Thursday, September 30, 2010

My Follow Friday - Success Demands Action



A Blogger's Books runs a very popular Follow Friday - blog style. Generally, writing and publishing blogs are featured in this section because this is - after all - a writing and books blog. Now and then, however, Follow Fridays picks out blogs from other genres that stand out from the crowd.



Success Demands Action - Your Self Improvement Blog is one such site. In their own words they're a 'Self Improvement blog, [supplying] unique tools, informative articles, inspirational quotes, [and] motivational videos. [They also store a wealth of insight] from some of the greatest motivators of all time!'

My initial attraction to this site was quite casual. I also run a self-improvement blog and I suppose, inevitably, our paths were meant to cross at some point. I quickly became engrossed with the material and fantastic advice offered on the blog. Posts are well-written and original. Tips and advice are all given with authority and a generous measure of professionalism.





I was very impressed by the number of articles on the site. Many blogs in this niche are very limited in the quantity (and quality) of posts they produce. This one is lacking in neither. I recommend a visit to Success Demands Action. I'm sure you too will find something to suit your needs!



Monday, September 20, 2010

Writing Opportunities - Update

Don't forget that A Blogger's Books brings you a comprehensive page of writing opportunities advertised in most English speaking countries. I've just updated the page so get your writing submissions socks on.



I've found, among other things, a very impressive poetry site that pays $10.00 per line for your poetry. In the mix, I've also included a magazine which pays £200.00 for your photo submissions, not a bad job if you can get it!  Fancy writing verses for greeting cards? There's a site for you too.



Click on the writing submissions link and choose which one you'll write for today. Don't forget, if you find this writing opportunities update useful, I'd appreciate it if you submit this current page to any of the social networking sites below or to one of your favourite ones.



Good luck with your submissions!





Friday, September 17, 2010

Blogger's Got New Features!

If you're a Blogger user you'll be pleased to know they're steadily improving the service to make it easy and quicker to use.

There are already several free gadgets on offer. I've personally hand-picked the top gadgets,  fun gadgets  and free gadgets to increase page views  in these articles.



Now Blogger has added stats, and an interesting Twitter feature. Firstly, lets deal with the stats.  Formally Blogger users were worse off than Wordpress bloggers when it came to statistics. Many of us made use of the magnificent service Alexa or Google Analytics provide. At last we can access very detailed blog statistics straight from our Blogger dashboard.



  • Click on 'dashboard.

  • Under each of your blogs' names you'll see: New Post, – Edit Posts – Comments – Settings – Design – Monetize – Stats

  • Click on Stats and be amazed.

Your stats are grouped into three main headings; Overview, Posts, Traffic Source, Audience.


Post
Clicking on Post gives you a listing of all your popular posts from the most to the least viewed. You can choose to group these by day, week, month, or all-time by clicking on the boxes at the top of the page. Knowing what posts are popular helps you to plan future articles based around the same topic. This will help your blog to climb higher in Google searches because it will count heavily for one (or two) related subjects, which give potential visitors a more comprehensive answer to their search queries.


Traffic source
Clicking on Traffic source will show you three different lists. The first one tells you which urls brings the most traffic to your site (for the day, month, week or all-time). 
The second shows you which sites refer most traffic to your blog (again, you can choose whether you want to see it by day, week, month or all-time).
The last list tells you which key words brought most search engine traffic. These are all incredibly useful to a regular blogger. If you know which social networking sites send the most traffic to your blog, you'll be able to make an informed decision when determining how much time you spend where, and what to focus on.


Audience
This is self explanatory. Your audience (pageviews by countries) is listed here.


Twitter Feature


Do you often get a bit frustrated by having too many characters when trying to share on Twitter? Not many people know how to use the Twitter url shortener. Sharing from Blogger has always been a bit annoying because apart from the url, almost nothing else could fit in the new-update boxes. 
Well, not anymore! To make use of this new Blogger url shortener when sharing your new posts on twitter, here is what you do.
  • Click on the name of the individual post you want to share. This is important. If you're on your blog's home page this is the url which will be captured and not the new post's.

  • On the very top of your page is your Blogger nav bar. On the left you should see this:

                                    Follow, Share, Report Abuse, Next Blog


Click on Share and choose Twitter from the tool box which appears. Blogger shortens your url automatically and there's even space left to write a short message too! 
Here's some more about your Blogger navbar and information about what else it does.


Thursday, September 9, 2010

Top Selling Amazon Books You Must Read This Autumn





The autumn brings with it cold, dark evenings; perfect for snuggling up in bed (or on the couch) with a good book. Many people read books in the summer holidays, but I find reading a bit of a drag when the sun is up and I frankly, have much better things to do. I keep most of my reading time for the colder months, and they're now approaching fast.  Here is a short list of books you can get stuck into, whether you prefer hard copy or the kindle (or iPod) download variety. These all have splendid reviews on Amazon from satisfied readers. Have a look and see which one best suits your mood. I've included part of Amazon's review for each. Click on the links if you need more information.





Hide In Plain Sight







Andrea Hampton is used to the safety and security of her big city job. However, nothing will keep her from running back to her sister's side after Rachel is involved in a horrific accident. But helping Rachel and her grandmother open up a bed and breakfast? Ridiculous...and yet that is the position she finds herself in. Carpenter Cal Burke seems willing to help. Just what is going on with this rash of accidents plaguing the inn and its owners?



110 reviews 

31 gave it a 5-stars rating







Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games)











Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she’s made it out of the bloody arena alive, she’s still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what’s worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss’s family, not her friends, not the people of District 12.

493 customer reviews

218 gave it a 5-stars rating













Somewhere To Belong (Daughters of Amana, Book 1)











Johanna Ilg has lived her entire life in Main Amana, one of the seven villages inhabited by devout Christians who believe in cooperative living, a simple lifestyle, and faithful service to God. Although she's always longed to see the outside world, Johanna believes her future is rooted in the community. But when she learns a troubling secret, the world she thought she knew is shattered and she is forced to make difficult choices about a new life and the man she left behind.

57 customer reviews

22 gave it a 5-stars rating









Beneath the Clouds and Coconut Leaves







Extremism, now more widely termed, terrorism, is on the lips of every human being and on the front pages of the world s newspapers every day. But we still long for love and love still thrives. This poetic novel by Moncy Pothen plunges us directly into the forests and paddy fields of Kerala, India from the 1960s to the 1980s, describes the delicate and heartfelt awakening of love in two lives, and has roots in ancient Indian tradition. Can you forgive a terrorist, if he has participated in the murder of your own father? Like the heroine, Ahalya, we live in complicated times, where black and white give way to shades of gray, and in Beneath the Clouds and Coconut Leaves, we hold our breath to witness which will win the battle, love or hate?



5 customer reviews

5 gave it a 5-stars rating





The Shopkeeper











In 1879, Steve Dancy sells his New York shop and ventures west to explore and write a journal about his adventures. Though he's not looking for trouble, Dancy's infatuation with another man's wife soon embroils him in a deadly feud with Sean Washburn, a Nevada silver baron.

Infuriated by the outrages of two hired thugs, the shopkeeper kills both men in an impulsive street fight. Dancy believes this barbarian act has closed the episode. He is wrong. He has interfered with Washburn's ambitions, and this is something the mining tycoon will not allow.

39 customer reviews

27 gave it a 5 star rating






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