This blog exists to share and promote the writing of New West Writers group members. (There is a new side-blog called New West Writers Announcements for announcing events, contests, calls for submissions etc.) These guidelines will help keep our posts consistent in style. Content is entirely up to you. But…

Before posting an article, story or review here, ask yourself: “Would I want to read this for the group, and have it critiqued?“

Writing your post

• When writing your post, please use the Visual editor, not the Text editor

• Create a title for your post, preferably keyword rich and eye-catching.
• Optimal title length is under 55 characters.
• Do not append your name to the title.

• Post content should be 300 or more words of original writing, by you.
• Consider serializing long posts (more than 1200 words).
• Optional: At the beginning, allow 50 or so words of introduction.
• Optional: At the end, allow 50 or so words for promotion.
• Required: Insert a “Read More Tag” after 50 or 80 words or so.
• Best if it’s placed at the beginning of a paragraph.
• Make it so the text before the tag will entice someone to Read More.

“Read More” defines how much text is displayed as a “snippet” when people are browsing the articles shown on the blog’s front page. There’s a button on the editing toolbar, just to the left of the “ABC”. Place the cursor at the point you want to break the text, then click the button.

• Select the one ( one! ) category best describing your post.
• To request critiques as comments, also select the “Workshop” category
• Specify what kind of critiquing is sought in introduction or promotion

• Select (create, as needed) tags describing your post’s themes and subjects.
• Tags are generally one or two words, each. Think search terms.
• The post title is usually NOT a tag. Neither is your name.
• The author and title of the novel you’re reviewing ARE tags.
• A story about sex that never uses the word “sex” can be tagged with “sex”.
• Rather than multiple synonyms, tag one or two most fitting terms.
• I shoot for about five tags, and usually no more than ten.
• Be judicious, but be thorough..

 

• Find the “Preview” button on the edit page. Click it. Review your post.
• Edit as necessary.
• Repeat, as necessary.

• Review this checklist one more time.

• Finished? Click “Save Draft“.
• Inform Julian your post is ready to go and ask him to publish it.
• Julian will review your post and, no doubt, approve it for posting.
• He will schedule it to post @ 7AM the next day. (Optimal posting time.)

Promote your post!

Once your post is published on the blog, as a writer who wishes to be read, your work has just begun.

• Do you Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Stumbleupon, Linked-In? No?! Start.
• Use the share buttons at the base of your post to share & like to the above.
• Create a Facebook Page for your own blog, or your writer-self.
• Share links on your personal Facebook profile and your FB Page.
• eMail your friends, and family who aren’t on your social networks.

Do you want people to like, comment on and share your posts? Yes, you do. So…

Like, comment on and share other people’s posts. Especially other NWW members’ posts on this blog. Follow their blogs, and comment, like and share there too.

We want visitors to return. Aside from posting great writing for readers, the best draw for return visitors is  popularity. People are more likely to join a boisterously fun crowd.

Automatic Publicize via WordPress

In the WordPress administration panel, find the Settings menu item at the bottom left. Click on it then select Sharing.

What you’ll see are the social network services WordPress will automatically deliver notifications  to when we publish your post on the NWW blog. You will notice that Twitter, Tumblr and Google+ are already filled in. Don’t change these!

However, Facebook, LinkedIn and Path are all available for you to connect to. (We’re working on getting Facebook going, and will let you know when we do.)  So, use them if you have them. (Get them if you don’t!)