The Writer’s Weekly Wrap-Up (Issue #13)

This post is part of a weekly series on YWP, aptly titled “The Writer’s Weekly Wrap-Up”.

Each Sunday, I will endeavour to provide you with a curated list of the best articles I have seen throughout the week that relate to building your platform.

The featured articles cover topics on book marketing and promotion, blogging, social media and self-publishing. (I may even throw in a few inspirational and fun posts, just so that it’s not all work and no play!)

Don’t Waste! Recycle Your Content

You’re convinced that building your writer platform is a necessary evil, and you’ve even managed to set up your author headquarters and create content for your website with some regularity.

But seriously!

Who has the time to continually produce ‘epic’ content for a website, rock several social media platforms with brilliant wit and casual banter AND knock out a respectable daily writing quota?

Not me, and I’m betting not you either!

So here’s a short checklist of ways you can repurpose the great content you already have, as well as get extra mileage out of your future posts:

• build on a theme or idea that you’ve already written about; go deeper or try approaching the topic from a different angle.

• turn an in-depth post into a video series, discussing each point separately in 5 minute mini-productions.

• transcribe an interview or podcast, tweak it and turn it into a blog post.

• take a pillar post and create a slideshow presentation for Slideshare.

• mine your blog post or interview for great quotes that you can turn into Tweets, Facebook conversation starters or beautiful text-on-image graphics for Pinterest.

• use an older, but evergreen post, to develop a PDF download or email opt-in series to give away as your ‘ethical bribe’ to incentivize new subscribers to sign up to your email list.

Now that you’ve got some ideas for making your content work harder for you, take a breather and enjoy this week’s wrap-up of featured articles and resources!

Featured Articles

7 Simple Yet Effective Social Media Tactics You Should Leverage Today from Neil Patel at Quicksprout

From infographics to YouTube, Neil encourages us to get creative by giving us some new ways to get more from our social media efforts.

How to Publish with KDP from Joleene Naylor at Self-Pub Authors

An in-depth step by step guide to publishing with KDP, including some helpful hints in the comments section.

11 Author Website Must Have Elements from Kimberley Grabas at Your Writer Platform

In case you missed it, here’s an article that outlines some basic requirements to successfully set up (and manage) your author website.

Want to Know the Real Secret of Productive Writers? from Nick Thacker at Aliventures

In this post, Nick reveals what changed in his writing process to significantly increase his productivity and get past the inertia of ‘starting’.

How to Successfully Write an Awesome Post Per Day – Every Day from Ana Hoffman at Traffic Generation Cafe

I’ve bookmarked AND printed this one off; loads of tips and hacks from Ana on how to streamline your ‘epic’ blog post creation abilities.

How to Publish a Book 101 from Joanna Penn at The Creative Penn

Joanna provides a simple guide with lots of resources on how and where to publish your ebook, as well as info (and warnings) about publishing a print book.

Chapter 2.2 Five Year Plan from Susan Kaye Quinn at Susan Kaye Quinn.com

If you’re a planner (and maybe we should all be), this post by Susan will get your blood pumping! An excellent example of how to set your goals and objectives so that you can actually measure the progress of your writing career.

Research Your Competitors’ Social Media Strategy (And Borrow Their Best Ideas) from Danielle Prager at Unbounce

Are you a copycat? Hmm, maybe you should be… Find out how researching your ‘competitors’ (i.e., fellow freelancers or authors in your genre or topic) can give you an edge when managing your own social media platforms.

10 Things New Writers Need to Know from Chris Robley at The Book Baby Blog

Some quick tips on what budding authors  should focus on as they begin to establish their writing career.

Does a Writer Need an Office? from Esther Fink at Write To Done

I tend to write from wherever I last placed my lap top, but Esther outlines some important tips for creating an environment that is more conducive to writing than my chaotic office on the go…

What Exactly is a Street Team? from Karin Tabke at Writer Unboxed

Should authors consider forming a ‘street team’ of fans to support and market their brand or new book? And if so, what is the best way to entice your team to spread the word?

Here Comes Another Round of Articles About E-book Sales Slowing Down from Nathan Bransford at Nathan Bransford, Author

Nathan pokes some holes in a few articles that are suggesting that “maybe people just don’t like e-books that much after all.”

7 Reasons Why Risk Taking Leads to Success from Julie Zeilinger at The Huffington Post

Are you a little risk adverse? Here are some great reasons to compel you to embrace a little risk, especially in your writing career.

Just For Fun

If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed by just how much work is involved in being a writer these days, you are not alone.

Glamour for writers? Often the hope; rarely the reality…

If you enjoyed this week’s wrap-up, please share it wildly with your friends and peers! 🙂

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