Throwback to my best posts of 2019

I have grouped together the top 5 posts from the 120 articles posted on my blog in 2019 for you to enjoy.

The Top 5 Best Blog Posts of 2019

Posted: 10 June 2019 (123 views)

I love sharing posts on my blog written by other authors. This one was by Fantasy author Andrew McDowell and is the most viewed post of the year! Follow the link to the post to discover more about him and his books.

Please let me know if you would like to write a post for my blog.

Literary Dates Calendar

Posted: 8 January 2019 (57 views)

I am pleased this post was so popular as it took a long time to create and a lot of research. I basically wanted to help other writers by creating a calendar with useful literary dates. For example it has Twitter pitch events and book festivals.

This now has its own dedicated calendar page. Click here.

Handwrite to Boost Creativity

Posted: 25 February 2019 (45 views)

I used to always write my stories by hand but since going digital I don’t have as much need for a notebook. I still get an excited feeling when I see one and after an Instagram challenge to write somewhere different I rediscovered my love of notebooks.

This post reflects on how writing by hand can boost your creativity and my own personal experience with this.

Writers Hashtags Collection

This series started in October through to November. The fact it was posted towards the end of the year and still made the list shows how popular it has been.

The most popular in the collection was Part 6 (Insta Hashtags for Writers For Each Month) with 38 views. I felt it would be more meaningful to give you the full collection rather than list all the parts below that made the top 5.

Writers beware! Know who you are querying…

This post is a cautionary tale. I always research who I am querying and spend a lot of time on it. I know how exciting it can be to hear an agent or publisher are interested in your novel. But check out who else they have signed and how their experience was.

There have been a few occasions I have felt the interested party may not be who they say they are and it feels like pop-up publishers are becoming more common. I have spent years on my novel and refuse to sign with someone I don’t feel confident can deliver on their promises. This is one of the reasons I have now chosen to self publish.

My About Me Page

During 2019, I wrote a blog post (About Me – Spring Clear). It was about making sure your About Me page is up-to-date on your website. It is one of the first pages you crate and easy to forget about.

I was shocked how out of date mine was and wrote a post to help prompt other to update theirs too. I’m glad I did. My About My Page has had 79 views!

Guess what? I checked it when writing this post and it needs updating again! If you haven’t checked your About Me page in a while, go check it out. In the meantime, here is mine: About Me (page)

Click my link tree to discover more ways to connect

March 28, 2019 Ally Aldridge Personal, Writing

Thank you to my followers

This month my blog reached 250 followers.

I am really proud of myself for keeping it going. Life with a newborn is super busy but I just try to write one or two articles a week. I easily could have let this go but since starting my blog I love it.

My blog is mainly about writing, sharing tips and my journey to publication. I also share some personal posts on my other interests (being a mum, organic beauty and Netflix recommendations).

I am so thankful for everyone who has not only taken the time to read my posts but to also subscribe to my blog. I hope you continue to enjoy my content.

My blog picture is from when I was modelling and taken by Natalie Collins (Instagram @neotheartist) who I hope to work with again one day. She is an amazing photographer and this shoot was extra special as I am wearing my wedding dress.

View on Instagram https://ift.tt/2O4NnCq

March 31, 2018 Ally Aldridge Goals, Writing

Reflecting on Goals set in January

To start the year, I set myself some goals for the year ahead. I plan to check how I’m getting on with that periodically during the year to check I’m on track. If you set yourself goals it is important to check on yourself to make sure you are on target and to re-focus yourself.

On Reflection

Summary: Considering these were annual targets I think I’ve kicked off the year with a really good start at achieving them. I’m not sure listing my goals as bullet points was the best idea, so to re-focus I shall put my goals into a table.

Blogging Goals Review

ACHIEVED: I migrated both my blogs into one blog and I am using categories to split the content up from ‘writing’ topics and ‘beauty topics.
ACHIEVED: I planned to post at least once a week and I have been exceeding this – posting two to three times a week. Sometimes as often as four times. Taking the pressure off has increased my productivity.
ACHIEVED: I’ve reduced my scheduled posts on LoCal so that they only run for two weeks so if I run out of time to change them, I am not Constantly spamming people with the same things for weeks with no end.
ACHIEVED: I have started including some personal posts on my blog such as my son’s World Book Day and What I’ve Been Watching.
ALMOST ACHIEVED: I wanted to start vlogging. This has involved researching how to do it and plucking up the courage. In addition, I need the house to be quiet for recording which doesn’t happen often. However, I have posted a video on YouTube reviewing Agent Hunter (see below) and I have a scheduled blog post about this coming soon.Wri
NOT ACHIEVED: I haven’t approached any brands to see if they’d like me to represent them. However, my Instagram pics of my The Pip Box won and I got my March box free (review of the free box coming April).

Writing Goals Review

ACHIEVED: I have stopped editing Drift and started querying.
NOT ACHIEVED: I have not started work on finishing Glide. I have been really busy with my course at college and work. However, I have three weeks off for Easter break and hope to re-visit this project over the coming weeks.
NOT ACHIEVED: I have not started a new story idea – not that I’m not full of ideas.
NOT ACHIEVED: I’ve not had time to read the programme for Felixstowe Book Festival but intend to buy tickets and go. I have decided to miss YALC this year (will explain more soon).
NOT ACHIEVED: Completing a writing course is on hold until I finish my current course at college.
ALMOST ACHIEVED: I have been reading more since getting my Kindle. I have almost finished The Gender Game and will review the title and my Kindle once I have. I am a slow reader with only a few chances to read.
NOT ACHIEVED: I have not found out more about how Twitter queries work. However, I have been networking more on Instagram and meeting lots of writers online this way.

December 31, 2017 Ally Aldridge Goals, Writing

Goals for the year ahead – 2018

If you read my earlier post from today, you’ll know that I’ve reflected on how 2017 went. This inspired me to set my goals for the year ahead.

Blogging

I now absolutely love blogging. I’m addicted. It is has raised in my ranks of importance. Here are my goals for 2018:

Categories: Currently, I am running three blogs. One for beauty review, one for anything related to writing and books and another that shares the posts by both. It is very time consuming and exhausting! I shall now be migrating them all to this blog and using categories to present content relevant to the readers interests.
Schedule:
- I was trying to post two articles a week and did pretty well but sometimes it was hard. I need post regularly but once a week is sufficient and I can schedule posts.
- I’ve been using loCal (free online calendar) to schedule my tweets. I was unwell in December and never updated my tweets! Aghh! My poor followers had the same tweets for another month *cringe*. Setting an end date is important.
Personal: Keeping to my categories has meant that when life is busy I haven’t anything relevant to post whereas if I start sharing more about me (like being a mum or working in education), I could have more content and make my life easier.
Vlogging: I did my first video blog this year and I was really impressed at how easy it was. I know I have more to learn to make my videos better but you’ve got to start somewhere. I’ve also done some ‘unboxing’ videos on my instagram.
Product reviews: I need to not be shy to contact brands that I love to see if they’ll support me reviewing their product. I hope that in 2018 I will get the chance to review more products as I really enjoyed my experience of reviewing Saal Digital’s photo book.

Writing

My dream is still to be published and I still would love to go down the traditional route but not found an agent (or publisher) but some of that is my fault as I don’t query enough.

Drift/Jewel of the sea: Stop editing and start querying!
Glide: I know how this story ends and I need to finish it. Readers who loved Drift (on Wattpad) want to read the next book in the series. I have had so much support and encouragement and one user even sent me pictures of Scotland to help me.
Start a fresh new story: I don’t want this to distract from the above goals but I’ve got lots of new story ideas and I really need to start something fresh. I hope to make a start on this later in 2018.
Conventions: I love attending YALC and Felixstowe Book Festival last year and I would love to be able to go again.
Writer courses: I’m very busy at the moment with a course for work but once that is out of the way I’d like to continue my studies with Write Story Books for Children and Write Romance fiction. I’m enrolled on both these courses ready to complete when I have time. I also would happily do another Curtis Brown Creative course online.
Reading: I got a Kindle at last! I plan to start reading more in 2018 and hope to discover some amazing reads to review on my blog (and Good Reads).
Twitter queries: I need to learn when these are running so ~I

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OMG loving it. So excited. Can’t wait to use it! ?
A post shared by Author Ally Aldridge (@redfae) on Dec 25, 2017 at 4:15am PST

Tag: Blogger goals