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Game 6: #4 Seed Grow Your Writing Business Versus #5 Seed Book Marketing Bestsellers

March 31, 2008

The Matchup

Both these blogs say they want to help you succeed in the writing business. The #4 and #5 seeds are the closest matchups in the contest — at least on paper. This should be good.

Introductions

Grow Your Writing Business

Grow your Writing Business is the blog of Yvonne Russell, a freelance writer and professional blogger. It is community-oriented, with much of the value coming in the comments. The main topic is freelancing, but the blog approaches many writing topics.

Book Marketing Bestsellers

Book Marketing Bestsellers is run by author and public speaker John Kremer. It is billed as part of a program that he developed to help writers write bestsellers. Mostly, the blog promotes his books, programs and speaking engagements.

Archives

Book Marketing Bestsellers

The BMB blog has been around since the beginning of 2005. Many of the entries are links to other people’s articles or excerpts of their articles, but there is also plenty of original material squeezed in among his plethora of self-promotional posts. It is difficult to find the best through because he is hampered by the Blogspot design flaw of only listing archives by month.

Result: Kremer picks up two points for being around so long.

Grow Your Writing Business

GWYB has many good articles in its archives and they are easy to find because Russell provides multiple archive options. The articles date back to December of 2006. The posting schedule can be a bit slow at times and she often relies on her community to provide relevant information, but the community comes through more often than not.

Result: GYWB shoots the three. It rattles in.

Grow Your Writing Business Jumps out to an early 3-2 lead.

Design

Book Marketing Bestsellers

This is one ugly blog. It is a Blogspot blog too, which is always annoying. Kremer has wallpapered it with the cover to his book and there is no shortage of graphic ads to assault the eyes as you scroll down the page. The blog design is clearly about selling the book, not pleasing the reader.

Result: Airball. No points.

Grow Your Writing Business

There are many good things to say about GYWB’s design. It is a stock theme, but a good one. It doesn’t feel cluttered, especially when you navigate away from the main page. The colors are easy on the eyes, although there could perhaps be a little more contrast. My only real complaint is the graphic she is using in her Writer’s Café posts. It doesn’t fit the rest of the site, and it looks poorly rendered as well.

Result: Two points from outside the paint.

GYWB extends its lead to 5-2. This could get ugly.

Usability and Navigation

Book Marketing Bestsellers

BMB provides an email subscription form and several other feed options. There are lots of other bells and whistles too, although they are interspersed with ads so that it is hard to determine what is valuable and what is not. It would be nice if the options were better organized and if there was a real archives page.

Result: Kremer gets two on a finger roll.

Grow Your Writing Business

This site shines when it comes to usability. GYWB makes it easy to find relevant content. There are tabs that will lead you to recent articles, popular articles, categories and archives. QYWB even has a key articles page, although it could be a little longer. Subscription buttons are prominently displayed as well.

Result: GYWB nails the three-pointer.

Once again, GYWB moves ahead. It is now 8-4.

Purpose

Book Marketing Bestsellers

BMB bills itself as “The Book Promotion Blog!” and it is. The problem is, it seems more about promoting his books than about helping you promote yours. There are some solid nuggets of advice though. “A Brilliant Novel Marketing Idea” gives the details of a clever way that W. Somerset Maugham found to sell his novel back in 1897. That’s the sort of thing I want more of. Kremer does have something to add, when he feels like it.

Result: Kremer sinks a two from the top of the key.

Grow Your Writing Business

The purpose of the blog is right in the title — Grow your Writing Business. It is a fairly general category, which allows Russell to post a lot of different writing-related articles and lead some interesting discussions.

Result: Russell pulls up for a jumper. Two points.

BMB fails to make up any ground. It is now 10-6 in favor of GYWB.

Personality

Book Marketing Bestsellers

When Kremer calms down from the relentless self-promotion and offers his actual opinions, he seems like a decent and helpful guy. Unfortunately, the face he mostly puts on is that of someone trying to sell you something.

Result: Kremer rushes to the basket and sinks a two. Did he charge? Yes, he probably did. But the ref didn’t call it, so two points for Kremer.

Grow Your Writing Business

Russell’s blog is focused on community. She is there to lead a discussion. She shares a piece of herself and then encourages other people to share. It may not be flashy, but it’s a personality you feel very comfortable with.

Result: Russell lays in a smooth two-pointer.

Even with a favorable call from the refs, BMB fails to make up any ground. All GYWB has to do is run out the clock. The score is 12-8. The crowd begins to head for the exits.

Five Most Recent Posts

Grow Your Writing Business

The last five posts all run along the same general theme. Russell introduces a topic with a few brief statements and then encourages her community to comment. The method works reasonably well. She tends to have 20 or more comments for each topic. The posting frequency isn’t high though. The first of the articles was 20 days ago.

Result: With an assist from her community, Russell sinks a two pointer.

Book Marketing Bestsellers

Two of Kremer’s last five articles were purely promotional. I understand the need to sell services for some bloggers, but to me a posting still needs to add value in order to be worthwhile. Kremer also includes two posts on interesting book covers that he thinks will help sales. It is a running theme for his blog, so I will give him credit for those. The best of the articles is his most recent. In it, he answer’s a children’s book writer’s question regarding meter and editing. The post is spot on. Kremer’s posting frequency is slightly low, with the oldest of the five over two week’s old.

Result: Kremer misses two out of three on penalties from the charity stripe. One for taking too long to shoot. One for showboating. Kremer converts the third for a point.

GYWB closes out the game 14-9. The stands have already emptied out.

Post Game Analysis

Grow Your Writing Business jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. This one wasn’t close.

What They Can Work On

Grow Your Writing Business

I would love to see some more expansive posts. It seems as if Russell is relying a little too much on her community, although it is understandable coming off of a recent death in the family. My other suggestion is to spruce up the design a little. With a nicer masthead and a little personalization, she could make the site look professional.

Book Marketing Bestsellers

Many, many people start blogs so that they can promote their services or their books. That’s fine. You have to have at least a little subtlety and modesty though. Kremer has some good things to say but he needs to dial it back several notches. He also needs to get out of the blogging ghetto and find someone to design an attractive blog that can sell his books without making him look like a carnival barker.

Tune in next time when #3 seed All Freelance Writing takes a shot at #6 seed Crime Fiction Dossier.

Written by John Hewitt · Filed Under Blogging, March Writing Blog Madness, Writing Business · 2 Comments 

31 Articles Worth Reading: A Special Monday Edition of Link Love

March 31, 2008

Because of Blog Madness (And because I closed on my new house over the weekend) I am a bit late with the link love, but here are some good articles to read this week.

Written by John Hewitt · Filed Under Blogging, Link Love, Writing, Writing Business · 9 Comments 

Game 5: #1 Seed Daily Writing Tips Versus #8 Seed C. Hope Clark

March 30, 2008

The Matchup

#1 seed Daily Writing Tips takes on #8 seed C. Hope Clark. DWT is a blogging monster, but Clark may be the strongest of the #8 seeds, so don’t count her out yet.

Introductions

Daily Writing Tips

DWT isn’t quite a year old, but they quickly moved to the top of the heap. DWT is a team blog, with several regular writers and plenty of guest posters. This keeps the quantity and the quality of the posts high, though perhaps at a cost to personality.

C. Hope Clark

This is a blog about funding opportunities for writers mixed in with some personal observations. It is a narrow topic, but a valuable one. Clark runs a site called Funds for Writers, which is much more widely read. For some reason she chooses to host this blog off-site in the blogging ghetto, Blogspot. If her blog had been able to make use of her other site’s stronger numbers, she would probably have been a #4 or #3 seed.

Archives

C. Hope Clark

The archives date back to April of 2006. The pace was pretty slow at first but she has picked up speed since the middle of 2007, averaging about three posts a week. The posts are mostly about events or opportunities with deadlines, so they lose value quickly.

Result: Clark picks up a point at the charity stripe.

Daily Writing Tips

The archives date back to May of 2007. Since then there has been a post (as far as I can tell) every day with multiple posts on many of the days. One need only look at their extensive archive page to see that they have kept up a blistering pace. Their posts range from minor usage issues to how-to articles and general tips. Because they have an archive page, you can find all of their articles in one place.

Result: DWT announces its presence with authority, shooting a clean three-pointer.

DWT jumps out to an early 3-1 lead.

Design

C. Hope Clark

For a Blogspot blog, it is relatively attractive. Clark occasionally adds graphics to links, but she keeps them small so that they add to rather than detract from the content. All in all, she’s done her best to make the site attractive.

Result: Clark rattles in a layup. Two points.

Daily Writing Tips

Like many of the major blogs, there is an air of professionalism to their design, but there is also a lot of clutter from the advertising. At some points there are four columns of different items to look at, and that really stretches the limits of what a blog can handle. That said, they do keep things fairly symmetrical so that the eye isn’t too pained looking at the blog.

Result: DWT finger rolls the ball into the basket. Two points.

DWT maintains its lead, 5-3.

Usability and Navigation

C. Hope Clark

Clark falls short on usability. There are very few features. There’s a month by month archive and a tool for emailing a blog entry. These are both standard blogspot features. There is no subscription link or other tools.

Result: Clark shoots an airball. No points.

Daily Writing Tips

The subscription options are right at the top of the page. Popular articles are also featured on every page. There is a useful archives page (Although I would love to see it broken out in topics) that allows people to cruise their old content. Individual posts come complete with a list of related articles. This is a site that makes it easy for the reader to find what they want.

Result: DWT launches another three. Nothing but net.

DWT opens up a commanding 8-3 lead.

Purpose

C. Hope Clark

Purity of purpose is this blog’s strong suit. The posts follow a set pattern and they are all about the same topics: contests, grants and other funding opportunities for writers. It doesn’t get any clearer than that.

Result: Clark launches a three-pointer. Nothing but net!

Daily Writing Tips

They often stray outside of the realm of tips, but they always stay focused on writing.

Result: An easy layup. Two points.

Clark makes up a little ground. It is now 10-7 in favor of DWT.

Personality

C. Hope Clark

The primary focus of the blog is on the contests, retreats and funding opportunities but she takes a moment to give you a personal update on her current projects. The blog isn’t about her personality, but you do get a pretty good idea of who she is.

Result: Clark banks an eight-footer in off the glass. Two points.

Daily Writing Tips

This blog is far more focused on information than on personality. I can’t really tell one writer from another, and they rarely approach stories from a personal POV. They do maintain a consistent style, however. You know what you are getting when you go to DWT.

Result: DWT goes to the free throw line and picks up one.

Clark nibbles away another point from DWT’s lead. It is now 11-9. Can she pull even in the final category?

Five Most Recent Posts

Daily Writing Tips

Knickerbocker Story

Starting A Copywriting Business

“Wreck,” “Wreak,” and Other [rek] Words

How to Write an SEO Article - Part 2

Using Writing Bursts to Generate Ideas and Enthusiasm

All of the posts are information-based and authoritative, although I have read so many SEO (search engine optimization) articles at this point that I didn’t even want to look at this one. Frankly, it rehashed the same old stuff. As for posting frequency, they stick to the daily format without incident.

Result: DWT sinks a three pointer.

C. Hope Clark

Tell How You Proposed Contest

High-Paying Spec Fiction Competition

Win a Vespa by Living Brightly

The Frost Place Residency

Theatre Conspiracy New Play Contest

The posts at C. Hope Clark follow a consistent pattern. Clark posts a contest, retreat or grant writing opportunity, followed by comments on the opportunity and personal reflections such as an update on what she is working on at the moment. These five posts all follow that pattern. It isn’t the most ambitious posting style in the world, but it works very well for what she is trying to accomplish. You know what to expect when you come here. All of her posts come from within the last week, so frequency is not a problem.

Result: C. Hope Clark scores a three by staying true to her purpose.

The final score is 14-12 in favor of Daily Writing Tips.

Post Game Analysis

Daily Writing Tips has risen to the top of the writing blog world in record time and they got there on their merits. They are going to be hard for most blogs to beat. C. Hope Clark is a small but very valuable blog. If Clark hadn’t come up against a top-ranked team in the first round, she would probably have gone farther.

What They Can Work On

Daily Writing Tips

Their only real weak spot in the contest was personality, which may not even be something they value. Their design could be a little more pleasant look at, but I get the feeling they value the advertising revenue more.

C. Hope Clark

Clark should move her blog to her main site and spend some time (or money) on designing it with more usability in mind. This is a blog that could and should be much more widely read than it is.

Written by John Hewitt · Filed Under Blogging, March Writing Blog Madness, Writing · 5 Comments 

79 New Writing and Editing Jobs this Week

March 29, 2008

Written by John Hewitt · Filed Under Jobs, Writing, Writing Business · Leave a Comment 

Game 4: #2 Seed Bob Bly Copywriter Versus #7 Seed Words on the Water

March 28, 2008

The Matchup

Second seeded Bob Bly Copywriter takes on seventh seeded Words on the Water. Bob Bly offers the allure of big money and success. Words on the Water is smaller and dates back less than a year, but there is some good content.

Introductions

Bob Bly Copywriter

This is the third copywriting blog in four games. What Bob Bly brings to the table is a fame that moves beyond blogging. His book, Secrets of a Freelance Writer: How to Make $100,000 a Year or More (upgraded from $185,000) is one of the all-time best selling books on writing. He has written several other books on the subject as well. Bob Bly was one of the inspirations for my career. Although I shied away from copywriting in favor of technical writing, it was his book that first gave me insight into the world of professional writing.

Words on the Water

Blog author Monica Valentinelli is a freelance fiction writer and ghostwriter who also works full-time for an Internet search optimization company. The blog primarily about freelance writing.

Archives

Words on the Water

Valentinelli has less than a year of archives. Her past posting record was a little spotty but it has picked up in past months. One of the staples of her blog is freelance tips - short articles focused on a single aspect of freelance writing. There are also many articles about blogging and marketing.

Result: Words on the Water scores a layup. Two points.

Bob Bly Copywriter

Bob has been at the blogging game since 2004, but he doesn’t really seem to like it. Clicking on his Blogging category brings up a series of articles about how pointless blogging is. My personal favorite is, Are Most Blogs Self-Indulgent Drivel?. He concludes yes. Still, his dislike of the medium doesn’t seem to stop him from posting. He writes about three short posts a week. Unfortunately it is hard to find any “best” articles because he lacks an archive page, which is becoming my most common tournament complaint.

Result: Bob answers back with a two-point finger roll.

The score is even at 2-2

Design

Words on the Water

Words on the Water has a very attractive design. It is simple and uncluttered with a soothing graphic for the masthead. The two-column page has no major distractions to take away from the content. While this isn’t a professional design, it as pleasing as a stock design can look. It uses a black background and white text though, which can make using graphics in posts a little more complicated.

Result: Words on Water shoots a three. It may not be nothing but net, but it goes down smoothly.

Bob Bly Copywriter

Bob’s blog theme is a three column affair, which can lead to clutter. In this case the look is pretty clean, just bland. There is nothing offensive or annoying about the look, but there’s nothing to really catch the eye either. If a professional designer was involved at all, it was just to do the masthead, which is still nothing special. For a guy who claims to be making big money, I think it would be nice if he spent some on his blog.

Result: Bob banks an easy two pointer in off the glass.

For the first time in tournament, an underdog has taken the lead, 5-4.

Usability and Navigation

Words on the Water

Words on Water is definitely pro-usability. There is only one advertisement on the page and it comes at the bottom of the right-hand column, so the users are immediately given options. You can subscribe to the posting feed (but not a comments feed) and view the archives by category or using the tag cloud, which highlights the more frequent blogging topics. There aren’t a lot of extra bells and whistles such as a recent posts list or a recent comments list, but everything she does offer is easy to find and access.

Result: Words on Water is fouled shooting the three. The shot goes wide, but she might be able to make it up from the stripe. The first shot goes down easily. The second is a gimmie. The third rattles out however. So close… a comments feed and a site map might have put that last shot in. Two points.

Bob Bly Copywriter

Bob has all of the standard tools. There’s a recent posts list, categories and an archive sorted by month. He has several subscription options, but they are all related to different readers, not different feeds. You can’t get an email subscription or subscribe to comments. You can sign up for a direct marketing newsletter, however. The one annoying usability problem is the lack of a Home link that goes back to the blog. Clicking on the masthead goes to an extremely involved contact form aimed at customers. As I already brought up, there is no archive or best of page either. That would have been nice.

Result: Bob hits the six-foot jump shot for two.

Words on Water maintains its one-point lead, 7-6.

Purpose

Words on the Water

Words on Water is about freelance writing. The large number of freelance tips articles fall right in line with that purpose. Related topics such as blogging, marketing and career planning also keep the blog on track. There is no sales pitch to distract the reade.

Result: A two pointer from ten feet back. Nothing but net.

Bob Bly Copywriter

Bob bills his blog as a direct marketing blog. Oddly though, his last post in the category of direct marketing was last October. In the past five months, he hasn’t written about his core subject. The most related topics, Advertising and Online Marketing also haven’t been covered since around the beginning of the year. Most of his recent posts have been in the General category, although reading through them shows that several are about freelancing, a topic he does have plenty of experience with. I would say he has strayed a bit from his purpose, which isn’t a bad thing in life, but won’t get you a lot of points in this category.

Result: Bob gets a free throw based on past performance. One point.

The score is 9-7 now in favor of the underdog. The crowd is starting to get excited. It looks like an upset is in the making.

Personality

Words on the Water

Valentinelli is straightforward about what she advocates and in talking about her professional life. She alternates well between objective advice and opinion. The blog is less personal than I expected when I saw the theme, but it does have a point-of-view.

Result: Two more points from the paint.

Bob Bly Copywriter

Bob has the nerve to blog about how he hates blogs. You’ve got to give him some credit for that. He isn’t afraid to be a contrarian, even taking on some of the assumptions that would drive people to buy his books (more on that later). He also makes my favorite nerd statement in quite some time, “One of my greatest pleasures is to read trade journals, newsletters, and business magazines…” This guy is a character.

Result: Bob stops and pops a three.

You knew Bob wasn’t going to give up easily. Words on the Water now leads by just a point. 11-10.

Five Most Recent Posts

Bob Bly Copywriter

Why Freelancing Sucks

Hey, didn’t I just write 10 Reasons Freelancing is for Suckers? Heck, I even mentioned Bob in the article. His article covers the stuff I covered. Surely he mentioned me, right? Damn, no. He must not have seen mine. It must be a coincidence. Don’t cry John, don’t cry…

I Have Seen the Future, and It Is Automated

Bob talks about automation and self-service culture. He doesn’t mention anything related to marketing or blogging, but it is a nice little article.

Are You a Broken Man (or Woman)?

I find this article very interesting. Bob is criticizing the fact that our culture is obsessed with money. He also lambasts “make money online” schemes. I completely agree with Bob, but with a book called Secrets of a Freelance Writer: How to Make $100,000 a Year or More, I’m not sure that Bob has the moral authority to lead.

The #1 Perk of Freelance Writing

Bob says the number one perk of being a freelance writer is not wearing a suit and tie to work every day. I felt a little strange reading it. I’ve worked as a technical writer for some of the biggest companies in the world, and the only time I wore a tie was the job interviews. I’ve never worn a suit to work except once as a joke. I think Bob is remembering a corporate world that doesn’t exist - at least not in my area code.

Another Nail in Print’s Coffin

Bob discusses the slow destruction of print magazines, especially the b-to-b magazines he loves. I agree that magazines are on the decline and I will miss them.

Overall the articles are interesting, although off topic. His has some things to say, but I don’t feel like I learned much more about direct marketing or advertising. All his posts are recent, with the oldest about two weeks old.

Result: Bob makes a turnaround jump shot for a two pointer.

Words on the Water

A Freelancer’s Service Announcement: Please Write your Emails

Valentinelli urges writers to use proper English in their emails, especially when they are looking for work. The advice may seem obvious, sadly, some writers still need to hear it.

You Can Market Your Work with Video

Can you pimp your writing career on YouTube? Apparently you can. This is mainly a YouTube clip, and not her own.

The Guild: Web Video about Online Gamers at “their Finest”

Another YouTube clip and this time it is for gamers. Valentinelli does write for online games, so the topic is valid, but it could be a little more interesting.

March’s Battle of Words: Nomination for my Blog

This is a post talking about my tournament. It also doubles as a reason for her to discuss “benchmarking tools like Google’s PageRank and Alexa rankings.” We are in agreement on this issue.

Usability: The Good (and Bad) of Facebook

Usability! Now there’s a post after my heart. Pity it’s so short.

I’ve read better articles on Valentinelli’s site than the last five. The writing could be more expansive. On the upside, the five posts have come in the past three days, so the frequency is well above average.

Result: It isn’t a slam dunk, but it is good enough for two points.

The final score is 13-12. Writing on the Water pulls off the upset!

Post Game Analysis

It’s the first upset in the tournament! One of my original idols, Bob Bly, falls to an underfunded upstart. Dreams can come true for a blog that makes an effort. The giants are not invincible.

What They Can Work On

Bob Bly Copywriter

Bob needs to open up that mighty bank account and put some money into his blog. There’s no real excuse for a guy who claims $100,000 a year to nickel dime his web site. He also needs to take a look at what he wants his site to be about. Is it about direct marketing? Copywriting? The pointlessness of blogging? Aspiring minds want to know.

Words on the Water

It would help if Valentinelli slowed down a bit and took more time on her posts. She could go into some detail on the subjects she explores and perhaps show a bit more of her personality. Also, she needs to choose her graphics carefully. With a white text on black background blog, she should probably shy away from anything but black and white photos and graphics.

Tune in next time, when we move to the Janowitz bracket and watch #1 seed Daily Writing Tips take on #8 seed C. Hope Clark. Will we see another upset?

Written by John Hewitt · Filed Under Blogging, March Writing Blog Madness, Writing · 5 Comments 

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