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You are a new author, and you cannot afford to hire a web designer, so you create your own free website. The website looks great to you now what? You wait for the traffic but there is none and you are at a loss as to what to do.

You hear about SEO, (Search Engine Optimization) and you have no idea of what they are talking about. Search Engine Optimization is the process of improving the quantity of traffic to a website or webpage from search engines. {Search Engine Optimization} targets unpaid traffic rather than direct traffic or paid traffic.

SEO is a great way to get ranked but depending on the host you are using for your website that may or may not be an option for you and you may not know how to set it up.

Don’t worry I have a couple of other suggestions for you.

1. When you set up your website, besides a Home Page; About Page and Contact Page did you remember to set up a page for a blog? Blogging is a great way to drive traffic to your website, but you have to make sure you have an active blog with fresh content. When you blog, write about things you know in your expertise.


2. Have a promotion like giving away a free eBook or share parts of your book for free.


3. Have a contest where you give away a copy of your book or a free gift card.


4. Join a traffic exchange. A traffic exchange is when you view another’s website or ads and they do likewise to your site.


5. Advertise on different sites like Free Ads.


6. Join and participate on Social Email Forums or look into email marketing.


7. Include your website address on all of your outgoing materials.


8. Make sure your social media profiles link back to your website.


9. Add Media to your website like a trailer for your book.

These are just a few suggestions to help you get free traffic to your website.

I hope this helps you out.

By: Ann M. Hampton

Click on the link below to check out or purchase my latest book entitled Senior Moments. This is a Devotional Journal for the Young at Heart.

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So, you’re doing some downsizing and lo and behold you come across a number of stories that you or a relative wrote a while back. You have no idea as to what to do with them. You finally make up your mind and decide that you want to have them published, but have no clue as to what steps you should take to get it done.


Well you could send a copy of the story to any number of third-party publishing companies. You know, the ones where you have to wait for them to sweep you off your feet by offering you the deal of a lifetime. Or, you could simply look into self-publishing.

When you self-publish a book, as an author there’s “more to the story” then just writing the book.


You will need to edit, do the cover page, have it printed, set up a website, draw traffic to your website, promote via social media, and sell the book yourself. Sounds like a lot of work, right? Especially if you are a shy writer or write for fun. All of those steps can be intimidating. But if you take the time to put in the proper amount of work as you press on you will be successful.


As a self-publisher you have the option of approaching retailers (including bookstores) to see if they will carry your book. You make the decision as to the price of the book and control the design of your book cover. Publishing your book is almost instant and you get paid on your book sales once a month. You also do not have to worry about a deadline which is a huge plus!


Another con with traditional publishing is you often have to wait on the publisher to make key decisions before publishing. You are involved working with your publisher, but your power is limited and you always have to make sure both parties are on the same page.


One recommendation though with self-publishing is you should always compare the different companies where you will sell your book to see which one has the highest commission rate. It’s important of course to know how much you will earn per sale.


But whether you decide traditional or self-publishing it’s still a matter of choice. The important thing is either way, do your research and make a sound decision. The world is waiting to hear your story!

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Updated: Sep 20, 2020


I often wonder how some authors are highly successful while other authors seem to struggle. The more I looked into it the more I realized the following about successful authors.


1. Successful Authors Write About Things They Are Passionate About


Whether you are writing fiction or nonfiction, it is imperative that you write about something you care about. Successful authors have some emotional connection to their content or story. If you are writing fiction, then write from a place of emotional familiarity. Your genuine experience will come through in your writing and your readers will connect with that. If you are writing a nonfiction piece, choose a topic you are passionate or enthusiastic about. After all, if you are going to invest your precious time in what you are writing, you owe it to yourself to write with passion, feeling and enthusiasm. Your readers will feel it also.


2. Successful Authors Take Risks


Some people write to please others or write for money. They shun controversy. Don’t be afraid to put what you’re feeling in your book. In the world of fiction, you have no doubt heard about creating characters that are larger than life. That doesn’t mean they are giants; it means these authors go above and beyond and take risks. They make decisions that we would not have the courage to take in our own lives. After all, it’s not about what we would do when we are tethered by the restrictions of polite behavior…it’s what we would do in our wildest imaginations that make our readers sit up and take notice.


For the nonfiction writer, it’s time for you to also take a stand. Take a view and stick with it. The greatest journalists are the ones who are not afraid to speak their minds. Get into that habit and you’re well on your way to being that next great writer.


3. Successful Authors Have A Plan


This is definitely the most ignored habit but equally the most important phase of the writing process. Planning is essential to the success of any undertaking and writing is no different. Whether you are writing a short story, novel, or screenplay, planning the story before you begin writing is as essential to your success as ink is in your pen or power is to your laptop.


I can have a dream, hear a song, or see something on TV and then everything starts to unfold for me leading me to write about it. I use it like therapy. It’s at this point where I take the time to plan out my story. I do my research and jot down a beginning, middle and end. I found out the more planning I do in advance the less writer’s block I have. This also makes the writing process for me more enjoyable.  The more planning you do, the more enjoyable the writing process and the less rewriting and editing you will have to do.


4. Successful Writers Write Every Day


This is something I really struggle with because there are so many distractions. When I start to write something, I can write for hours. But then there are other times I just don’t feel up to it. This is like any other job out there, but I personally have made up my mind that I am going to try and set aside some time to write something each and every day. That is how you become a writer. Even if you only write one page every day, that’s 365 pages in a year and that’s a whole book!


5. Successful Writers Are Persistent


It is said that persistence outstrips all other virtues. Almost every successful author I read about has said that their success is due (at least in some part) to pure persistence and determination. It does not matter if you are self-publishing or working with a publisher who rejected your work. The message here is Don’t Give Up! Rewrite your article and resubmit them again and again if necessary. The authors that succeed are the ones who don’t stop. As the saying goes, winners never quit and quitters never win.


6. Successful Writers Let It Go


When you have written your article, book, or screenplay, once it’s submitted for publication or approval let it go. If you’ve done the best you can with it, let it go and trust that it will make its way to where it needs to be. Start something else right away. Regardless of whether what you have submitted is accepted or rejected, you are a writer and a writer will always write regardless. Once you finish one piece start immediately on another


In my opinion if you adopt these habits yourself, before you know it, you too will join the ranks of highly successful authors!

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