Venturing Into the Writing and Publishing World? You Need to Read This!

     Nearly a year ago when I began helping to market the Guiamo Chronicles,  I started with a crash course on blogging and Twitter.  Facebook I pretty well understood.  Twitter was a foreign land and blogging looked fun but confusing.  As I stumbled along I met many people glad to lend a helping hand.  I also ran across many articles that helped me tremendously.  Things that seem second nature once you've been on Twitter for awhile can be very baffling to start.  Lists are wonderful tool, for example, but I had no idea how to use them.

     Most sites such as Twitter, Hootesuite, and Blogger have tutorials, but let's face it, most of us don't take the time to read them.  It's on our to do list that never really gets done.  Time is a precious commodity, especially in my case as a mother of six children trying to help her husband.  Because of this, the kind people who passed along their knowledge made a huge difference.  I'm still learning but I've come  along way.

     As a way to say thanks to those whose help made a difference, I wanted to pass along their posts that helped me on my journey.  Below you will find articles on everything from Twitter etiquette (and yes, I made some mistakes) to using YouTube to your advantage as a writer. I hope it will encourage and help others who may feel a bit lost as I did.  

Articles Discussing Publishing & Writing Related Issues

• Press Releases, Part II (link to Part I in article) - shared by Cate Russell- Cole 
• Six Things You Should Be Including in Your EBook (and Probably Aren't) 
• Facebook Groups for Indie Authors - Cate Russell-Cole
• From the archives: Tolkien’s Top 10 Tips for Writers.  shared by @LiterateIndy
• Secrets to Getting Your Book Into Libraries 
• 50 Best Websites for Indie Authors shared by @GodfreyKnaggs
• 46 Top Websites to Promote Your Book for Free
• Great list of blogs discussing books for boys! compliments of @MaggieLyons
• YouTube for Writers: 5 Tips to Tap Into A BILLION Unique Users shared by @angee

Articles Giving  Information on Twitter Basics

• "Drowning in Tweets: A struggling author tries to understand Twitter." - Scott D. Southard
•  44 Essential Twitter Hashtags Every Author Should  Know - Caitlin Muir, @scribblinghappy
• 0 - 4000 in a Snap! How to Build a Quality Twitter Following FAST - Molly Greene
• Article on Bitly and Creating Short Links - Annette Mackey
• 6 Essential Twitter Tools to Find and Connect With Influencers - shared by Molly Greene
• A beginners guide to Hootsuite shared by @GodfreyKnaggs
• How to use HootSuite for Social Listening by @Mike_allton
• Tool to create multi-regional URL's for your books- compliments of @KUForum

Articles Regarding Reviews - How, How Not To and Where to Find Reviewers

• A list of review sites that will review self-published books, from TheIndieView. - shared by @SelfPubBkCovers
•  How to Get Your Book Reviewd - Molly Greene
• 5 Tips for Approaching Reviewers (from an AMZN Hall of Fame Reviewer) 

Articles Regarding Blog Tours & Blogs/Websites

• How to Run a Blog Tour - Beth Barany
• Why your ‘about’ page is completely wrong shared by @GodfreyKnaggs
• How to sell books from your website: ecommerce solutions shared by @GodfreyKnaggs
• Ch 4.8 Get Thee A Mailing List

     Do you remember when you first started using Twitter or blogging?  Do you have a funny story or something that has helped you to pass along?  If so, we'd love to hear it.  Please take a few minutes to leave a comment below.  Twitter is a wonderful community.  I hope you enjoy your stay!