DATE: Saturday, September 18, 2010
TIME: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
LOCATION: Van Vorst Park, in the downtown historic district of Jersey City on Montgomery St. and Jersey Ave., across from main library

A Tale of Our City is presented by Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy and the Municipal Council, the Jersey City Division of Cultural Affairs, and the Jersey City Free Public Library.

The book festival features author readings from the park gazebo, and the chance for the public to mingle with all 18 authors in the informal park setting, purchasing books and getting them signed, and having real discussions with the authors of your choice.

For children, there will be face painting, storytelling and other fun activities. For everyone, there will be free library card sign up and information on library services, publishers, books and information giveaways, as well as community organizations represented. Music and entertainment intersperse the author readings.

For more information, please visit www.jclibrary.org/libinfo/taleofourcity10.php

By: Jeff Schuman

There are so many internet tools that you can use in promoting your website and your products online. However, if you are looking for something that will effectively help you drive quality traffic to your website and improve your page ranking at the same time without shelling out a single dime, I would highly recommend article marketing.

This is a simple process of distributing your articles to publishing sites.

Here’s how you can breakthrough with article marketing:

1. Power up your titles. In order to succeed in this marketing tool, you need to make sure that you can get online users to open and read your articles through your titles.

How to do that? The answer to this is very simple; just like movie trailers, your titles must be compelling, punchy, descriptive, and attention-grabbing.

2. K.I.S.S. By this, I simply mean keep your articles short and simple. Why? You need to remember that you are serving people who have diverse languages and cultural backgrounds.

Some of them don’t even speak English. You’ll stand great chances of getting your message across if you use terms that are easy to understand.

You also need to keep your articles short as your audience is known to have a very short attention span. Strive to share your knowledge in 500 words. If these are not enough, I recommend that you create short sequels for your articles.

3. Choose your topics wisely. Your ultimate goal in distributing your articles is to improve your sales and revenue. That can only happen if you are able to attract quality traffic to your website.

You can grab the attention of your prospects by writing about topics that they will find interesting. You may talk about their most common questions, pressing issues, areas of interest, and the things that they would like to achieve.

Avoid writing topics that are not totally relevant to your chosen niche or to the lives of your readers because these cannot surely help you realize your marketing goals instead, they will just waste your precious time and energy.

4. Volume is the key. I am sure you have heard this before but let me tell you once again. Article marketing is a game of numbers.

If you want to stay on top, you need to make sure that you produce more articles compare to your competitors. You can either do the legwork by yourself and spend at least 8 hours writing your articles or hire ghostwriters who can offer you with quality content for reasonable amount.

Follow these 4 tips and your article writing and article marketing will become more profitable.

About The Author

If you enjoyed this article by Jeff Schuman on article marketing please visit his website today. If you are not an article writer he offers a hands off program for getting backlinks and traffic using the power of writing and submitting articles. http://www.HandsOffArticleMarketing.com

- Jack Lynch

Theme: “When Writing Made a Difference”

We want to know how someone’s words made a difference. You could address another author of years long past, whose writing affected you, a classroom or an entire population. You might talk about a mentor’s writing. Maybe your writing impacted someone else and altered one person’s life or the lives of thousands. Did your writing finally sell and pay off the wolf at the door or send you on a grand retreat or vacation? Did your writing impact a child, a senior, a lover, a friend, or a complete stranger?

Here and now or sometime in the past? You or another author? Did you read the words or write the words that made a difference? You can take this topic and spin it in all sorts of directions, but the point we want to make is that words impact people. Let’s hear your take on it.

Deadline: Midnight (Eastern Time), October 31, 2010.

Prizes:
$5 ENTRY FEE Category
*      First Place – $300
*      Second Place – $100
*      Third Place – $50

NO ENTRY FEE Category
*      First Place – $50
*      Second Place – $30
*      Third Place – $20

Please visit www.fundsforwriters.com/annualcontest.htm for more details.

Also known as ‘Advertisers Packs’ or ‘Media Kits’, editorial calendars and advertisers’ guidelines often have information on proposed themes for the year and deadlines for submissions. This is a huge opportunity for you to get the jump on other authors who are submitting blind queries. You’ll already know what types of articles to write. As a bonus, editorial calendars sometimes include a listing of special issues they will be publishing. Media Packs also give you information on the publication’s reader profile, what they want the magazine to represent and circulation figures.

So Google ‘editorial calendar’ and start making some moolah!

-Gioya McRae

©2010 Mocha Mind Communications

]]> http://mochamind.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=326 0 http://mochamind.com/blog/?p=323 http://mochamind.com/blog/?p=323#comments Sun, 04 Jul 2010 13:32:53 +0000 http://mochamind.com/blog/?p=323 Writing has laws of perspective, of light and shade just as painting does, or music. If you are born knowing them, fine. If not, learn them. Then rearrange the rules to suit yourself.

- Truman Capote

Deadline:  September 30, 2010

For details please visit http://speculativeliterature.org/Grants/SLFTravelGrant.php

FanStory Logo

For over ten years FanStory.com has been providing writers of all skill levels feedback, contests and a place to share their writing with a community of writers.

Participate in free writing contests for cash prizes. Choose from over 50 new writing contests each month. In addition, a new writing prompt contest is announced daily.

For more information, please visit www.fanstory.com

Your platform is the total of your methods of promoting your book. You better have a good writing platform today, or editors and agents may throw your manuscript into the round file. Let’s clear up the confusion on writing platforms and move your manuscript to the top of the slush pile.

Build your writing platform with these elements:

• A Good Website. Every author should have a website to promote his work. An agent wants to know that you will work to promote alongside the publisher.
• Blogging. Establish yourself as an expert in your field by blogging to share your knowledge.
• Social Networking. By networking on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social sites you keep your face and product in the public eye.
• Seminars & Workshops. Give seminars, workshops or just speak about your chosen subject matter or about writing in general.
• Writers’ Groups. Join or start a writers group. Not only will you hone your craft, but writers buy books from other writers.
• Promotional Materials. Offer promotional materials such as mugs, pens or tee shirts printed with your book cover. Check out Cafepress.com for ideas.

Be visible in as many places as possible and market the Hell out of your books. When agents and editors see that you’re willing to publicize your work, they will be more willing to publish you. And isn’t that the point?

-Gioya McRae

©2010 Mocha Mind Communications

For more info, please visit http://www.mochamind.com/lifesentences_onesheet4.html

ISBN 978-0-9774542-4-2
Available NOW for $15.00!

Click to Purchase Book