Authors Tools Blog

If you are a writer, and if you are reading this blog, I’ll assume you are, you probably resolved to write more and write better this year. I hope you set SMART goals, and that one of those goals is to write on a regular schedule.

Fortunately, writing more is the best way to write better. Ezine Articles is holding a challenge to help you one your way. They have announced that the 3^rd 100 articles in 100 days challenge will start on January 1, 2010. What a great way to kick off the new year!

But, I don’t write articles, you say. I say, give this challenge a try. One of the best ways to promote your fiction is by writing non-fiction.

Writing articles for writing organization newsletters is a great way to spread your words to other writers.  Writers also read and recommend great books to their friends. Also your newsletter editors will love you.

Writing articles can give your book sales and your writing career a boost. Ezine Articles is the best internet article directory to use to build your online portfolio. More people will see your articles there, and the Google search engine places articles from Ezine Articles high in the search results.

At the end of your articles, you include a bio or resource box as Ezine Articles calls it. This is where you can promote yourself, your books, and your website. Don’t have your resource box read like your resume. Make it interesting and show what good stuff awaits your readers if they click through to your website. (Always include a link to your website.) Offer your readers more information about the book, you, or your writing process. You might even offer an excerpt or a short article telling why you decided on this setting or this plot.

People can take your article and post it on their website as well. This is a good thing. They must keep your resource box intact. Their readers will see your work and have a reason to click through to your website.

Nothing builds your credibility as well as having your writing portfolio online where people can see it. This challenge is a great way to build a large body of work fast. It will also get you in the habit of sitting down and writing every day. Once you start writing, you may find that you want to keep going.

I find that my muse loves it when I switch from fiction to non-fiction and back again. She seems to thrive on challenges.

Start the new year right. It’s much easier to start the challenge on time than try to catch up later. If you successfully complete the challenge EZA will send you lots of goodies including a coffee mug, mouse pad, and other neat things.

You can use Twitter to follow discussions about the challenge. Use the hash tag #HAHD to find others who are participating. (That means search for #HAHD to find tweets about the challenge.)

Jump into the new year by joining EZA’s challenge! Leave a comment below and tell me you are in. Also leave a link to your profile. You can see mine at EZA challenge.

Whatever your goals, have a happy and productive new year!

Write on,

Lynn