Which is the best social media for a blogger?

Published on August 2, 2018August 1, 2018 by Jean M. Cogdell27 Comments

Which social media do you use to promote your blog?

There are so many personalized reader/news websites, how do we choose? I can’t keep up with all of them. New ones, old ones, coming and going every day. It’s exhausting.

Flipboard, StumbleUpon/Mix, Medium, Feedly, Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Linkedin, Reddit, Tumbler, Pocket, Pinterest or…

StumbleUpon. I loved this one until they changed. Every time I added my blog post to their website, I found other great writers. Now that they’ve migrated over to Mix, I’m not so sure. Changes aren’t always for the better. At 40 million users, I can’t help but wonder how many will make the transition.
Flipboard. Another one I like. But, I don’t use it as often as I probably should. I find the format a bit intimidating and that easy to use. With over 100 million users, maybe I need to stick with it.
Medium, ditto to Flipboard. Unless you have a paid subscription, reading the articles is limited.
Google Plus, I’m not sure how much traffic it generates. But with over 2.2 billion users, I hope to get a few.
Pinterest. I’ve just recently started linking more often and I’m pleased with the traffic. So, I’m going to try to continue with this one, after all, they boast over 2oo million users. I’ll see how it goes.
Facebook, meh. Lots of controversies, but lots of traffic go through this site. My results have been mixed with it. However, with over 2.2 billion users I’m not quitting.
Twitter. Now I’ve had good success with Twitter. Plus I enjoy reading and discovering new bloggers/writers.
Linkedin, I am signed up for this site, but not real active with it.
Tumbler It’s been so long since I looked at this one. I’m not sure how active this site is. With over 400 million users, maybe I need to look again.
Feedly, I’ve never used it. Looks good, but to share your blog through IFTTT requires the paid service. Still with over 14 million users, might be worth it.
Reddit, confusing. I’ve tried to use Reddit in the past but had little success. And of course, as with so many websites, they’ve changed theirs too. But with over 1.5 billion users…

This is just a drop in the bucket. There are even more feeds to connect our blogs. However, there are only so many hours in a day. I do want to grow my blog but can’t be everywhere all the time.

Now it’s your turn, help a girl out…

Which website do you link to your blog posts?

Which one gets the most referral from?

Do you have a favorite?

Want to read more about ways to generate traffic to your blog?

Go to the bottom and keep reading.

PLEASE TAKE ANOTHER MINUTE AND LOOK ME UP ON SOCIAL MEDIA BY CLICKING ON THE LINKS BELOW.

AND STOP BY JEAN’S WRITING ANYTIME, I’LL LEAVE A LIGHT ON.

Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Pinterest, Stumbleupon

What are the best news readers?

Feedly vs Flipboard By ABHISHEK MACWAN

How to Use Flipboard as a Traffic-Generating Machine by JANICE WALD

It’s Time for an RSS Revival By BRIAN BARRET

Goodbye, StumbleUpon, one of the last great ways to find good things online By Megan Farokhmanesh

StumbleUpon is closing down and moving to Mix – Here is your Mix getting started guide by Dexter Roona

What to do with a stubborn character

Published on February 20, 2017March 16, 2017 by Jean M. Cogdell24 Comments

Damned if I know.

I’ve been writing, on and off for the past few months, on a novel. Working on the idea and research for much longer. I was motoring right along when all of a sudden the story began sputtering

Ever happen to you?

In an effort to nudge my protagonist along, I played with the outline and plot adding bits of information here and there, but she wasn’t in the mood. So I turned to my villain who was not in the mood to be evil.

There was nothing left for me to do but take a break, do more research, read a little, and write a few blog posts.

At last, I returned to my WIP. Each sentence was like slogging through mud.

Then last week, as I was dusting our living room floor, my protagonist began whispering in my ear. She had the nerve to explain how the story should happen.

Whoa! Wait a minute!

Did she expect me to rewrite the whole damn story? Apparently. Well, to be honest, about two-thirds of it.

But, I’ve got to admit, her tale sounded a lot better than the direction I’d dragged around her butt all these weeks.

The premise is still the same. However, the antagonist is a different character, and the twist is much bigger and the bang bolder.

Why did this happen?

Here’s my theory. Over the past months of plotting, outlining, etc., I’ve gotten to know my protagonist. I mean really know her. Like we are best buds. And like best friends, she spoke up telling me what she thought. That’ll teach me to keep my distance next time. Sigh…

So here are my questions for Y’all.

Has this ever happened to you?
Why do you think this could happen?
Did you rewrite or persevere and keep with the original plan?
And isn’t it always better to go with bigger, bolder and different?

As always, at the end of this post, I’ve added terrific information for your reading pleasure.

Leave me a comment – I love comments.

Please head over and “like” my Facebook page at Facebook at jeanswriting . Or to connect with me, click the “write me” tab. Don’t forget you can follow me on StumbleUpon, on Twitter @jeancogdell , and Amazon.com.

Please stop by and say hey! The lights are on, and I’m waiting.

WHEN A CHARACTER GOES ROGUE

Good Character Writing

6 Secrets of Writing a Novel Without an Outline

Do you think it’s easy to find a book reviewer?

Published on February 13, 2017March 16, 2017 by Jean M. Cogdell23 Comments

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s not!

Some writers/bloggers indicate it’s easy to locate willing reviewers. I’m here to tell you it is not. No not easy at all.

I’m not sure if finding reviewers is different that finding people to review a children’s book.

While following all the tips I could find on getting a valuable review, I still found it difficult.

So what have I learned?

Don’t ask a quid-per-quo. You read mine, I’ll read yours.
Writers are busy writing. To stop and read my book takes time from their writing.
Blogs dedicated to book reviews are swamped with requests. I found most have a “no longer accepting” note on the blog.
Contacting a generalized and not to mention lengthy list from Amazon is exhausting. Results are a shotgun effect.
To move the needle and generate book sales, you need a lot of reviews.
My best source was my readers here at Jean’s Writing. I can’t thank Y’all enough!

What will I do next time?

List my book on blogs that connect readers with authors. Amazon frowns on this practice.
Use social networks more. Like Reddit, StumbleUpon as well as Twitter and Facebook to search for reviewers.
Google! I don’t know why I didn’t think of using this search engine for reviewers. I use it for everything else.
Reach out to friends, family and my readers here.

Click and read 10 places to find reviewers for your self-published book by Denise Enck.

What things did you try that didn’t work?

Do you have any successful tips for getting willing reviewers?

Is a children’s book reviewer different from a fiction novel?

Please stop by and say hey! The lights are on, and I’m waiting.

Please remember to share this post with your Twitter peeps and Facebook fans.

Do you know how to use this media?

Published on November 30, 2016December 8, 2016 by Jean M. Cogdell17 Comments

Okay, I’m gonna come clean.

Reddit totally baffles me!

For something so foreign it ranks as 11th most visited website!

How can that be? I don’t get it nor do I understand how to use this venue. Now I’ve tried, believe me. But Reddit is a daunting website. The crowd that visits is very different from say, Facebook or Pinterest. I’ve had readers on Reddit, tell me to get off and if you don’t post in the right place in the right way, Reddit dumps your post.

So how do we use this enigma?

Even after reading, reading, and clicking I still don’t get how to use Reddit effectively.

Have you posted on Reddit?

Do you understand how to use it effectively?

I’d love to know if you’ve conquered Reddit.

Leave a comment or click the “write me” tab or look for me on Twitter @jeancogdell, Facebook at jean.cogdell and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on, and I’m waiting.

Please remember to share this post with your Twitter peeps and Facebook fans.