3 gifts for under a buck.

BFF Guide to IBC is an e-book I wrote when my very own best friend forever was diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast cancer in October. I researched the disease and share what I learned in this e-book. Currently its available only in Kindle on Amazon. Momma, Booze and Sampson is a collection of short stories I had previously published in the Circle 8 Writers anthologies.  In this one, we have six short stories. Sampson, the pet snake with an appetite for humans, Karma gets his bum of an owner. A toast to Harry, where a female gets away with killing the guy she had murder another man for her.    A single mom makes a deal with the devil to take care of her children! In Plain sight, a patient with dementia creates havoc on the floor of the nursing home where he lives.   Merry Christmas Darling is a nurse whose current patient is a man who ruined her live years ago. Will he make it through the night? A Paisley Christmas is a short fantasy story of a princess who lives in two worlds.  Cheaters never Prosper is a collection of three short stories. These are all about taking revenge on a cheating spouse or partner! This is over on smashwords so you can read in online or download it to nook, kindle or lots of formats! ~~Goals do not happen as life does. You must work hard to make goals a reality!~~ http://www.amazon.com/Amy-Browne/e/B004EW761G/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1 http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/amybrowne https://www.facebook.com/authoramybrowne https://www.facebook.com/pages/Circle-8-Writers/163212760355932 http://amyjob.blogspot.com/ http://twitter.com/#!/AmyBrowne https://plus.google.com/u/0/107603247723229046700/posts http://www.linkedin.com/pub/amy-browne/1a/936/495

Create a book quickly

Article writers who have a lot of themed content on various web sites have enough for a book, if those articles are nonexclusive to the site you first put them on.

 If you write parenting topics, I bet you could group them together in sections to provide a parenting handbook.  There is a lot of completion out there for parenting topics so you would need to focus on a specific topic such as parenting a special needs child but it could be done.

Did you know that Amazon would allow you to upload a file free in there Kindle section? Of course it has to be the right type of file but that file with the right info could make you some serious.  The beauty of a Kindle book is that it does not need to be the size of a regular book as far as word count goes.    20k is a good minimum to start for an ebook. 

Gathering article ideas

When you are trying to gather your article ideas, the task can be overwhelming at times.  Make it easy for yourself by grabbing a piece of printer paper.  Draw a circle in the middle and put a topic there.  Let us say you were thinking about writing parenting articles about kids. In the circle, write the word kids.

Now draw six or seven lines off your circle in any direction. It is best to space these lines out so you can write in there.   Now you can write things associated with kids on the lines. Your words could be parties, behaviors, gift lists, lessons plans, fun activities, and potty training.   It is a simple trick but it works to get those creative juices flowing when you are gathering article ideas. 

Seasonal Articles

It is all about seasonal content. How early is too early to publish it. I have been a content writer for a long time. People seem to think I know what I am doing and often ask questions.  One of the questions I used to be asked a lot was about seasonal content.

The common school of thought on that one is when you see your local department store put up the displays that is when you get that same stuff published. When the local Wal-Mart gets the Easter Candy and decorations all displayed, get your Easter stuff published.  The same holds true for all seasonal articles. 

Panda Updates Sucked away my money1

Now that the continued Panda updates from Google have destroyed the websites, which earn income for lots of people. What are you doing to earn the money you lost?  Many freelance writers are doing ghost writing work, picking up private clients, starting more blogs and selling fiction.

I learned long ago that writing only for one web site would bite you in the butt in the end. For a long time now, I have been writing for upfront payments, gathering rev shares on five sites and blogs for pennies. I was even doing a bit of ghost writing for various web sites. 

Now I have begun to focus on the blogs. I have recently added a few niche blogs. Now I have them all bringing in money because I have placed ads on them. 

Writing online

I have been writing content on the web since early 2007. It sure seems like it could get easier as you go along.  In many respects, it is easier but in some aspects, it is also harder.

When I first started, I had to learn SEO so that those searching for the information could find it.  My grammar also needed some attention back then. I got the help I needed, and learned what I had to learn.

SEO works for some search engines but not for the majority of them now that the Google changes went into effect last February.  At first, it hit the so-called content farms, then blogs, and other web sites which including a wide array of music, and knowledge sites. 

It always seems like just when you are settled into one site, the rules for that site change.  Sometimes the rules are better but many times, it is a change for the worse.  The work at these sites also dries up and then you lose the income that you once got there.

That is why it is extremely smart not to put all your ‘eggs into one basket so to speak’ To recoup my loses at the content farms I am branching out to  more blogs, selling short stories and publishing books.