Top Websites for Writers and Bloggers

Update - 2010

Even though I have this information listed elsewhere on A Blogger's Books, I’ve been planning to share it as a blog post for a very long time. According to my Live Traffic Feed (Feedjit), many of my readers leave via these sites after reading my posts, and I just wanted to give them an additional boost.

Maybe some of these will turn up some great writing tips for you. I’ve added the individual by-lines (if they have one) of sites to help you target your search. Here are the ones most visited by hundreds of readers on A Blogger’s Books in 2009.

• Websites For Writers An independent directory of online writing resources. (I've received quite a number of visits since being listed by them).


• Freelance Writing Jobs


• Brit Writers Find jobs, competitions, support.


• Association of Authors' Agents


• Roget's Thesaurus Find synonyms and antonyms.


• Freelance Market News An essential guide for writers since 1968.


• Writing For The Internet course 


• Poetry Workshop


• How To Write And Publish A Book How to Write a Fiction, Non-Fiction Book, or Novel, find a Publisher or Publishing Option, and Market Your Book for Free. Tips and Expert Advice.


• Freelance Writers Database  This site helps editors find freelance writers of any genre or speciality. The searchable database of writers and freelance journalists is available to everyone.


• Free dictionary


• Online Novels Get yours listed.


• Famous Birthdays


• Finding Free e-Books Your source for free, legal eFiction.


• Poetry Magic Poetry Magic is resource centre for the theory and craft of writing poetry.


• Guardian Books


• Hire a brilliant editor


• Blogger plugins


• Writers Market where and how to sell what you write.


• A Newbie's Guide To Publishing


• Read It, Swap It Bought a book and finished it? Don't know what to do with it? If you've Read It, Swap It!


• Blogger Templates


• Rare book room


• Free Stock Images


• ViperChill


• Lit Match Author Advance

 Let me know if I've missed your site.

My Follow Friday - The Write Worship

I came across The Write Worship some time ago by accident. The striking thing that first impressed me about this blog was the charming and peaceful way in which the writer conveys her thoughts. I follow the blog, not only because it beautifully outlines the path to being published, but because of the way the author demonstrates her talent in weaving the most beautiful phrases and sentences.

 

The Write Worship is a place where writers and readers meet and discuss their love and passion for the creative side of writing. The blog writer, Tamika, also has a tremendously positive way of looking at life and the ways of the world.

The write worship is indeed a place to go when you feel blessed or when you're stuck for inspiration of what to write next. This blog is an all encompassing site to fill your spiritual needs as both a write and a reader. You're guaranteed to come away filled and inspired. 

Blogger Tutorials: Lesson 2 - Blog Posts

So you've started your blog and have been careful to use targeted keywords to write your tag line and describe your site. The next step is to write your charming and entertaining blog post.





How important is your post





It's the nutrient to your site. Your post is what keeps your visitors coming back and paying interest in you and what you write. Think carefully about what you create and who you're creating it for. Read these punctuation lessons and make sure you're at least competent. Interesting and compelling content is marred if it's littered with grammatical and punctuation mistakes. Furthermore, blogging about things that do not hold your interest will eventually seep through your writing and cause your readers to lose interest too. 

• Teach your readers. People surf the Internet to gain information.


• Question them. Always leave them with something to think about.


• Help them. Readers appreciate this.


• Show them something new - a different way of looking at old beliefs.


• Entertain them. People like to laugh.


• Be original. Always add your personality into what you write. 

What do you post





Of course it's your blog, so you have a right to post whatever you want. However, keep in mind all the research you put into naming your blog and resolve to make blog posts about your targeted subject. The only way search engines will offer up your site when people search for terms you cover, is if these phrases can be found intelligently scattered all over your blog.





Try to approach your subject from different directions to satisfy your own curiosity and that of your readers. Use pictures to depict scenes you want to tackle, and make sure your research is backed up by figures and links to validate your claims. Always remember that there are free image sites where you can get pictures to use on your blog, even though most pictures on the Internet are claimed by someone else. Please give credit to the owners of the pictures you use by also including their site link under the image. 

• Intelligent blogging is key.


• Targeted subject matter makes your blog more successful.


• One picture tells a thousand words.


• Don't be a rude blogger by stealing other people's work and images.

Where to find inspiration for blog blog posts





This is the hardest part. Many people lose interest in blogging after they realise that it's not as easy as it sounds. Having an online diary is of no interest to anyone but yourself. However, if you want to have a site buzzing with visitors and comments, you have to dedicate more time than simply rigging up your next shopping list, or a detailed account of what your dog did yesterday. 

I recommend taking inspiration from life for your articles. This is the only way you will have original posts. Having said this (as a person who manages 4 blogs) I realise that one sometimes need visual prompts to get the creative juices flowing. Here are some I've successfully used in the past.





Alexa This is a site that tells you what is popular at the moment. It gives you general or specialised subjects, so you can search for your targeted topics too. If you need a quick blog post idea, have a look at some of these topics. Do your research and write your own point of view. Remember that your blog post has to be your own. The reason why people read your article on your site is because they want to hear your individual take on the matter. Don't use other people's material.





Radio - News and reviews will spark ideas of your own. In addition, other people hearing about those particular events will be searching the web for more information. This is where your research and blog come in. 





Newspapers - Reading always helps us write better. 





TV guides - Search your TV guide for upcoming topics of interest to you and your readers. You may find something inspiring, timetabled to show at the end of the week. Cover it in your blog today so you can catch the traffic when the searches start to flow in at the end of the week.





Part one of this blog tutorial is here.

TweetBrand

Twitter is one of the main social networking sites used by bloggers and site owners to share their work for web traffic. Usually, when you post your updates to Twitter, no matter which of the popular applications you use, the links you share are always giving traffic to someone else - giving back-links to their website.



Unless you’re always posting your own links – in which case, you’re a spammer – you don’t get anything out of the free advertisements you give away to other people.





While it’s great to make friends, maintain your relationship to your online colleagues, and have genuine internet connections with other people in cyberspace, it’s also fantastic to be able to leave some of your own identification with each of the thousands of twitter updates you make every month.





Recently, there’s been the introduction of something called, TweetBrand  In a matter of five minutes you could start branding your tweets with your name, and insert a link back to your own website with every post you make. Isn’t that fabulous? But the best thing is, there's an easy, step-by-step, free guide.



image source for above picture

Top Websites for Writers and Bloggers

Even though I have this information listed elsewhere on A Blogger's Books, I’ve been planning to share it as a blog post for a very long time. According to my Live Traffic Feed (Feedjit), many of my readers leave via these sites after reading my posts, and I just wanted to give them an additional boost.



Maybe some of these will turn up some great writing tips for you. I’ve added the individual by-lines (if they have one) of sites to help you target your search. Here are the ones most visited by hundreds of readers on A Blogger’s Books in 2009.

• Websites For Writers An independent directory of online writing resources. (I've received quite a number of visits since being listed by them).


• Freelance Writing Jobs


• Brit Writers Find jobs, competitions, support.


• Association of Authors' Agents


• Roget's Thesaurus Find synonyms and antonyms.


• Freelance Market News An essential guide for writers since 1968.


• Writing For The Internet course 


• Poetry Workshop


• How To Write And Publish A Book How to Write a Fiction, Non-Fiction Book, or Novel, find a Publisher or Publishing Option, and Market Your Book for Free. Tips and Expert Advice.


• Freelance Writers Database  This site helps editors find freelance writers of any genre or speciality. The searchable database of writers and freelance journalists is available to everyone.


• Free dictionary


• Online Novels Get yours listed.


• Famous Birthdays


• Finding Free e-Books Your source for free, legal eFiction.


• Poetry Magic Poetry Magic is resource centre for the theory and craft of writing poetry.


• Guardian Books


• Hire a brilliant editor


• Blogger plugins


• Writers Market where and how to sell what you write.


• A Newbie's Guide To Publishing


• Read It, Swap It Bought a book and finished it? Don't know what to do with it? If you've Read It, Swap It!


• Blogger Templates


• Rare book room


• Free Stock Images


• ViperChill


• Lit Match Author Advance

 Let me know if I've missed your site.

Quick, Easy Ways to Save Space on Your Computer

I’m vigilant when it comes to making good use of space on my laptop. Nevertheless, with all the material I produce, I often wonder how long it would be before I completely run out of room. Apart from employing network assessment solutions there are several very easy ways anyone without much technical knowledge can save and use their computer space wisely.



• Empty your recycle bin at regular intervals.

• Delete read emails promptly.

• Empty your junk box completely on a daily basis.

• Keep track of pictures you no longer want and remove them.

• Use a removable USB drive to store old images, or those you don’t use very   often.

• Store old folders on removable drives.

• Do regular defragmentation according to manufacturer’s instructions.



As a writer, I’m always creating new material, and storage space can become a problem after a while. I’m always looking for new ways to keep my laptop working in ship shape. Are there other space-saving ways that work well for you?

My Follow Friday - Lulu Blog

Lulu is an online printing/publishing company that publishes novels, calendars, cook-books, picture albums and a number of other print paraphernalia. If you wanted one copy of a personal calendar professionally printed as a gift for someone else, or you required 200 copies of your carefully edited novel, Lulu will print and supply these for you. The print on demand service means that anything from hard copy novels to picture books can be printed at a relatively affordable price.







Even though Lulu is not a personal blog it’s a fantastic resource for writers and publishers. It concentrates on authors’ advancement. Obviously the more a writer/publisher sells, the better it is for Lulu’s status and financial prosperity.





If you’re a writer interested in writing contests, how to market your work, self-publishing advice, or author tips and tricks, log into this blog and have a look at the tags on the front page. There are literally hundreds of advice pages for writers.





Get stuck in!