Thursday, June 5, 2014

Return Repeatedly to Carrie Smith's Blog, The 100 Best Websites For Writers


This is bound to be old news to many of you, but good news to others who have not yet seen The 100 Best Websites For Writers, published by author, Carrie Smith at The Write Life, on January 14, 2014.

Besides, The 100 Best Websites For Writers is definitely a blog post that warrants repeat visits.

In addition to the 100 websites Smith features, much additional and valuable information is provided in the 121 comments, which follow About the Author: Carrie Smith. [scroll down]

Carrie Smith is
"a solopreneur on a mission to help freelancers and solopreneurs design a lifestyle business that earns more money in less time."
 

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

RSS Feed ~ How it Works and What it Can Accomplish


Internet Writing Workshop member, Nichespur, offers additional information about making use of RSS feeds:
"RSS feed is a snippet of computer code that your readers can choose to "subscribe to", which sends them (your readers) a notification, (in your browser and email if that option is selected) that something has changed on your website. Translation: both the author and the reader agree to have a form of spyware installed on their computers. Twitter functions in much the same way. This allows you to attract viewers, and interested parties to keep in touch with what you are doing without having to go back to websites that never change.

Both RSS Feeds and twitter increase the bandwidth your webpage is generating, Increased bandwidth equates to increased importance on the internet so your websites will pop up more often, or nearer the top, in the search engines too.

KDP authors page means a Kindle Direct Publishing website you can develop on the Amazon servers IF you publish eBooks through them.

So who should use RSS feeds? Probably anybody who has a blog that is trying to attract and keep more readers....of the blog that is. Personal experience though, shows me this won't necessarily equal more books sales. Although I must say, Montana Scribbler's blog site explores so many interesting topics, besides writing, that it makes me want to read some of her other writing too. So her blog might actually work as intended. So Good job there Mona and I'm working on my blog contribution too. Write on!"     Nichespur.

You can find the RSS feeds you are connected to between "Favorites" and "History" on your IE Browser.
 

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Are Your Blogs Vulnerable To Hackers?

Can you be hacked through your blog? You bet your sweet booties.

Sarah Corbett Morgan said,
"I was hacked through the scripts of a blog theme. I have a WordPress. org blog and use Bluehost as my webhost. They were incredible at unsnarling the mess, taking me offline, and helping me get my blog back.
"I had backed up the blog, but had I not I would have lost 170 + posts, all the data including tags, comments and media files. A Nightmare."
Sarah went on to explain the details of how you get what you pay for.
"In my estimation Bluehost is well worth the money. By the way, I blogged about the ordeal--I'm a blogger, right? You can read about my recommendations for WordPress security here: "Hackers, Bots, Bluehost, and Me."
Enjoy more of Sarah Corbett Morgan at her blog, where you'll also see her amazing photography. 


Adding Your RSS Brings Worldwide Audiences


Bygone Montanans , an RSS feed to my Kindle Author's Page , was originally published April 12, 2014, and has since made its way into numerous venues, including Facebook and Twitter. The results are increased book sales, plus added traffic to all my websites and blogs, in a [hopefully] never-ending cycle.

How did it happen? Forty five viewers read my announcement about the RSS feed on The North Palouse Washington eNewscast 78 read about it on this website, and 127 read it on Behind These Mountains. From those beginnings a handful found mention on my Access The World and Write Your Way to $$$, and related blogs.

My audience now spans the world, including the United States of course, besides Canada, Poland, Ukraine, China, Spain, Russia, United Kingdom, Germany, and Romania at this one website. Viewers from my other blogs, include France, Hungary, Iran, Ireland and India. How wide will it spread by electronic word-of-mouth? Who know? But you can bet increased Kindle book sales of my Behind These Mountains trilogy will result.

Is adding an RSS feed to your websites and author's sites in your marketing plan? If not, it's time you took steps to do so.

When you add a blog feed to your Kindle Direct Publishing [KDP] Author's Page you are linking to a blog you've created elsewhere. To learn more, and how to do it, visit see the Managing Blog Feeds Help page for instructions on adding your feed address in Author Central.

Whenever you update your blog, the blog teasers that appear on the Author Page on Amazon.com update automatically, within 24 hours of being posted on your blog.

If you still need help, use the KDP contact form. My request for KDP assistance was answered promptly when I checked, Topic: My Blog Feeds - I need general help; Question/Feedback: and submitted the following, along with my email address:
"I created a blog, http://bygonemontanans.blogspot.com/
Now I need to know how to make it a blog "feed" so I can connect it to my Author's page."
In addition to emailing me detailed instructions, the courteous and helpful KDP contact linked my blog for me!
 
You can learn more about RSS feeds here.