Great Storytelling Network Newsletter – 30 July 2014

If you have a Google Plus account, Rohi has 8 great ways to help you leverage its power. Bill shares stories about shopping on eBay, Eric writes about terror and Charles rounds it off with a lovely story about how many forty-something-year-olds today deal with aged parents. I hope you enjoy this newsletter.

Happy storytelling.

Aneeta Sundararaj

50 Biggest Blog Blunders and How to Avoid Them

Cornered by Alan Brenham

Every writer dreams of the day when they can profit from their writing. While income opportunities abound for writers, each method has drawbacks.

Newspaper and magazine reporters can make a good living but their subject matter is often closely regulated and directed. Corporate writing can be even more lucrative but even more tightly controlled. Freelance writing offers more freedom but is also more uncertain. Publishing books is even more uncertain. So what is a writer to do?

Forget all those old-school writing methods and focus on the Internet. Don’t write for anyone but yourself. You really can profit from writing only about what interests you. Don’t worry about the market or the editors. Write for yourself. Not only will it be more fun and rewarding for your soul but for your checking account as well. …

To read more, please click here.

Terror is my weapon, my armoury. It causes fear; destroys lives.
Every nation is vulnerable to me. I can hit anytime, anywhere.
Rout the enemy, destroy and kill. It makes me the champion.
Remember the damage I inflict on nations. It can be your turn one day.
Over my dead body can you stop me. My fame is spreading worldwide.
Read my lips; but you can’t see my face. I am a mask. I don’t dialogue.
I am terrorism. If you don’t meet my demands, I hit you hard. Ask Nigeria. I hit on land and air.
So you want to stop me. Try it, let’s see who will crash. Terror is worry.
Mark my words; the fear of me is the beginning of security. Meet my demands; I will leave you alone.

If you are an online writer, you need to increase your visibility, promote your content and boost your author rank in Google search pages.

Here are eight ways to use Google+ to build your online authority:

1. Optimize your Google+ profile
If you haven’t already done so, join Google+ and update your profile. Fill in all the fields and include keywords in all relevant sections of your bio.

2. Boost your influence in Google+
To enhance your reputation in Google+, try to increase number of your followers, the number of +1s you get, and the number of times your content is shared. Also, be active in Google+ – post original posts in different formats, share links, and re-share content. When you share a link to an article or blog post, write a fresh headline and add your own comments. …

To read more, please click here.

It was ten minutes past four and I was sitting on the top step of the staircase in the corridor. I didn’t know whether my tears were because I was relieved, exhausted, sad or all of them. I couldn’t cry in the flat. When a few tears did flow the night before, Ladoo, with her grossly distended abdomen, clumsily rose from her bed and waddled to sit in front of me in an attempt to comfort me. When she put her paw on my knee, I yearned to pick her up and hug her, but I couldn’t because I was afraid of putting pressure on her chest which might cause her to gag. All this happened two days ago.

For the past five months, Ladoo has been unwell. The most terrifying moment was on 11 January 2013. Ladoo hadn’t been eating properly and, for anyone who knows my little one, that’s bad enough. That morning, she woke me up at 5 a.m. and demanded I take her downstairs. After she evacuated her bowels, she couldn’t move. …

To read more, please click here.

It is usually a formidable day when parents and grandparents celebrate the birth of a new member of the family into its fold. That child becomes the center point of attention and activity for some while until another takes its place or it can begin to function more independently. However, this article is not aimed at a newborn’s entrance into the world. Rather, it has to do with the necessity that is becoming much more commonplace with the advent of more sophisticated medical practices prolonging life. This article is concerned with the care that elderly parents may require from their own children as a result of their inability to care for themselves…..

To read more, please click here.

Readers may recall There are people who make an absolute fortune selling stuff on eBay. And there are tradesmen, too, whose lives have been completely turned around by the commercial opportunities there afforded.

Witness the died-in-the-wool family butcher I saw on TV one night, scion of generations of family butchers – features florid as a Man United shirt, face broad as a side of beef – who had recently disposed of a chain of butcher’s shops in favour of working from home, shifting beef, pork and mutton by the ton via the internet.

Meanwhile, there’s a local guy who sells antique furniture for a living. Long-gone are his (rent-draining) shop premises since he’s been trading via the internet – gone, too, are the super-sized (gas-guzzling) estate car and the heavy (hernia-inducing) lifting of yesteryear. Since opening his e-Bay account the heaviest thing the guy has needed to lift is a telephone handset…

To read more, please click here.

Dear Aneeta

ANGEL IN DISGUISE, was recently published as a book for older children, adult pet lovers and those who have lost a loved one. Initially intended to be a children’s book, I found that I was influenced by the reviewers and so I also had a separate Children’s Version published as well, meant for younger children only and very upbeat.

Warm Regards,
Violeta Barrett

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