PROMOTING YOUR WEBSITE

Okay, now you’ve built it. It was a job getting it just the way you want it, getting the right feel in it, along with letting it show the world that you’re a professional. Now what? It’s up, it’s published, but who’s going to see the videos, and read your brilliant words? How do you promote your website? I ran into this problem myself, and I’ve found a few ways to do this.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Visit Twitter (X), Facebook, Instagram, Tic Tok, or any other social media site you visit regularly. Create a post saying something like, “Hey, I’ve just built a website. Come check it out and tell me what you think!” Then add your URL or link.

I did this on Facebook. I put it on my wall, my announcement and link traveled down my newsfeed, and went out to all my friends. Who knows where it went from there. I also shared this announcement with any applicable Facebook groups I’m in. Make sure the group will accept announcements, announcements for blog posts or articles first.

I also did this on Twitter. I changed my announcement a bit to fit their 200 character limit and added appropriate hashtags. The hashtags I put in my announcement were things like #Children’sWriting, #DebHockenberry, #Article, and #Links, and #Website. Don’t forget to include your link! But remember, your announcement, hashtags, and link have to stay in the 200 character limit.

Pinterest is a great way to do this. You can create boards that link to your website. Each time you add new content, pin it and put it on the appropriate board. It will automatically link back to your website, and people will notice.

You can use all the other social networks in the same fashion.

 

YOUR EMAIL SIGNATURE

I’m supposing you have your email signature made out. If you don’t, it’s in the settings area of your email program. You’re allowed several lines to put your information. I’ll use myself as an example here. You can have something like this:

Deb Hockenberry, Children’s Author

Where Can We Have The Party? http://www.amazon.com/dp/1537077120 <-List your book here. If you have more than one you can list them one under the other.

KidzTales: http://authordebhockenberry.weebly.com  <-Here’s your website and it’s link.

Do you have a blog with a different address? Do the same as you did with your website.

Because of your email signature, everyone that you email will know about your books and website including where they’re at. Hey, I’ve had people visit this website from the email link!

YOUR OWN WEBSITE

That’s right. Your own website can help you get the word out that it’s there! You see all those social media icons on the left side of your monitor on KidzTales? Click them and fill in your information for that site. When someone reads or views your content and is impressed, they’ll click those buttons and information goes out. Believe me, this does happen. It’s happened to me more than once!

GUEST BLOGGING

That’s right. When someone puts out the call for anyone to be a guest blogger on their blog, jump at it!

Ask to have your website link below where the blogger puts ‘by guest blogger, Your Name’. When the blog owner’s readers read your informative article, they’ll visit your website to see what other information you have to offer them. And all because you asked the blog owner to include your website link.

COMMENTING ON OTHER’S BLOGS

When commenting after reading another’s blog post, don’t just say things like, “nice post,” or “I can relate to everything you say.” Add something useful to the subject or expand on something the blogger touched on. At the end of your comment, add your link. Others will read your words of wisdom and wonder what else you have to say. They’ll see your link and visit. This does work!

SEARCH ENGINES

There are a few search engines that will let you list your site for free. You will want to have a few good keywords of exactly what you have on your site. People who want to find a (example) children’s writing website will put in the search bar “children’s website.” For your convenience, I’ve included a few of the most popular search engines and the pages where you can list you website. We’ll start with the most popular search engine.

Google- http://www.google.com/submityourcontent/website-owner/

Bing- http://www.bing.com/toolbox/webmaster/

Sign in with your Microsoft account. If you don’t have one, it’s free. Just go to http://www.hotmail.com.

Yahoo – That just took me to Bing, who I suppose, has control of Yahoo search.

If you decide to submit your search to other search engines, always read the privacy notices and the terms of services! Sometimes these are just called legal terms.

 

 

 

THE CHRISTMAS FLAME: A 24 Chapter Christmas Adventure

TITLE: The Christmas Flame: A 24 Chapter Christmas Story ©2025

AUTHOR: Desmond James

PUBLISHER: Desmond James Books

FORMATS AND PRICES: Kindle-$6.66, Hardback-$26.29, Paperback-$20.00

ISBN: 978-1919255613

ASIN: B0FY34R7KQ

 

 

Maya the Christmas Elf always seems to get in trouble with Alfredo, the elf she's apprenticed to. Much to her surprise, Santa chooses Maya out of all the elves to go on an important Christmas quest! Her mission: to get the Christmas flame. It powers everything in the North Pole, even Santa’s sleigh! Maya has to return the flame to the North Pole by Christmas Eve. Hope Mountain is full of dangers. Maya makes many magical friends along the way who try to help her in her quest. Can she get the flame back to the North Pole in time?

Meanwhile, the Seeker Elves travel to their human homes to watch the human children. The elves love to play tricks on humans, but something is wrong. These tricks are really nasty. No elf would play such nasty tricks! Pepper and Pip Elf are seeker elves who have made friends with the human children in their charge. Can they, along with their new friends, find out what’s going on and stop it before Christmas is cancelled?

The illustrations at the beginning of each chapter just add to the holiday spirit. Each brightly colored drawing depicts the action, adventure, or misadventure in each chapter.

I truly enjoyed reading this Christmas adventure. This book will definitely become a Christmas tradition in your home. The Christmas Flame: A 24 Chapter Christmas Adventure is perfect for reading a chapter a night to your six-to-nine-year-old children. In fact, it would be a great thing to do a nightly reading through the month of December since The Christmas Flame only has twenty-four short chapters.

I highly recommend The Christmas Flame: A 24 Chapter Christmas Adventure. You’ll definitely want to add this book to your home library. It’s full of the holiday spirit, suspense, and humor! The author, Desmond James, handles the book’s twists, turns, and action expertly. I truly enjoyed reading this Christmas adventure. The Christmas Flame: A 24 Chapter Christmas Adventure is perfect for reading a chapter a night to your six-to-nine-year-old children. In fact, it would be a great thing to do a nightly reading through the month of December since it only has twenty-four short chapters.

 

I certainly recommend The Christmas Flame: A 24 Chapter Christmas Adventure for your home library! If you would like a copy for your own or for a gift, you can purchase it on Amazon.

 

 

WHAT TO DO ABOUT WRITER'S BLOCK

 

What is writer’s block?

Wikipedia defines writer’s block as a condition primarily associated with writing, where an author loses the ability to produce more work or experiences a creative slowdown. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writer%27s_block. You never know how long your block is going to last. It’s can clear up in a few hours and last a few months.

Could this also be called the writer’s struggle since it happens to everyone who has chosen the writing path?

A writer’s struggle sounds much more realistic since when it strikes, it really is a struggle to get something written or get a work-in-progress just right. We put our butt-in-chair, turn on the computer, and try to write. As hard as we try, nothing happens … nothing at all. It’s like hitting your head against a brick wall! Who among us, who has experienced this, has gone to Facebook to play a game, outside to garden, or whatever else interests you? I admit it, I’m guilty of this, myself. Believe it or not Facebook games and gardening are just two ways to banish this demon. Here are some other ways:

•          Join an online or physical conference in the genre that you write in. Brainstorm with these other writers. You’ll be surprised at just how freeing this is just to be with like-minded people. I’ve found this out myself and have more finished picture book manuscripts to prove it!
  
  
  
•         Work on another WIP. This frees your mind to think about something else besides that WIP you’re stuck on.
•         Read a book in the genre you’re writing for. Reading books in your genre gives you so many ideas on how to continue on with your story. It can also provide the ‘aha’ moment whether or not to toss that manuscript and start all over again. If this happens, you’ll be able to visualize your story exactly as it should be written.
•       Read a book to review. Again, make sure it’s in the genre you write for. You’re giving your brain permission to focus on something else.
•      Take a day off to go to the library, Barnes & Noble, or another bookstore. Just like most of the other ideas below, you’re granting your brain permission to just relax.
•  Are you a freelance editor or proofreader? If you are put your WIP away and do that.
•     Go for a walk outside (if the weather’s nice enough) and don’t forget to take a notebook and pen! You never know when your writer’s block/struggle will clear up and you get an idea.
•     If the weather isn’t nice enough to go outside, exercise indoors. Nothing clears your head and reboots your energy like a workout. This works!
•     Visit with a neighbor. There’s nothing as good as a relaxing visit with a friend.

 Can’t visit that friend because of the nasty weather mentioned above? Call him/her. A good talk with a friend gets your mind off of everything else.

•   Go to the dog park and play Frisbee with Fido. Again, you’re freeing your mind.
•       Cook the new recipe that you just clipped out of the magazine.
• 
  
  
  

Look at the list above. I realize some of these things on the list might seem silly, but they have something in common: focus on something else for a while. It does wonders.

Maybe it’ll take a week or more to get your muse back again. That’s fine if it does. Take that time off to do other activities you enjoy. Concentrate on yourself during this time.

I hope this list helps you!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

 

TITLE: Timmy The Tractor Train Truck: Danger At The Dam!

AUTHOR: Seth Warburton ©2025

ILLUSTRATOR: Cristiana Silva

PUBLISHER: All Things Neena, LLC

FORMATS AND PRICES: Kindle-$4.99 or free with Kindle Unlimited, Paperback-$11.99

ISBN: 9798285958536

ASIN: B0FX44QVDT

 

 

Timmy is just a regular pickup truck who drives around with his friend, Kenny. Or is he? One day a big green truck is driving up a mountain when its tire blows. It falls into the town's dam. It puts a hole in the huge dam and it begins spouting water. What can Timmy do?

In this adorable rhyming picture book we find Kenny encouraging Timmy to be a hero! What can the little truck do? Can he save the town from the broken dam?

Your three to eight-year-old will love Timmy The Tractor Train Truck: Danger At The Dam! It can  either be read aloud or your beginning reader can read it to you. ‘Timmy The Tractor Train Truck: Danger At The Dam!’ encourages your child to help others.

I highly recommend this little picture book. If you wish to purchase it for your home library, you can find it at Amazon .

 

DO BOOK TRAILERS HELP BOOST BOOK SALES?

Do you want to learn to make book trailers or not? Will it help my sales? Some say it do while others say no. These nay–sayers are convinced that no–one watches them. Just how do they work?

Raise interest:

They raise interest in the book itself. I have been known to go to Amazon after viewing the book trailer to download the book.

Expands reach:

Book trailers can help attract audiences outside of a book’s usual niche or genre, potentially reaching new readers who might not have discovered it otherwise. 

Provides a professional image:

A high-quality trailer can give the impression that the author is professional and committed to their work, setting the book apart from competitors. 

Introduces the book in a dynamic way:

It offers an alternative to traditional marketing summaries or reviews, providing a more immersive and emotional introduction to the story. 

Boosts sales potential:

Statistics show
people are more willing to buy a book after watching a trailer, and they can be used effectively in online ads or even on Amazon book pages. 

Since I don’t have a book cover or illustrations from my book, I’m just using a few photos from the pictures folder in my computer. These pictures don’t have anything to do with children’s books at all. They’re three or four pictures from my visit to Gettysburg Battlefield.

I’ve found out something about making a book trailer. It should be entertaining. I’ll be the first to admit this: my mad attempt to make a trailer with my battlefield pictures isn’t entertaining at all. Except for me. Right now, it’s all I have to work with.

I made my sample book trailer with Animoto.com and put some music behind it. Since I used the free, thirty–second version, I didn’t have access to their full library of music. You pay for that service, but I hope the music fits in with the battlefield pictures.

I will try this over and over with different programs, including Clipchamp, that’s built into my computer. I’m scouring the internet for some free music that I can download to use for the video I make with Clipchamp. I mean, why pay a fee when you can do it for free or next to nothing?

I found a YouTube video and a blog post that might help answer the question: Will it help my book sales? First, the YouTube video by children’s book author Eevie Jones. 

Now, here’s a blog that looks at book trailers by Picture Book Den. This blog is from 2017, but it’s still relevant.

I also found this article from 2022 telling why book trailers still work. It’s from Elite Authors. 

So yes, it is worth it. It depends on whether your trailer is made well and if your book is sold online.

 

 

 

  

 

TITLE: Stories of a Swedish Elf featuring Gus the Tomte

AUTHOR: D.A. Chase

PUBLISHER: Jewel Press Publishing

FORMATS AND PRICE: Kindle-$7.99, Paperback-$15.99, Also in                                               paperback at Barnes and Noble-$15.99

ISBN-13: 9781959218012

This fast paced short stories is focused on the adventures and misadventures of Gus the Tomte.

Gus is a Swedish elf-in-training. He's not exactly like an elf that works for that guy who lives in the North Pole, though. His main job is to care for the animals in Sweden, but sometimes humans come into the picture. Also, many times Gus has to take courses to learn new things in order to find the solution to his current problem ... like cooking!

Children 8-12 will laugh with delight when the read all the trouble Gus gets into! They'll also learn that they have to learn what they're doing in order to find a solution.

If you would like to add 'Stories of a Swedish Elf featuring Gus the Tomte', you can find it at Amazon or in paperback at Barnes and Noble.

WHEN I GROW UP - A review

TITLE: When I Grow Up

AUTHOR: J.M. Ashmore

FORMAT and PRICE: Paperback - $9.99

ISBN: 9781957696577

What will you be when you grow up? Brother's imagination went wild when Sister asked him this question. He could be a grocer, a pilot, a truck driver, or even an astronaut exploring the stars. There are so many choices!

When I Grow Up will be a welcome addition to your home library. It sparks your child's imagination and let's them know he/she can be anything they want to be!

If you'd like to purchase When I Grow Up for your child, you can purchase it at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.