo Stephan Westphal

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Want to become successful on Twitter and network with as many followers as possible? Here are are some basic principles to keep in mind when you tweet 140 characters to millions of people. Keep in mind that not only your followers, but also their followers can read it. Make your Twitter profile an irresistible force to your ideal audience. Who I would NOT follow:
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1. “Contributed” Twitter Accounts
Twitter accounts that are not run by the owner, but by his/her “team” – who sprinkle annoying advertisements between the tweets they schedule: “Contributed Tweets for @xxxxxx are delivered by @….Team https://……co”; I don’t want to deal with a “team”, rather with real people.
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2. Missing or No Bio Information
Why should I follow someone who doesn’t even show anything to entice me following him/her? Twitter gives you 160 characters to fill in your profile. Use them. Make sure it tells something about you and / or your (writing) business, so people can decide whether or not they want to follow you. If you want to stay anonymous, don’t use Social Media!

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3. No Avatar – Instead an Image of Your Pet
Who wants to talk with an egg, or a cat, child or your dog? OK, if you have a company, you can use the company logo, but for everyone else: get a great studio photo once in ten years and use it for all your marketing needs including your book cover or on your website. Would you send a potential employer a photo of your house pet, your book or a toddler’s image? No? Why then show these annoying images to your potential customers? Be professional! Sometimes I am inclined to publish a book with the worst avatars!
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4. “Private” Accounts
If you set your Twitter account to “private” status, prospective followers won’t be able to see your tweets. Why would anyone follow you if they cannot see what you Tweet about? I often get followers, and when attempting to follow back, I am stopped by their “lock”.
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5. No profile image
No matter how camera-shy you may be, don’t fail to upload a headshot or company logo. When people see the default Twitter image in your profile, they tend to assume a) that you don’t know what you’re
doing on Twitter yet; b) that you don’t care; or c) that you are not a ‘real’ person but a spammer or robot.
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6. Never, Ever, Use TrueTwit Validation Service!
Some are nice Welcome messages, but 90 per cent are spam. But I read them in the past, first I answered, telling them that I DO NOT use TrueTwit Validation Service, but then I gave up and just
ignored the sender.The irony is, that these people are often following me, and then when I want to follow them back, their message appears! Why did they choose to follow me and then want ME to validate??? You just lost a reader, a customer, a potential fan, a potential reviewer.

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7. Not Following Back
Some Tweeps hardly ever bother to follow (legitimate) followers back. They seem to be proud to have more followers or want to show how “popular” they are – even buying twitter followers… I un-follow people if they haven’t followed me back after a couple of months. Others will un-follow you if you don’t follow back within the week – which is unfair, as someone could be in vacation, or ill, or just overwhelmed with work for a couple of days. But if I see 5000 people following you, and you are only following 300 of them, it shows me right away you are not very engaging.

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8. Greeting New followers with FB likes / Book Promotions
You get a message in your mailbox: Someone mentioned you. Curious you check it, but no, you are only summoned to go to their Facebook account and LIKE their page. Or they send you the link to their
books sales page. And that’s the greeting for following them… Do they sign up with Twitter only to advertise their wares? Same: Sending DM’s with advertisements. You open the Direct message and
you are greeted with advertising. My reaction: immediately UNFOLLOWING. Thanks and nice to meet you…

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9. Never Interacting With Others
If you post only about yourself and never take time to say ‘hi’ or ‘thank-you’ to people, or you never re-tweet or reply to people’s comments, your followers will get upset and are likely to un-follow you. If prospective followers see no engagement, they might not bother to follow you in the first place.  In the process of choosing followers, one can sometimes scroll down their timeline for a whole week
and don’t find a single re-tweet. Or the opposite: you want to re-tweet and cannot find anything the person ever tweeted … only re-tweets of others’ content.

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10. Talk Only to Their Friends
When someone only uses Twitter to chat-surf, others might not wish to follow you, when you are constantly chatting with your friends. Being social is great, but this is too much! Why should I re-tweet what you are talking with your friends? Not interesting for others.

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11. Having No Bio or Real Name
Your name and @name, should be searchable on Twitter. It means people can type you into Twitter’s search engine and find you. Use your own name or try to get the actual name of your small publishing
business on Twitter. Keep it as short as possible, to give tweeps more space to re-tweet your content or to communicate with you.

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12. Not Tweeting Regularly
There are several programs that can analyse which of your followers are totally inactive. JustUnfollow or Tweet Adder for example can identify them. I stop following people if I don’t see any action on their account for 2 months. If you want to keep your followers, be sure to stay active on Twitter. Avoid to barely ever re-tweeting others, or answering them. Twitter is a SOCIAL network, don’t use it as a advertisement board only. Answer or re-tweet others – and they will return the favor.

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13. Tweeting the Same Message Over and Over
Tweeting the same content over and over is a recipe to get un-followed. Why would I follow you if there is never anything new? Same with re-tweeting only other peoples content. If you want to grow your following, show others who YOU are and create your own presence. Stop your continuing posts, varying from three to six subjects, and this for pages and pages… What I found so far: 80% of these are male and/or are introvert writers or “leadership business advisers”.

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14. Broken Links
Click before you tweet – there is nothing that frustrates more than a link to a post or resource that does not work. If the link is broken, no one can re-tweet your message.

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15. Every Tweet is a Sales Tweet
If you do nothing but tweet “Get my book on Amazon” or “Like me on Facebook”, you are considered a spammer, only trying to sell to followers. Talking about your book (only): Buy my book, buy my book, buy my book, buy my book – pretty boring, isn’t it? Aim to send out entertaining, thoughtful, funny content or news, that are interesting for your fellow tweeps. You could for example improve these points:

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16. Not Having at Least 2,000 Followers – or Stuck With 2,000
Some books and blog articles advice to never follow anyone with less than 2,000 followers. Doesn’t sound fair, as everyone has to start somewhere. On the other hand some tweeps click on every name they see on Twitter to reach 2,000 followers very fast – and then stuck. For them, instead to un-follow successive those who do not follow, they just wait it out to get 2,000 people who follow them, in order to continue their growth.
But this can take forever, as no one wants to to follow THEM – and then wait for months or even longer, until they reciprocate – or worse: never do. Un-follow people who haven’t followed you back after a while. This is especially important to avoid “follow limits”. If you have anything like these numbers – you are in trouble: 268 TWEETS – 2000 FOLLOWING – 345 FOLLOWERS

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17. Too Few or Too Much Content
When people on Twitter are following close to 2000 people and they have only tweeted a few times (or sometimes not at all). Without content, those you have followed are unlikely to follow you back. On the other hand, I see people with maybe a few hundred followers, and they are tweeting tens of thousands of times.

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These are just a few of many issues that make it difficult to interact for others on Twitter – or prevents tweeps to click on follow you – and also for you to build social networks and your writer’s platform. To become successful and popular on Twitter do this:

• Pick the right time of day for your tweets
• Leave room for a re-tweet
• Tweet the latest news in your field
• Write a tempting tweet headline
• Choose a short Twitter name
• Don’t make the tweets only about you
• Avoid not being social – or being too social

Follow others, tweet something valuable for others and don’t use Twitter only as a cheap way to advertise!  Create a nice mixture of your own, really interesting tweets and do some re-tweeting. If you want to become popular on Twitter and have your tweets go viral, learn how to use Twitter in a smart and social way, and nurse your relationships – that’s what Twitter is there for. Twitter is a tool that creates relationships and conversation – using it only for “advertising” would be devaluing the system

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It’s this Time of the Year

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Benjamin Franklin said that “nothing is certain but death and taxes.”  It’s that time of the year again when we all must sit down and face the reality of just how much we did or did not earn during the last twelve months. Many writers are not aware of how they should be reporting certain income to get the greatest benefit.  Writers can get away with business tax deductions that ordinary people can’t get away with. Michael N. Marcus wrote a great article and showed samples of “tax avoidance”:
“If you are an author or a journalist, the key to creative tax avoidance is to write about things you like.”

 

• If you like to travel, write about travel, and then deduct the cost of traveling.
• If you like cars, rent some really cool cars, and write about them.
• If you like to eat—and who doesn’t?—go to lots of restaurants, attend cooking schools, stock your pantry, and write about food.

Read his whole blog article here:  It’s Time to Think About Taxes

 

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Writers are presumed to be a professional if their writing made a profit in at least three out of the last five tax years, including the current year. Which means:  Not more than two years of expenses that are higher than the author income. Profits from your writing cannot be used to offset other income for tax purposes, such as a day job or other means of income, if you have more than two years of losses.
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Considerations of Profitability
There are a couple of other considerations that revenue agencies, such as the IRS, are listing, for example:

• Have you made a profit in similar activities in the past? If you have a successful book under your belt — or even a series of articles in paid publications, such as newspapers, magazines or online publications, which can be a predictor that you are a professional writer.
• Do you have the knowledge needed to carry on the activity as a successful business? How much do you know about running that business? Are you running it like a business, keeping records, keeping an eye to profitability? Did you take classes/seminars about the publishing business (e.g. marketing or tax etc.) no matter if online or offline?
• Have you created a professional book marketing and publicity plan? This might even be shown by including affiliate programs on your website/blog. If there are losses, are they due to circumstances beyond your control or did they occur in the start-up phase of the business?

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Expenses You Can Deduct
Always try to pay from a separate account, set up for your writing business, to make book keeping easier. Keep receipts or / make copies of payments to contractors, freelancers and agency fees for book production, such as:

• Proofreading
• Editing
• Illustrations
• Photos
• Graphic Design
• Book Layout
• Printing costs
• eBook Formatting
• Advanced Copy reviews
• Book Trailer Design
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Book Promotion Costs, e.g.:

• Advertisements, online and offline
• Giveaways (free books, review copies, pens etc.)
• Flyers, brochures, business cards, book marks
• Book Fair expenses
• Costs for newsletters (AWeber, MailChimp etc.)
• Entry fee for writing contests
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Other costs, such as:

• Transportation costs (note the dates, distance, reason)
• Rental for book readings
• Office rental or mortgage, heating, electricity for your home office by square feet
• Phone / Internet / e-Reader costs
• Website / blog costs, such as hosting or development
• Office Supplies
• Meal expenses: in the USA full for public events you might host, and 50% if it is for a business purpose (interview, writers conference, meeting with book professionals, publishers, agents etc.)
• Transportation to meetings, events
• Research costs
• Copyright registration and ISBN fees
• Your tax preparer or tax lawyer.
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Keep all your expense slips sorted by date and neatly filed to make it easier to find them
If you pay anyone of the above listed more than a couple of hundred dollars, you would need to include the contract and a form (in the United States it is IRS Form 1099-MISC). Note for each meal/entertainment expense the names, number of people participating and reason for meeting).

Further Reading:
http://www.freelancetaxation.com/deductions-writers
http://www.bus.lsu.edu/accounting/faculty/lcrumbley/tax_aspects.html

Disclaimer: These tips are meant to give general insight into tax information to writers, especially in the USA, and to give you an entry point so you can research further. While every effort was made to ensure the information in this article is accurate at the time it was written, we are not tax experts. Anyone filing taxes should consult a qualified tax prepare r for updated tax laws and further specifics on how these rules might apply to your individual tax situation.

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $159 for 3 months! Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/ to advertise your new book, specials or your KDP Select Free Days.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1.070 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://www.111publishing.com

http://www.e-Book-PR.com/

http://www.international-ebooks.com/

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The Key to a Successful Author Website

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No one will ever know your website exists – unless it is among the top search engine results, showing up on Google’s first page. There are billions of websites on the Internet, and millions more appear every day. So what basic steps can you do to get more traffic to your site?

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New & Updated Quality Content
The most important step is to create constantly new content, new pages or have a blog on your website that offers quality content. This is not only important to be found by search engines, but also a reason for visitors to return regularely to your website. Let your content write by a person who is trained to write for the Internet or learn it yourself. As web visitors don’t really read, but rather scan the pages, it is important to place a summary on top of the article to give them the most important info right away. The first paragraph has to catch the readers eyes. Articles also need to be divided by sub headings and listings.
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Links From and To Other Sites
To move up to the top of the search list, you need to have lots of links from other quality web sites to your page; submit your web pages to various sites that deal with your topic and encourage them to link their readers to you in return of the favor. All your external links should be set to open in a new window, leaving your site still on view.

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Content is More than Text:

• Images
• Audio
• Photos
• Twitter stream;
• Video (embedded from YouTube or Vimeo, or self-hosted)
• Content feeds (from other websites, or from your blog)

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Images
Adding one or more images helps to build visitor’s interest. When adding a picture also make sure to add an ALT tag to the image that describes the picture and has keywords that a search engine is also going to notice. Don’t let your web designer ever add an image without proper naming it! This helps tremendously your Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Instead of having this tag for an image: phpThumb_generated_thumbnailjpg.png – name it: Jon-Jones.png.
Another example: file593730.jpg or DSC_8405037.jpg is not helpful and totally meaningless to search engines who cannot “see” photos. Keywords in the photos name should be separated by hyphens, NOT underscores, and shouldn’t be squeezed into a single word, e.g. Antique-Leica-Camera.jpg.
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Submit Your URL to Search Engines
An important step to get better rankings in Google is to submit your URL to search engines for free. Eventually the search engines will find your site, but submitting will help expedite to the process. It might take up to some weeks until your site is indexed. Factors such as other websites linking to your site can positively affect this time. You do not have to add all of your URL addresses for your entire site, just the homepage address. Posting on Google+ helps a lot too, as every post goes directly into Google’s Search Engines.
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Sharing Plug-Ins
Visitors, who find your website or blog content valuable, can link it with one click to their own Google+, Twitter and Facebook site. They do not need to copy the post manually – and for you it is a great publicity! Your post might even go viral! Make it easy for visitors to share what you have written with their social networks, so that others can discover your content – and forward it to their followers and friends, and these also forward it to their friends and followers …. Get your site more exposure and traffic: an info graphic shows that blogs and websites with a Twitter button, will get 7 times more shares than sites without!
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Contact Buttons
Get more fans and followers for your social media sites on Google+, Twitter, Facebook, and other popular social networks. Follow-Buttons work on your site, blogs, and even newsletters.

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Contact Form
Set up a comments box on your site for visitors to communicate directly with you through email. Ensure your visitors, that their email addresses are only used to respond to messages, and not being sold or used for any other purposes. Don’t place your email address on your site, to avoid getting junk emails. Reply to every e-mail as quick as possible.

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Sales Page
If you are selling your books directly from your site: is it fully secure, from the buyers perspective? Any web pages which require sensitive customer details, need to be fully encrypted. If your web page has no “https” in the address bar, it shows that it is not secure.

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Page Title
Most search engines use the title of your web page when displaying your site in their search results. Therefore, it is always a smart idea to put keywords into the title of each of your pages. However, keep the title short (at most 5 or 6 words), use words that a potential visitor may be searching for, and make the title understandable.

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Avoid Long Pages
When first visiting a web page, most visitors do not scroll down. Keep the important and eye-catching information on the first viewable page. If your page has a lot of information, create bookmark links in the first section so visitors can jump to what interests them. The average view time on a website is only a few seconds, get the visitors attention immediately with a fast-loading page.

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Web Statistics
In a great website planning article Ben Seigel wrote: “Visitor statistics provide insight into how people use your website. Here are a few questions to consider:

• Where are visitors coming from?
• See search engines, direct traffic, ads, links from other websites, etc.
• Where do visitors live? Are they mostly local, regional, national or international?
• How long are visitors staying on the website?
• What is the bounce rate? How many users visit only one page on the website before leaving?

Google Analytics is one of the most commonly used Web statistics apps, and you will find answers to these questions in the high-level data it presents. Other software should provide these answers as well.”

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In an earlier blog post about custom-designed websites you will find a useful checklist for your website considerations.
There are ugly websites on the Internet that get tons of traffic, and there are beautiful designed websites that are barely ever visited. Make sure that you find a web designer who is trained for Search Engine Optimization, and who is able to bring your website over time to the top in your category. Book sales will follow.

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,060 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://www.111publishing.com
http://www.e-Book-PR.com/
http://www.international-ebooks.com/
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Interview with John Pearce, Author of Treasure of St Lazare

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Today’s Interview is with Author John Pearce about writing his highly successful novel Treasure of Saint-Lazare.

John, how would you describe your book to someone who has not yet read it?
Treasure of Saint-Lazare is an international thriller with a strong romantic undercurrent. It’s the story of lost treasure and lost love. Only one of those is found.

Is there a message in your book that you want your readers to grasp?
Treasure isn’t a “message” book, but I hope my readers will watch my protagonist, Eddie Grant, change before their eyes. He, like many of us, must learn to put aside his grief and get on with the business of life.

What inspired you to start writing ?
I’ve been a word person since my days as a journalist in Washington and Germany a good many years ago. Treasure is my second serious effort to write a novel, but the first that stuck. I lived in Germany and wrote for the International Herald Tribune during the last full decade of the Cold War, and I’ve wanted to follow up on that experience by presenting a story as seen by the younger generation of people who were influenced by the Cold War but didn’t actually take part in it.

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How did you get the idea for the novel?
Work and reflection. A lot of my ideas come during my daily four-mile walks. The “what if” idea for this one came that way one day, and then I went looking to see if there were a historical hook I could use. That’s when I found Raphael’s well-known self-portrait, which has been missing since 1945.

Does your book have any underlying theme, message, or moral?
Do the best you can, whatever the situation.

Are your characters based on real people?
I picked up a couple of names from people I know, but otherwise every character in it is totally fictional, or such a broad combination of attributes that they are anonymous.

Who is your favorite character and why?
Just about everybody who’s expressed a preference likes Jen Wetzmuller, the Sarasota art dealer who’s always on the edge of being in trouble. I’m writing the sequel right now, and the more I look at her the more I like her.

Are your plots based on your real-life experiences?
Not in any large way, but I spend a lot of time in Paris and I’ve been everywhere I write about. Of course, I live most of the year in Sarasota.

Give us an excerpted quote from your favorite review of this book:
One of my early and most thoughtful reviews came from Adam Najberg, deputy editor of The Wall Street Journal’s Asia edition. I was really pleased when he wrote, “The best thing is how absolutely readable it is.” Of the 119 reviews I have since publication, there are several of the “I couldn’t put it down” variety, which I also appreciated, and the ones who tell me reading the book is like taking a walk through Paris – that’s the effect I wanted to leave.

How much of the book is based on real life (either yours or someone you know)?
The painting was real. Hans Frank, the brutal Nazi governor-general of Poland, was real (and was hanged at Nuremberg). He did steal the painting, along with others. Outside of that minimal factual framework, it’s fiction. I don’t know of any other real-life event precisely like this (although there are still a lot of paintings and other treasures missing from the war).

Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you have learned as a writer from then to now?
Stay in the chair. Write!
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Considering a book from the first word you write to the moment you see it on a bookstore shelf, what’s your favorite part of the process? What’s your least favorite?
I enjoy coming up with the concepts. I enjoy creating the sentences. I do not particularly enjoy the editing.

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything about your book?
I’d resolve the ending more clearly. Of course, there are several small changes I’d make, but all in all I think it came out the way I intended.

What genre have you not yet written but really want to try?

My sequel, whose working title is “Last Stop: Paris,” will be more of a thriller than Treasure. The third book will be the story of my protagonist’s father as a U.S. military intelligence agent during the war, a sort of third-party memoir. That will keep me busy through 2015, and as of now I don’t know what direction I will go.

What general advice do you have for other writers?
Write. Read many, many books of your own and similar genres, and any book you can find that’s well-written (however you define that). Two good sources for ideas are the podcasts of the New York Times Book Review and the New Yorker Magazine’s fiction department. Their interviews with the reviewers sometimes give a better impression of the quality of the writing than the pages of the newspaper or the magazine.

What is the best part of being a writer?
The feeling of creation.

What’s the most challenging part of being a writer?
Making time for the physical work in the face of all the demands for marketing and research.

Where’s the one place in the world you’d like to visit?
After a lifetime of travel I live in Paris part of every year. This year my wife and I may make another couple of stops in Europe. I’d like to see Hong Kong. I have a book idea on the back burner that might take me to South America, but it’s too early to tell.

What is your favorite novel?

That is tough. I thought “Atonement” by Ian McEwan was one of the strongest novels I’ve ever read, better than its successor “Solar.” Up there with it is “To the End of the Land,” by David Grossman. “The Flamethrowers” by Rachel Kushner and “The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt are two new books I enjoyed immensely. And then, after I read about Ann Patchett’s new book of stories, I read her “Bel Canto.” And that short list omits a lot.

How would a close friend describe you?
Focused, self-contained, friendly most of the time, tech-savvy.

Where can people learn more about your writing?
My blog site JohnPearceAuthor.com is the best place. I’m active on Google Plus and Twitter, less so on Facebook and LinkedIn, although I do show up there.

What is ONE thing that you have done that brought you more readers?
Seek reviewers. I’ve been fortunate to have almost 120 reviews of Treasure of Saint-Lazare. It’s maintained a four-star ranking on Amazon and reached #25 on the historical mysteries best-seller list. The Amazon page, where you can get the paperback and audio-book editions from. Don’t miss the video trailer on YouTube.

Thanks so much John, for taking the time to talk about your book and your life as a writer.

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,060 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://www.111publishing.com
http://www.e-Book-PR.com/
http://www.international-ebooks.com/
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Celebration – and Thanks to All 500,000 Readers

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… in Less Than 3 Years.  501,354 exactly as of today.

Thanks so much to everyone who reads and subscribes to our blog http://SavvyBookWriters.wordpress.com

 

Today is the big day for this blog: The 500,000 reader mark is reached.  What a number!  500,000

Thank you for signing up, thank you for commenting on the blog and through Social Media, and thank you to the guest bloggers on this site!

I couldn’t have imagined this in 2011, when SavvyBookWriters started very slowly.  Sometimes, there where only five or ten blog readers a day, no wonder, as I had no social media presence whatsoever.  And I must admit that English is not my mother language and I often struggle with my writing. But writing every day improved it – I hope.
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Two things helped, and they will help you as an author of books as well:

1. Persistence – don’t give up, even if you have a very slow start
2. Get enough audience, join Google+, Twitter, FB, Goodreads …
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My goal for future blogs is to bring you fresh and valuable information. Take advantage of these free tips on publishing and marketing your books and subscribe, just click on FOLLOW.  As a blogger feel free to re-blog one of the 1,060 articles that you think are useful for your own readers. Yes, and interesting guest blogs are certainly always welcome!

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,060 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://www.111publishing.com
http://www.e-Book-PR.com/
http://www.international-ebooks.com/
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Prestigious Reviews and How to Get Them

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Before you start reading these tips: Be aware that big media reviewers do not even accept 10% of the submissions they receive – and as an independent author you are competing with traditional publishers. However, if you don’t give it a try and query professionally, you will never know.  Book review editors are not the only ones who might accept your books for review, try columnists as well, especially if you write non-fiction. If your book is about an adventurous bike tour in Jamaica, you can send your review submission to both, the travel section editor of a major newspaper or to the sport editor of this publication.

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Always check carefully their submission rules!
Most review sites want hard copies of the book at least 3 months prior to publication. Even if you have planned to publish an e-book, get 30-50 copies printed at a digital printer, at CreateSpace or use any of the new Espresso-Publishing machines that you can find in major cities, but who also deliver via mail or UPS. Having print copies is not only important for reviewers, but also for your book launch or book signings and to sell them to people who prefer print instead of e-books. Other reviewers, especially top book bloggers take books also after their release and more and more accept e-books.
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Create an address database or any kind of list, where you type in the title, name, address, phone/email of the recipient, the date of submission, their guidelines. Never, ever sent your review query “to the editor” or “to whom it may concern…”  Verify that they review your genre of book before you submit. Follow their publication-date deadlines.

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When Should You Send Out Your Review Submission?
January / February for spring and July / August for fall, with less competition from major publishers. Don’t send out your query to arrive at the editors office on a Monday. Time it so, to be there at a Thursday or Friday.
Make sure that you include all your contact info: name, mailing address, website address, phone number, and email address. Use http://about.me to create an appealing info site about yourself and include it in your contact info. Important: Don’t forget the book’s  information: price, ISBN number, number of pages, and genre. Carefully pack your book in airfoil envelopes or boxes. You want them to look professional and brand new when they arrive at the editors office.
Add a media kit, including your biography, high-resolution and professional images, a book trailer link, a blurb, the synopsis of the book and contact information for you in an email.
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Some of the most reputable reviewers

Los Angeles Reviews
Armchair Reviews
ForeWord Reviews
Library Journal
Midwest Book Review
NY Times Reviews
Indie Reader
USA TODAY

Paid Reviews:
Kirkus
Publishers Weekly
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Say Thanks!
Send a thank-you note/email to anyone who reviews your book. They took a long time reading and reviewing your work, writing an article and get back to you,  so take five minutes and write them a thank-you letter!

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,050 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://www.111publishing.com
http://www.e-Book-PR.com/
http://www.international-ebooks.com/
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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5 Tips How to Choose Your Web Name

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Picking the right domain name for a website or blog is an essential step to success. Your domain name is the identifier of your blog or site. Be careful on choosing it. You want readers to find you among millions of other writers, and you want your web site to be on Google’s first page.

For ambitious writers is is almost a “no-brain-er” to use their first and last name or pen name as a domain. Exceptions are the fact that there is already an author with the same name or if the name is very common, and there might be another writer, who has already registered it. It makes no sense to use .net or .org when .com is already taken.  Most people automatically type in .com and land at someone else’s website. Having your website confused with a popular site already owned by someone else is a recipe for disaster. 
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Put Yourself in the Shoes of Your Readers
The next best possibility would be the genre in which you are writing. Which search terms would you use to find a certain book? For example:  CrimeWriter or RomanceWriter, followed by your name / pen name.

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Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.

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Keywords / Phrases
Have 5 terms or phrases in mind that best describe the domain you are seeking. Once you made this list, you can start to add prefixes & suffixes to create domain ideas. For example, if you are launching your author domain, you might start with words like “author, writer, the genre etc.” then play around until you can find a good match.
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Plurals, “The”, and “My” Forms of the Domain Name
If you can’t get the domain name you want, you could use forms like:

• thewebsite.com
• mywebsite.com
• websites.com

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More Tips:

• Make it Easy to Remember
• Keep the Name as Short as Possible
• Avoid Hyphens and Numbers
• Avoid fancy names that do not reflect you or your books

In the modern Internet world, where people automatically turn to the Web for information, it pays to have a domain name that reflects your author site or publishing business.
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More Resources
http://ca.godaddy.com/business/10-tips-for-choosing-the-right-domain-name.aspx
http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/choose-right-website-domain-name-extension-var
http://www.thesitewizard.com/archive/domainname.shtml

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,050 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://www.111publishing.com
http://www.e-Book-PR.com/
http://www.international-ebooks.com/
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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