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    Sticky Readers: How to Attract a Loyal Blog Audience by Writing More Better
    Sticky Readers: How to Attract a Loyal Blog Audience by Writing More Better
    Sticky Readers: How to Attract a Loyal Blog Audience by Writing More Better
    Ebook102 pages1 hour

    Sticky Readers: How to Attract a Loyal Blog Audience by Writing More Better

    By Margaret Andrews

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    About this ebook

    Sticky Readers is a humorous, but helpful book about writing better blog posts. While the book is helpful for all writers, it was written with bloggers in mind.

    Sticky Readers explains the various ways to make your writing more engaging (i.e. less boring) so that a reader will "stick" around for the whole thing, rather than read the first paragraph, get bored and leave.

    Sticky Readers is not a book about English grammar, but a book about how to tell an engaging story.

    It also includes a section about combating writer's block and a list of Top Ten Mistakes that bloggers make to drive readers away.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMargaret Andrews
    Release dateNov 29, 2011
    ISBN9781465890863
    Sticky Readers: How to Attract a Loyal Blog Audience by Writing More Better
    Author

    Margaret Andrews

    Margaret Andrews is an award-winning humor blogger and writer whose work has appeared on video games, literary magazines and newspaper sites. Her 20+ year stint in software development and technical writing provided the perfect groundwork for her to develop How Tos in the blogosphere. She currently lives in Sacramento, California.

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    Book preview

    Sticky Readers - Margaret Andrews

    Sticky Readers

    How to Attract A Loyal Blog Audience by Writing More Better

    By Margaret Andrews

    Copyright 2011 Margaret Andrews

    Smashwords Edition

    Book's Website: http://www.stickyreaders.com

    Blog: http://www.nannygoatsinpanties.com

    Email: margaret@nannygoatsinpanties.com

    This book is available in print at most online retailers.

    Smashwords Edition, License Notes

    This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

    Acknowledgements

    I would like to thank some fellow writers who helped me revise this book as properly as possible: Jane Gassner, Janna Marlies Santoro, and Cinamon Vann. I would also like to thank my husband, Ron Daschmans, for his unrelenting love and support while I wrote.

    And no book of mine should go to press without thanking our pet caterpillar, Leopold. Thank you, Leopold, you future Motholympian, you.

    Table of Contents

    Note: You can return to the Table of Contents at any time by clicking on a Chapter Title within the book.

    Introduction: Sticky Content and Sticky Readers

    Chapter 1: Grab Your Reader From the Beginning

    Chapter 2: Details, Details, Details (Be Specific)

    Chapter 3: Get Personal

    Chapter 4: Sell It and Don't Apologize

    Chapter 5: Include a Universal Topic or Theme

    Chapter 6: Choose a Debatable or Controversial Topic

    Chapter 7: Use the Active Voice Instead of the Passive Voice

    Chapter 8: Go 3-D (Show vs. Tell, and Appealing to the Senses)

    Chapter 9: Use Humor

    Chapter 10: Include Pictures

    Chapter 11: Pick Up The Pace

    Chapter 12: Additional Ways to Make Your Blog More Interesting

    Chapter 13: Writer's Block: Or, How To Pull a Blog Post Out of Your Ass

    Chapter 14: A Word About Traffic and Comments

    Chapter 15: The Top 10 Mistakes on Your Blog That Drive Readers Away

    Chapter 16: Quick Reference Checklist (Before You Hit Publish)

    Conclusion

    Epilogue

    About the Author

    Introduction: Sticky Content and Sticky Readers

    The last time I walked Sheila, my pet ostrich, was nine days ago. Greasy-haired Lance at the drug store asked about her today even though she always pecks at his jar of lollipops by the cash register. I miss walking Sheila, her lustrous feathers catching on every rose bush, the dog park people staring as they clutch their little yappers closer to their chests, Sheila spitting on every fire hydrant....

    Did that paragraph grab your attention? Did you want to know what happened to Sheila? Were you able to imagine an ostrich in the drug store stealing lollipops?

    An engaging story leaps off the screen and comes to life. It captures the reader's attention and compels him or her to read on and come back for more tomorrow. An engaging blog is a frequently visited one.

    What Is Sticky Content?

    Sticky content refers to content published on a website, which has the purpose of getting a user to return to that particular website or hold their attention and get them to spend longer periods of time at that site. Webmasters use this method to build up a community of returning visitors to a website.

    - Wikipedia entry for sticky content

    The above definition specifically refers to websites such as forums, horoscopes and the weather, but you can create sticky content with a well-written blog, too. If you write interesting and compelling blog posts that hold the readers' attention, they will come back again. In other words, sticky content attracts sticky readers.

    If you improve your content, make it more compelling and interesting to read, here's what will happen:

    Regular readers will perk up and take notice. You'll hear about it. Probably in your comments section or via email. Boy, will that be good for your ego.

    Brand new readers will stumble on your blog and stick around for more, hence the term, sticky readers.

    Your numbers will increase naturally. And when I say numbers, I mean all of them: Google followers, Twitter followers, comments, Feedburner subscribers. But don't pay attention to that. Don't think about it. I shouldn't have said anything, actually. Just let it happen. It's a Zen thing.

    Who says content is king? Actually, everybody says that, and they're right, but it's usually swept under the rug while they tell you all the social media tricks of increasing traffic to your blog. They don't stop and tell you how to make your content more engaging, and there are so many ways to do it.

    Advisors say stuff like, write a top ten list, but they don't tell you how to kingify your content (yes, I'm verbifying a noun, what of it?) This book will tell you how. It will explain how to attract a loyal blog audience by writing more compelling content.

    I know this hurts to hear, and I don't enjoy telling you, but your blog bores some people. My blog bores some people. There, I said it. That wasn't so hard, was it? When you can be more objective about your writing, it's easier to admit that it can always be better.

    The good news is that while some people aren't attracted to your writing now, some of those some people would be if you cranked it up a notch. Many bloggers are not conventional writers in that they didn't go to journalism school or get an MFA in Creative Writing, but here we are on the internet, producing words. Why not incorporate

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