I know a great number of bloggers whose blogs just aren't getting a lot of traffic. I have discovered it's not a problem with the writing, it's the marketing. Some bloggers have great content, only to go largely undiscovered because the authors are not good at marketing. Marketing is hard for most bloggers; we are writers, not marketers. This article from Uncommon Designs gives five tips for marketing your blog and/or website. I've used several of these tips and will continue. Having five blogs is a challenge, but I'm determined to market them as well as I write them. You can, too! Don't be afraid to put your writing out there. You never know when you will impact someone you never expected to impact. Happy Blogging! Happy New Year! ~Tricia

Happy 2013!!  What a great year this promises to be! Starting a new year, or even a new day is like waking up to a clean slate, or in my case as a writer, to a new word document!  Either way, opportunity abounds each and every day. One sure way to take advantage of those opportunities is to set goals. Setting a goal or a number of goals gives focus, validity, and clarity to your writing. Being the creative type, I sometimes find goal setting confining. To combat that, I keep my eyes on my end result, asking myself what I want to accomplish and how it can be accomplished. I have found that even non-specific goals, such as a goal to be more consistent, can carry great influence. It's easy to take a non-specific goal and make it more specific with a plan.  Even if you're a free-lance writer who does not earn your entire income from writing, you should have a plan, a business plan, for your writing. GOAL - PLAN - ACTION Your next step, after setting a goal and making...

Even if you are a novelist, consider writing articles.  Articles are quick, short and can be broadly disbursed to give you a wide exposure more quickly than a book.  Still write your books, but add articles to your portfolio. Some benefits of article writing include: Articles can be used to introduce your books and other writings. Articles are easily written. You can cover a wide variety of topics in your articles. Articles vary in size, giving the writer endless marketing possibilities. You might be more likely to find an agent willing to take a chance on you if you've published a good number of articles. Article writing expands your writing resume. Article writing shows your full talent as a writer without a huge time commitment from the reader. Articles can introduce you to a wider audience. Articles are great promotional items. Tonight is the first meeting of a new writer's group I'm facilitating. I hope to write an article about our first meeting and the gro...

The English language is funny.  Just when we think we have it mastered, new words are introduced and we have to expand our vocabulary.  This happened in the cooking world when Rachael Ray coined the term EVOO for Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  Suddenly, EVOO made the dictionary and people had to start adding that to their cookbooks in order to reach and relate to a new generation of cooks.  How cool is that?  I mean, seriously, being able to influence the dictionary writers through frequently-used changes in language is mind-blowing!  Kudos to Rachael Ray! Knowing the lingo of the writing world is equally as important as knowing the lingo when you're cooking. If you don't know the lingo, your recipes won't turn out like they should. If you don't know the writing lingo, your targeted market will not be hit.  Here are a few commonly-used terms to get you started. This is not a comprehensive list by any means; it is only a jump-start for you to search deeper:...