Blog: Mel's Muse

Showing posts categorised as 'Blogging'

The Elevator Pitch: What Defines What & Why You Write?

In my last blog post, What Makes A Writer Write,  I mentioned the World Book Night event at Stoke Lodge, in Devon.  Invited to speak, briefly, to an audience of forty-plus about my own writing career, I began by saying that someone had asked me, ‘What is an elevator pitch?’ ...

Posted at 01:48am on 3rd May 2016

Could I Really Be An Author?

Self-published novels and indie authors abound these days.  In another guest blog - while I am in the throes of moving house - I invite you to take a look at how one new writer launched his debut novel in an innovative way, and began to realise that he is,...
Posted at 09:02am on 26th June 2012

The Reality Of Being An Author: Marketing

Last month, I wrote about a reader of my website, Skye, who had written to me for advice about her first self-published novel.  Her initial question was simply one of discouragement.  I say "simply", but there's nothing simple about the sense of isolation one can feel as an author.  And...

Posted at 08:15am on 3rd December 2011

Do Recycled Articles Increase Traffic To Website?

Is your blog green? In an era when we’re being urged to recycle – well, pretty well anything, really – how do you recycle your blog articles? Do you, in fact, do so? Or are they, once you’ve written them, the equivalent of being un-biodegradable, as far as you’re concerned?

RECYCLED ARTICLES HAMMER HOME YOUR...
Posted at 15:19pm on 30th July 2010

Blogging Simplified: The What, Who, Why & How?

What follows is based on a talk I gave to my Writers' Group, to encourage them to be brave and try a new form of writing. ;)

WHAT is a blog?

The word comes from an abbreviation of weblog, and began as a form of online journaling.

WHO can blog?

Well, anyone, of course! Social media...

Posted at 17:49pm on 5th June 2010

A Personality Test: Can It Define Blog Brand, Niche & Writing Content?

Does it ever occur to you that who you are might define not only your blog brand and niche, but also the content and style of your writing? One of my readers wrote to me recently and, as part of her e-mail, made the following statements:

Just did the personality test on your website...
Posted at 18:30pm on 13th May 2010

Blogging: Does Adding Your Credentials Add Or Subtract Followers?

Do you ever feel that the more you know, the more you know you don’t know? I, for instance, didn’t know until I wrote that sentence that The More You Know was the title of public service announcements in the USA! Googling the phrase – as you do – brought up the following YouTube...

Posted at 18:13pm on 18th October 2009

How To Blog To Sell When Writing And Publishing A Book

You’re an author and you have a book to sell. Selling in bookshops is one thing; selling online another. You have a question: which is superior, social media or search engines when it comes to promoting your work?

In my last blog post I concluded that, as a reader or researcher, I prefer the latter....

Posted at 17:37pm on 15th October 2009

Writing And Publishing: Online Marketing

I wrote, last week, about the futility of relying solely on book publishing houses to promote your new novel, and the need to think in terms of self-promotion. Publishing a novel is not an end in itself (you want people to read it!) and, sooner or later, the process of creative writing has to be...

Posted at 11:02am on 12th October 2009

Know Your Market, Know Your Reader, When Writing An Article

Part 3 of 6 in a Series on Article Writing

Whatever you read about the secrets of article writing, one of the first pieces of advice you’ll be given will be to Know Your Market. In blogging terms that means knowing your Brand – as I alluded to in a previous post (see below). But...

Posted at 14:20pm on 20th May 2009

Do Niche Blogs Attract More Readers & Subscribers Than A Scatter-gun Approach?

Have you ever thought about what makes the best blogging sites so attractive, and why you subscribe to some and not to others? Yes, I asked a similar question in a previous post titled Six Blogging Styles: Which Approach Turns You On? but, today, I want to take that further. The issues I’m raising...

Posted at 20:05pm on 1st May 2009

Blogging For Beginners: The Use Of Keywords

21st December, 2009 - This article has been revised, and may now be reproduced, subject to the conditions shown below.

Blogging as a means of driving traffic to your website is a well-documented fact. I’ve written in Essential Blogging Advice For Beginners about the need for beguiling blog branding, tantalising titles, and compelling content for your...

Posted at 17:16pm on 20th April 2009

Six Blogging Styles: Which Approach Turns You On?

Do you write and own a blog? Or are you simply a reader of blogs? If so, what sort of blog most turns you on? What makes you want to subscribe to regular updates? And what urges you to leave a comment?

I’m not asking you to describe the niche for which you’re writing, nor...

Posted at 14:43pm on 23rd March 2009

A Passive Voice In Writing A Blog Has Its Place

I began this article by titling it: There’s A Place For Passive Voice In Writing A Blog – then immediately realised that it was totally contra to what I was about to say in the body of the article! You see! Even when you’ve been at it a while, you still err, because to...

Posted at 13:56pm on 3rd February 2009

Bring Words Of Hope - By Blogging

Revised 26th November, 2009

The article that follows was written in August 2008 when I had been blogging for little more than three weeks. For reasons which I’ll explain later (see below) I thought it worth adding to. But first, the article as it was:

A RAY OF HOPE FOR A PERFECTIONIST

Please bear with me. I’ve been...

Posted at 18:16pm on 7th August 2008

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BBC Radio Devon Interview

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