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If any of you have started a blog for your children’s books, your classroom, your homeschool, or your mommy world, then you may be interested in the following REPRINTED interview on blogging and blogging tips I did with WOW! Women On Writing. It appeared on their blog, The Muffin, in July. I am teaching a course for them about blogging; and even if you don’t have a writing blog, this course helps you take your blog to the next level. So, here’s the interview full of tips. If you like what you read, consider signing up for the course, which starts October 4 and is perfect for people who need a flexible schedule when taking a class. Now, on to the blogging tips interview. . .
WOW: Hi Margo, it is so nice to be chatting with you today. Let’s start with the basics; one of the first places a person can get bogged down is in deciding which type of website to use. What are the differences between a free WordPress.com or Blogger site and a hosted website as far as our ability to publicize and monetize our sites?
Margo: There shouldn’t be any difference, really, except that when you have a free site, all the profit is yours! As far as publicizing goes, you would do the same things on a free WordPress or Blogger site as you would for a hosted website. You would use social networking sites, comments on other blogs, your bio on articles, SEO Keywords, and so on to publicize your blog. As for monetizing, as long as you have the capability to put widgets or links on your “free” blog, you can monetize. Sometimes, it will depend on what template you choose as to what you can fit on your blog, and those are the kinds of questions we’ll tackle in class.
WOW: Ah, there is more to a template than pretty colors (smile). With the question of functionality addressed, my next one is how to build readership. You have mentioned in your course description that for a blog to be successful the content should be unique and focused. Can you elaborate on that for us? How unique is “unique”?
Margo: There are hundreds (maybe even thousands) of blogs out there about a writer and her journey. “Here’s my blog about how I am going to write a novel.”Or “Here’s my blog about being a stay-at-home mom while I write children’s books.” I don’t mean to criticize anyone’s blog, and many of these are successful. But these topics have been done and done again. When I started my site, I knew there were already many children’s book review blogs. So I decided that whenever I featured a book, I would make my post different by including three take-away activities for parents, teachers, and librarians. I haven’t found many blogs that review a book, provide a summary, and tell you how to use it with kids and teens. So, I made my blog unique.
WOW: So, having each post provide take-away or usable information the reader can apply to her own life is one way to stand out and build readership. You also mentioned guest blogging. What is “guest blogging” and how does it serve us?
Margo: Guest blogging is when you write a post for another blog or when someone else writes a post for you. You are a “guest” writer on the blog. Both ways benefit a blogger. When you guest blog on another blog, you’re exposed to
Learn to write for children's magazines!
In September, I’ll be teaching a course through WOW! Women On Writing about writing children’s short stories, articles, and fillers. I am re-posting an interview below with Angela, WOW!’s executive editor, that appeared on their blog, The Muffin, at the beginning of this year. I hope that it helps any of you who have thought about writing for children’s magazines or websites. If you have book dreams, it helps to start out at the magazine level to work on your writing skills and get publication credits under your belt. Read on to find out more:
Angela: I’ve never tried writing for children’s publications, but I’ve always been intrigued by the idea. It must be so rewarding to reach out and entertain a child through your writing. I still remember all the articles and stories I read in magazines, such as Cricket, as a child. Maybe it’s because I was so young that the stories stuck with me or the fact that I was reading something I wanted to read for the first time.
So to gain a bit of insight into this market, I caught up with Margo L. Dill and asked her a few questions on the subject. Margo teaches the e-course Writing for Children. The course begins Wednesday, September 8. If this is a market you’ve been thinking about writing for, I urge you to visit the classroom page and sign up today.
Welcome, Margo! Like I mentioned above, I’m new to children’s writing. So tell me, what are the different types of manuscripts children’s magazines accept?
Margo: Children’s magazines accept short stories, poems, and articles. They also accept fillers, which are pieces like recipes, puzzles, quizzes, and arts and crafts.
Angela: That’s a wide variety, and it sounds like a lot of fun. If a writer wanted to craft a short story for a children’s magazine, what things should she keep in mind to better target her market?
Margo: I teach about the characteristics of a children’s short story during the fiction lessons because writing a short story for children is very different than writing for adults. The age of the main character is very important and should be the same age or older than the target age range. For example, if you are writing a short story for readers between 8 and 12 years old, the main character should be 11 or 12. As a rule, children don’t like to read about kids younger than them or adults as main characters. The other big mistake I see made in many children’s stories, and we cover this in the class, is that the child protagonist does not solve his own problem. An adult swoops in and saves the day. Children want to read about other children solving their own problems.
Angela: I never thought about it, but that makes complete sense. I think it’s a good lesson too for children to learn how to solve their own problems. In your class curriculum you recommend sending a cover letter with a short story submission. Are cover letters important? Shouldn’t the story stand on its own?
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If you are a teacher, librarian, parent, or anyone really, you might be interested in taking some online classes about writing and social networking this spring and summer. I am teaching three classes through WOW! Women on Writing’s classroom and workshop program, and I am super excited!
The first class I am teaching starts on Wednesday, April 21 and is called: Writing For Children: Short Stories, Articles, and Fillers. This is for anyone who has ever thought–hey, I’d like to write for children, but you’re not sure where to start or how to get some publishing credits. Here’s an interview I did with Angela from WOW! about writing for children in these areas and about my class. This class meets for seven weeks–online using a Google group. We do not meet at a certain time online–it’s all done at each student’s own schedule. I am running a special this spring–it usually costs $200, but I’m offering it for $175. Click here to view the syllabus and to sign up for the class. (This is the third time I’m offering this course.)
The next class I am teaching was really popular this winter. It’s called: SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR AUTHORS: TWITTER, FACEBOOK, LINKEDIN AND MORE! This course is actually for anyone who wants to learn how to use these social networks–for personal and business reasons, although we focus mostly on businesses such as freelance writing, authors who want to promote a book, freelance editors, writing coaches, etc. The class starts on Monday, May 24 and lasts for four weeks for $100. We use a Google group, and students don’t have to be online at a certain time–we work around all schedules. I also did an interview with Angela for this class and tips for using social networking as a writer. For more information on the syllabus and how to sign up for the class, click here.
The last class is brand new, and I am super excited to teach it–especially since I love blogging so much. The class is all about blogging and is called: BLOGGING 101 AND MORE: Start a Blog, Make it Unique, and Keep it Going. This course will help new and experienced bloggers start and/or improve a blog in either Wordpress or Blogger. We will use a Google group as our virtual classroom. It starts on Monday, July 12, runs for five weeks, and is $125. We’ll discuss keeping up with your blog, making it unique, driving traffic to it, and even monetizing it. Go here for more information on the syllabus and to sign up. This class can be for anyone who wants to start a blog about anything. Also, please feel free to leave any comments or questions below and pass on the information to your friends and family with the SHARE THIS button.
Thanks for your support as always! 
If you are interested in all the cl
I am happy to announce that I’m going to be teaching another class for WOW! Women On Writing. I am super excited about this class because it is about one of my new favorite loves–SOCIAL NETWORKING–and ways to use it as a writer. So, here are the details:
SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR AUTHORS: TWITTER, FACEBOOK, LINKEDIN AND MORE! by Margo L. Dill
START DATE: Monday, February 22, 2010
DURATION: 4 weeks
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This class will teach writers how to use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social networking sites such as Shelfari or Jacket Flap (students’ choice) to network; to build a following of fans; to start working on a brand/image; and to promote books, articles, magazines, and blogs. Instead of using Facebook and Twitter to write about your fabulous dinner or disastrous day at the grocery store, you will learn to sell yourself and your writing!
WEEKS AT A GLANCE:
Week One: Facebook: We will discuss how to use Facebook to promote yourself and your writing. We will talk about posting links to your work, using status updates to promote writing, joining Facebook groups for writers, and even starting a Fan page for yourself or your work.
Assignment: Create a Facebook profile if you haven’t yet, complete your Facebook profile, make it scream writer!, join at least one writing group and become active!, and start promoting your writing with your Facebook page.
Week Two: Twitter: My favorite marketing tool ever is Twitter. Twitter can be used in so many ways as a writer—to promote your work, to follow writers and editors who provide useful information, to find other writers for support, and to discuss writing. You will learn how to do all of this and more on Twitter. You will be introduced to two Twitter tools—Tweetdeck and Hootsuite, and you will register yourself with Twellow.
Assignment: Create a Twitter profile if you haven’t yet. Make your Twitter profile scream writer! Start tweeting. Participate in a writers’ chat. Register with Twellow. Try out Tweetdeck or Hootsuite.
Week Three: LinkedIn: This week, we will talk about how to use LinkedIn as a writer. LinkedIn seems harder for people to figure out and use to market yourself, but there are ways through your status updates, by checking out your contacts’ contacts, by recommending others and having them recommend you, and by participating in LinkedIn groups.
Assignments: Create a LinkedIn profile and/or complete yours. Make it scream writer! Join a few LinkedIn groups. Find more contacts. Check out your contacts’ contacts and link to them.
Week Four: More Social Networking and Evaluation: The content in this week’s class will depend on the participants in the class. The instructor will do a survey to find out what people are most interested in learning about and trying out with guidance: Shelfari? JacketFlap? Digg? Students will also fill out a class evaluation.
Assignments: Try out one or two of the social networks that classmates are most interested in. Fill out the class evaluation.
Materials needed: a computer with Internet service, e-mail address, and ability to sign-up for free Google Account. You also must be willing to sign up for Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts if you haven’t already.
COST: $100, which will include four weeks of instruction on how to use social networking as an author and one critique for each student of a social networking profile page—student’s choice.
