Writers On The Move

4 Social Media Marketing Tips To Being More Productive

By Karen Cioffi

There are certain strategies that social media marketers use to make their efforts effective. It’s not enough to simply publish your blog posts to the social channels. You need to have a plan. You need to work the system.

1. Number one is a give-in: you need to know your audience and cater to them.

This goes for any form of marketing – you need to know who your audience is and what they need or want.

It’s pointless to send messages to the technology industry when your platform is on health writing.

It’s pointless to send in-depth SEO marketing posts to an audience that’s just getting their feet wet in the marketing arena.

It’s pointless to send ‘how to find a mate’ posts to an audience who wants to learn marketing strategies.

You get the idea.

Your platform needs to be focused on what your target audience wants.

Along with this, the Social Media Examiner post points out that your audience’s needs may change. You need to keep current on all things pertaining to your industry / niche and with the changing needs of your audience. Keep ahead of the game and help your audience do the same.

Let your audience know you’re the ‘go to’ person in your niche.

I do lots of research to come up with helpful posts for my readers. I also share helpful posts I come across in that research. If you think an article you’re reading will benefit your audience, share it.

2. Build relationships.

Marketing on social networks isn’t just about ‘hit and runs.’ You shouldn’t just post your content and run. You need to build ‘meaningful’ relationships with customers, other businesses, and anyone else within your business realm.

To build these relationships, you’ll need to offer helpful information that is actually useable. You want to inform, teach, and help those in your network.

Along with this, you need to engage with other users. Share the posts of others. Help promote a product or service you know to be helpful. Take the initiative to help others in your networks.

I spend around 30 minutes each day to schedule my posts, share the posts of others, and to engage with others in my social network sphere.

Social Media Examiner says to, “be a giver as you interact” with your audience. “Offer your time, resources, knowledge, encouragement or support.”

This helps build relationships.

3. Making money also needs to be a factor.

While you should earnestly want to help those in your audience, it’s also important to spend your time fruitfully.

Not many can selflessly spend time helping others. Businesses need to make money to survive.

To keep this in the forefront of your social media marketing strategy, promote what you’re selling. Whether it’s a product, a service, a workshop, a presentation, include it in your social media postings.

Now, to do this, you need to upload lots more helpful information compared to promotional content. A standard ratio is 85% useable content to 15% promotion. You might even lean more toward 90/10.

You don’t want your audience to feel you’re using them for your own gains. Give lots and lots of quality information. Be helpful.

At one point, I posted around 12 to 15 posts of my own posts to Twitter each day. I also share posts of others that I come across in research. In addition, I Retweet and Favorite other users’ Tweets.

I would share 10 to 15 posts of others each day in addition to my own. This is being active and engaging. My connections know I offer valuable information on a regular basis.

This allows me to promote what I’m offering without seeming overly promotional.

Due to a very heavy work load, I’ve had to reduce the number of posts per day, but I am still consistant.

4. Monitor your results.

This is a must for all your marketing strategies. If you don’t monitor what you’re doing, you’ll never know what’s working and what’s not.

Monitoring your results is time well spent. Don’t forego this step.

Even if you don’t want to spend hours on analytics, you can simple monitor your website traffic and its sources. And, you can easily see if you’re getting sales from your efforts.

If you’re not seeing the results you need, change course. Try another strategy.

To read the article at Social Media Examiner, click the link:
6 Habits of Social Media Marketers

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning author, ghostwriter, and author/writer online platform instructor. Get must-know writing and marketing tips at http://thewritingworld.com.

And, check out Karen’s e-classes through WOW! Women on Writing:
http://www.articlewritingdoctor.com/content-marketing-tools/

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5 Ways to Use Video for Promotion

Most writers are shy. They prefer to be behind the computer screen, not on it. (Full disclosure: I am not one of those people.)

Video is, however, one of the best ways to promote yourself as a writer ... or really as any business professional. You know how important it is to have a picture of yourself on your website so your audience get a sense of who you are? That connection strengthens manifold when that picture comes to life.

Filming is also relatively easy, since most people have a camera - in their mobile phone - at an arm's reach at all times.

Here are 5 simple things you can create on video to promote yourself. And, yes, you can be off-screen for some of them. Even if you are uncomfortable on camera, you can still use videos to stand out in the social media news feed.

1. Create a Book Trailer. There are wonderful online tools, such as Adobe Spark and Animoto, where you can use images and audio to create a video to promote your book. The best thing about these tools is they have templates, so you can upload pics, add text and music, preview, and publish. Then share your trailer on your website or blog, add it to your LinkedIn profile and Amazon author page, and more.

2. Do a Quick Live-Video Stream. Between Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Periscope, and Live Streaming on Instagram, you can broadcast whenever and wherever you want on a variety of social networks. Feeling inspired? Jump on-air, share something, and jump off. (I recently recorded a quick live video to promote the fact that my event host planned to live-stream my entire workshop. See tip #4.)

3. Plan a Live Video Event. Create a virtual event, such as a book launch. Then, invite your friends and fans to watch, and interact with them. Ask questions, hold little contests, make it fun. Maybe even read an excerpt from your book. Since live-streaming is no longer solely mobile, you can easily set up your camera, watch for comments, and respond in real-time.

4. Record a Workshop. In January I gave a goal-setting workshop at the LAX Coworking Space. When I arrived, they asked if it was okay to live stream. I was thrilled. Not only could those unable to attend watch live, I now have a great example of my workshop embedded on my speaking page for potential future gigs.

5. Give a Quick Tip or Several. Set an appointment with yourself every week or so to record a few short videos. Offer quick insights or easy tips that showcase your expertise either in your genre or field. If you prefer not to be on camera, showcase images and record voice-over with your tips. This enables you to show people you know your area of expertise through content you create for your blog and social media channels.

Video may seem scary, but - like writing - it gets easier the more you do it. Plus, it helps you to better connect with your current and potential audience, which is a great thing for any business.

What do you think? Have you promoted yourself via video? What sort of videos did you create? How did it go? Please share your experience in the comments.

* * *

Debra Eckerling is a writer, editor and project catalyst, as well as founder of Guided Goals and Write On Online, a live and online writers’ support group.

She is author of Write On Blogging: 51 Tips to Create, Write & Promote Your Blog and Purple Pencil Adventures: Writing Prompts for Kids of All Ages and host of the Guided Goals Podcast.

Debra is an editor at Social Media Examiner and a speaker/moderator on the subjects of writing, networking, goal-setting, and social media.

Advice from Writers at the Glendale Chocolate Affair

Last weekend was the annual Chocolate Affair in Glendale, Arizona. As part of the celebration, romance writers sign books and give classes about various aspects of the craft and business of writing.

I attend the writer's classes whenever I can, and this year I've compiled my favorite tips from the various sessions I attended.

From Mona Hodgson:

Use description only when it serves a purpose in the story. It must advance the plot or make the characters and scene more vivid. If it's distracting from the character and what he or she is doing, cut it.

From Pamela Tracy:

Be a literal storyteller. Tell people about your novels. When you're telling them the story you're currently working on, watch to see if their eyes light up. If they don't, you might need to change something. If they ask questions, pay attention.

From K.T. Roberts:

If you're writing a crime/police drama, don't be afraid to call your local police station, explain that you're a writer, and ask if there's someone you can talk to. More than likely, you'll find someone happy to tell you about themselves and their job. Don't think you aren't important enough to make the first call.

From Vijaja Schartz:

Don't write linking scenes just to write them. If you do, they'll be boring. Skip all the boring scenes.

Melinda Brasher's next book comes out soon! Cruising Alaska on a Budget is a guide for people who think cruising is only for the rich and famous, for those who dream of experiencing the majesty of Alaska for the first time, and for confirmed Alaska lovers who want to save money on their next trip. If this is you, sign up for the mailing list here. Visit Melinda online at http://www.melindabrasher.com.

The Social Media Marketing Smorgasborg

How to Navigate It

By Karen Cioffi

I read a great article by Jeff Bullas and it made me realize that those just entering the online marketing arena, specifically the social media marketing arena, can feel like they’ve been hit by a bulldozer.

There are lots and lots of social networks available for your use whether you’re a marketer, author, or writer. The most popular ones include:

•    Facebook
•    LinkedIn
•   Twitter
•    Pinterest
•    Instagram
•   YouTube
•   Snapchat

This is not a complete list and keep in mind that you don’t’ have to use them all. In fact, that would be a mistake.

So, how do you navigate the social network smorgasbord?

1. The first step, and most important, is to decide which networks you should work.

You’ll need to know who your target market is for this one. Research the various networks and determine which sites your audience frequents.

I’ve written about this before, pick around five or six networks to broaden your visibility reach, but choose one or two of those to actually work.

Working a network means to focus on that network. Post to it every day (you should post multiple times a day) and engage with other users.

2. Determine what type of content to use.

In particular, determine what type of information your audience needs to help them move forward in their endeavors.

This step encompasses being helpful to your audience. Become the person who creates and shares useable content and engaging content.

This will help create trust and conversion (getting the person to take a desired action, say signing up for your mailing list).

3. Put it into action.

Start sharing your content to your chosen networks. And, become active on the one or two networks you will be working.

To be active or work a network, you will:

- Share your own content
- Share the content of others
- Engage with others (reply to messages or shares from others; share the content of other users; start a discussion; post relevant video; and so on)
- Monitor your efforts

4. To ease the social media marketing time element, look into automation.

Automation allows you to preschedule posts and it allows you to have your new blog posts shared automatically, among other features.

The service / tool I use is Buffer.com.

An article over at RazorSocial.com, lists the top tools and their features. It’s worth the read: Social Media Automation.

Choose one that will work for you and that fits your budget – some tools are free.

These four tips should help you ease into social media marketing.

To read Jeff Bullas’ article on this topic, go to:
5 Key Steps to Mastering the SMM Landscape

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning author, ghostwriter, and author/writer online platform instructor.

You can check out Karen’s e-classes through WOW! Women on Writing: https://thewritingworld.com/your-author-platform/

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Two Ways to Format your Manuscript

Properly formatting my MG mystery book loomed in the background during editing. The reckoning day arrived. Thanks to children's author Margot Finke I knew who to call upon: the formatting service at Golden Box Books Publishing Services. Margot sang the praises of Golden Box author Erika M. Szabo, who did the formatting for her young teen fantasy, Daisy and Bartholomew Q. She said, "I couldn't be happier with the results. [Erika] also educated me in the ways of correct formatting." Among Erika's many talents: a multi-genre author, Publishing Coach and illustrator.

I fully intended to contact Erika to help me with my formatting needs but decided to Google the subject: "How to format a fiction book," to see what would happen. I clicked on a tutorial by Jill Williamson, an author for adults, teens, kids, and some for the whole family, which she uploaded onto YouTube. I decided to try it.

By splitting my screen with Jill's tutorial and my ms, I went through the steps she explained by pausing, executing, pausing. It took several views to fully understand how to do it all. The biggest
glitch was doing the page numbering right, which Jill warned is tricky. At the end of the video, she invited viewers to visit her website for a more in-depth description. I found the information under, "for writers: jill's writing and publishing tutorials," and after some trial and error, solved the problem. I am proud of how my ms looks now and feel confident it is correct.

It's been an inspiration to discover both of these terrific authors and their websites, chock full of helpful information for writers.

Golden Box Books offers help in every aspect of self-publishing. Check it out!
Check out Jill Williamson's video, "How to Format a Fiction Manuscript," on YouTube, and Jill's website. You'll be glad you did.

I will call on both of these resources again. The information offered is far-reaching and relevant in today's market. You will find many areas of expertise. My challenge to you? Go for it!
Illustration: https://openclipart.org/detail/121249/puzzle

Linda Wilson, a former elementary teacher and ICL graduate, has published over 100 articles for adults and children, and six short stories for children. Recently, she completed Joyce Sweeney's online fiction courses, picture book course and mystery and suspense course. She has currently finished her first book, a mystery/ghost story for 7-11 year-olds, and is in the process of publishing it and moving on to new writing projects. Follow Linda on Facebook.

For Success, Every Writer Needs to Develop Habits

By W. Terry Whalin

As a writer, do you have habits? I'm a creature of a series of habits which I've developed over my years in this business. For example, I begin each day spending time reading the Bible. It's a pattern that I've done for many years.

Each year I select a different version of the Bible to read throughout the year. This year I'm reading Eugene Peterson's The Daily Message. It's part of my spiritual habit that feeds into my life as a writer and editor. Your habit for meditation may be different but I encourage you to have some sort of meditation to begin your day.

Besides spiritual habits, I have habits with Twitter. In past entries, I've detailed how each day I'm using tools (mostly free) to grow my presence in the market and community—and also increase my presence on social media. These habits do not take much time but have consistently grown my presence—so they will be something I will continue in the days ahead.

I have a number of other habits in my life—consistent practices and actions. During the last year, I've stepped up my consumption of books by listening to more audio books through Overdrive. Recently I completed listening to the audio book of The Power of Habit by Charles Dihigg. The book explains the science and practical nature of habits including how we form new habits and replace old ones. I found the stories fascinating and informative. Until listening to this book, I didn't know about the history of the creation of toothpaste and how brushing teeth became a habit. If you want to learn about this important aspect of life, I recommend you track down this book through your library (Overdrive like I did) or purchase a copy and read it, then apply it to your own life.

Another resource on habits that I recently read is Millionaire Success Habits by Dean Graziosi. I enjoyed the book and learned a great deal from it. Apart from the book Graziosi has created The Better Life Challenge where in 30 days you can transform your life in as little as three minutes. This resources is FREE and you don't have to read the book—but simply take action every day for 30 days. Just use this link to learn more details and sign up to learn through this tool.

The writing life is much more of a marathon than a sprint. I often meet writers who believe that one book or one action will propel them to bestseller status. Sadly this belief is a publishing myth. Repeatedly I hear about writers who are called an “overnight” success because they've suddenly sold a lot of books. Yet when you look into the details, you will normally discover this author has been in the trenches faithfully working for years to achieve such a position.

What skills or habits do you want to develop in the months ahead? Are you taking consistent action to gain the knowledge and insights you need to get there? Tell me about your plans in the comment below and if I can help you, let me know.

Tweetable:

Are you developing writer habits? Check out these resources. (ClickToTweet)
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W. Terry Whalin is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He is the author of more than 60 books including Book Proposals That Sell, 21 Secrets to Speed Your Success. Terry has almost 200,000 twitter followers and lives in Colorado.

Think Your Way to Writing Success with Daily Affirmations

"What you think, you become" is attributed to Buddha.

Then there's Mahatma Gandhi's saying:

“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”

Whichever you choose, bottom line is we have control over what we become or accomplish through our thoughts.

Below Jack Canfield shows how to use daily affirmations to change your thought process and achieve success, including writing success.

The Reason You Need to Practice Daily Affirmations

By Jack Canfield

Successful people, from top salespeople and entrepreneurs to bestselling authors and Olympic athletes, have figured out that using willpower to power their success isn’t enough.

You need to let go of any and all negative thoughts and images and bombard your subconscious mind with new thoughts and images that are positive and stated in the present tense.

How do you do this?

The technique you use to do this is called daily affirmations, which is simply a statement that describes a goal in its already completed state.

Two examples of affirmations would be:

I am joyfully walking across the stage as I receive my MBA degree from Wharton.
I am so happy and grateful that I am now crossing the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

In addition to all of the feedback I have received from hundreds of thousands of students from around the world about the effectiveness of their using daily affirmations, there’s now new academic research that shows in high-stress level environments those who do daily affirmations have lower stress levels and more success than those who don’t.

Discover how you can use affirmations to re-create your self-image, replace your limiting beliefs, and achieve success in my Daily Affirmations for Success Guide.

What are Daily Affirmations?

Daily affirmations are to the mind what exercise is to the body.

Repeating daily affirmations helps to reprogram the unconscious mind for success.

It helps eliminate negative and limiting beliefs and transforms your comfort zone from a limited one keeping you trapped in mediocrity to a more expanded one where anything is possible. It helps to replace your “I cant’s” with “I cans,” and your fears and doubts with confidence and certainty.

How Daily Affirmations Keep You Focused

- Daily affirmations are reminders to your unconscious mind to stay focused on your goals and to come up with solutions to challenges and obstacles that might get in the way.

- Daily affirmations also can create higher vibrations of happiness, joy, appreciation, and gratitude that then, through the law of attraction, magnetize people, resources, and opportunities to come to you to help you achieve your goals.

Whether you know it or not, you are always using affirmations… but usually not ones that will bring you what you want.

These are things like:

•    "Everything I eat goes straight to my hips."
•    "I am never going to meet somebody I can love."
•    "I never catch a break."
•    "No matter what I do, I never seem to get ahead."

How to Create Daily Affirmations

The use of daily positive affirmations interrupts and eventually totally replaces this barrage of negative thoughts and beliefs. To achieve this, you must continually flood your unconscious with thoughts and images of the new reality you wish to create.

I am going to share with you two sets of guidelines for creating powerful daily affirmations that work—the long form and the short form.

Here are the eight guidelines for creating effective daily affirmations. You may want to write these down. They are also in my book The Success Principles.

1.    Start with the words "I am." These are the two most powerful words in the English language.
2.    Use the present tense.
3.    State it in the positive. Affirm what you want, not what you don’t want.
4.    Keep it brief.
5.    Make it specific.
6.    Include an action word ending with –ing.
7.    Include at least one dynamic emotion or feeling word.
8.    Make affirmations for yourself, not others.

Daily Affirmations Examples

Here’s an example of an affirmation following these guidelines:

I am joyfully driving my new red Porsche Carrera convertible down the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.

Or if you are more ecologically minded, you can make that a new Tesla.

You can use the following simple formula: I am so happy and grateful that I am now ... and then fill in the blank.

Some examples would be:

- I am so happy and grateful that I am now earning $150,000 a year.
- I am so happy and grateful that I am now celebrating having achieved my ideal weight of 140 pounds.

One of my most famous affirmations is:

I am enjoying living in my beautiful beachfront villa on the Ka’anapali coast of Maui or somewhere better.

I started writing that affirmation in 1989 and in 2011 – that’s right, 22 years later, I had something better!

Make sure to take 5 to 10 minutes every day to repeat your affirmations – preferably out loud with high energy and enthusiasm. The best times are early morning and right before you go to bed.

Create New Daily Positive Affirmations for Yourself

Write down 3 affirmations for yourself that affirm you having already achieved 3 of your goals and dreams. Then, write down the time of day that you will commit to practicing your affirmations. Is it when you wake up in the morning? Before you go to sleep? Or mid-day when you need a pick-me-up?

And to hold yourself accountable, go ahead and leave a comment below with your chosen time of day. I’ll follow up with you to make sure you’re staying on track!

Jack Canfield, America's #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul® and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

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Finding a Critique Group

It is the first month of the New Year and for writers that usually means new projects, new goals, new and better ideas floating around in your head. It also means evaluating what worked last year and what needs to be changed. A renewal of your commitment to becoming more successful as a writer may include finding a critique group for that second eye at your work.

If you don't currently have a critique group you may be wondering if you need one and if you do decide it might be a benefit, how do you find the right one? Here are some tips for helping you figure out if a critique group is right for you and finding the perfect members to make it work.

A critique group should be a benefit to you and in turn you must be a benefit to the others.

keep it simple
keep the group small
develop a trust within the group so that criticisms are not taken personally
don't let it distract you from your real goal of writing

That being said, how do you find your group or as some writers call it, your tribe?

Start with deciding what kind of group you want, online or in person. If you want to be part of an online group you can find your members from writing sites, online classes you have taken, through your current social media writing friends you already know or by asking and being recommended by other writers you are familiar with. Joining writer associations or other membership sites related to your genre can open up many opportunities to find a critique group in your area of interest online.

If an in person group would benefit you more, check with your local library for any local writers that might also be interested. Local papers might also offer articles on other local authors or even list support/critique groups for writers in your community asking for members.

Keep in mind that a critique group should offer you critical points that advance your story but should not demean you in a personal way. That's where the trust factor comes in. You must always trust that members are not tearing you down to make their writing feel better but are giving points to improve and lead you to more success. You in return must be the same type of critique partner.

What other tips do you have for those seeking a critique group, and any thoughts on how and why a critique group has helped you can be shared in the comments. Here is to a successful 2017.

How Often Should You Be Blogging

Since I'm a writing coach and I often help clients learn how to use a blog to build their brand and their business and/or writing careers, many of my clients want to know how often they have to blog.

Do you wonder the same thing?

Well, if you feel like you HAVE to blog, you probably shouldn’t be blogging in the first place!

Blogging should be for someone who can’t WAIT to wake up in the morning and share more information with people.

If you lack that, it could be a sign that you’re in the wrong niche.

But let’s talk about traffic and authority.

You’ll see some leaders in a niche who blog very infrequently.

This is sometimes because blogging is a side tool for them.

They primarily use other things like television, radio, webinars and live, in-person seminars to attract and cultivate an audience.

But if you're a blogger who wants to use your blog as your primary source of audience engagement, then you need to make a commitment to show up and share on a regular basis.

The more, the better – but there’s an asterisk to that*

* More is better ONLY if there’s something valuable that you’re sharing.

In other words, don’t blog just to blog.

Don’t slap up meaningless content that dilutes the truly valuable blog posts you have just because someone told you to blog three times a day.

What you ought to do is go through and develop your editorial calendar to see how much content you can conceivably create.

You’ll be surprised at how many ideas you generate once you understand how to look for good blog ideas.

As far as search engine bots (spiders) are concerned, they like to see a certain amount of “freshness” in your blog.

They typically start off visiting your blog once every couple of weeks, but they narrow their visitation schedule to index your site if you blog regularly, and this looks good and helps you get content indexed faster.

It’s also helpful to your blog subscribers if you blog frequently.

If this is a topic they’re interested in, then you want to be the go-to authority figure in your niche – the person they know will have continual updates and fresh information.

A daily schedule is best.

Some people post several times and day, and this is great, too.

Don’t burden yourself trying to reach that goal, though.

Just be consistent.

If you can only manage to post three times a week, then do it three times a week.

However, there is such as thing as blogging too little.

When you start going weeks or months without blogging, don’t expect a blog audience to stick around and become subscribers and fans of your content.

In fact, they won’t even know who you are!

Suzanne Lieurance is a freelance writer, the author of over 30 published books, and the Working Writer's Coach.

Let her teach you how to turn writing about your personal experiences into a career and your brand.

Learn more at www.fearlessfreelancewriting.com.

7 Writing Goals for 2017

Writing is like exercise. The best way for writers to improve their craft is to keep writing: write more, write different, and write outside of your comfort zone.

Here are 7 writing goals that can help you in 2017:

1. Journal Regularly. It seems like any and all of my advice begins with journalling. It can help you improve your writing and organize your thoughts, while developing your tone, style, and voice. Set aside some time (at least 15 minutes, at least once a week) to share your thoughts and brainstorm ideas in your journal. You never know what you'll create when you just allow your pen (or keyboard) to flow.

2. Start or Refresh Your Blog. A blog is the best way to showcase your expertise as a writer, and within your niche, so potential customers and clients can find you online. Even if you only blog once a week, on a consistent day and time, you are getting who you are and what you know out there.

3. Submit. Don’t keep your writing to yourself. Enter a contest. Pitch an agent. Write an article and query a dream publication. If you already do this, double your efforts in the new year.

4. Write in a Different Style or Genre. Are you a technical writer? Explore fiction. Do you write screenplays? Try an essay. While it's great to have a niche where you excel, it's also fun to try something different.

5. Try a Different Length or Format. Similar to above ... If you write short blog posts, try writing long. If you tend to write lengthy content, write something concise. Or write a book (fiction or non-fiction). That will certainly expand your writing repertoire.

6. Write What You Avoid. Choose something you have been meaning to write that you somehow keep avoiding. Then, do it!

7. Have Fun! People sometimes forget that writing is supposed to be fun. If you love what you are writing, there’s a greater likelihood that others will love it too. Bring your passion through your words to your audience.

Try one of these goals or all of them. My goal is to set you all up for success in the new year. Here’s to a fabulous 2017!

What do you think? What are your writing goals for 2017? Please share them in the comments.

* * *

Debra Eckerling is a writer, editor and project catalyst, as well as founder of Guided Goals and Write On Online, a live and online writers’ support group.

She is author of Write On Blogging: 51 Tips to Create, Write & Promote Your Blog and Purple Pencil Adventures: Writing Prompts for Kids of All Ages and host of the Guided Goals Podcast.

Debra is an editor at Social Media Examiner and a speaker/moderator on the subjects of writing, networking, goal-setting, and social media.

Avoiding Common Punctuation Errors Pt 7: Apostrophes

Sometimes people underrate the importance of punctuation. If your work is full of errors, you risk not only confusing and/or annoying your readers, but you also risk losing credibility. Punctuation errors are bad enough in a novel or a short story, but if you're writing non-fiction, your readers may think, “Hmm...if this guy can't put apostrophes in the right place, can I really trust his expertise in the subject matter?” This is something you do not want your readers to think.

Recently I read an independently published non-fiction book plagued with so many apostrophe errors that the author unwittingly inspired today's post. Here are the main types of errors he made, over and over again:

1) Wrong: His mothers fears

Right: His mother's fears

If you're showing possession, you need that apostrophe. Otherwise is looks like a plural. This would be doubly confusing if it were “His mothers fear” because that reads like he has two mothers and they both fear something. It's not until the next word that the reader is jarred into the intended meaning: “His mothers fear was made reality.” Oh...his mother (or mothers, we're still not sure because it's not punctuated correctly) had a fear and it came true.

2) Wrong: Humanities primal urges. Also would be wrong: Humanitie's primal urges.

Right: Humanity's primal urges

When a word ends in y, and you want to make it PLURAL, you change the y to i and add es. But when you want to make it POSSESSIVE, you do not change the y. Just add apostrophe s. The city's streets are clean. Not many cities are so clean.

3) Wrong: A process which Heracles labours are forcing him to undergo.

Right: Heracles' labours... OR Heracles's labours

The correct way to punctuate names and singular nouns that end in s is debatable, and depends on which style guide you use, though nowadays most lean toward adding the apostrophe s instead of just the apostrophe. Charles's camera. The bus's back tires. But of course, if the noun is plural, you just add the apostrophe. The girls' playhouse (there are at least two girls).

4) Wrong: The sea's were troubled.

Right: The seas were troubled.

It's a plural noun. The apostrophe has no place here. Exceptions may be made (depending on which style guide you follow) for acronyms, years, and other strange cases. Some people write CD's, DVD's, etc. when they mean multiple CDs or DVDs. They write the 1980's when referring to the decade, instead of the 1980s. I personally think this is imprecise and potentially confusing, but it's common and often considered acceptable. You should use an apostrophe in plurals of some one-letter words that would be confused with other words if you didn't add the apostrophe. So, for example, you can write “I replaced all the a's with i's in my secret message.” These a's and i's are plural, not possessive, and would generally not use apostrophes, but if you don't add the apostrophe, you get this: “I replaced all the as with is in the secret message.”

5) Wrong: Helios see's all things.

Right: Helios sees all things.

Never put an apostrophe s in a verb UNLESS you're making a contraction with is or has (he's tired, she's singing, Mary's awake, the cat's never caught a bird before, the world's been going downhill..) Otherwise, just don't do it. Please. A regular s is sufficient. Helios sees. Helios hears. Helios knows.

6) Wrong: It's muscles flexed.

Right: Its muscles flexed.

This is a very, very, very common error. It's is a contraction of it and is (It's hot in here). Its is the possessive of it (This book is complicated. Its appendix of characters is twenty-seven pages long.). I think most of us know this, but it's easy to make the error in haste or with bad typing and then not catch it later because we know what it's supposed to say, so our brain skips over the error. If you're worried about it, there's a long, boring solution: use the find feature on your word processor to hunt down every example of both it's and its in your manuscript and make sure they're all right. While you're at it, check you're and your.

A few other things to remember:

“My parents' house is old” means that the house belongs to both your parents.

“My parent's house is old “ means that the house belongs to one of your parents (and for some reason you call this person your parent instead of your mom or dad.)

Let's is not the same as lets

Let's go swimming this afternoon. Mom never lets me go swimming.

Who's is not the same as whose

Who's going to cook tonight? Whose carrots are these?

They're is not the same as their

They're going to cook tonight? But their carrots are old.

You're is not the same as your

You're invited. Your invitation got lost in the mail.

We're is not the same as were and he's is not the same as his. Yes, these last ones should be obvious, but I've seen the mistakes in work people felt ready to publish.

The problem with these types of errors is that spell checker will never find them. Your grammar checker won't help a lot either. You have a sacred duty to your readers to find somebody (yes, an actual person, and preferably several of them) that will be able to hunt down and correct errors like this after you do your best to correct them yourself.

Happy hunting.

For more punctuation help, see my other posts:

Avoiding Common Punctuation Errors Pt 1: Commas Save Lives; the Vocative Comma

Avoiding Common Punctuation Errors Pt 2: Commas and Periods in Dialogue
Avoiding Common Punctuation Errors Pt 3: Commas with Participial Phrases

Avoiding Common Punctuation Errors Pt 4: The Mysterious Case of the Missing Question Mark

Avoiding Common Punctuation Errors Pt 5: Adjectives with Commas
Avoiding Common Punctuation Errors Pt 6: Hyphens in Compound Adjectives

Getting Rid of Tattletale Words in Your Résumé

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of
The Frugal Editor: Do-it yourself editing secrets for authors:
From your query letter to final manuscript to the marketing of your new bestseller

People in all walks of life work mightily on perfecting their résumés and other career-building documents and then forget one vital step. An editor. Preferably an editor versed in all the elements of writing including grammar, punctuation, storytelling…wait! Storytelling?

Yes. And some other surprises like marketing—and a little knowledge about psychology won’t hurt either.

The list is long but it can be shortened by thinking “experience.” A broad range of experience. So, no, your high school English teacher may not be your best choice. Nor, your mother who “did really well in English.”

There are a whole lot of tattletale words you shouldn’t use in your résumé or related documents like biographies, proposals, query letters, and media kits. All of these documents are designed to convince the reader of your ability to do the job—your expertise—and to nudge your career (or product) toward success.

So what are those words? And how do they relate to storytelling?

Ambitious is one of the most frequently used tattletale words. It seems like a wasted word doesn’t it. A couple more that mean little because of overuse or are downright laughable are highly motivated or responsible. That you are writing this document is an indication that you are ambitious.

This is where that storytelling thing comes in. You tell a little story that subtly shows the responsible, ambitious, or highly motivated aspect of your work habits. Using the age-old writers’ motto, “show, don’t tell,” will keep your reader from asking—often with a touch of irony—what makes you ambitious. King Midas was ambitious. Maybe your reader assumes your father got tired of seeing you playing video games and you got ambitious only when it looked as if the couch would no longer be a good place to park yourself.

So what is your story? Tell about the upward movement in your chosen career or even between careers—how one informs the other and gives you knowledge and a dimension that no other applicant is likely to have.

Hardworker and go-getter seem as useless in a résumé or query letter as ambitious. It’s like tooting your own horn. The person reading it might ask, “Who says?”

Overblown adjectives. Words like exciting and amazing—even when they describe results or projects—are anathema. They have the same problem as hardworking above. I call this the awesome syndrome. They are words that tempt a reader to scoff. Instead tell a story about the extra effort you put into a project and the difference it made. Or quote one of the rave reviews you received from one of your supervisors in a periodic assessment, recommendation, or endorsement.

Team player has been a cliché for decades.. Instead choose a group project you’ve worked on and tell about your contributions. Or just list some of the ways you might have helped another department or division. And, because human brains have been wired for stories since we sat around the fires we made in caves, make it into an anecdote if you can.

Think out-of-the-box is also a cliché-ridden no-no. It’s storytelling time again

Microsoft Word. I’m proud that I can produce an entire book using Word from its Contents to its Index to its Footnotes. I love that I don’t have to spend time learning another program. But there’s no point in telling people that I’m an expert at Word. Everyone is. Of course, I can use it prove another point like how well I have managed to adapt its features to new, advanced project and tell how much time I saved by doing that rather than learning a new program. I might mention how much more professional it looked even as I saved that time. And I might mention that my project got rave reviews.

Some frequently used words like synergy have become a way to insert some humor into a résumé and that has become as much of a cliché as the overuse of the word. Marco Buscaglia picked this word out of the hundred (if not thousands) of popular words I call business-ese. You can avoid them by reviewing your copy and purging anything that sounds officious including most words with more than three syllables.

Think in terms of relationships, colleagues in other departments, associates in competing companies, respected academicians, mentors beyond your teachers. Though a good story can take even that kind of mentorship out of the humdrum and into an Aha! Moment.

Before you send off your paper, go over it. Find all the weak verbs—is, be, do—and use your thesaurus to strengthen them and to make them more accurate.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson was an instructor for UCLA Extension's world-renown Writers' Program for nearly a decade and edits books of fiction and poetry. She is the author of the HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers including The Frugal Editor and The Frugal Book Promoter. They are both USA Book News award-winners and both have won several other awards. Her How To Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically: The ins and outs of using free reviews to build and sustain a writing career.is the newest book in her HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Her The Great First Impression Book Proposal is a booklet that can save anyone writing a proposal time reading tomes because it can be read in 30 minutes flat.

Carolyn is the recipient of the California Legislature's Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award and was honored by Pasadena Weekly for her literary activism. She is also is a popular speaker and actor. Her website is www.HowToDoItFrugally.com.

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Email Marketing - 10 Top Reasons to BE Doin' It

By Karen Cioffi

While marketing strategies can come and go, there are still those that are top contenders and email marketing is one of them. And, it's an important strategy in book marketing.

So, what makes email marketing so important - why exactly should you be doin' it?

Here is a list of 10 top reasons:

1. Email lists are personal and build relationships. They help you develop a relationship with your subscribers. No other marketing strategy offers this ‘personal touch’ element.

2. Emails drive targeted traffic to your website. This means the people clicking on your email links (CTAs) are already interested in what you offer.

3. It’s one of the most cost-effective strategies there is (in other words, it’s cheap and has a great ROI).

4. It’s is easy and quick. Services, like GetResponse make it super-easy to create lists (campaigns), create the coded optins, and allows you to send out emails immediately.

5. It allows for automation. This means you can schedule emails to go out at specific days and times and segment (divide) your list.

6. It’s versatile and customizable. You can create a variety of campaigns, segway into other campaigns, use for weekly workshops, and so much more.

7. It generates results. Email marketing is one of the only strategies that encourages subscribers to become customers or to take other actions.

8. Allows you to measure results. Email marketing services have analytical tools in place that give you much need information, such as how many subscribers open your emails and how many click on the links in your emails.

9. Beats social media’s conversion rates. Conversion is the process of a person taking a desired action, such as clicking on your link or optin.

In a study by McKinsey and Company, it shows that email exceeds social media’s conversion rate by 40X. (1)

Forty times. That’s huge!

10. According to Convince and Convert.com, “People who buy products through email spend 138% more than people who don’t receive email offers.” Along with this, “44% of email recipients made at least one purchase last year based on a promotional email.” (2)

You may feel it’s all just too much. You already blog as part of your marketing strategy, isn’t that enough? Well, it’s really not.

Keep in mind that if you use social media to share your posts, you’re only reaching a minute percentage of your followers. And, less than 1% of your website visitors will buy from a random blog post they clicked onto.

As number 7 above says, email marketing produces results. And, your efforts can be as simple as linking to your most recent blog post from within your newsletter or email. Be sure to use it as part of your book marketing strategy.

To get started with Email Marketing, you need an opt-in box. I use Get Response and like it so much, I'm an affiliate for them. If you need to get your email marketing going, start with Get Response.

For an in-depth look at email marketing check out my 45+ page ebook (no fluff), Email Marketing Right V2. It tells you exactly what you need to do to effectively build your subscriber list, and it's only $3.97!

About the Author:

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children's author, ghostwriter, and author/writer online platform instructor. Subscribe to the RSS to get must-know writing and marketing tips!

And, check out Karen’s e-classes through WOW! Women on Writing:
http://www.articlewritingdoctor.com/content-marketing-tools/

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