Questions on Blogging

I had the good fortune recently to sit down with my coworker and fellow writer, Bill DeRooy, to discuss the art of blogging. Bill just started his own blog as a way to get back into writing consistently (why don’t you go follow his blog as an encouragement to keep with it?), which is a fantastic reason for blogging.

As it happens, I’ll be leading a workshop on blogging after the main presentations at Jot in a few weeks. And since I knew that Bill was just getting started, I thought I’d ask him what he would want to learn from a blogging workshop. Here were a few of his responses:

• How do you make yourself more visible online?
• How does Google find your stuff?
• How often should I post?

These are wonderful questions. I have asked them myself. They give me a good place to start in creating a (hopefully) helpful worksheet for my workshop.

But I need more questions to answer.

I don’t claim to be an authority on blogging, I have been doing it consistently for a while now and I’m happy to shout my opinions at anyone who will listen.

Do you have questions that you would like answered in a blogging workshop setting? Are there any exercises that you’d like to see? What would the perfect handout include? Is is strange that I am questioning you for your questions?

Please leave your questions in the comments below. If you can’t make it to Jot, let me know and I’ll try to respond to your question in another way after the event.

I’m really looking forward to Jot, and I want to be as helpful as possible to the attendees.

By the way, if you are thinking of attending, please RSVP today. We are giving away free tickets in order to make sure that we set out enough chairs. If you plan on coming, please call 616-957-3110 today and reserve your spot.

Ask Josh | How Do I Tie My Shoes So They Stay Tied?

A while back, I shared how I learned the correct way to tie my shoes in college, thanks to one of the core classes for my chosen major in Recreation. I got this comment from my friend, Jessie Clemence:

I am sending you a seven-year old and his shoes, which he refuses to tie. He’ll be on the afternoon bus. Thank you in advance.

No need to send your kid to me Jessie! Just have him watch this video and he’ll be tying his shoes like an expert in no time.

Now, if you have a question you want answered, leave it in the comments and I’ll do my best to help you out. Thanks for reading!

Ask Josh | How Do I Find a Writing Agent?

Welcome to a new segment on my blog! If you have questions, I will try to answer them.

I was recently asked about how an author goes about finding representation. The question came from someone who was unable to come to my writers group’s recent event, Jot: The GR Writers Mini-Conference. This was the question:

Hi Josh,  I had all intentions of attending your last seminar but was unable to make it at  the last minute…bummer!

My young daughter and I have written a children’s book based on a true story  from her childhood.� I am looking for a literary agent….any ideas? Blessings, Kim McClimans

Kim, there’s one main resource that I think will help: AgentQuery.com I learned about AgentQuery from my friend and fellow Weakling, Bob Evenhouse, on his blog.

AgentQuery is a searchable database of publishing industry agents. And within a few clicks, I was able to identify a list of 38 agents who deal in children’s books, accept email queries, are members of the Association of Authors’ Representatives, and are actively looking for more clients. The site features links to each agency, so you can take a look at which authors they represent and how you might fit in.

Thanks for your question Kim!

If you have a question, feel free to leave it in the comments below!