Three New Free Sites You Can Use to Create Marketing Materials (PLUS Update on My Film)

I discovered some new sites which
helped me make this movie poster. They
might help you market your book
or other project.

I want to write a follow up article about what's happening with my short documentary, "The Door," but I know some of you are looking for ideas and helps for your own writing, so I'm also excited to share some new-to-me free web sites I discovered while making my movie poster (seen on the right). I used five different sites, all free, to accomplish these techniques. Two sites you probably already use, but three are new to me. With some imagination I'm sure you can use theses sites, techniques, and ideas to come up with great posters or images to market your books, e-books, your own short films, or whatever you're creating.

First, the update on my documentary film "The Door"

In my May post I wrote about my adventures and lessons learned while filming my short documentary, "The Door." Towards the end of the article I wrote this:

As I write this, the Camera/Editor, Mike, and I spent the past two days editing the film. I couldn't be more pleased. I can't tell you a lot more about it until it competes in the 168 Film Festival in August, but I'm thinking I'll write the August post about what happens between now and then. 

Since then a lot has happened! The film will premier at the 168 Film Festival at the Regal Cinemas Premiere House at LA Live in Los Angeles on August 26 - 17, 2017.

My film is scheduled to screen Saturday afternoon. You can see it on the 168 Film Festival Screening Schedule in Block 5.

I'm very pleased our 168 film, The Door, has now been nominated for two awards! Wow!

• Best Documentary
• Evangelista Award 

The Evangelista Award "honors the writer for creating the tool that best facilitates the telling of the Gospel of Jesus and the Method of Salvation. Directness, Simplicity and a minimum of distraction are core values. Evangelista has raised the bar for Gospel Films. All films except Write of Passage Spotlight are eligible."

Of course if you're in the area (or not!) and want to come the film festival you may. See 168 Film Festival ticket information here.

If you haven't seen it yet, you can watch the movie trailer for my film here: The Door Movie Trailer.

You can also catch a few seconds of my film in the 168 Film Festival Clip Reel 2017 here. We're at 1:03 - 1:06 seconds in.

I'm so pleased to also have had a part in developing the screenplay for another film in the festival. You may know that for many years I've been a "Development Executive" for the 168 Film Project's "Write of Passage" short film writing contest in October. Last year one of the writers I mentored, with the help of my Assistant Development Executive Sherry M. Cook, was Laura Woodworth. She wrote the script "In Tune" and this year she produced it for the 168 Film Festival! You can see "In Tune" on the schedule in Bock 7 Sunday afternoon. "In Tune" has also been nominated for five, count 'em, FIVE awards! I can't wait to see the film at the festival! Learn more about "In Tune" here.

Three Free Sites You Can Use to Create Marketing Materials

So are you wondering where I got my movie poster? I made it. It took some doing. And some learning. I'm thinking what I learned you might be able to use to create posters, postcards, images for Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, business cards, Facebook and Twitter headers, banners… or whatever else your imagination can come up with to market your own stuff — books, e-books, whatever you're doing. So here's the free sites I used to create my poster. (Tweet that!)

I took me several steps to get there. And each step took a different site. A few of these you've probably heard of or use yourself, but I'm pretty sure some will be new.

I have to confess that I did not keep notes (wish I had) and I was bouncing around so many sites trying to fix problems that were cropping up that now I can't remember everything I did. But I will do my best to reconstruct what I did here.

CREATING THE MOVIE POSTER

First, I needed to create an actual movie poster. (Tweet that!) I know we've all seen a million of them. I was thinking of all that information on them that tells who stars in it, who directed it, who produced it, etc. Actually, I was thinking of all the formatting that would go into that and it just seemed daunting. I didn't have the time for it. But didn't I remember seeing some free movie poster templates somewhere?

I was sure I'd seen one on Canva.com. But when I went to look I couldn't find it.

So I went searching for a free movie poster template. Some of the sites I searched out required a payment to remove watermarks or to get a higher resolution poster so it wouldn't be blurry, which was disappointing to discover after I created one poster.

Then I found a site called Poster My Wall.

If you go there, look at at the white poster with the woman's face. It says Recina Phalange (the woman actor's name, I assume?) at the top and the title of the movie below her chin is "Headline." That's the poster template I used for mine at the top of this page.

Obviously I switched out the photo with a slide my editor captured for me from our film. We chose a scene that captured an emotional image at a crucial point in our film and saved a frame for the poster. You could use your book cover or an image (if the rights allow) for your poster.

After I switched the image on my movie poster using the editing tools on Poster My Wall, I edited the text to insert the information for my own film, deleting what didn't apply, copying and pasting to duplicate where I needed more.

I had a little trouble editing it to look the way I wanted. I ended up taking the project to Canva.com (which you probably already use) to do some more editing. I couldn't get the production team information on top of the photo (onto the pavement under the actor's feet) so I had to figure out something different. I ended up removing the image and replacing it with a plain background. I first put a white background behind the text, which didn't work because the text was in white so it disappeared. I then tried a black background and the text popped.

I then saved that image as a jpeg and took it over to PicMonkey.com (which you probably also already use) where I cropped the rest of the picture out so I had just the image of the text on black at the bottom of the poster.

I had wanted that info at the end of my movie trailer like the "real" movie trailers, but I didn't know how to make it happen. Now that I had it as an image, I could go over to YouTube.com, make a new copy of my trailer, and add that slide at the end. Bonus!

Again, I had a little trouble making everything happen that I wanted so I ended up doing more editing with Canva.com. There I was able to get the picture as I wanted it, the movie crew info at the bottom, and the "168 Film Project" text at the top. Turns out it was very handy later to have the poster on Canva.com. I keep going back there for more editing.

ADDING LAURELS TO THE MOVIE POSTER

So that's how I created my movie poster. But then something interesting happened. The 168 Film Festival announced the list of award nominations and my film was nominated for two awards! Before I knew it, I saw other films' posters popping up on Facebook with that little thingy we've all seen (I didn't even know what to call it!) with the leaves and the award nominations or winner inside. I learned those are laurel leaves and so these are called "laurels."

I asked the 168 Film Festival where to get them and they made them available on FilmFreeway.com. But… but but but … Next dilemma: How do I get them from there onto my movie poster? Or web site? Or wherever I want them?!

Yes, download them, save them. But… but but but … they were black laurel leaves and text on a white background. I already knew black text wasn't going to show up on my dark poster. So where do you get the ones with white laurel leaves and text?

And furthermore, when I did try to add my new laurels to my poster, it made a big white square covering too much of my poster and being too loud or bold. How do people put JUST the image on top of another one without blocking out a whole square? (Tweet that!)

I've always noticed the Lord gives me the hints I'm going to need when I don't even know I need them. (Tweet that!) In the email from Mark at the 168 Film Festival letting me know where the laurels were available, he "just happened" to mention that I could "invert" the colors if I needed to on a "transparent background." Had he not said that, I wouldn't have even known what terms to google.

INVERT COLORS

So I knew I wanted to "invert" the colors. (Tweet that!) That's what it would be called to change the white background to black and the black text and leaves to white. (If you already know this stuff, please don't laugh.) So I googled for how to do that. I found ways to do it using MS Paint, which I knew was on my computer but that looked complicated. As usual, I was in a hurry and didn't have a lot of time for this!

Then I found the site Pine Tools and its "Invert Colors Online" function. It was so easy to figure out: click "Choose file." I chose the file of the laurel I had saved to my computer. Click "Invert!" Done. Save the new white text and laurels on black background to my computer.

I went back to my movie poster on Canva.com where I wanted to add the laurels. But I discovered a problem. The laurels now had solid black background, which meant they blacked out whatever was behind them. The transparent background was gone. Now what?

Back to google.

TRANSPARENT BACKGROUNDS

I tried a couple different sites before I found Lunapic and its "transparent background" at the bottom of the Edit menu.

Again, it was very easy to use and did a great job. Click "Choose file." Choose the white on black images of the laurels I'd saved to my computer. It asked me to click on the color I wanted to become transparent. I clicked on the black background. (Tweet that!) The background became gray and white checkerboard. Done. Save the new black on transparent laurels to my computer.

By the way: I was careful how I named each image when I saved them. "Nom Best Doc on trans bkgrnd" for example, so I could be sure of which saved image I wanted at each step. Plus each version of each laurel would be together and easy to find.

I took my new white text and laurels on transparent background images back to my movie poster on Canva.com and put them on top of my poster. Fantastic! The inverted color to white and the transparent background worked perfectly! HowEVer I had a very hard time getting the three of them the same size, lined up right, centered, etc. What to do now?

Then I had an idea…

PICMONKEY COLLAGE

I went to Picmonkey.com and used their "Collage" feature. I used the three images lined up like ducks in a row and inserted each of my three white laurels with transparent backgrounds. (Tweet that!)

Oops. Problem. The laurels had a lot of space around them, especially at the top so I needed to crop each one first. I was careful to crop them to exactly the same size (in pixels). Then re-saved them.

When I put the cropped version into Picmonkey's collage, they were perfectly sized and lined up. Then I saved THAT image and took it back to Canva.

(It seems now that somehow I had to make sure the background stayed transparent, but I can't remember now. If you can't figure that out, you can always take it back to Lunapic and redo the collage with a transparent background.)

CANVA

When I put my Picmonkey collage with my three white on transparent laurels on top of my poster, I was able to line it up and position it to look great. Then saved it to my computer.

"The Door" movie poster before the
laurels were added.

Whew. Yes, all this was a lot of back and forth and experimenting to figure out what worked, but I'm so pleased with my movie poster.

I can imagine ways to use these techniques to market my books. For example, when I revised one of my e-books that had become outdated, I wanted to put a "Newly Revised" image on the cover but I didn't know how. Now we can create it, invert colors if needed, make a transparent background, or keep a colored background if we need it to show up on our cover.

"The Door" movie poster after the
laurels were added.

And why not make a movie poster-style poster for your book? It could be fun! I hope you enjoy these three new free sites — Poster My Wall, Pine Tools, and Lunapic — you can use along with Canva.com and Picmonkey.com to create great marketing materials for your books, e-books, films, blogs, Facebook ads, and more.


In September I plan to post about the coming 168 Film Project's Write of Passage writing contest. If you're interested, sign up now for the best price.

RELATED ARTICLE:

• May 2017 article about filming my documetary "The Door"

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Writer's Conferences: What Should I Prepare to Take? What Should I Expect? What Should I Do There?

Colorado Christian Writers Conference
Estes Park, Colorado

A few weeks ago on my Facebook Author Page, we were talking about preparing for a writer's conference. If you've never been to one before, I bet you have a ton of questions. I know I did when I first started going to these, which was more than 25 years ago. I've been to at least one each year since then, so I've accumulated a lot of experience I can share from.

As "conference season" begins (if there is such a thing), I thought it might be helpful to give you some ideas of what to expect, how to prepare, what to take with you, and what to do while there. (Tweet that!)

What to Expect

You can expect to find a lot of like-minded people, writers who think they are the only ones with a passion to write. Writers who think they are not "really" writers, but everyone else in the room is. (Is that you too?) (Tweet that!)

You can expect to meet published authors and unpublished authors. There will be freelance writers (freelancers aren't on staff at any publication but write for a variety of them).

There will often be representatives of book publishing companies, editors from periodical publications such as magazines and web sites that take material from freelancers, and often literary agents will be there. Some or all of these may be on faculty teaching workshops or speaking at sessions for all the conferees.

You may be able to schedule meetings with these publishers, editors, and/or agents. (Tweet that!) If that's the case, you may want to pitch them a writing project you're working on or wish to write. We'll talk about how you might do that below when we talk about One-Pages. I'll also give some tips for these meetings below.

You should expect to have fun! So try to relax about it! Go expecting to make friends and to meet other writers with whom you can network and stay in touch after the conference.

How to prepare

Review all the material you find on the conference. The conferences I attend have a ton of information online and in their brochure and it's fun to go through it all.

Find out who is going to be on faculty. Read their bios and/or visit their web sites or the sites of their companies. Find out what they are looking for that they want to publish. Here's a HINT: Find web sites to other writers conferences where they were also on faculty and see what additional information you can find out about what they publish and what they are looking to publish.

You're looking for publishers who publish or are looking for (acquiring) the same sorts of material you are writing or want to write. Are you writing fiction? Romance? Sci-Fi or fantasy? Do you want to write nonfiction? What kind? Memoir? Self-help? Christian living? Who is acquiring that type of material?

Also check out the workshops. Circle on the brochure or make a note of all the workshops you'd like to attend. Chances are there will be more than one in a time slot and because even super-hero writers can't be in two places at the same time, you'll have to choose. (Tweet that!) But find out if workshops are recorded because at many conferences they are and you can purchase a DVD of the workshops you can't attend. This is a great way to take the conference home with you and keep the excitement and encouragement flowing long after the conference ends. Don't know which to attend and which to buy the recording of? Which workshop do you think will have the most value for you if you could listen to it more than once? Get the DVD of that one and attend the other in person. Or, is one of them taught by someone you want to meet? Or someone you want to see your face in their workshop so they'll know you're a serious writer? Attend that one and take the DVD of the other workshop home.

What to take with you

After you have an idea of who is going to be there, and you've matched that up with the projects you have written or want to write, you might want to prepare to talk to a publisher, editor, and/or agent about your project(s). So what do you prepare to take with you?

Project One-Pages

In the last decade or so, "One-Pages" have become popular and I believe they are awesome. Whether you are writing fiction or nonfiction, books or short works like articles or short stories, it's a great idea to create a one-page to present that idea.

At most conferences you will have a limited time to meet with a publisher, editor, or agent. Most of these meetings are only 10 to 15 minutes. That's not a lot of time for chit-chat. So you want to have your idea organized so you can express it succinctly. That's where a one-page comes in. You have to be succinct to get all the important information about your project down on one page. It's a terrific exercise, even if you don't get to present it to anyone in person.

A One-Page is similar to a Query Letter and has the same information, just in a different format such with headings or bulleted items.

On your one-page, include the following:

• Your contact information. You can create your own letterhead for your one-page.

• Your project's proposed title.

• A brief summary of your book, article, or story. Make it snappy and attention grabbing. This needs to be your best writing.

• The audience for your project. Who will it appeal to? Who will buy it? How big is that group of potential readers? Use statistics or something to back up your numbers.

• The length of your proposed project in word-count. For example, a feature article may be 1,500 words, a nonfiction book may be 50-60,000, and a novel may be 80,000. Make sure this is withing the numbers the publisher accepts.

• Give an idea of when you could deliver the completed manuscript, if it's requested. An article which will require interviews and research may take you two weeks or a month. A book might take you six months. Or you may have a manuscript completed which you can submit "upon request."

• Finally, give a short bio of who you are and what you have accomplished as a writer. Include what qualifies you to write this project. Do you have life experience? Education? Research?

Once you have your one-page put together, here are some more tips:

• Keep your one-page brief and to one page. 

• Make sure it's well edited and free of typos.

• You may get to show it to a representative of a publishing house. They may not take it with them because taking materials from all the authors they meet with is just too much, especially if they are traveling by plane, so don't be disappointed. They may ask you to email your one-page to them, or to send a book proposal or your manuscript after the conference.

I suggest you make a template for your one-pages if you have more than one project in you. Set up all your headings on your letterhead. Then for your next project all you'll need to do is fill in the information for your next project.

First Pages

You may want to take the first pages of your manuscript. If it's an article, you can print the entire article and take it with you, but an editor may only read the first paragraphs or skim it. If they want to see more, they'll ask you to email the manuscript to them.

If it's a book, you probably won't want to take more than the first ten pages. There's no need to take your entire book manuscript. No one will have the time to look at that much while there at the conference. And don't expect an editor or agent to carry your manuscript home with them on the plane. If they want it, they'll request it be sent via email.

One-Page Resume

Similar to your one-page for your writing projects, you might create a one-page resume. This would showcase your writing accomplishments (if you have any). For example on my writing resume I have sections for a brief telling of my:

• article writing, 
• books, 
• online writing, and 
• screenwriting. 

Then I also share my "platform" which showcases my "reach" as an author. I include my:

• social media platform, which means how many people I can reach through social media, such as the number of Twitter followers and Facebook author page Likes. 
• How many subscribers do you have on your email newsletter list? 
• I also describe each of my blogs and how many page views I get per month.

All this information gives potential publishers an idea of the size of your platform, which means how many people you can reach if they publish your book.

Bookmarks or Flyers

If you have projects for sale, especially for writers, you might want to make up a flyer to put on the table where conference offer free giveaways such as writers guidelines from publishers. You might make a flyer if you have books or pamphlets for writers, or offer professional services such as editing or web site building.

I've written several #Kindle e-books for writers and am writing several more, so this year I’m hoping to get a flyer done to let others know about those.

Goods for Sale

If you have published books, you may be allowed to put them on the sales consignment table. These don't have to be for writers, they can be you anything you have written. People who are at the conference will be interested in your books and will be excited to buy from an author they meet, so be sure to bring some. But don't expect a lot of sales (at least from my experience). Money can be tight. There are a ton of other books competing for conferee's dollars there also. Plus many are traveling by plane and books can be heavy to transport in luggage.

A Sign Up List

Do you have an e-mail newsletter for your writing business? Do you have a blog people can sign up to receive via email? Why not take a sign up form?

When you meet and talk with new writer-friends on the way to workshops or at meals, the topic of your newsletter or blog may come up. Or you may simply ask them, would you like to receive my newsletter / blog in your inbox? You, or they, can record their email address. Tell them when you get home you'll sign them up, but they will receive a confirmation email that will require their response to complete their subscription.

When you get home, you can enter their email address in your email sign up form (like the one in the upper right corner of this blog) and they will receive the confirmation email.

Be careful you're not overbearing when asking for subscribers. Your conversation will let you know if they will benefit from being on your email list. This is not the place to ask everyone at the conference to sign up for your list. Workshop leaders might ask participants to sign up for their lists, but as a conferee you might be seen as irritating if you try to snare everyone in attendance.  And never sign someone up for your list without getting their permission in advance. (Don't use the business cards you take home for this purpose.)

Business Cards

If I could give only one piece of advice it would be this: BRING BUSINESS CARDS! (Tweet that!)

I'm amazed at how many people show up every year at the Colorado Christian Writers Conference and don't bring business cards. Most are simply new writers and say they didn't even think of it.

I don't care if you're just getting started as a writer and don't feel like you're in "business" as a write yet. You're there. Make some business cards. You still have time but you need to act soon. You'll want to trade business cards with people you meet.

If you'd like something unusual, I love the specialty cards made by: Shop MOO Mini Cards. I have my book covers on my Moo cards!

Now days most cards I get don't have street/mailing addresses on them, which might be smart for your safety. Still, put on them how people can contact you. Definitely an email address. Some put their cell phone. Put your web site.

Business cards are also a great way to share your blog, Facebook page, Twitter handle, Instagram, Amazon Author page, YouTube channel, etc. Use a URL-shortener like Bitly.com to create easy-to-remember and type links.

If you want to pay more and print the back, you can list your books titles or speaking topics.

A lot of people find it helpful if you'll put your (nice, professional) photo on your card so later we can match your face with your name.

When you get home, search out your new friends on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or whatever social media you are on and send them a friend request, follow them, or invite them to Like your author page.

Snack, water, self-care.

Some conferences offer snacks and coffee and/or water but others don't. If you need these to get you through the day, you may want to pack some.

Casual or dress.

Find out whether your conference is casual or dress up. Even when the conference is casual, I try to look "business casual." You are, after all, making a first impression on publishers, agents, and editors. So dress for success. This is your business, not your vacation.

What to do while there

Here are some tips to help you with those scary meetings with publishers, editors, and agents:

• Be on time.

• Introduce yourself. 

• Prepare a spiel – your introduction of yourself and another one about your project. 

• Talk little, listen more. 

• React nicely – even if they're not interested in your project and that's a huge disappointment to you. Remember this is business, not personal.

• Don't take a book manuscript to leave with them. Take a one-page and the first ten pages at most. 

• Ask, "Would you like my business card?" before leaving one.

Here are some more general tips for things to do while there:

• Relax and have fun!

• Sit by someone you don't know.

• Respect faculty.

• Sit at an editor's table at a meal, but respect if they're sitting with someone else. They may have planned a breakfast/lunch/dinner meeting with that person.

• Befriend another lonely writer.

• First thing in the morning, say a prayer. Ask God to direct who you meet that day, who you walk beside on the trail or in the hallway, and who you sit beside in workshops and at meals. (Tweet that!) This makes the whole conference an exciting adventure of supernaturally orchestrated divine appointments.

More than anything go to have fun. I know it's hard for some people, but you really don't need to be nervous. You're here to learn. You're here to enjoy. You don't have to speak up in class if you don't want to. You're not in the spotlight. Take advantage of every opportunity you possibly can. And know that this experience is going to be great for your writing career.

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What are Your Key Words? Communicating Your Writing’s Purpose

I've been thinking about several people recently who have asked me to look at their blog and give them any input insights I have. Of course every blog is unique and individual, and each one also needs its own critique about its set-up and more. But if I wanted to give one piece of advice to all bloggers, it would be to nail down your Key Words. (Tweet that!)

As a matter of fact, this advice isn't just for bloggers. It's for all writers.

Whether you're writing a print-magazine article, an online article or post, or a non-fiction book, knowing and nailing down your key words is important. (Tweet that!)

But lest you think I'm talking to non-fiction writers only, listen up fiction writers: I believe knowing and nailing down your key words is just as important for novelists and short story writers. (Tweet that!)

Whether you want readers and potential book-buyers to find your blog post or your book to purchase, they need to be able to find you. (Tweet that!) In order to find you, they need to be able to search for you and have you appear amidst all the “noise” of that comes up online or amidst everything else in a bookstore.

How will they know what gift you have for them?

Here's a truth I run into over and over and over again: Beginning and/or young writers think all they have to do is write something great. And then… What? Do expect people to just “find” you?

It doesn't work that way. Take Amazon.com for example. There are millions of books available on Amazon. So you write one, even a great one, and make it available through Amazon and… then what? You expect people to not only know your book exists but you expect them to find it? Doesn't work that way.

It sounds basic, but it's true: Before anyone can find your book or article or blog post or other helpful piece of writing, they must know it exists. Then they must be able to find it. These two things don't happen automatically. It takes some strategic effort on the part of the writer.

Now if you get right down to it, some of this should happen automatically. (I'll explain in a moment.) But if you know it and know it well, then you can help it to happen “automatically.”
What I'm talking about, really, is being clear in your writing. Sometimes writers seem to think they need to dance all around their subject without ever really saying what they're talking about!

I don't know, maybe they're afraid of being too obvious or “over the top” as they say in screenwriting. Some writers want to be more subtle and less obvious. I can understand that. But if you're so subtle that nobody is “getting it,” then what's the point?

Your Key Words say what you're talking about

Speaking of dancing around the subject without ever actually saying what I'm talking about. Let me get to the point:

You need to say what you want to say. Out loud. So we can hear it. And whatever it is you're trying to say will include your Key Words.

That's what I meant a moment ago when I said stating your Key Words should happen automatically. When you state out loud what it is you're talking about, using your Key Words should be automatic.

When we were only writing for printed publication, this was important for our audience to understand what we were saying, to be clear. But now that we're writing for the internet, Key Words are even more important. This is how people find you – even if what you want them to find is not online but rather is a book you have for sale.

We are all now writing for the internet because even printed books are advertised on the internet. Most of your platform as a writer is on the internet. Most likely the majority of ways people find you and your written products are via the internet.

How do I find my Key Words?

To find your Key Words, you have to ask yourself some important questions:

Who is looking for what you are writing?

What are they looking for?

What are they going to call it?

Here's the thing: You're writing for a reason. (Tweet that!) Either you're teaching. Or you're entertaining. Or you'e expressing your opinion. Or you're trying to get information out to an audience. All writing has a purpose. (Or why do it?)

So here' what you need to know: Who is it that you want to receive this information?

Be careful with your answer. Examine your answer carefully and consider whether that person you're imagining wants to receive it. They have to want it. You can write material for people because you want them to have the information but if they're not interested in receiving that information, they're not going to. They won't look for it. Even if they find it, they won't want it. So make sure you'e writing something that people want.

That's the person you're targeting.

Now imagine this: Imagine that person needs the information you have written. Imagine they need it enough that they're going to go try to find it. They may go to the bookstore or library and ask for it. But more likely they are going to pull up Google on their laptop, tablet, or phone and search for it. So pay attention! Imagine you're looking over their shoulder as they type something into that search box.

What do they type?

Those are your Key Words! (Tweet that!)

Key Words can be single words or phrases.

If you have what they need, and if you want them to find you and your writing so that you can help them with their need, then you need to use these same Key Words. (Tweet that!) When you do, the search engine is going to link you two together.

Perhaps this links into “branding.” 

I won't claim to be any kind of expert on branding, but it seems to me that your Key Words are either virtually the same as your “brand” or at least are very closely related. These Key Words are what you're writing, or at least what this piece of writing (article, book, story) is all about. Your Key Words may be what you are all about.

Okay, maybe they are not what you're ALL about. Maybe it's just what this article or nonfiction book or story/novel is about. But it' still at least a part of what you're about (your brand).

So what do I do with my Key Words?

Use your Key Words whenever you want to draw people who are searching for your "thing" to you. That's pretty much all the time that you're doing business as a writer, isn't it? Whether you’re online or in print.

So use your Key Words in your:

• Book title
• Book's back cover copy
• Blog post title
• in the Blog post itself
• Article titles
• in the Article itself
• Tweets on Twitter (use a #hashtag)
• posts on Facebook (use the #hashtag)
• Google+ (use #hashtag)

There are also Key Word tools online. There used to be lots of free ones but they are harder to find now. Still, if you can find one to use, you can put your Key Words in and it will tell you how effective they are, usually by numbers of people conducting searches using those Key Words. A Key Word tool can also suggest other Key Words or phrases that are similar and may get you even more searches, so you can adjust and strengthen the Key Words you use.

So whatever you're writing now, or whatever you're marketing now, take some quality time to:

• consider what your Key Words should be, 
• think about where and how you can use them, 
• put them into your titles and whatever you're writing.

Every piece you write should have Key Words. (Tweet that!) Chances are good you will get more attention for your posts, articles, and books when you find strategic ways to consistently use your Key Words. (Tweet that!)

Related Article:

For more help on keying in to your message, see my article about Thesis Statements in December 2014: Keep Your Eye on the Ball: One Sentence that Can Elevate Your Writing to New Heights.

E-Books for Writers

Have you checked out my e-books for writers yet? I now have two:

How to Get Published! Learn how to sell your manuscripts to publishers.
E-books (at end)

Cutting the Passive Voice

Which e-book would you like me to write next? Please let me know with my easy peasy one-question Survey.

25 Free Ways to Market Your Book

Morguefile.com

One question I get frequently from many writers and authors is, "Now that I have my new book out [or have one coming out], what is the best way for me to market it?" As a matter of fact, I got this very question via Twitter this past month which inspired this blog post. The short answer is, "Any way you can." A better answer might be, "Any way you can that works well with your personality, your schedule, your gifts, etc." But still, we need specific ways to market our books, don't we? It's not that hard. I quickly brainstormed 25 ways to market your book online for free.

Marketing is all about getting information about your book out there -- and not just once but time after time after time. The truth is, your book is just one of millions. So you must let people -- as many as possible -- know about your book, what it's about, and why they need it. (Tweet that!) Face it, nobody can buy your book if they don't know it exists. Furthermore, most buyers need to hear of a product multiple times before they buy it. (Tweet that!)

Now, with the internet and social media, we can get our names and book titles and information about our books out there more easily than previous generations of writers. There are a lot of opinions about how much and how often we should promote. I think generally the consensus is to market as much as you can without being obnoxious. But then opinions vary widely on what's obnoxious.

I recommend you work through this list and use all the ideas here that work for you. Don't try to do them all at once. Schedule time each week to work on something here. (Tweet that!) Don't fall into the trap of thinking you must do everything. (Tweet that!) Then brainstorm your own list and work through those. Return to both this list and your own frequently because many of these can be ongoing.

Without further ado, here are 25 free ways to market your book (Tweet that!):

1. Landing Page

This may be the only thing on this list that is required. The first thing you need is a place to send people. You can Tweet links and post links on Facebook and do all sorts of stuff, but if you don't have a set place where potential book buyers can go to get more information they want and, most importantly, purchase your book, it's all for nothing. Set up a web site, a blog page, on online store, or an Amazon author page (See #2!), or all of the above, where people can purchase your book. Then with everything you do, share a one-click link to this page or site.

2. Amazon Author Page

In order to have an author page on Amazon, you must have a book available for sale on Amazon. Even if you're a contributor to a book, such as a Chicken Soup book or have contributed a chapter or a story to a collection, you can claim that and get your author page.

If you don't have any of these, get your book on Amazon. The one-time fee is not that much. (It was $25 a dozen years ago when I did it.) If your book isn't ready yet, create a Kindle e-book, publish it through Kindle Direct Publishing, and get your author page.

Every author who has a book on Amazon should have their author page set up. I'm amazed at how many don't. Go to your book's page (or any book's page) on Amazon. Hover your mouse over the author's name (that should be a link) and a box should open. The bottom line of that little box asks, "Are you an author? Learn about Author Central." That last part is a link. Click that and it will take you to Amazon's Author Central where you can open your account (you simply create a user name and password) and then you can enter information about yourself and your book including your bio, your blog and Twitter feeds, upload a book video, and more.

For an example, here's mine: Dianne's Amazon Author Page.

Grab the link to your Amazon author page and use it in Facebook and LinkedIn posts and Tweets. Post it on your web site and blog. Add it to your email signature. Use it as a landing page and send potential book buyers there.

3. Blog

A blog is a monster that needs regular, continual feedings, so make sure you can keep it up before you start one. When you do, set up a page with info about your book(s), your book covers, and links to your Landing page or Amazon author page. For an example, here is one of my book pages on one of my blogs: Dianne's Prophecy Fulfilled Books.

Blog on a topic similar to your book, but don't use material from your book. (See #20 about writing articles for more on that.)

Please make sure you enable the Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+ share buttons at the bottom of each blog post so visitors can share your interesting posts with their contacts. Not much is more frustrating for me than to want to support other authors by sharing their materials and they've given me no easy way to do so. Yes, I can copy the url and paste it into a Tweet, but I'm busy and I no longer have the time to do that sort of thing. Furthermore, if I'm reading your post on my phone or Kindle, doing all that is such a hassle I'm just not going to anymore. So you just lost sharing your wonderful post with all of my contacts. Bummer. Don't let that be you!

4. Facebook 

There are Facebook "profiles" for individuals and then there are "pages" for businesses and organizations. Create a "page" for yourself as an author and then ask people to "follow" your page by Liking it.

Be aware that there are new rules for promoting your book on Facebook as of January 1, 2015. Here is an article about that by agent Janet Kobobel Grant of Books & Such Literary Management: What You Need to Know about Facebook’s Latest Revamp.

5. Twitter 

If you're not on Twitter, you need to be. I get most of my interaction through Twitter. I let thousands of people know about my blog and my books via Twitter. If you need help with Twitter, check out my post "Making the Most of Using Twitter." Especially pay attention to the three parts needed for a great Tweet -- your message, a hashtag, and a link -- and make sure you have those in every Tweet! For your link you're going to need someplace to link to. (See #1!)

6. World Literary Cafe

The World Literary Cafe has an amazing number of ways authors can help each other out, including ways to build up your Twitter followers and gain Facebook page Likes. (Tweet that!) Check it out!

They also offer to send your Tweet that markets your book out to their large number of Twitter followers! That's a great way to market your book! To find that look for their "Tweet Teams" page. You'll have to learn the formula they want, write your own Tweet, and wait your turn for your Tweet to go out, but it's worth it!

7. Goodreads 

You can do a ton of stuff for your book on Goodreads, including free giveaways which gets your book on the radar of thousands of readers, send posts to your followers, and much more. Learn more in my post "Discovering Goodreads."

8. Google+

If you haven't yet, you might join Google+. I did this past year and I'll confess I don't know a bunch about using it yet, but I do post all of my blog posts to Google+ (using the share button at the bottom of my blog post) and I know that brings me more blog readers, which in turn gets my books before their eyes. And that's the whole point: getting yourself known so people will want to know more about you ... and then they'll find your books.

9. LinkedIn

I notice more traffic to my blog posts (and therefore seeing my book covers) when I post a notice to LinkedIn. Sometimes that post is a comment about one of my books (with, of course, a link such as a link to the book on Amazon). To consistently send a post to LinkedIn I use a free account with Hootsuite.com to schedule posts to post automatically in the future. I try to post something interesting once a day or at least a couple times a week.

10. Pinterest

On Pinterest you can pin your book covers from online stores, like Amazon, or wherever your books are found. Also pin any articles or guest blog posts you write, author interviews, and posts from your own blog. Create a pin anytime you or your book appears online. Also create boards on topics of your book and pin articles your readers will find interesting.

You can also pin to other people's boards if they allow it. There are boards such as Christian Authors and Christian Nonfiction and Christian Web Sites, so I also pin there whenever I have an appropriate pin.

Note that in order to pin an article with Pinterest it must have an image (photo) with it. This is why you should always, always, always use a photo with every blog post and online article you write.

11. Instagram

This past weekend I heard a tech guy on a radio show state that for the first time the number of Instagram users has now passed that of Twitter. Guess I'd better join Instagram!

I did a quick search the other day and found some articles on how authors can use Instagram to market their books. You might try the same.

I know that IG, like Pinterest, requires a photo for each post. I haven't joined yet because I just couldn't figure out what to take photos of to post, and I didn't know how to make it benefit my marketing efforts (not that it's all about marketing, but at least part of it is). Interestingly only yesterday I saw a photo on Facebook from a friend who is enduring chemotherapy. She posted a photo of her Bible open to where she had a note card with a name and the caption explained she had committed to praying for a friend during each of her 28 chemo treatments. This photo was first shared on Instagram with that awesome message and then sent to Facebook from there. Ah. Now I'm starting to get it!

12. Maximize SEO

Learn about "search engine optimization" and then optimize everything you do online. Use your book title(s) and keywords in your blog titles, your YouTube video titles, guest posts, articles, etc. You can learn more about SEO in this post: "7 Keys to (SEO-Successful) Blog Posts."

13. YouTube

I recently learned how to make and edit YouTube videos. I made a dozen of them for the Christmas Advent season for my Bible Prophecies Fulfilled blog. It's not that hard. If I can do it, you can do it. Think of the book-marketing videos you can make! From book trailers to teaching videos about the topics of your books which you can post on your web site or blog (as a vlog = video blog).

My friend author Linda Evans Shepherd makes lots of videos for her chapters in her books.

14. Make a Book Trailer 

You can use YouTube to make a book trailer and then post it on Facebook and your web site. You can embed your video on your blog in a vlog (video blog) post or in a sidebar (that stays permanently on the side of your blog). You can post a  book trailer on Goodreads. You can send the link out regularly in a Tweet.

You can also make a 30 second book trailer for free at Animoto.com. Learn more about that in my post: "Make Your Own Book Trailer - Easy and Free!"

One thing you can no longer do is post your YouTube video on your Amazon page. I don't know why, but Amazon doesn't accept YouTube videos any longer. So you'll have to create a book trailer with a different program for Amazon. I know that Amazon will take a .mov file and you can make those if you're willing to pay a subscription to Animoto, but you can't make a .mov video through the free account.

15. Hold a booksigning 

This is an in-person event where you can go out and meet people and tell them about your book. I've blogged about how to set this up and what to do when you're there in these posts:

• How to Set Up an In-Store Author Event (AKA "Author Book Signing") - Part 1
• What to Do at Your In-Store Author Event (AKA "Author Book Signing" and How To Make It a Success - Part 2

Would anyone like all this information on how to hold an in-store book signing in an e-book? I'm sure I could fill an e-book with info on that!

16. Schedule a Facebook Event

Whether you have an in-person book signing event coming up or just want to create some kind of an online special event to market your book, you can post or even host the event on Facebook. On Facebook, go to your author page. Then click on "Events." Then click "Create Event" and fill in the information.

I have two events scheduled you can look at as examples. They might give you ideas. Also, I'd be pleased if you "joined" these events by clicking "Going" and then also "share" them and invite your friends.

• Solar Eclipse Virtual Watch Party! - 1st Dark Sun of 2015 will be on March 20, 2015
• Lunar Eclipse Watch Party! - 3rd of the 4 Blood Moons is on April 4, 2015

17. Create E-books

It may sound a bit crazy but another way you can market your books is to create e-books. You can create them on related topics of your existing books or entirely different topics. But you can use them to market your existing books by putting an ad about your books at the end of your e-book. On some e-book platforms, such as Amazon's Kindle, you can even include links to your other books on Amazon.

If you make your e-book exclusive to Amazon's Kindle, Amazon gives you certain privileges such as creating free book giveaways or countdown sales, as well as making your book available in the lending library (where you get paid for each library borrow).

However you can forgo those privileges and also publish your e-book on other platforms. I've been looking into Smashwords and hope to get around to trying it soon.

Speaking of e-books, have you seen the series of e-books for writers I'm publishing? The first was How to Get Published for beginning writers. A few weeks ago the second in the series released: Cutting the Passive Voice for only 99 cents. I'm thinking about my next e-book for writers and I have several I could choose from including one based on my workshop "Ten Tools for Marketing Your Book." Please visit my survey to let me know which new e-book you'd like to have next: Dianne's One-Question Survey! 

You can keep up with all my e-books for writers by visiting Dianne's Amazon Author Page. Also watch that page for when a coming book is available for pre-release sales. You can also sign up for e-mails from Amazon when I release a new book.

18. Acquire Amazon book reviews

I recently learned that if you get 100 reviews, Amazon will begin featuring your book. It doesn't seem to matter how many stars each reviewer gives, so don't worry if you get less than 5-star reviews.

While a great marketing tool for your book is reviews, I'm not sure how to get that many of them. I wish I had more reviews for all of my books. The one thing I do know is that we shouldn't solicit them. For example it's not proper to promise a free copy of your book in exchange for a review. That's like buying reviews and is frowned upon. You can give free review copies, but there should be no obligation to write a review, much less a positive or 5-star review. Perhaps the best way to accumulate reviews is to simply ask for them? If you know of a good way to get Amazon reviews, please share it with us as a comment below. Thanks.

When you do get a nice review, you can also use it elsewhere -- on your web site or blog's book page or in your email signature -- for book marketing purposes.

19. Regularly offer your expertise and help

While we are always trying to get the word out about our books so people will buy them, one way to market is to offer something to your readers without expecting anything back. I enjoy offering help to writers through this blog. And I'm pretty sure you don't mind when I occasionally mention one of my products. Build up good will with your followers and readers, and then they will champion you to their contacts. Offering something of value, like information, without always "selling" also helps us to not always sounds like we're just saying "buy my book buy my book"!

20. Write print articles

Back before internet days, pretty much all we had to read was magazines, books, and junk mail. Then it was common for writers to write articles for print magazines. Now there's so much we do online we can forget there are still print magazines out there that we can write for.

You can write an article on the same or similar topic as your book. Be careful not to use too much material in your book. Most publishing contracts restrict how much you can give away. Why would people buy your book if you're giving the same information away for free? Even if you published your book yourself you might follow the same principal for the same reason.

An example of this is my Bible Prophecies Fulfilled blog. I'm blogging on the same topic as my "Prophecies Fulfilled" series, but I'm not using any of the information from my books. If readers like what they're reading on my blog, they'll get more similar material when they buy my books.

Even if your article is on a topic completely unrelated to your book, you can still market your book through it by including your title and/or web site url (See #1!) in your bio at the end of the article (if the magazine allows or uses one).

As long as you still own the rights to your article, after it's published you can reshaped or repurpose the article as a blog post or even an e-book. My most recent e-book, Cutting the Passive Voice, was originally a magazine article from 1996. I made it into an inexpensive e-book so I could share this helpful information with many more writers for only $. 99.

As a bonus, most of the time you get paid for writing print articles.

21. Write a Guest Blog Post

Seek out other bloggers who are interested in your topic and see if they would like a guest blog post. Many bloggers take guest posts. Some just need an occasional break from blogging to take a vacation or meet a deadline. So if you have an idea for a guest post that fits the blog, let the blogger know your idea and politely ask if they would like the post from you. Most will then give you a link to your landing page (See #1!) or allow you to mention your book. Not all bloggers want guest posts so don't feel hurt if they say no.

You might also trade guest posts with other bloggers, allowing them to guest on your blog. Some bloggers create "blog hops" and other events. Doing so can gain you readers from their blog and gain them readers from your blog, which helps you both. And that's the point! Getting your name and book information out to ever more people is the name of the game.

22. Co-op with other authors

Working together to market each other's books and cross-promote each other can multiply your efforts. Some organizations are created just for this purpose. You might be able to find a group to join or gather some author friends and start your own.

23. Create a newsletter

You can build up a mailing list with a newsletter. People who subscribe will be interested in you and what you have to offer, so the likelihood of them being interested in your book is increased. And of course you can always mention your book and give a link to it (See #1!) in every issue.

I've recently renewed my former newsletter from a few years ago. I'm now using MailChimp,com which is free until I reach a certain number of subscribers. You may have encountered a pop-up subscription box when you came here. If not, find the subscribe box in the upper right corner of this blog and please subscribe! I usually send out a newsletter once a month.

24. Create a survey

Create an interesting survey that will spark interest about your book or its topic or give you opportunities to talk about your book. I used Survey Monkey to create my one-question survey about which e-book writers would like me to write next: Which E-Book For Writers Would You Want Next? Would you please click there and let me know what your vote is? Thanks!

25. Create a pretty poster

A fun and creative way to let people know about your book is to create a lovely poster with an inspiring or important message or quotation from your book. Be sure to include your book's title as the source. You can also add a url in the corner of the poster. (See #1!)

You can then post your creation on Facebook, Twitter, your blog, and web site. Ask your friends to share it via their social media outlets too.

I've used Pick Monkey to create some of these. You can read more about this and find other resources for this purpose here: "Create Your Own Text on Images for Your Blogs and Marketing Your Books."


There you have it. There are 25 free ways to market your book. (Tweet that!)

Let these 25 free ways to market your book be just a starting place. Use your imagination and brainstorm more. I'm sure you can come up with many, and surely some of them will be unique for you and your personality. When you come up with an idea that can benefit others, please share it in the comments section below. Happy book marketing!

7 Keys to (SEO-Successful) Blog Posts

from www.Morguefiles.com

I had a feeling if I put "SEO" in the title of this month's post your eyes would glaze over and I wouldn't see your lovely face here reading my post. I tried to sneak it past you by putting "SEO-Successful" in parentheses. It seems like many writers I know don't want to deal with SEO. But really, if you're blogging or if you're the guest on someone else's blog talking about your book or if you're writing online, don't you want people to find your post and read your stuff? That's what SEO is all about. So let's talk about 7 Keys to making your blog posts more SEO-successful so you can draw more readers.

I don't claim to be an expert on SEO. But I've learned some and, as usual, this e-zine-turned-blog is all about sharing what I've learned in the hope it will help you in your own writing journey.

Probably, nowadays, most writers know what SEO is. But I can see some of you still have glazed-over eyes, so let's talk about what SEO is. SEO doesn't have to be complicated. There's a boon of books written on the subject, but those are for people who are interested or who do marketing or publicity for a living. Writers need to know some about SEO to promote their own writing and make the most of every opportunity for their online writing, but we don't have to get overly complicated. Let's keep it simple: SEO stands for "Search Engine Optimization" and that phrase doesn't have to be intimidating. It simply means there are simple things you can do to optimize (make the most of) search engines and help them find you and your writing. That brings more readers to whatever you write. And that's a good thing. After all, that's what we're in it for, right?

So, let's get started and look at 7 Keys to making your blog post more search-engine friendly (also known as search engine optimized):

Key 1: Write Only One Topic Per Post

Seriously, only one topic per post. This sounds easy, doesn't it. But I find it's harder than it looks. Take today for example. I have so much I want to tell you! Besides writing on the topic of the month, I also want to:

1. Tell you that I have a new book out. How exciting is that?!
2. Encourage you to attend the Colorado Christian Writers Conference coming up later this month.

Now see? While I'm dying to tell you all this stuff in my once-a-month post, those are really two different besides the writing topic of SEO for blogs. If I include these other two thoughts in my post, the search engines won't know where to "file" this post. And you know what happens when something gets filed when nobody really knows where it should be filed: it's never seen by anyone again.

So what should I do? Answer: Stick to ONE topic per post so the search engines can figure out where to file this and then when someone comes asking for it, those lovely engines will know right where to send them.

What about those other topics? I have some options so I'll need to make some decisions. I could:

1. Write them in separate posts. They would each need to be in their owns post because they are different topics. The drawback here is that I've agreed with my subscribers, when this was an e-zine, to only put something in their in boxes once a month unless it's really, really important and couldn't wait til the next month's post. I don't want to raise the ire of my subscribers by sending two more posts in the next few days. Still, when this blog was in the form of a newsletter, I could put this "extra" information in a sidebar and deliver all this information to in one newsletter. I can't do that so well in a blog since it will scramble the brains of the search engines.
2. I could write about my new book and CCWC on other Pages on this blog (the tabs at the top). The drawback here is that I don't know if you'll see it.

So which decision should I make? I'll admit it's a tough one. Right now I'm thinking I will send additional posts, one on each topic, in a few days. My thinking here is that those who read this blog, and who read the e-zine this used to be, know me (or have gotten to know me). And when we get to know someone, aren't we interested in what's going on with them? So wouldn't you be interested in knowing I have a new book out? I'll give myself some time to get my pages updated to reflect the new book, and then I'll send a post to tell you all about it.

Also, because the Colorado Christian Writers Conference is coming up in only a couple of weeks, if I'm going to encourage you to go I need to do it soon.

If my subscribers aren't interested in these topics, that's what the delete key is for.

Another advantage of writing only one topic per post:  busy readers can see at a glance if they're interested and they don't miss important announcements because it's one topic per post. On the other hand, if they're not interested, they can simply press delete.

Key 2: Discover Your Key Words

Now that you know what your one topic for your post is, determine what  your key words are. Key words are important. If you want to increase your readership, if you want to reach more people with your message, then you need to pay attention to key words.

Your key words are those words your potential reader is going to type in to a search engine when he or she is trying to find the very information you're writing.

In other words, imagine your future reader: that person who needs what you're writing about. But they don't know you are writing just what they need. How are they going to find you? Here's how: They are going to access a search engine (Google, Bing, or other) and then type in some words. What words are they typing in? Whatever those words are, they are your Key Words.

Make a note of them. Write them down. Type them somewhere. Learn to choose really good key words. You're going to need them.

Now, how can you know if you picked good Key Words? Or do you have that feeling that you haven't quite nailed down your key words and you wished you had some suggestions for alternate words or phrases? You can get some help with your Key Words at the free Google's AdWord: Keyword Tool. With this tool you can put in your key words and get a whole list of related words and phrases.

Google's AdWord Keyword Tool also tells you how many searches were done for those key words or phrases and the level of competition for those words. In other words, are you competing with a lot of other blogs that are also using those key words? A high rating might mean a popular topic but a lot of competition. Medium competition might mean a significant number of people are searching for that topic but not that many people are writing about it, which might be very good for you.

Considering number of searches and the competition, write down the most promising words and phrases for your blog post topic.

Key 3: Use Your Key Words in Your Blog Post Title

Now that you know your key words, use them in your blog post title. For example, this blog post is about helping you create your own blog posts that attract new readers through SEO, it's about helping you create successful blog posts, and it gives you 7 keys. All of those thoughts are reflected in this post's title.

Since I have learned this much about SEO, and since good SEO techniques have started to become familiar enough to me that I recognize them or, better yet, I recognize when they are missing, I have to tell you that sometimes I see blog post titles that make me cringe. Honestly, I'm not trying to pick on anyone here. I'm only trying to help. So if you see yourself in what I'm about to say, please know I'm not picking on you personally. I see these things a lot, and I just wanted to call your attention to it so you can do better in the future. I cringe only because I know it's a lost opportunity.

I've seen (and actually I've been guilty of this myself) blog titles like:

• Great News!
• Announcing...
• Exciting Stuff!

Ah hem. Blog post titles like that tell us NOTHING. If you think people will click on that post title to see what it's about, think again. They won't. And the search engines will only bring people to your blog post who are searching for "great news," "announcing...," or "exciting stuff." Can you see how that doesn't work?

Practice being specific. If your great news is that your book just won an award, give the title of your book and/or the name of the award. If you're announcing your new book, use the key words of what your book is about to attract people who are searching for information on your book's topic. If your exciting stuff is that you're going to be a guest on TV, say which program.

If you're blogging about writing or publishing, put those key words in your title. If you're writing an online article on a current event, use the key words for that event. If you're teaching on your favorite topic, that topic which is the passion of your heart, put that topic in your post title. You get the idea...

Key 4: Use Your Key Words in Beginning, Middle, and Ending of Your Blog Post

Now take those same key words that you used in your title and use them:

1. in the first sentence of your post, or at least in the first paragraph.
2. in the body of your post, in a way that is natural and organic (not stacking or forcing those words unnaturally). You can use them more than once, but use them at least once.
3. in the last sentence of your post, or at least the last paragraph.

This takes discipline, but it makes a huge difference in your search engine optimization.

Try this: I'm now writing the first and last paragraph of my posts at the same time, and then I fill in the middle. That's helping me more easily get those key words at the bottom of the post without forgetting.

Sometimes this feels awkward and forced. That's okay. Do it the best you can. It will get easier. And it's really, really important for your SEO.

Key 5: Include Links

Two things here:

First, it's very helpful to your SEO to have links in your post that actually link to something helpful that you're talking about. So always, always, always put at least a couple of links in your posts.

Second, you must make the words that form your link count. Another thing that makes me cringe is links that use words like:

• Click here
• More info
• Find it here

Another lost opportunity.

Those words don't count for anything! Make your link titles count by actually stating, using key words, where that link will take you. For example the above link I gave you actually takes you to Google's AdWord: Keyword Tool, so those are the words I used for the title of the link! Not hard. Just do it. It will make you points in the SEO department.

Here's another example. This morning, when I was already planning to write about SEO in blog posts, I saw in a Paper.li I subscribe to a blog post by author and speaker Mary DeMuth titled "25 Best Blog Practices That'll Rock Your Blog!" Though her post isn't about SEO, it is about blogging and I thought her post might help you, too, so I wanted to share it.

Take note that the words I made into the links actually tell where that link is taking you. The Paper.li link takes you to a post I wrote about that Twitter-fed Paper that you can create. Putting words in the link that go with the link score you many more SEO points than a link that says "Click here."

Key 6: Include a Photo

Honestly I don't know if a photo helps out with SEO or not. But I do believe a picture helps your article gain attention, so I included it in this list.

I don't know a thing about Pinterest. I haven't joined that one yet. But I have heard that in order to "pin" an online article in Pinterest there has to be a photo with the article. (If you know Pinterest, you can leave a comment and let us know if I've got that right.)

I do know that sharing a post on Facebook gets a lot more attention if it has a picture with it. So do find a photo to go with your post. You can use one of your own photos if you want to, if you don't mind your face on the internet, or use the image of your book cover or award--whatever goes with your post's topic.

Don't have a photo? I'm sure you know better than to just go take one from somewhere. Photos are copyrighted just like your words, so respect others' copyrights.

There are web sites where you can grab free photos to use in your blog. Google "free stock photos" and you'll find some.

I haven't always put a photo with my blog posts unless I was blogging about something that a photo naturally went with, like my book cover or an event I had a photo from. But I've recently come to believe having a photo is very important and I've been overlooking adding one, so I'm going to try to always include one from here on out. (We'll see if I remember!) Last month I used a free photo from Dreamstime.com. For this post I used a free photo from Morguefile.com. Be sure to read the small print to know whether you need to put a credit line on it. Dreamstime wants you to, and tells you what to put. I used that as the lable for the photo in my computer so the two would be stored together and I'd have it when I needed it. Morguefile doesn't require that, but I put their link on the photo both because I appreciate them providing me a photo and so you would know where it came from.

Key 7: Add a Video

I've learned that adding a video from YouTube really scores you SEO points, too. There are thousands of videos on YouTube so you can find a bit of teaching on your topic or an inspiring song.

You can also use your book trailer. Don't have a book trailer? Here's a post I wrote on how to make your own 30-second book trailer for free.

Bonus Key: Make Sure Your Posts are Share-Friendly

I didn't count this one as an SEO key because I don't know that it helps in optimizing your post for search engines, but it is a pet peeve of mine. (Mary DeMuth mentioned this in her article, too.) Be sure that every post you write is easy to "Share." That means installing buttons at the bottom that readers can click to share your post on Twitter, Facebook, and a bunch of other sites.

You'll see Share Buttons at the bottom of this post, and I hope you'll Tweet it and Facebook it and Google+ it. You can also use the e-mail and blog post share buttons.

On other blogs I've seen a whole bunch of other options and I'm frustrated that I haven't been able to figure out how to add those to my blog yet. I'm thinking it must be a plug-in that people get from somewhere else because I've looked on Blogspot and the ones I already have are the only ones I can find. Maybe you can do better with your blog.

Use these techniques elsewhere too

By the way, all these SEO keys can be applied to your web site, too. And to online articles you write, guest posts on other people's blogs...anywhere you write online. So start practicing and soon you'll be a natural at it.

I'm planning to make myself a checklist so I don't forget any of these steps in future posts. You might make your own checklist.

If you practice these 7 Keys to SEO-successful blog posts, you should see an increase in people visiting your blog and reading your messages. And that's what it's all about, right? You're writing because you want people to read what you write, right? Let me know if you find these tips easy or hard to implement in the comments section below. If you have other ideas for SEO success, please share it in a comment. Or if you have questions about this topic, put it in a comment and we'll see what answers we can come up with. I wish you all the success in the world in your own writing and posting!