Welcome to the summer reading edition of Writing Lab News. In this issue, I introduce three writers, some of whom may  be new to you. They are David Bridger, Rebecca Laffar-Smith and Raj Dash. I focus on promoting your writing business and introduce the first group writing project from Get Paid To Write Online. I hope you'll join in. See you next month! Next edition: September 5

In this issue:

• How To Advertise Your Home Based Business For Free
• David's Food Fund
• Dog Train Your Writing Skills: Heel And Stay
• Transitioning From Freelance Writer To Author
• Group Writing Project
• Diary Of A Working Writer August 2008

How To Advertise Your Home Based Business For Free

by Sharon Hurley Hall

Promotion is essential if you are to grow your business and make a success of it. Here are some tips which can help you to promote for free.

First of all, set up a website or blog. Although it is better to spring for the cost of registering and hosting your own domain, you can also take advantage of free blogging sites such as Wordpress and Blogger. Wordpress is slightly better because there is less spam and you can set up a static home page that looks like a normal website.

Use your site or blog to publish details of your skills, services and products so everyone can see them. Be sure to do some research and include keywords relevant to your home based business in your site content. That will help people to find your site through the search engines.

Read the rest of How To Advertise Your Home Based Business For Free

David's Food Fund

I was struck the other day by a post from fellow writer David Bridger whose blog is How To Get Your Novel Published. The post discusses how David's illness has made the family finances difficult. I thought I'd introduce David and his blog to my fellow writers.  Here's an excerpt:

This is the thing. I get a military invalidity pension and a war pension. I’m grateful for them, but they don’t cover our needs. My wife’s wage makes up the difference and when bills go up she simply works overtime. But this year I’m too ill to look after myself; too ill even to be left alone.

Just when everyone’s household bills are rising sharply, she’s had to cut her hours right down to stay at home and care for me. She’s strong, but early on Saturday morning I found her crying quietly.

There’s no way off this road. It is what it is, and there won’t be an exit route until I recover enough to do more for myself than sit here dictating stories into this machine.

That’s why I’m asking for your help.

I don’t use affiliate links here and I don’t intend to start doing so. This isn’t that kind of blog. Nor do I sell ad space ... I thought about using a donate button, but had no idea how to go about it without making us all cringe.

Read the rest of David's Food Fund

Dog Train Your Writing Skills

Fellow writer Rebecca Laffar-Smith has a great blog, the Writer's Roundabout. Recently she's started an intriguing series on dog training your writing skills. This excerpt is from the Heel and Stay post.

When a dog learns to heal they’re forced to open their mind a little. They must broaden their horizon. They still need to reign in their curiosity, listen to commands, and watch their progress carefully but they must also accept the leash, move forward and mark their steps at a steady rate.

Learning to heal as a writer requires the same attention to details. After having taken the time to sit regularly you need to find a direction and follow the path with a steady, dogged, determination. If you watch the steps you take and follow the lead of other successful writers you’ll find the walk an easier one to make. Progress is smoother and you share it with others going in the same direction.

Sometimes, it is tempting for a new pup to run ahead, to strain the leash. If given free reign he runs into dangers, pitfalls, or loses energy. A steady pace gives him the freedom to roam forward under the guiding hand of a friend.

Read the rest of Dog Train Your Writing Skills: Heel and Stay

Transitioning From Freelance Writer To Author

Raj Dash writes a great post on becoming an author over on Freelance Folder. Here's an excerpt:

Your path to becoming an author might be a lot quicker from desire to actuality, but you have to want it, as well as be willing to take the good and the bad that comes with it. That’s just the start; you have to actually research your market and select a project to start with it.

Why Become an Author?

This is something only you can answer. My family and cultural background is one of education, teaching and dissemination of knowledge. Writing a book, for me, is the pinnacle of sharing a skill. It’s never been about “making lots of money” - something few authors do anyway.

For such authors, it’s everything else that comes with being an author:

1. Regular work - the royalties from a series of books could help keep food on the table.
2. The talkshow circuit, which helps with promotion.
3. The lecture circuits, which usually pays per appearance, not to mention aiding in promotion.
4. Professional recognition, which can lead to other opportunities, including teaching.

Read the rest of Transitioning From Freelance Writer To Author

Group Writing Project

I penned this for Get Paid To Write Online and never published it. It contains my brief thoughts on the value of silence.

I've wanted to do a group writing project on Get Paid To Write Online for some time, and I've finally got it started with the support and encouragement of some of my friends on Plurk. Why don't you join in? Deadline date: August 17th.

Rules:

1. Write a new post on how you got started in blogging. Don't forget to grab a button.
2. Link back to this post.
3. Leave your URL in the comments section.

I'll do a roundup of all the posts at the end of the project.

Diary Of A Working Writer - August 2008

I know I'm repeating myself, but July was another successful month. I'm particularly proud of my productivity in July. I managed to get through a heck of a lot of work, including finishing a major ebook project.

During July, I published some posts on other blogs including The KISS Guide To Writing Keyword Rich Articles on Daily Writing Tips, Why Article Marketing Still Rocks on MixedMarketArts, several posts on PiggyBankPie and a parenting post on Momma Helpers called What Have You Done For YOU Lately? I even found time to write a Knol.

August promises to be just as busy with a couple of new blogging gigs getting into full swing, including the one at Techgerm. And the articles I've been writing for new site Life123 have finally started to go live. I hope you had a productive July and that you achieve your goals for August.