by Linda Aksomitis | January 2, 2017 | Book Reviews, Write for the Web | 0 Comments

Well, there’s lots of good–maybe even great–content on the Web, so to make money blogging, your content has to be easy to find. That includes everything from understanding SEO, so you get some great SERP (Search Engine Results Page) placements, to social media. Today, it’s all one package. That’s where content marketing comes in.

by Linda Aksomitis | December 11, 2016 | Blogging | 1 Comment

The thing is that the Web changes every day. While we used to talk SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, over and over as the be-all and end-all way to get those coveted readers to your blog, that’s not really how it works any longer. Sure, SEO is still important, because SEO friendly content generally contains lots of writing strategies that make your Web content work for readers. But the shocking conclusion I’ve just come to is that most successful blogs don’t rely on Google or Bing or Yahoo anymore to increase blog traffic. Instead, many blogs get 80% or more of their traffic through social media and other channels.

by Linda Aksomitis | November 5, 2016 | Write for the Web, Writing | 0 Comments

Interested in blogging or nonfiction? The good news is that you can find lots of ways to make money on the Internet in these areas. Plus, there are many publishing opportunities for literary writers and poets. Payment varies, so you’ll need to investigate markets the same as you do for print publications.

by Linda Aksomitis | June 30, 2016 | Self-Promotion | 2 Comments

Rebranding results in a full makeover just like the Rowdy Gang, Pemmican Pete, Pemmican Pearl, and the Heritage Fashion Show disappeared from the Queen City Ex. Refocusing, on the other hand, selects existing elements and puts a new spin on them.

by Linda Aksomitis | May 15, 2016 | eBooks, Self-Publishing | 2 Comments

Okay, so print is really old news, as you can see from the infographic at the top of the page. However, there’s a twist to the on-going evolution of publishing. Author Earnings calls it the “the law of unintended consequences.” I call it awesome news for indie authors!
And you’re likely dying to know what happened.

by Linda Aksomitis | May 6, 2016 | Self-Promotion, Social Media | 0 Comments

So let’s go through your “scrapbook” as a mid-career writer, especially if you’re just making that transition from traditional publishing to the Web. You may already have inventoried these things in a CV, or curriculum vitae, that you’ve included along with publisher submissions.

by Linda Aksomitis | March 15, 2016 | Blogging, Website Design Tips, Writing | 6 Comments

Travel bloggers have different ideas on what they’ve done to set themselves apart–meet 14 travel bloggers who share their branding secrets. Travel writing and blogging is an enormous field–Google brings up 399,000,000 results for the term “travel blog” alone. Travel writers who try to cover it “all” end up with a little bit of content to suit a lot of people a little bit of the time. That translates into few regular readers.

by Linda Aksomitis | March 1, 2016 | Blog | 0 Comments

The new wave of indie authors who’ve become publishers, taking publishing into their own hands, are excited. And why not? They can publish an ebook that appears just a professional as a traditionally published ebook on a shoestring budget, depending on what they’re unable to do themselves so contract out.

by Linda Aksomitis | February 22, 2016 | eBooks | 0 Comments

Ebooks have come a long ways since 2002 when they had just 0.05% of the marketplace! So, it’s likely no surprise that the technology behind ebooks has also come a long ways. This infographic introduces you to the three types of ebooks we see today.

by Linda Aksomitis | February 14, 2016 | Blog | 0 Comments

Students often felt disillusioned when I sent back edits on their work and suggestions for improvement. They’d come to class, not to learn how to write better, but for me to tell them they were born writers and to submit their work to Publisher X to start their million-dollar careers.

But all writers, just like everyone that gets on those bicycles, have to push and train those muscles to get better. It takes practice, tons of it. Maintaining the status quo may be the easy way to participate, but the most rewards come from the hardest work.