A Dash of Fairy Dust: 5 Tips For Writing Successful Blog Posts for Authors

Fairy dust, anyone?

Everybody has a blog. I have a blog, you have a blog, even your mom has a blog. This means that for your blog to be of value to your readers and to play an important role in your marketing strategy, it has to stand out--or, if not stand out, accomplish a specific goal. 

So what’s the magic formula for a successful blog post? Answer: there isn’t one. But here are a few strategies that can help you write great blog content.

1. Provide value.

This cat knows value when it sees it :P

“Content is king!” shouts everyone and their brother from the rooftops. It’s the anthem of online marketing. But content is worthless unless it does something for your reader. 
Imagine you’re scrolling through your Twitter feed. What kind of content intrigues and interests you? Not the clickbait that makes you feel guilty after wasting your time reading about the top 8 ugliest shirts ever worn by a celebrity; it’s the content that makes you want to take action, to change something about your habits, or to find a way to improve. That is the content worth writing.

What is of value to your readers? Inside peeks at your books? Cover reveals and illustrations? Extra details and fun facts about your characters and universe? Maybe they want to hear about you--your travels, adventures, goals, and progress on future works. Maybe they want to hear more about your area of expertise. Find out what they want to read, and write it.

Write content that makes your readers want to go do something.

2. Be crazy about your content.

Amy and Doctor Who having a grand old time.

Here’s a hint: everyone can tell if you hate what you’re writing. It’s boring. The language is dull. The sentences are structured the same way. There’s no sense of excitement or interest emanating from the words on the screen. This is a surefire way to guarantee that your readers won’t choose to come back.

There are a lot of ways to show your passion. The first is, of course, to actually be passionate. Short of that, convince yourself that you’re passionate by focusing on what you love about your books, your job, or your readers. Put yourself in the head of the readers that love what you have to offer. Read positive reviews or friendly emails from people that like you. 

Write content that shows passion.

3. Take the time to craft.

Yes. This cat is sewing. Cats have many, many talents.

Sometimes, if you love what you’re writing and know the topic will provide value to your readers, the words just flow from your fingertips. But don’t hit “publish” as soon as you’re done. Take the time you need to hone and perfect the blog post. 

These are some common mistakes people make when they’re writing too fast: using the same word over and over, writing the same sentence structure for every sentence, skipping over or not completing ideas, or not taking the time to do research.

Don’t let this happen to you. Re-read your work at least three times, double check any fact that you aren’t sure of, and watch for those pesky redundant words.

Write content that is well-crafted.

4. Be unique.

I have no idea what's happening here.

Suppose your content has value, has passion, and is carefully crafted. It must be a successful post then, right? 

Not necessarily. Any post can get lost in a sea of similar posts. 

Once you know what value your blog provides to readers, think about what makes your blog post different. What will draw your readers’ attention to your post versus another, similar post?

Uniqueness can come in many different forms. Perhaps the topic is unusual: chicken sweaters, spaceship wranglers, or how to ride a unicycle up Mount Washington. Perhaps your voice or style is different: you use a lot of swear words or write with a lyrical tone. Perhaps your medium is uncommon: you type your blog on a typewriter and then post images of the typed pages.

By ensuring that your content is unique, you are providing additional value to your readers by being entertaining, intriguing, or thought-provoking. 

Write content that is unique.

5. Remember the details. 

There is definitely a balance though, between just right and waaaaaay too much.

Sometimes it’s the accessories that can make it or break it for a blog post. Images, titles, headers, and formatting all play a role in whether or not readers click on, read, or share a blog post. 

Is your image intriguing? Does your title spark curiosity or make your readers smile? Are the headers and paragraphs situated in a way that is easy to read? Is there information about the author? Are there internal links so the reader can keep reading or learn more?

Or does your website look like it was designed in 2002, use a lot of flash elements, or use frames to structure the content?

These details are less about the content of the post and more about the experience of the reader. It’s just like a good restaurant: if the food is great but the ambiance is terrible, it’s unlikely that the guests will return.

Write great content, and don’t forget the accessories.

Add the fairy dust.

So, what exactly is the fairy dust? Hard work. Taking the time to do it right. That’s all.

The truth is: there is no magical formula for a successful blog post. Even perfect ones can fall flat on their face if posted at a bad time, or if your email newsletter screws up that day. Your best bet is to just keep plugging away, and focusing on the words that bring the best value to your readers, you, and your blog. 

So, what’s next for you? Do you need to find a way to provide value to your readers? Do you need to reignite your passion? Do you need take a little extra time to craft your works of art?Do you need brainstorm ways to be unique? Do you need to remember the accessories?

Each step you take towards providing true value to your readers is one more step towards a successful blog post.

All gifs from giphy.com.

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Lost Faces and The Eastern State Penitentiary

Gary and I visited the Eastern State Penitentiary yesterday and I came out not knowing what to write about it. It's a hard thing to talk about: prison, humanitarian treatment of our citizens, solitary confinement, the innate fears and hopes of humans as a whole.

In the air of transparency, I will admit that I did not listen to the audio tour. However, I did read some plaques. One of them told the story of some men who dug a tunnel to escape. One escapee was out for about 5 minutes before he got caught. One was out three hours before he walked into a trap set for him at his ex-girlfriend's house. The other came back to the prison because he was hungry.

Meanwhile, Al Capone was in for a year and had silk sheets and a very nicely furnished cell, while everyone else lived in something like this:

Presumably the paint wasn't peeling when the prison was in use and the bed had blankets on on it. 

It's weird how different people are. Though prisons are designed to inspire fear and terror in the general population, to encourage them to follow the rules, some people get so used to them that they don't know how to survive on the outside, or they actually choose to come back after escaping.

This gargoyle is going to eat you!

Eastern State Penitentiary was known for experimenting with solitary confinement. There are two punishments in use here: solitary and confinement. Personally, I could probably survive the solitary part just fine, but the confinement part would probably cause at least a few panic attacks. Other people, on the other hand, couldn't deal with the aloneness.

The Eastern State Penitentiary had an interesting philosophy. According to their website: 

"The Penitentiary would not simply punish, but move the criminal toward spiritual reflection and change. The method was a Quaker-inspired system of isolation from other prisoners, with labor. The early system was strict. To prevent distraction, knowledge of the building, and even mild interaction with guards, inmates were hooded whenever they were outside their cells. But the proponents of the system believed strongly that the criminals, exposed, in silence, to thoughts of their behavior and the ugliness of their crimes, would become genuinely penitent. Thus the new word, penitentiary."

I'm not sure how I feel like this, but it was probably a step in some direction from the holding-people-in-pens-like-animals strategy of correction.

Even the doors of the cells are eerie.

Walking through the penitentiary, there is a deep sense of creepiness. It's not just because the building was abandoned and you can sense the distasteful things that probably went on here. The imagination also plays a huge role, especially when you don't listen to the audio tour.

Take this image, for example:  

I call this, "The Red Chair."

I stood in front of the cell door, staring into this room, desperately trying to image what kind of torture device this could have been. A passing employee commented that it was a "therapy chair" but that description did nothing to quell the wild machinations of my imagination. When set in this dilapidated cell, the red contrasting harshly against the greys and browns... I see a new, dark, uncomfortable book forming deep in the recesses of my unconscious.

Or take this image:

Maybe I watch too much NCIS.

This is just a storage room. But the falling shelves, peeling paint, and disturbing colours immediately have me imagining locking people in closets and leaving them to die, Edgar Allen Poe style.

Turn it to black and white...

I call this one "Lost Faces."

...and it only gets worse.

It's hard to fathom what took place here, how people felt, or what they did. When I try to do my perspective taking, I can't even come close to imagining what it must have been like to live here or work here.

Hi, Mom!

Instead, I just smile like a curious tourist who likes to explore abandoned things. After all, despite what my elementary teachers said, there is a limit to what my imagination can do for me. If I really wanted to know, I could try going to jail myself. That might help bridge the gap. But I think I'll save my life of crime for a different life.

I can, however, imagine the fear and terror of those wrongly convicted, those whose crimes may not have warranted their harsh punishments, and the nightmares of the children of those confined to prison.

Gary managed to capture this one. Quite the shot; quite the ghost.

Every place like this has ghosts: lost faces, lost souls--people who have completely disappeared in the ravages of time.

I took a class in college where we talked about how photographs could potentially be considered ghosts--the capturing of the soul, the two-dimensional remnants of an moment in the time stream of a human, a long-forgotten face, or memory, remaining only in a blurry image... think about it too long and it'll creep you out. 

Anyway, here are a few ghosts. 

This is the ghost of a prisoner, almost for sure.

But in all seriousness, there were some ghosts at the penitentiary, in the form of an art exhibit. There were art exhibits all around the penitentiary: an entire cell knitted, a bug collection to represent the bug collection of a guy who was in solitary confinement, a truck disassembled and then reassembled in a cell, TVs showing the way prison life is demonstrated in film, etc. 

This one was paintings of the faces of people murdered by residents of the Eastern State Penitentiary. I didn't understand most of the art statements, but I understood this one. And it stuck with me.

I think that one of the most interesting things you can learn from a place like this is that everything tells a story, even the most minute details, like peeling paint or a rusty bolt. Abandoned places are beautiful, not because they have been neglected or ignored, but because every inch of them is rife with untold stories, unheard memories, lost faces. And if I, as a writer, can capture even one-millionth of the stories that a place has to tell, I have succeeded.

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Here are a few more pictures from our visit.

If you like them, you can follow me on instagram for more fun stuff: @arielesieling.

Working With Actors: The Inside Look

You may know by now that one of my primary activities involves working with actors to do photo shoots. Actors, like other types of humans, have very specific personalities. Some are amazing and maintain a positive attitude while being willing to do just about anything; some are genial and team players most of the time; some are too cheerful and always causing a ruckus; and some are demanding and arrogant and think they're the only person on the planet. I have worked with all four types this week, and even had one of them quit after only a few photos, due to a lack of willingness to work with the photographer (me).

Let's start with the project: The Rutherford the Unicorn Sheep Holiday Special! In case you haven't seen my (two) announcements, I am putting together a Rutherford Thanksgiving special and a Christmas special, to be released simultaneous early in November. Photography has been a rapid fire process, designed to get the best pictures possible in the shortest time possible. As a result, working with amiable actors is critical, but not always possible.

It's a cover reveal!

It's another cover reveal!

He always looks great in a sweater!

After auditions for the role of Rutherford, I was exceptionally pleased with our choice. The unicorn sheep who plays the character is the consummate team player. He always does as asked, never complains, always does his best, and never makes a fuss, even when asked to do something he didn't anticipate. If every actor was like Rutherford, my life would be made ever so much easier. He also brought in a slew of Walnut Skunks to play the roles of the various Walnut Skunk characters in the episode, and just like Rutherford, they have all been a delight to work with.

Look at those eyes! She looks positively ravishing.

The next character we held auditions for was for the big grey cat. Rowan is definitely a character, and sometimes takes breaks without permission, but otherwise, she is also an amazing actor. She makes the most engaging facial expressions, and the way she moves is entrancing. I think she is one of our most enigmatic characters, and definitely brings life to the story. She is a bit vain, though, and we have had a few moments during our shoot where she felt the need to touch up her appearance. We have had a few talks about this tendency, but I think it's one of her eccentricities that we are just going to have to work with.

First the leg...

Then the feet...

Like I said--it's something we are going to have to work with.

His energy just radiates from that face!

The next critical character was the orange cat, and we hired a charmer for this role. Wilfred is full of energy and verve, and quite frankly, he makes the set a ton of fun to be on. He's always exploring, whether parts of the set he hasn't been in or new concepts for his role. Curious, lively, and fun are probably the three best words to describe him. He can, however, sometimes cause a ruckus if he gets a little too hyper. Hysterically laughing cast members don't make for a good photo shoot, and sometimes, if a fly or stink bug comes into the room, he just can't help but chase it down. He is definitely an asset to the episodes, however.

Wilfred sniffs around some of the set pieces.

He is very, very curious about what we are doing outside.

Here, he peeks out the window to where another shoot was going on.

Look at that face--gorgeous!

Now, for the drama. As I mentioned, one of our actors quit part way through photographing. We ended up removing her character from the episode entirely (thank goodness it was that easy--otherwise we would have had to do auditions and the shoot all over again!). Goblin auditioned for the role of the big black and orange cat, and we were incredibly impressed both with her beautiful appearance and the way she could project--quite a pair of lungs, she has!

But somehow, she couldn't seem to get it through her head that this wasn't about her! She wasn't the main character, in fact, as we found out, we didn't need her at all! Yet, she always kept wandering in front of the camera, trying to get in shots where she wasn't supposed to be, and all around making a fuss whenever something didn't go her way. She was as unhappy with us as we were with her, though, so she quit and we thankfully didn't have to deal with her griping any more.

She thought the shot would be better with her in it.

We told her it didn't work with the story, but... she didn't listen.

Rutherford was very patient, although the photographer (me) was much less so.

Overall, however, the experience has been wonderful. Working with such great people (Goblin excluded), getting to spend time in such gorgeous settings, and having the opportunity to be involved in such a fun and exciting project is well worth the struggles of managing different personalities. 

I can't wait until the final products are done, so stay tuned for new book announcements!

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Rutherford the Unicorn Sheep - Coming Soon to Theatres Near You!

Just kidding. No movie being made yet, ladies and gentlemen. HOWEVER, this week is the week we launch the newest Rutherford the Unicorn Sheep book! Some of you may have already had a sneak peek, but I can't wait until Rutherford the Unicorn Sheep Visits the Apiary is out on the shelves! Stay tuned.

This Thursday, I will be doing a pre-launch presentation at the Howard Public Library in Howard, NY (6:30PM--be there or be square!) and I will have pre-release copies of the book available to purchase.

Then, on Friday............ THE LAUNCH! Keep your eyes peeled for hourly updates, jokes and pictures, and get ready to get your Rutherford fix! All sale options will go live on Friday so get ready to grab your copy as soon as you can!

Finally (I know--so many announcements!) my beautiful parents are hosting the Honey Harvest Open House on Saturday, 10 AM to 4 PM, and we will be doing a Rutherford Launch Party at the same time! Come see me talk about my books at 12:00 PM and buy a book or two or ten. I hope to see you there!

PS There will continue to be a dearth of blog posts for the next couple of weeks, as I slowly begin to lose my mind with busyness. 

In the mean time, to thrill those of you that love Rutherford, here is a sneak peek at some images from the NEXT book, Rutherford the Unicorn Sheep Goes to the Walnut Skunk Family Thanksgiving (title still in progress).

Rutherford the Unicorn Sheep eats a salad.

Rutherford speaks with Willow.

The Walnut Skunks chat casually.

The Walnut Skunks and Rutherford wait to see what the main course is this year!

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Beekeeping Things: A Hive on a House

There are two basic strategies for bee removal. The first is cutting a hole in the house or barn or building in question and taking the bees out. In today's Beekeeping Things video, Dad explains the second strategy, "The Funnel Method." 

The Funnel Method is a standard practice which allows the beekeeper to avoid any construction-related activities, however, it does take at least a month to complete successfully.

The beekeeper takes a funnel and put its in front of the entrance to the hive, making it so that the bees can get out, but they can't get back in. The funnel is a cone made from window screen. The bees crawl out through the funnel, and when they return, they attempt to go back in the hole at the base of the cone, rather than flying into the wide end. 

Next to the funnel, the beekeeper places a beehive. Eventually, the worker bees will decide to move into the beehive next to the funnel. The hive should have brood comb in it and will make a new queen for themselves.

After a few weeks, the beekeeper will come and remove the funnel. Then the worker bees will go steal the honey from the old hive. The old queen is probably dead at this point.

What you can't see in this video, is that Dad placed a funnel on the porch roof of the house where the hive was located, so that the confused worker bees will have a new place to call home. Voila! 

As Dad said, "Keep your hive tool sharp and enjoy the bees!"

And stay tuned for news on Rutherford's newest adventure: Rutherford the Unicorn Sheep Visits the Apiary!

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