Category: General Topics

Authors / Bloggers – Take these 5 Basic Steps to Secure your WordPress Site TODAY…

Article Quote: “WordPress is the most widely used website platform, and it powers a quarter of all websites. That immense popularity means that developers are constantly adding new software options, but it also means that hackers are always looking for WP sites with lax security. Here are steps you can take to make your website more secure.”

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

By

img_8940 Joel Friedlander and Nate Hoffelder img_8939 

on The Book Designer Site:

54462821 - laptop infected virus computerLicence to use obtained – Copyright Natchapon Nilsonti

Monday is usually my spot in our publishing schedule, but I’m giving it up today for a good reason.

Last week Nate Hoffelder of The Digital Reader alerted me to a widespread attack on vulnerable WordPress sites. Since my site, and those of many other authors run on WordPress, this is a serious situation you should pay attention to.

The attacks, which have affected over 2,000,000 WordPress pages in the past few days, was reported by, among others, Ars Technica: “Virally growing attacks on unpatched WordPress sites affect ~2m pages.”

Here’s one thing they said:

“Attacks on websites running an outdated version of WordPress are increasing at a viral rate. Almost 2 million pages have been defaced since a serious vulnerability in the content management system came to light nine days…

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6 Signs of Scam Publishers

Great post on identifying the red flags of SCAM Publishers (even if they don’t intend to Scam, you should still know where you stand).

Post Quote: “If they plan to use Createspace or Lulu, don’t give them the time of day. You can do the same yourself and will not have to split any of the profits. Again it comes back to value, in some way, a publisher needs to increase your efforts, even if that means only getting your books into a few regional stores. If they do not have their own distribution network they are not worth your time.”

Steven Capps's avatarBard & Books

As a warning, I am writing the rough draft of this post on my IPhone while I do cardio at the gym (cue gym selfie below). I am trying to be more efficient and thought that this would be a good time to get in some writing.

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Earlier today, I was browsing Facebook and amid the swath of political drivel, I found an advertisement for a publisher looking for authors. Several red flags flickered almost immediately. Though this post is inspired by an actual publisher, I am going to omit their name because when I reached out to them, they deleted the content. It seemed like they were more of a naive kid rather than a malicious con-artist. Regardless, here are 6 Red Flags to be aware of when looking into a publisher.

Red Flags of Scam Publishers

1. Poor Marketing Design

It doesn’t take an award winning artist to…

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Author Services You May or May Not Know About

Are you new to this blog?

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I know that not everyone following this blog is an author / writer / aspiring writer, but many of you are.

If you aren’t familiar with this blog, I offer a few services that you may or may not know about.

  • Email List Book Promotions
  • Writer’s Workshop (Details TBA)
  • Book Reviews
  • Book Review Follow-Up: Where Are They Now?
  • Introduce Yourself

Email List Book Promotions are Book Covers, Blurbs, and Buy Links that I promote to my email list at no cost. But you must be on my newsletter to take advantage of this offer.

Sign Up HERE and then send me your Book Cover, Blurb, and Buy Link. My newsletters go out once a month (18th) or twice a month for those who choose bimonthly (3rd, 18th).

Book Reviews are published to this blog on Friday’s. New Book Review submissions are currently closed until my TBR pile is low. However, you should keep checking my Book Review Registry to see when I am open again. Again, I am not currently accepting new submissions for book reviews.

BUT, it’s a good idea to follow this blog so you can get first notification when I re-open!

Understand that registering for a review does not guarantee you the review. I still have to see if it’s the book for me. I will then get in touch with you and let you know.

It is good to register because I have lots of books to read and the registry puts you on my list and secures you a spot in line.

I review books in the order in which I receive them. When I am open, you won’t see the message that I am not accepting responses. I will also be vocal about it on this blog and social media.

Books that I promote (Book Reviews or Book Promos) are also listed under the Indie Author page in my sidebar.

When I open back up I’d like to read more of my favorite genres in addition to the others. I encourage authors with African American centered themes in particular to reach out to me.

What’s New?

Book Review Follow-Up: Where Are They Now? – I’ve been reviewing books since 2015 and have met some great writers. But once I’ve reviewed you, I’d like to continue to support you. I’ve been in touch with some authors and have decided to introduce a Follow-Up segment of the Book Reviews. Book Review Follow-Up: Where Are They Now? is an author interview following up on the authors whose books I reviewed. I have not set a date for this feature but I do have some authors lined up who are eager to meet you all. When I lock their dates in I will do an entire post dedicated to this new feature and give you the start date and the frequency of the interviews (weekly or monthly).

If you’re interested in being interviewed on this blog please email me HERE.

You must have had your book reviewed by me to qualify for the Book Review Follow- Up since this is a book review follow-up series. (yea, kinda self-explanatory but you never know…)

If I’ve already reviewed your book, send me an email.

Introduce Yourself – Can’t get a review in at this time? I have a new feature that I will be doing a separate post on real soon. I will share the motivation behind this segment in that post but in brief, at the close of last year I stated I wanted to offer another service for authors on this blog aside from the Book Reviews. After much thought I have many ideas (some I won’t implement at this time) and some that I will.

Many authors have been writing for years and have multiple works out however they are unknown in the blogging community or writing community in general. Even for those who are known there are always someone who has never read your work or probably don’t even know that you’ve written a book.

I’d like to offer this space to new and established authors as an opportunity to introduce themselves in an interview-like setting. The questions in particular will be tailored toward getting to know more about you as an author and as a person.

More information on Introduce Yourself coming soon.

UPDATE: Learn more about author interviews HERE.

7 Things You Fear Before Turning 30

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  • You can no longer blame the childish things you do on your youth. You think of ways to be as immature as possible before leaving the 20s club.

 

  • You’ll get fat. You’ll definitely get fat. You picture yourself grossly overweight with eight kids. You work out as much as possible before your birthday.

 

  • Kids will call you old. You try to say something hip to sound cool. You forget hip went out ages ago. You just said hip and ages in the same sentence. Your nieces roll their eyes. Your nephews shake their heads. You walk off in shame.

 

  • You wear a smirk at the possibility of catching up with your husband’s age. You’ll both be in the 30s now. You think you’re winning. You forget he’s nine years and four months older than you are and is on his way to the 40s club.

 

  • Speaking of 40, birthdays will never be the same again. You’ll have to wait ten years before getting the spark back. I mean, 31? No one is ever excited about 31. You consider ways to slow down time.

 

  • You fear you won’t actually sound 30 when it gets here. You realize you don’t know how 30 sounds. You consider asking your husband. You forget about the immature thing. You wonder what’s mature and what’s not. You overthink it.

 

  • You hide 20s memorabilia. You’re afraid you’ll miss it. You re-watch chick flicks and cartoons as much as possible before your birthday.

 

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The PBS Blog Award Page

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What a way to end the week! It’s been a long time since I’ve been nominated for a blog award. When I first began blogging in 2014, Blog Awards were a great motivation for me and a big part of helping to keep this blog going during those moments I felt like blah. Though I no longer participate in Blog Awards (Blog Award Free Since 1/20/16) I do acknowledge those who’ve nominated me and I have created a page for the awards. They are neatly stacked on the virtual shelf of The PBS Blog Awards page HERE.

Special thanks to Don Massenzio for nominating me for The Blogger Recognition Award. Every piece of support, every like, every comment, every re-blog, and every blog award gives this blog the fuel it needs to keep going. I still go through every like when I get the notification on my phone as if I don’t know who’s picture is coming up lol. They are just as important to me as the commentary and gives me the excitement I need to push onward.

Since I don’t actually participate in the Blog Awards I won’t go on to follow the rules but I would like to give the two pieces of blog advice, if I may.

 

  • Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers

 

  1. Make sure your blog is as easy to follow and navigate as possible. Keep it clean and the text easy to read (black text on white background always works). Be sure your blog has a Blog Follow button. Dashboard > Appearance > Widgets > I would recommend the one that says “Add an email sign-up form to allow people to follow your blog”
  1. Network with others. Comment back to comments left on your blog, visit the blogs of those who follow or liked you. Share content from other blogs. Carve out a day where you do nothing but read and interact with other blogs. Do for other blogs what you’d want people to do for you. Share their content across social media like you’d want them to do for you. Like their post and comment as you’d want them to do for you. Not just for the sake of trying to get something out of it but because good always comes back. Sitting on your hands wishing for more engagement won’t change a thing.

Now, go change the world.

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