Crusade Biz(ness) - Crusader Notice-Board + Catch-up

Crusader Notice-Board

Check out these great blogfests, contests, and other announcements:

• Alison Miller is inviting all writers to join the Write Brained Network, a writing group which is free to writers at any stage of development. Check out her invitation here. The group is also hosting its first conference this year in Harrisonburg, Virginia
• Chenoa Fawn is running a collaborative story based on the surrealist game Cadavre Exquis. Visit her blog until March 31
• Adriana Kraft is giving away a $10 gift certificate to All Romance E-Books. To enter, leave a comment on any blog post in March
• Sari Webb is holding her Share The Birthday Love Blogfest from March 11-13
• Hart Johnson (The Naked Tart) is holding her Delusional Doom Blogfest on March 15
• LB Diamond (and Tessa Conte) are holding their The Nature of Magic blogfest on March 26 

Cruasders, if you have a blogfest, a contest, or a something-or-other you want me to let people know about, drop me an email and I'll run it in the following Friday's post. Please include all the relevant details in your email, including links, name, and when it runs/ends, so I don't have to chase them down.

Catch-up

There's been a fantastic amount of networking amongst Crusaders to date. I've seen Group activities organized, shout-outs to Group members, interviews, heaps of comments, and a lot of other stuff. So I just thought I'd check, how's the Crusade going for you? Shoot me an email or a comment and fill me in *grins*

Blogging tips: tips for increasing your followers and/or subscribers (Part 2)

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If you haven't already, have a squiz at Part 1 of this post, my tips on following blogs and making sure you can be followed.

I'll be writing a post in the future which suggests ways to increase your blog following. One of those tips is to make following your blog as quick and as easy as possible. Many bloggers only have limited time, and will close out of your blog rather than hunting for a way to follow you or subscribe to your feeds. That's if they can find your blog to start with! (More on this below).

Below are some ways you can make following/subscribing easier:

• ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS have your blog linked up to your profile page. I've highlighted this because it's SO important! When you leave a comment, odds are that other bloggers will want to follow you back to your blog. Many, many bloggers out there don't have their blog listed on their profile page, and are losing out on dozens, if not hundreds, of followers!!! If you haven't done this, or aren't sure what I mean, check out my earlier post here. It includes a step-by-step instruction (including screen-shots) on how to do it. Actually, this is so important, you should check to make sure you've correctly linked up even if you think you've already done it!
  

• if you have more than one blog, make sure it's obvious in your profile which is your writing blog. Most bloggers won't have the time or the inclination to click on two or three or seven different links in the search for the elusive blog related to your writing!

• include a Followers Gadget on your blog if at all possible. This is a great way to build up your blog’s following. Place the gadget high up on your blog and in an obvious place, so bloggers don’t have to hunt for it

• for WordPress users who can’t include a Followers Gadget, add the Networked Blogs widget to your blog

• always include an RSS button, particularly if you have a WordPress blog. Make sure it’s at the top of your blog, or in a place that’s readily identifiable. Many bloggers will not spend the time hunting for a button if it’s difficult to find, nor do they want to scroll right down to the bottom of your blog to find it. Some blogs have tiny RSS buttons that are hidden amongst dozens of other widgets/gadgets - I'd hate to think about how many bloggers have exited without subscribing
  

• label your RSS button. Consider including the word “free” in the title. To many beginner bloggers, “subscription” implies something you pay for, so they're reluctant to click it. Here's how I've labelled mine:

Note that a problem often arises when bloggers don't add RSS subscription buttons, and instead rely on “Subscribe by email” applications. Many bloggers don’t like to have their inbox cluttered by emails of this nature, and will close out of your blog without subscribing. And some bloggers forget to include any of these subscription links/gadgets/buttons at all, which makes them impossible to follow unless you know how to “Add a Subscription” in Google Reader (or some other nifty trick).

• check that your RSS button is correctly linked (by clicking on it). When I changed my blog URL (a whole ‘nother post in itself!), I had heaps of Feedburner issues, and didn’t realize my RSS button didn’t work until someone told me about it months later

• as I said above, don’t force people to subscribe by email! Most bloggers will simply close out of your blog without subscribing, and you’ll lose out. Include the Followers Gadget (or Networked Blogs widget) or an RSS button at a minimum. 

How about you: do you have any other tips for increasing your followers or subscribers by making following/subscribing easier?

Random Factoids About...Moi

Last week for my followers celebration I asked whether you had any questions for me, whether there was anything you wanted to know. I had heaps of lovely comments and questions, thanks so much! The questions fell into five different categories (yep, I'm being organized again!): personal, blogging-related, writing-related, Crusade-related, and those relating to time-management. I thought I would do a few different posts to answer most of your questions; today I'll give you some random factoids about me.

1. Alleged Author asked "Do you have a favorite YA horror book?" - I don't really have a favorite, though anything by Stephen King would have to be pretty high up on my list. And I recently read The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff and also Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves, and loved both of those!
2. Aun-Juli asked "Do you have a favorite dessert?" - Ooh, that's easy. Pavlova for sure!!! Do you guys have pavlova where you are? 



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3. Lisa Potts asked "What song do you secretly love but won't admit it to anyone due to the humiliation it would cause?" - LOL, if I told you I'd have to kill you! I'll give you a little hint, it's an oldie but a goodie. Another hint: I love male/female duets :) 
4. PK Hrezo said "I wanna know where you live? What part of the world?" - Yep, I'm an Aussie. I lived in Sydney until January of this year, when I moved to Canberra (the capital of Australia but A LOT smaller!). Check out my Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, we'll pack, we'll clean, we'll go... post if you're interested



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5. Colene Murphy asked "Favorite book? Favorite writing spot? Favorite writing hour?" - Hmm, favorite book (I have too many to even pick half a dozen, let alone one!). Favorite writing spot (these days I usually write at the dining room table. I used to sit on the couch in the lounge room, but my new lounge room is rather small and dark and cramped!). Favorite writing hour (I get the most writing done mid-morning, and ideally another bit done after lunch. I do most of my blogging in the evenings)
6. Su asked "What is your earliest memory?" - This may freak some of you out (sorry!), though it's rather a typical scene from the Australian bush. I was 4ish at the time, and was playing on the swing set outside. I looked over to see a huge goanna run across the lawn and climb up a nearby tree. I screamed for my mother to come running, and kept swinging frantically (oops, adverb!!!) until she came to rescue me! Hmm, I've got another early memory involving a snake, though I might save that one until later *grins*

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Crusade Biz(ness) - Winners of the First Crusader Challenge + Crusader Notice-Board

Crusader Notice-Board

Check out these great blogfests, contests, and other announcements:

1. If you haven't already visited, we have a Yahoo Group for Crusaders to chat, network, critique, and get to know each other. Simply go to the link and click on "Join the Group". If you aren't a Crusader and want to join a writing group, check out the Writers on Writing group in (2) below
2. Lynnette Labelle's writing group "Writers on Writing" would welcome anyone (Crusader or not) who is interested in writing and getting to know other writers. Simply go to the link and click on "Join the Group"
3. J.C. Martin is holding her Race to 200 Blog Contest from March 4 to March 6
4. Rachele Alpine is giving away an ARC of Divergent, ending March 6
5. Susannah Leonard Hill is holding a "guess the picture book" contest, from now until 5pm EST on March 6
6. Elizabeth Twist is holding a Buffy Season 8 Give-away, ending March 6
7. Kristina Fugate is holding her Catch Me If You Can blogfest on March 7 & 8
8. Megan Bickel is holding her My Favorite Picture Book blogfest on March 10
9. Sari Webb is holding her Share The Birthday Love Blogfest from March 11-13
10. Hart Johnson (The Naked Tart) is holding her Delusional Doom Blogfest on March 15
11. LB Diamond (and Tessa Conte) are holding their The Nature of Magic blogfest on March 26

I'm going to be running this as a regular Friday feature during my Crusade. So if you have a blogfest, a contest, or a something-or-other you want me to let people know about, drop me an email and I'll run it in the following Friday's post. Please include all the relevant details in your email, including links, name, and when it runs/ends, so I don't have to chase them down.  

First Crusader Challenge - The Winners (woot!!!)

Wow, that was such a fantastic First Crusader Challenge!!! We had a total of 126 entries (awesome!), which means 504 random words were used, somewhere under 37,800 words were written, and 126 lies were told *grins*.

I didn't manage to make it around to all your posts, though I wish I could have, but I loved reading the ones I did. And I had a posse of fabulous judges who did a splendid job judging all your entries. So a huge thanks goes to:

Michael

L'Aussie Denise

Catherine Johnson

Mask

Margo Berendsen

J.C. Martin

Amanda Milner

Lisa Potts

None of the judges were responsible for judging their own entries, and because of this they were able to take part in the Challenge. The judges also didn't know who the other judges were. I asked each judge to prepare a list of their five favorite entries, and then narrow it down to two finalists in the judging round. Here are the names they gave me (in no particular order), and congratulations to all these Crusaders for such stand-out posts:

Susan Fields
Donna Hole
Brian H
Amanda Milner
LA Colvin
Susannah Leonard Hill
The Blogger Formally Known As
Madeleine
Cherie Reich
Donea Lee
LauraJMoss
Margo Benson
Alberta's Sefuty Chronicles
Project Fraeya
Aimee L. Slater
Zan Marie
Shannon O'Donnell
Faith

As you can imagine, I had a terribly hard time picking one winner and one runner-up out of these fabulous entries! But...*pauses*...I've managed to do it! Well, almost. See, I ended up with two runners-up in the end. But that's all-right *grins*

Here are the final results...

Runner-up: Alberta Ross (interview on Rach Writes...)

Runner-up: Cherie Reich (interview on Rach Writes... OR Lynnette Labelle's critique, depending on the winner's choice)

Winner: Project Fraeya (choice of: interview on Rach Writes... OR Lynnette Labelle's 500 words/query critique PLUS the winner's badge in your color choice)

A huge congratulations to all three of you!!! Email me to claim your prize :)

But...I haven't finished yet. Just 'cause I love you guys, I had a chat with Mr. Random.org, and he picked one awesome Crusader from the list of Challenge entrants to win a first chapter critique from yours truly. So congratulations go to:

Michelle Merrill

Woot! Shoot me an email Michelle, and we'll talk deets :)

Second Crusader Challenge

I'm counting down the days to the Second Crusader Challenge! The post will go up on Friday, March 18, and you'll have a week to post your entry and add it to the link, just like this last time. Can't wait to see you all there.

Blogging tips: following blogs and making sure you can be followed (Part 1)

During the first part of my Crusade, a number of people mentioned how difficult they found it to follow some blogs. This issue came up so many times, I thought it would be useful to write a post to:

• help you make sure people can follow or subscribe to your blog (and give you a few tips on ways to increase your followers in this respect); and 

• give you ways to follow other peoples' blogs, particularly where there's no “Followers Gadget".

In this Part 1, I'll be concentrating on helping you make sure others can follow or subscribe to your blog, and giving you ways to follow other peoples' blogs. In Part 2, I'll give you some tips on ways to increase your followers by making it easier for people to follow and/or subscribe to your blog.

Because technology and I are not the best of friends, I’ll be using pretty general language (so forgive me if I make any mistakes in terminology etc). I’ll be focusing on Blogger, WordPress, and personal web pages in this post.

Following/Subscribing

To a lot of people, “following” and "subscribing" means pressing the “Follow” button on this gadget:

But it’s a little more than that, so bear with me.

Following or subscribing is basically a way for you to mark the location of a blog and read new blog content as it is posted. Unless there was some way for you to do this, you’d never remember which blogs you visited, or find the blogs you wish to return to again and again. You’d also spend hours physically checking blogs to find out if they’ve posted anything new since your last visit.

Followers Gadget

The Followers Gadget was introduced by Blogger as a means of social networking, and was later merged with Google Friend Connect (I’ll just call it the Followers Gadget here). It’s a pretty handy gadget, because:

• for followers - by clicking on the “Follow” button, you can be identified as a follower of a particular blog AND automatically subscribe to blog updates through the blog’s feed. See my previous post about Google Reader, which is a fantastic way to read the feed you’ve subscribed to as quickly and efficiently as possible.

• for blog owners - you can see which (and how many) other bloggers are interested in your blog and what you have to say. It’s also a means of adding subscribers to your blog feed, which means more people are reading your posts.

If you use a Blogger platform (eg, if your URL is http://yourblogname.blogspot.com), you have the option to add the Followers Gadget (go to “Design”, then “Add a gadget” then scroll down the list until you can select the Followers gadget). I have seen some Blogger users who choose not to add the Followers Gadget, but by far the majority of Blogger blogs do have this.

Many WordPress users (eg, if your URL is http://yourblogname.wordpress.com/) are not able to add a Followers Gadget to their blogs. If that is the case, you need to include other links/gadgets/buttons on your blog that allow people to subscribe to your feed (I discuss this more below).

Bloggers who use personal web pages are able to add Google Friend Connect to their sites.

What if a blog does not have a Follower’s Gadget?

If a blog doesn't have a Follower’s Gadget, there are other ways you can subscribe to that blog so you can read its posts:

(1) subscribe using RSS

• click on an RSS button (I’ve included the following button on my site). It usually has this orange square symbol and may be very tiny, so you might have to look around for it. In some blogs, the button is not actually labelled “RSS”.

• You’ll then be directed to a page similar to this one – click on the correct button depending on which reader you use (“Google” if you use Google Reader)

• Some WordPress blogs have both a “RSS – posts” link and a “RSS – comments” link, so click on “RSS – posts”

• Many WordPress blogs don’t have the orange square symbol, so look for this instead:

Then click on “entries RSS”

 

(2) click on Posts (Atom) at the very bottom of all the posts on the blog’s home page (for Blogger). This will usually take you to the same Feedburner page as clicking on the RSS button

(3) click on the Networked Blogs widget (if you have a Facebook account). I don’t use this myself at the moment, but I believe it’s fairly similar in operation to Google Friend Connect though with a Facebook interface

(4) if you have Google Reader, copy the URL of the blog you wish to subscribe to, open your Reader, click on “Add a Subscription” on the top left, and paste the URL. This subscribes you to the blog's feed in the same way as if you subscribed by RSS

(5) subscribe by email (you’ll receive an email every time a new post is posted on the blog you’ve subscribed to, which may not suit some people. However, if you wish to read every post a person publishes, this can be a useful tool)

(6) on some WordPress blogs, when you make a comment you can tick the “subscribe to this site by email” button, which has the same effect as the dot point above this

And there you have it, a number of different ways you can follow a blog.

Making sure your blog can be followed

If you want to make sure your blog can be followed, add a Followers Gadget (preferable, if possible), a Networked Blogs widget (optional), an RSS button or link (essential), and a "Subscribe by email" gadget (preferable).

And keep an eye out for Part 2 of these Blogging Tips, which will give you further tips for increasing your followers/subscribers in this respect.

How about you: do you have any following or subscribing tips, or additional ways to follow/subscribe other than those I’ve listed above?

An awesome number of followers celebration

Somehow over the last five weeks I've passed my 200 followers mark. And my 300 followers mark. And my 400 followers mark. And *coughs* my 500 followers mark. I'm not really sure what to say, other than, WOW!!!

And a HUGE thanks to all my followers for making this happen! I'd love to follow all of you, so leave a comment and I'll come a-visiting :)

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To celebrate these awesomely fantastic milestones, I thought I would blatantly copy borrow the idea some of my blogging friends have had, and throw the floor over to you.

So...

Is there anything you want to know about me? Any questions you want to ask? Anything you've been wondering?

While you're pondering, have a glass of champagne!

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And a cookie!

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And since it's a celebration...a chocolate as well!

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All-righty then. Ask away, and I shall answer *grins*

First Crusader Challenge Wrap-up

Wow, what an awesome First Crusader Challenge this has been!!! We've had a huge number of entrants, and some fantastic posts for us all to check out. Must say, I couldn't tell the lie in some of them. If you haven't revealed your lie yet, make sure you do it soon, so we can all work out whether we were right or not :)

Judging of your entries will get under way soon, and I'll be announcing the winners in next Friday's post. I could still use a few more judges if anyone is interested - judges will be eligible to win the prizes (I've worked out a little trickery to make sure of that *grins*). We'll be letting people know if they're on the shortlist as the week goes by.

A couple of things to bring to your attention:

The Crusader Group List has been finalized, so have a squiz at your final groups if you haven't already. And now that admin is over, check out my earlier post, which includes my thoughts on where to from here for Crusaders.

I've started making Crusader announcements at the top of my blog, so make sure you pop back to check here and there for any new ones. If you're holding a blogfest, let me know and I'll pop it on Rach Writes... so everyone knows about it.

We've set up a Yahoo Group for Crusaders to meet and chat, just click on the link and join the group. And there's some great Crusader chatting on Twitter, at #amcrusading.

Otherwise, keep on having fun and getting to know your fellow Crusaders!!!

Feeling the scene (writing with my head vs writing with my heart)

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We've all heard the advice given to writers: write every day. For some time now I've taken that advice to heart (well, blogging is writing too *grins*), and have tried to write as often as I can. But after working closely with my critique partners to turn my (very rough) first draft into something a little closer to submission-ready material, I've come to realize something.

I write in two different ways.

Writing with my head: I know what needs to be done, I know that this scene needs to play out this way, contain these characters, show that scenery. And I write in a way that will accomplish this. However, my writing is slow and labored, and is accompanied with much staring out the window, quick (or not so quick) checks of my email, food breaks, and a general willingness to be distracted by anything and everything that comes my way. I still manage to reach my writing targets when I write like this, but it takes so much longer, and there's always the nagging feeling that I'm missing something. A feeling that becomes readily apparent when I read back through my writing and have a "did I really write this?" moment.

Writing with my heart: Other times, something clicks and I get in the zone, so to speak. My fingers fly over the keyboard, my brain races ahead of me, planning and weaving together all the interlocking strands of writerly wisdom I've absorbed since I began writing and learning about writing (two separate things, for me). I feel the scene, for lack of a better way to describe it. I'm there in the room with the characters, seeing what they see, smelling what they smell, hearing what they hear. And somehow (and this is the magical part) it comes across on paper. When I have one of these "writing with my heart" moments, I can churn out whole scenes one after the other, scenes that are filled with depth and emotion and feeling and showing not telling, and everything else they need to contain. Sure, my writing still needs revision, but it usually requires far less than when I simply write with my head.

And what I find the most amazing (and my CP will be nodding because we had this discussion the other day) is that she can tell whether I wrote a scene with my head or with my heart. It's there on paper, somehow, in black and white. And I'm willing to bet I could give her my entire manuscript and she could point out, with pretty amazing accuracy, exactly which writing phase I was in when I wrote a particular scene.

Of course, I can't turn on these "writing with my heart" moments at will (which really sucks!). Instead, I just keep writing in my plodding fashion, all the while hoping that lightning will zap through my pen (um, keyboard), and I'll start churning out writerly magic one more time. Cause that's when my writing really comes alive. And as a writer, that's when I most come alive as well.

How about you: sound familiar? Have you noticed any difference in how you write from one week/day/hour to the next? Any tips on how you feel the scene, and capture it on paper?

A little light humor...(writing quotes)

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Manuscript: something submitted in haste and returned at leisure.
More funny Oliver Herford quotes

Only a mediocre writer is always at his best.
More funny W. Somerset Maugham quotes

With sixty staring me in the face, I have developed inflammation of the sentence structure and definite hardening of the paragraphs.
More funny James Thurber quotes

The difference between the right word and almost the right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.
More funny Mark Twain quotes

It's a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word.
More funny Andrew Jackson quotes

Writing is learning to say nothing, more cleverly every day.
More funny William Allingham quotes

The writer probably knows what he meant when he wrote a book, but he should immediately forget what he meant when he's written it.
More funny William Golding quotes

A writer is congenitally unable to tell the truth and that is why we call what he writes fiction.
More funny William Faulkner quotes

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If writers were good businessmen, they'd have too much sense to be writers.
More funny Irvin S. Cobb quotes

It's a damn good story. If you have any comments, write them on the back of a check.
More funny Erle Stanley Gardner quotes

Writing is pretty crummy on the nerves.
More funny Paul Theroux quotes

The secret of good writing is to say an old thing in a new way or to say a new thing in an old way.
More funny Richard Harding Davis quotes

And all writing is creating or spinning dreams for other people so they won't have to bother doing it themselves.
More funny Beth Henley quotes

A young musician plays scales in his room and only bores his family. A beginning writer, on the other hand, sometimes has the misfortune of getting into print.
More funny Marguerite Yourcenar quotes

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When I was a little boy, they called me a liar, but now that I am grown up, they call me a writer.
More funny Isaac Bashevis Singer quotes

The best time to plan a book is while you're doing the dishes.
More funny Agatha Christie quotes

For a long time now I have tried simply to write the best I can. Sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can.
More funny Ernest Hemingway quotes



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First Crusader Challenge

The time has come for the First Crusader Challenge, woot!!! It’s a bit of a getting-to-know-you exercise with a little bit of a twist (you didn’t think it would be easy did you? *grins*).

Here it is:

The Challenge 

In 300 words or less, tell us:

· one secret

· one lie

· one interesting quirk

· one annoying habit

· one of your best character traits, and

· one of your favourite things in the whole world.

The post can be in any format, including poetry (for those poets among us), but must include the random words, “bloviate,” “fuliguline,” “rabbit,” and “blade” (tee hee).

Finish your post with something along the lines of, “I may have revealed something about me that isn’t strictly true, can you guess what it is?” (this last bit isn’t included in the word count). And don’t forget to tell us the answer in your next post!

Once you’ve posted your Challenge post, pop back here and link directly to it in the linky tool below (make sure you include the direct link to that post, not just the link to your blog). 

Entries in the First Crusader Challenge will close next Friday, February 25th (at 11.59pm EST), so make sure you get your post in the linky link before then!

After that, the judging will begin...

Judging and prizes (did somebody say “prizes”? Of course there are prizes!)

I’ve put together a posse of fabulous Crusaders, who’ll be meandering amongst your Challenge posts and doing a spot of judging.

Extra points will be awarded for:

- inability of the judges to tell which is your lie

- how entertaining the post is, and

- seamless and original use of the random words

Please note that all my followers are very welcome to take part in my First Crusader Challenge, but only Crusaders who are following all the other Crusaders by February 25 (on blogs not necessarily Twitter) will be eligible for the prizes. Crusaders, it’s fine to post your Challenge entry before you’ve finished following everyone, but get on to that follow button as soon as you can so you're finished before February 25 :)

“And what are those prizes?” you may ask.

...DRUMROLL...

“Well, hold on a sec and I’ll tell you.” *grins*

The winner of the Challenge will receive their very own Crusader Challenge Winner badge, designed by the lovely Rachel Morgan (thanks Rachel!), whom many of you will have met by now through the Crusade.

The badge comes in your choice of colors (but seriously, how can you not want purple?), all the better for some serious blog beautification :)

The winner will ALSO have the choice of:

(1) an interview on Rach Writes... (did anybody say “platform-building”?)

OR

(2) a critique from the fabulous Lynnette Labelle, copyeditor and proofreader, and one of our very own Crusaders, woot!!! (more details below)

The runner-up will receive the other prize :)

Tell us more about the critique

Okey doke. The recipient of the critique can choose between a critique of their first 500 words OR a critique of their query letter. Plus, they can revise and resubmit to Lynnette. Here’s her bio from her website:

“Lynnette Labelle is a certified copyeditor and proofreader with over ten years of experience, and is the editor of RWA Online’s newsletter LoveBytes. She spent many years teaching kindergarten to grade eight, but especially enjoyed instructing the junior high students how to write short stories and poems.

After studying writing for children and teens through The Institute of Children’s Literature, taking Advanced Creative Writing in university, participating in dozens of writing workshops, and reading far too many “how to write” books to count, Lynnette has a great understanding of the craft of writing. She knows the typical mistakes beginner writers and some published authors make that keep them from either getting published or moving further up the publishing ladder. Her background in writing, teaching, copyediting, and proofreading makes her an excellent choice as a mentor. Her assistance and services have helped writers on their journey to publication.”

Worth playing for, yes?

So, all that remains is to enjoy. Leave me a comment to let me know you're playing. Have fun writing your post, then pop round to the other entrants, check out their posts, follow and comment, and see who you can catch out in a lie!!! I can't wait to see what trickery you all come up with :)

And don't forget to pop back here and add your name and post link to the linky tool below before 11.59 pm next Friday!

IMPORTANT: DON'T PUT YOUR NAME IN THE LINKY UNTIL YOU'VE WRITTEN YOUR POST - THEN LINK DIRECT TO THAT POST PLEASE

Crusade Biz(ness) - Draft Crusader Groups (revised)

Crusaders, please check out my draft list (new page above), including some revisions. Email any changes to me :)

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Using Google Reader to Organize the Blogs you Follow (Tips and Tricks)

I follow a huge number of blogs, over 500!!! Without being organized, I don’t think I could possibly keep up with everything, let alone manage to comment as often as I wish (I still don’t manage that anyway, but at least I can dream, right).

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If you’re subscribed to more than, say, 10 or 15 blogs (which is most of us here), think seriously about signing up for Google Reader. If you have a Gmail account, you'll have access to Reader already, just click on the “Reader” link at the top left of the Gmail page. If you don’t have Gmail, you should be able to sign up for a Google Account and get Reader that way.

The default setting for Google Reader means that all blogs you “Follow” using Google Friend Connect, or subscribe to using RSS feed, will automatically appear in your Google Reader. You can skim blog posts in Reader, and decide which you want to open and comment on, which you will read without commenting, and which you want to skip reading this time around. Check out some of the shortcut keys I’ve listed below to make things even quicker.

You can also organize your subscriptions in Reader, so you can choose which particular type of blogs you look at on Tuesday evenings, say. I’ve found this SOOOO useful; I couldn’t keep up with all the blogs I follow otherwise. Here’s a (hopefully) simple “how to”:

Organizing Google Reader:

Sorting your subscriptions

I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but you can pull up a list of all the blogs you’ve subscribed to and organize them into folders. If you’re running short of time, or need to prioritize which posts you look at first, you can pull up just the blogs in a particular folder and read through those (and leave the other posts for another time/day).

To organize your subscriptions into folders

(1) Go to “Settings” at the top right of your Google Reader page

(2) Click on “Reader Settings”

(3) Click on “Subscriptions”. This will pull up a list of all the blogs you subscribe to



(4) Select the box beside the blog you want to “organize” (red circle). You can select multiple blogs at once. Then go over to the “Change Folders” drop-down menu (blue circle)



(5) In the drop-down menu, either click on the folder you want to put the selected blog in (if you’ve already created a folder) or else hit “New Folder” and name the folder when the pop-up box appears. I called my new folder “Crusaders”. You can then click on the “Crusaders” option in the drop-down menu, and the blog(s) you selected will be allocated to the “Crusaders” folder in Google Reader



(6) Once you’ve organized all the subscriptions, click on “Back to Google Reader”



Choosing only a certain category of blog to read

To search for the posts in a particular folder (after you’ve organized your folders as per the above):

(1) Click the drop-down menu labelled “All items” in the top left of Google Reader



(2) Select the folder you wish to search

(3) Press search

(4) Read away :)

Much easier, I think!

Using Google Reader:

Shortcuts

There are a lot of shortcut keys you can use to make life easier. Here are some of the ones I use the most:

s – Stars or un-stars an item (to save it for later)
j/k – Selects the next/previous item in the list
r – Refresh
Shift+A – Mark all as read
o – Open / Close item (in list view)
v - opens the original source for an article in a new window
f – toggles reading list to full screen mode and back
1 - displays the subscription as expanded items
2 - displays the subscription as a list of headlines
? - displays a quick guide to all of Reader's shortcuts

Searching within feeds

This is also very useful. You can use the search bar at the top of Google Reader to search through the feeds you've subscribed to. Matching items are displayed in either Expanded View or List View, depending on the way you usually use Reader (1 and 2 in the shortcut keys above). The search terms will be highlighted so you can scan them quickly.

(ETA) Subscribing to blogs with no RSS button

Jordan pointed this out in the comments below (thanks so much):

If you just want to subscribe rather than follow, blogs often have buttons to subscribe to their RSS feeds. You can click on that and choose the option to read it in Google Reader.

If a blog doesn't have an RSS button, copy its URL, go to Google Reader, click the Add Subscription button and paste the URL.

I hope these tips and tricks help you out.

How about you: do you use Google Reader or another program to organize your subscriptions? Do you know any other useful tips or tricks?

Crusade Biz(ness) - List of Crusaders + Our Very Own Crusader Badge + Other Stuff

Well, the magic number of Crusaders is finally decided, and (after a couple of adjustments for duplicated entries) we've come out at...wait for it...212. Woot! That is sooooo exciting, we're going to have one awesome Crusade!!!

List of Crusaders

I've put together the List of Crusaders, yay! Pop up to the top of my blog when you have a sec, and double-check to make sure the links and info about you are correct (I haven't had time to check them all sorry). Let me know asap if I need to make any changes.

Have fun meeting and following everyone!

BTW, I've had a couple of people ask about following those who use WordPress. For those who don't have Google Friend Connect on their blogs, is it possible to add an RSS feed link to your blogs so we can all subscribe in that way rather than having to subscribe by email?

Crusader Groups

I've made good headway dividing the Crusaders in Groups, and I'll be publishing them on a separate page to make things easier. List should go up in the next day or so. I'll publish it in draft form first, as I imagine some adjustments will need to be made - please check the group(s) I've put you in and let me know if you want any changes made (it's no problems at all, I've had to guess quite a bit). I'll put some notes at the top of the page for the first week or so, for Crusaders to consider.

Our Very Own Crusader Badge (woot!)

With huge thanks and heaps of hugs to the lovely JYS over at A Writerly Pensheep, we now have our very own "I'm a Crusader" Badge. Hope you like it :)

First Crusader Challenge (this Friday)

We've got some pretty awesome prizes, one of which may or may not involve a critique! Just sayin' *grins*

Twitter Hashtag

For those of you on Twitter, we've started using the hashtag #amcrusading

Crusade Biz(ness) - February 11, 2011

I want to start by saying how absolutely amazed I am by the enthusiasm and support you’ve all shown for my Crusade. Hugs to you!!! When I finally worked up the courage to dive into the blogosphere in June last year, with no followers, no idea of what I was getting myself in to, and no clue what I was doing, I never dreamed I’d be welcomed with such open arms. So I’m really chuffed I’ve had this opportunity to pay it forward just a little bit! Ok, I’m not going to get all mushy on you, I promise, so I’ll just say I love our community of writers (and you guys are awesome!) and leave it at that.

I’m going to dive straight into some Crusade business...(and apologies for the long post!)

A big decision

When I called the Crusade last Friday, I was expecting (honestly) perhaps 70 or so people to jump on board. We’ve more than doubled that number, and at the time of posting, we now have 163 Crusaders who’ve filled out my form *gulps* and another few who are still to do so and more still joining.

Because the Crusade is not just about getting heaps and heaps of followers though I can’t help but squee when I see all your followers go up, I’ve had to make a big decision. So...I’m going to close the List of Crusaders. Not something I thought about before, but it will mean you all have the chance to get to know the Crusaders who’ve already joined, without having to spend your time keeping track of new Crusaders who join as the weeks go by. And I’ll be able to spend more time getting to know you, without all the administration required when new Crusaders sign up.

I know some of you haven’t filled out the form yet, so I’ll keep the List of Crusaders open until 11.59pm (EST) on Saturday, February 12. After that time, I’m afraid I won’t be taking on any new Crusaders this Crusade, even if you have commented in my original post. So, if you haven’t filled out this form, please do it ASAP if you want to be a part of this Crusade!!! And, obviously, please make sure you've read my original post and followed the requirements to become a Crusader.

I will be running further Crusades in the future, and possibly even one later in the year, for any of you who want to rejoin, and for others who missed out this time around.

So where is the List of Crusaders? You promised Rach!

*sighs*

With so much interest shown, my dream of posting the List of Crusaders a few days ago has fluttered out the window (I dived for it, but was left with nothing but a gorgeous maroon tail feather in my hand and a ringing cry that sounded suspiciously like a laugh in my ears!).

I’m working my way through the list, checking links, popping round to visit people, sorting Crusaders into their different Crusade Groups, and all the stuff I need to do to make sure this Crusade runs smoothly. Fingers crossed, I’ll be posting the List in the next few days, so keep an eye out for it.

Once the List of Crusaders is posted, what then?

I’ll apologize in advance if I’ve made any mistakes! Email me at rachael[dot]harrie[at]gmail[dot]com if there are any problems.

1. Check your name is on the List of Crusaders. Please tell me I’ve included everyone!
2. Check I have your details and links correct.
3. Check you’re happy with the Group(s) I’ve put you in. Some of you have asked to be placed in more than one Group, others I’ve based on the genres you listed in the form. I’m happy to switch things up if needed, or pop you in more than one Group, just let me know (remember that being in more than one Group will increase the number of Crusaders you’ve committed to actively support).
4. Take note of those Crusaders in your Group, and do what you can to actively support them. Comments on as many of their posts as you can manage, in particular, are a fantastic way to show your support. But...see what else you can come up with too :) And, who knows, you may even find critique partners (or groups), or beta readers, or lifelong friends who can share your writing journey with you!
5. Have a look at the Crusaders in the other Groups. I’ve included everyone’s genres in the List of Crusaders so you can see people with common writing interests to you. Think about who you’d like to get to know better. Perhaps they write in a genre similar to yours, perhaps they have an interesting project on the go, perhaps they have an awesome blogging voice. Sky’s the limit really. Then, hie thee over and make contact.
6. And, of course, make sure you’re following all the Crusaders. It’s fabulous to see so many of you already out and about, and meeting and following each other! A little hint for what’s to come, but Crusader Challenges will be judged on a points basis, and one of the requirements for you to score top points in a Challenge (and have a chance at winning the prizes!) is that you are following all the Crusaders or have subscribed to their feeds for those who don't have the followers gadget :) So you’ll have two weeks from today to get round and follow everybody if you want to be in the running for the awesome First Crusade Challenge prize!

Basically, you’ll get out of this Crusade what you put in. I guess it’s the same for the blogosphere in general, the more comments you make, the more you get out there and interact with your fellow Crusaders, the more it will come back to you in kind! Once I have all the administrative organizing out of the way, I won’t be involving myself too much in this part of the Crusade (though I have already hooked up one of the Crusaders with another Crusader I thought they’d get along fabulously with!!!).

How can I make sure I see all your posts about the Crusade?

I usually post about Crusade business on Fridays, though I might need to post at other times too. I have a link gadget thingy on my sidebar, which lists all the posts that are related to the Crusade. Check it out whenever you visit Rach Writes... just in case there’s a new post you’ve missed.

First Crusade Challenge

The First Crusade Challenge will be posted next Friday morning, woot!!! Keep an eye out, you’ll have a week to post and put your link in Mr Linky if you want to take part.

Crusade Challenges are voluntary – they’re just for fun and giggles, and as a way for you to get to know your fellow Crusaders better :) I know many of you are doing the A-Z Challenge in April, so I'll see what I can do to combine Challenges in April with posting for that event, so you don't have more than one big thing on your plate.

Any Volunteers for the Challenge Judging?

I’m putting together a posse of Crusaders who’ll help me out by judging the Crusader Challenges. I’ve asked a few Crusaders already, but I thought I’d throw it open to anyone who wants to volunteer to help me out (if I get heaps of interest, I’ll rotate Crusader judges around). It would disqualify you from winning that Challenge (though you can still take part of course), but you’d have a lot of fun, and it might be a way for you to get to know your fellow Crusaders even quicker. Just shoot me an email :)

*takes a deep breath* Phew, I think that’s all. Um, any questions???

The sad tale of a little green-eyed monster named Queryenvy...

It's rather sneaky, and has been creeping up on me over the last month or so, but I'm sorry to say that a little green-eyed monster named Queryenvy has just tapped me on the shoulder and scared the living daylights out of me!

(Source)

To make a sad tale short (which is probably a good thing for those of you suffering through it), near the end of last year I looked at my WIP and predicted I would be finished my revisions by mid-January, and I'd therefore be able to start querying at the end of January. Um...*looks at calendar*...that date has come and gone, and I'm still not happy with my WIP, and I actually think the amount of revisions still needed will take months rather than days! *takes a deep breath*

Enter the little critter!

(Source)

The Collins English Dictionary defines "envy" as "a feeling of grudging or somewhat admiring discontent aroused by the possessions, achievements, or qualities of another." (My edits, yeah, I think that's about it!).
  
I want to be querying, you see, and I'm a teensy bit envious of my fabulous critique partners and blogging friends who have dived (or are about to dive) into the query pool. Admittedly, I'm bringing it on myself (I want my WIP to be the best it can be, of course), but I did want to be able to write "Started Querying in January" on my list of achievements for 2011.

*sighs*

How about you: Are you querying? Would you rather be querying, but are holding yourself back until you know you're ready (and how do you know that anyway)? Did you ever query too early?

A wave to my new followers, a teensy bit of Crusade business, and...oh yes...the winners of our Trilogy Contest!!!

Today’s the day to announce the winners of our Trilogy Contest, woot!!! But before I do, I just wanted to say a big hello and welcome to all my new followers *waves*. I can’t wait to meet you, and I’ll be popping round to your blogs to say hi as soon as I can.

On a similar note, I think I may have missed following some of you at the end of last year and during all my internet dramas! – if so, my apologies. Just leave a comment and I’ll come round and stalk you say hi to you :)

Crusade Biz(ness)

A little Crusade business. I can't believe how many people have come on board my Second Crusade!!! We've topped 80 Crusaders already (and are getting close to 90), which is absolutely fantastic! And it's great to see so many of you popping round to introduce yourselves and follow the other Crusaders.

I'm busy collecting everyone's information, allocating Groups, and doing up the List of Crusaders, which I'm hoping to finish and post over the next few days though it's a pretty big task *grins*. In that respect, PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO FILL OUT THIS FORM, cause I need your details in order to add you to the List of Crusaders. Until I get the List of Crusaders posted, you may wish to start visiting/introducing yourself/following those who've put their names down in my Crusade post.

I'll be posting our First Crusader Challenge on Friday, February 18th, so keep an eye out for that, should be heaps of fun (and I'm not going to confirm or deny the rumor that there may be a particularly nasty I mean, awesome mystery word for this one!!! *chortles*).

Trilogy Contest

Ok, back to the Trilogy Contest. A huge thanks to all who entered. We had a great time and met some really awesome peeps!!! As a reminder, up for grabs were a total of 12 critiques, 4 each by Marieke, Tessa, and me:*

1. query or synopsis (max. 2 pages) critique (winner's choice)
2. first 300 words critique
3. first 3 pages critique AND
4. first 30 pages critique

I know you can’t wait to find out the winners!

So...*drumroll*... the winners of the critiques by me (as determined by random.org out of a total 505 entries) are:

• query or synopsis (max. 2 pages) critique (winner's choice) - Charity Bradford
• first 300 words critique - Tessa Conte
• first 3 pages critique - Nicole Zoltack AND
• first 30 pages critique - PK Hrezo

Woot!!!

Congratulations to all the winners. Email me at rachael[dot]harrie[at]gmail[dot]com to claim your prizes. I can’t wait to dive into critiquing!!!

But wait, I see you thinking, there are only 4 winners in this post, where are the others???

Good question, I say. You’ll have to pop over to Marieke’s Musings and The Quest for a Literary Agent to find out the other winners :)

Good luck!


*Unfortunately we didn’t quite get to 50 entries, but we’ll definitely have some books up for grabs in our next contest as well.

Second Writers’ Platform-Building Crusade

Because of the overwhelming response I've had to my Second Crusade, I’m afraid I won’t be taking on any more Crusaders. Keep an eye out for my Third Crusade, I'd love to have you on board.

There are so many of us out there. Aspiring authors, bloggers (whether established or beginning), industry peeps, even published authors, all of whom want to build their online platforms. We write insightful posts and articles, actively blog within the blogosphere, take part in challenges, competitions, and contests galore.

We have the passion and the drive to make it, but…we could all do with a bit of support.

So I started thinking. What if we link all these people together? What if we create a way to meet people in a similar position, people who genuinely want to help build our online platform while at the same time building theirs? People who want to pay it forward in the spirit of writerly writerness and blogging beautificity (and see it come back to them in turn).

And so my Writers’ Platform-Building Crusade was born.

What is the Crusade?

Basically, the Crusade is a way to link those within the writing community together with the aim of helping to build our online platforms. The Crusaders are all bloggers in a similar position, who genuinely want to pay it forward, make connections and friends within the writing community, and help build each others' online platforms while at the same time building theirs.

Last year (my First Crusade) we had 55 Crusaders, many of whom have become great blogging friends. We saw our followers skyrocket and the comments on our posts increase, and had fun taking part in Crusade Challenges as well (kartofflepuffer anyone???).

I’ll list your names and blogs on my List of Crusaders page so you can keep in touch with the other Crusaders. And you’ll have a list of bloggers in the same position as you, who genuinely want to help you succeed. You can visit their blogs, follow along, leave comments galore, and share your highs and lows as you journey through the blogosphere and build your online platform. And they'll be doing the same for you.

Length of the Crusade

This Crusade will run from February 1st to April 30th, though I’ll be calling additional Crusades in the future. You’re very welcome to keep on Crusading after my official organization ends on April 30th.

How to join?

If you’d like to join, here’s what you’ll need to do:

1. follow me if you haven't already, so you can keep in touch with all the Crusade Biz(ness) (posted on Fridays) and take part in Crusade Challenges etc
2. comment on this post, to let the other Crusaders know you’ll be coming on board
3. blog about the Crusade to help spread the word (include a link to this post and encourage your followers to join)
4. if you’re on Twitter, tweet about the Crusade and include a link to this post. I'm @RachaelHarrie if you want to follow me in the Twitterverse
5. pop a link to this post on Facebook (if you’re a Facebook fan)
6. AND fill out this form.

After you’ve joined

Once you’ve joined the Crusade:

1. keep an eye on my List of Crusaders page (so you can meet any new Crusaders)
2. follow all the other Crusaders
3. pop round and introduce yourself to all the Crusaders in your Crusade Group. If you wish, pop round to some or all of the other Crusaders and introduce yourself as well
4. put a Crusade button on your sidebar and link it back to my Writers' Platform-Building Crusade page at the top of Rach Writes... (I use the above picture for all my Crusade stuff if you want to use that one too)
5. keep an eye out for posts by other Crusaders (and particularly those in your Crusade Group) and do your best to comment on as many as you can, as often as you can. This is one of the key ways Crusaders will help each other out and pay it forward
6. also consider following your fellow Crusaders on Twitter and liking them on Facebook, mentioning their blog posts and re-tweeting their tweets, and otherwise supporting them
7. join in my Crusader Challenges if you wish (I'm hoping to run one every second or third Friday). It's a great way to get to know the other Crusaders and have fun at the same time.

Can't wait to have you on board!

Rach

Do you? Have you? Will you?

I'm curious. In my travels around the blogosphere, I've noticed a lot of you have created your own "cover page" for your WIPs, complete with title and some pretty awesome illustrations.

(Source)

That's got me wondering. Should I be creating my own? And how would I go about doing it anyway? Is it something you do for fun, or do you have a reason to do with marketing/promoting your WIP? If you don't have a cover page already, do you plan to make one? One for each WIP you work on, perhaps?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.