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I worked for a mainstream news website called The South African until mid-2024, producing freelance articles that connected its success to the amount of total article views (hits) each week. Through this wild ride, I learned how to increase post views for online writing. Writing for Hits: How I Ranked Top 3 I ranked as one of their top three authors in December 2023. Writing for hits means writing for maximum engagement and discussion. Likes, shares, and comments fuel an article’s popularity. Aim for topics that people will talk about, or things that are controversial and trending. There’s no way to know what people will choose, but there are ways to guess based on trending topics, current news, and discussion boards like Reddit for the day or week. Readers and bots hate clickbait, though, using an enticing or captivating headline and instead leading to sensational, inaccurate, or misleading content. YOU’LL NEVER BELIEVE THIS ABOUT CLOONEY’S HAIRDO is typical clickbait. You do not want that. My article Grandparents and Sex ranked high, because the topic made people talk — and the article itself focused on sexual and mental health, delivering as promised. Word-of-mouth and thought-provoking questions or topics like this are how articles get more clicks and views. My piece Is More

In doing my regular reading in an attempt to stay on top of all that is evolving in the writing world, I ran across several articles that carried the same trend. They talked about how they started . . . a decade or more ago. When you give someone a podium, they are going to speak about themselves. They have been hired, invited, or selected to speak/write based upon their experience. Same goes for article writing, particularly about writing what you know. For instance, how I started freelancing. Or how I published my first books. Do you know the parts I am going to skip? The parts that do not apply to today. Your audience does not want to learn about anything that happened to you that they cannot learn from and apply to their own circumstances. If you had this incredible journey overcoming monstrous obstacles, maybe, and they best be tremendous once-in-a-lifetime moments. If you went from homeless to New York Times bestselling author, for instance, sure, but even then, if the audience consists of writers, they want to know how to apply what you overcame to their own pursuits. Don’t monopolize a microphone (or article) with info that More

As I checked on a previous FFW newsletter from a couple of weeks back for information about a publication opportunity, something occurred to me. My email history held a years’-deep stash of FFW issues. With excitement, I spent hours following the trail revisiting these old issues going several years back. Frankly, what was old became new again for me. Not only did many of these issues read as fresh, but so did the insights, contest recommendations, and publication resources. I had hit the jackpot. FFW and Beyond When I had exhausted my supply of FFW archives, I moved on to another writerly newsletter, Winning Writers, to peruse hundreds of contest recommendations. Then, I moved on to Authors Publish to scan for publishing opportunities, where I stumbled onto Owl Canyon Press, which hosts an annual Short Story Hackathon. I entered in 2021 and my story was included in the winners’ anthology. And so on, until I had collected plenty of bona fide opportunities. In some cases, you’re playing a long game as I did in securing a literary agent for my picture book concept. I submitted to a publisher rediscovered through an FFW issue, and though Familius ultimately passed on my story, More

Many of you would read that headline and roll your eyes. Others, however, would be eager to hear the difference because they are relatively knew at this business. After all, they just want someone who reviews their work before it is published. What does it matter what you call them. A Beta Reader 1) Is not paid. 2) Is familiar with you. 3) Is familiar with what you write (and generally likes the work). 4) Is familiar with your genre. 5) Is an experienced reader (and maybe a writer, too). 6) Is willing to tell it like it is. 7) Sometimes asks you to trade in beta reading each other. 8) Critiques in an assortment of styles, often informal. 9) Feedback is an impression, not educational or solution-oriented. If you are looking for beta readers, consider any of these groups listed at https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/find-a-beta-reader-updated/. These have been compiled by writing instructor K.M. Weiland whom I greatly admire. An Editor 1) Is paid. 2) May not know you or your writing at all. 3) Is familiar with your genre. 4) Is a professional and willing to show credentials/testimonials of other editing projects. 5) Will negotiate a contract with you, defining the documents to More

I live in the Southeastern US, and today it is snowing. People lose their minds when it snows in SC. So funny and silly to watch and listen. I left the gym this morning thinking that I had the rest of the day to write. I listened to others in the gym. They were going home to snuggle up and vegetate. Do nothing. Watch television. Chill. To all the writers out there, weather and chaos are a reason to write. I intend to get some serious writing and editing done. Fate has handed me these hours, so dang it, I’m snaring them and taking advantage. When moments fall into your lap where you have to sit, or life slows down, or there’s waiting involved or nothing urgent in play, you ought to be writing. It ought to be the go-to task you automatically pick up when you aren’t involved in anything else more pressing. (Of course, priorities and the definition of pressing are on you.) That’s a lot of hours, y’all. Figure just three hours a week at 500 words each. Three hours carved out of 168. That’s 78,000 words a year. That’s a book. people. In a year. You can’t get More

As a writer with disabilities, I took a while realizing that I could earn money writing about my disabilities. The chance to write articles relevant to the Deaf community for a national newspaper was a game changer. There are a few ways writers living with disabilities can earn money writing about their disabilities. Your Author Platform If you have written a book about your disability, you have positioned yourself as an expert on the topic. I wrote an essay collection on deaf parenting, resulting in people who wanted to hire Deaf writers contacting me for work. Newspapers Pitch articles on the topic of your disability to newspaper markets. Some disability-focused groups and organizations publish newspapers for their members. Look into regional groups especially. I once wrote for a national newspaper published by the Communication Service for the Deaf. Even though I did not work there nor live in the area, I was asked if I was interested in joining the staff. Most newspapers focused on disability issues are not able to pay writers. However, national newspapers such as USA Today and The Daily Star are always interested in this topic and accept submissions. Essays Personal essays as well as creative nonfiction pieces shed light on what More

The habit is not easy to establish. Yes, I am one who preaches that you write daily, not when the mood strikes you. That’s for hobbyists. If that’s what you want to be, then fine. Just decide and quit straddling the fence. Let’s say you’ve never written seriously, or for very long a time. Let’s start with this: 1) Find a way to journal daily. People write about themselves more easily than about any other topic. Do it longhand in some pretty leather thing or some binder with a striking design, or do it online at a site like https://dayoneapp.com/. Do it long enough to where you think about it as something you have to do before the day is through. 2) Write an essay about your life. Look at Chickensoup.com and the like, where you can take a remarkable snippet of your life and do a 1200-word, first person accounting of it. They have themes, so this makes you look at your life in terms of subjects and topics. It is good practice to write to a word count and a deadline. I have a friend who has published 30+ times in ChickenSoup books. (Plus, they pay $250.) So you can More

Do your family or friends give you books or book gifts for holidays? When they think of what to gift you, do they see you as a literary, wordsmithing addict? That’s great if they do. That means you lead with your desire to write. You love the written word. If they don’t think that way, however, do you even see yourself in that light? It’s early enough in the year to decide to make a difference as a writer. Start today. Decide your niche. Look for markets. Pitch to several. Decide on a word count and hit it before the sun sets tonight or rises tomorrow. When someone asks how you are doing, reply with something positive, like what you are reading, what you are writing, or what you have published, regardless how small. Remind them you write. When people see me, they ask: Are you writing on the next book? (Always yes.) When’s the next book coming out? (I always have a month or season handy, such as “next fall.”) Do you ever not write? (Always no.) What have you published lately? (Always have an answer, even if it was six months ago.) Guess what they don’t ask me. More

Coffee shops and bookstores are valuable promotional avenues for authors. When you’re looking for a speaking platform, book release venue, or practical branch to sell your work, the untapped market of coffee shops and bookstores are almost endless. Here’s how to network with places where bookworms can be found. Stores (As a Venue) As a guitarist, I used to arrange performances with club managers — and it’s the same process when you’re approaching a coffee shop or bookstore. You might even combine music and book sales. Venues like being potential ideas to draw traffic or attention, and the best way is to call (or email) and ask to be put in touch with the person in charge. Stores can be reserved (“booked”) like any other venue, either for a percentage of profits or a flat-rate. All you have to do is ask, and the right venue will agree. When a venue has other sales products, like coffee and pastries, they may let you sign at the promise of more business coming in the door. C. Hope Clark signs at The Coffee Shelf, a small bookstore/coffee shop in her hometown of Chapin, SC. On signing day, she keeps all profits but More

The title of a book is equivalent to the subject line of an email. Both give us expectations as to what to expect. What the email will address and what the book will cover. Subject lines and titles are used by the potential customer to cull through what’s available. Emails get deleted and books overlooked when the title falls short on providing great expectation. We have to be careful that we don’t spend forever writing, editing, and sharpening our words only to toss a title in an after thought. And we don’t want to get accustomed to using AI to find the one we don’t want to take the time to create. I tend to create a title before writing, to keep me focused on the mission at hand. Then at the end, I review my work and decide if I hit the mark well enough or if I have to retitle the piece. But to start off, it’s an anchor to keep me between the rails. With all the books in the stores, with all the emails we receive, readers cannot afford to read them all. They don’t want to waste time on lesser quality reading, either. Titles and More