@GlenysOConnell
Blogs are a great promotional tool for writers – and they can be fun, too! I know some people back off from the idea of blogging and there are many reasons.
The most common would be: 1) What Do I say? 2) Who’d Be Interested? 3) Every Week! I don’t have time! 4) It’s too complicated. 5) I’d feel silly – what would it actually achieve?
Taking number 1) If you can talk, you can blog. The best blogs are conversational in tone, and you can chat about what interests you. I have a blog most Mondays which simply features quotes that I’ve found inspiring and hope will inspire others.
2) Who’d be interested? Lots and lots of readers actually seek out blogs for information and entertainment. Write yours well, make it interesting, post on social media, and they will come.
3) I don’t have time! Sure, I confess that sometimes I miss a blog date because of deadlines, personal happenings, or being just too darned tired to be inspired. But mostly, blogging has become part of my routine and I enjoy the challenge of coming up with a subject and writing 500 words, less or more, about it. Usually I can find something that interests me enough to chat about, either from experience or from research that I do on a subject. Think of it as a way of increasing your own knowledge and strengthening your writing skills!
4) It’s actually not complicated at all. You can dedicate a page on your website - you do have a website, yes? – or use one of the free blogging engines like Wordpress or Blogger. Quite a few writers don’t bother having a formal webpage any longer, as they can use their blog for the same purpose. These blogging sites offer templates and lots of help programs built in. Trust me, if I can do it, you can!
5) What would it actually achieve? Wow! Obviously that depends on your subject, why you’re blogging, and how you go about it. The first thing, really, is to give some value to your readers, something they can take away. That can be as simple as information, with links to further information if you can, (mentioning the source, especially if it is from someone else’s blog, with a link will get you brownie points!) or something to think about, or a smile that brightens their day. Blogging makes you visible, and the reason many authors aren't selling their books is because of 'invisibility'. Readers need to get to know you, and a blog is great for that.
A title helps bring people to your blog – look at the one on this page: If You Can Talk, You Can Blog. It got you here, didn’t it?
Blog titles are a bit like book titles: they grab the readers attention either by offering information or by something intriguing. I have a book titled The No Sex Clause and yes, that grabs a lot of attention. Sounds a bit raunchier than it is, but people want to know why there’s a need for such a clause, and what happens between the sexy couple on the cover…an attention getter.
This blog is called Romance Can Be Murder, because that’s what I write about: Stories with romance and mystery (and a few murders). I also have a touch of humor in my books, which is reflected in the blog title, too 
Some of the most successful blogs combine information with a style like chatting to your best friend. They can be very short, or quite long, but bear in mind this is work that will appear on the Web, so try to keep paragraphs short, dole out in formation in little bits rather than huge lumps that would choke a reader.
Most of all, while blogging is a great way to get your name in front of readers, it shouldn’t be used to constantly sell, sell, sell your work. Mention a book release, use your work as an example, but constantly asking readers to buy, buy, buy your books without giving them anything else is going to mean your blog gets lonely fast.
So, now it’s your turn. What adventures have you had in the Blogosphere?
@GlenysOConnell
Could your titles actually be putting potential readers off? If you’re anything like me, a cute (to you) title arrives around the time of the book idea, or during the writing of it when one of your characters uses a phrase that catches your eye and provokes a Eureka! moment.
The accepted wisdom is that the cover lures a potential reader, the back blurb reels them in, and then you have 30 seconds of the first paragraph on the first page to seal the deal.
But in my humble opinion, if your title sucks, you seriously damage the chance of your potential reader getting past first base.
I’ve not seen research on this, but I believe a catchy, intriguing title is your first line of hooking a reader – and a sale. For example, after one of my most successful books of a couple of years ago, the Indie published The No Sex Clause, I vowed to use the word ‘sex’ in as many titles as I could squeeze it into! I quickly came to the conclusion that wasn’t a good idea, as ‘sex’ doesn’t fit with other phrases. Sex & Naked Writing? Sex & Another Man’s Son, Sex: The Bride’s Curse? Uhmmm, not the right image at all.
While The No Sex Clause seemed to leap through the ether to readers, I decided it was the idea of a romance novel in which there was a binding clause that the protagonists couldn’t have sex that obviously intrigued a lot of people into pressing the BUY button.
Winters & Somers, which I thought was a neat title and one of my best books, didn’t fare as well. Judgement By Fire grabbed quite a lot of people’s attention, as did Resort to Murder. The latter two are examples of getting readers to ask the question: What? Who? Why? Read the book!
Marrying Money was a fun book that made quite a few readers smile all the way to the checkout button.
So, inquiring minds would ask, just what constitutes title magic?
Unusual word combinations. Common phrases used in an unusual way. Questions or statements that call the reader to seek an answer or explanation. Anything that arouses curiosity. Think of Gone With The Wind. Gone where? Who? Why? Oh, a romance. Gee, the civil war. An old Southern Mansion on the cover..Gotcha.
Elizabeth George’s What Came Before He Shot Her is a prime example. For followers of her Inspector Lynley series, the title promises an answer to the question we’d often wondered about: Why was Helen Lynley killed? Who did the deed? For those who are new to the series, the unusual title raises a raft of questions that pique curiosity enough to take a walk to the checkout.
Canadian author Louise Penny hit the title jackpot with her beautifully written and intriguing mystery series, the Inspector Gamache books, set in Quebec. Don’t titles such as The Beautiful Mystery, How The Light Gets In, or The Long Way Home, when applied to a detective series, just fill you with curiosity to find out more?
So, to sum up: titles aren’t just a bunch of words typed in as an afterthought. They are a vital part of telling your readers what your book is. A good title invites a prospective reader to solve a mystery, to enter a story, to seek the answers that lie between the covers of your book.
Don’t you think titles deserve some serious thought?
***You can follow the links to each of the books mentioned here, and my own books have a free first chapter read here on my website.
When I first began writing, back in what my kids refer to as the 'Dark Ages', by which they meant before computers and the Internet, there were few guides for writers. The ones I read were staid, intellectual treatises that made writing seem like some kind of religion only the initiated could practice.
Times changed, and with the advent of the World Wide Web, lots of information and opportunities became available to writers. And with this deluge of information came all sorts of advice, much of it terrific. But some of it caused more confusion than clarity. You have probably come across some of these examples:
* Meditate before you write
* Use only pen and paper to capture your thoughts.
* Light candles around your writing space – certain scents inspire creativity.
* Write at dawn, when your work is blessed by the rising sun.
* Write at night, when the moon inspires you to greatness…….
Yeah, right. I started my career as a journalist. Imagine the effect of announcing that I couldn’t write the front page lead until I’d meditated, lit candles, and performed other rituals to bless my work……I'd have been quickly shown the door!
So I learned that there’s absolutely no substitute for putting your bum in the chair, hands on the keyboard, and - yes, writing. Sounds so simple, doesn't it? But there is magic in just starting to write, even a stream of consciousness that bears some faint resemblance to your story idea or non-fiction topic. mKeep going, putting those words down, and eventually, slowly, the words begin to form a coherent whole and your book is under way!
Sure I have my own rituals – got to check email & FB, and read over the last chapter I wrote before closing the computer sown for the night. There needs to be a coffee by the keyboard, too, but I know that nothing takes the place of actually getting the writing written!
Comment about your own writing rituals for a chance to win a copy of Naked Writing: The No Frills Way to Write Your Book, or a $10 Amazon gift certificate 
Blogs are a great promotional tool for writers – and they can be fun, too! I know some people back off from the idea of blogging and there are many reasons.
