Showing posts with label sites for writers. Show all posts

We're all aware that the internet has changed the way writers can market and promote their work. The possibilities for building an audience and finding new paid assignments are numerous thanks to social media sites like facebook, twitter and linkedin. Although such sites are great on many levels and each offer advantages for writers to network and further their careers, a website dedicated to the writer and their career is a must for optimising their online presence and establishing themselves as a professional.

The first step is obviously to claim a domain for your site. You can get cheap and easy to use websites from hosts like tripod.com.

Once you have your site the next step is to decide on the look and feel of the site. It should reflect your style, look professional and be easy to navigate.

Now for the content. This is probably the hardest part as you want to give your visitors everything they might need but without it overwhelming them.

Here's a list of the basics you might want to include:

Your contact information. You don't necessarily have to put your full address and phone numbers (remember safety first always) but an email address or contact form is a must.
A bio. Give basic background information about yourself and your career so far.
A photo of yourself (professional headshot is best). People like to see who they are dealing with.
Testimonials/endorsements from past clients.
A sales page for your products with an easy to use 'add to cart' feature.

You want to make everything simple for your readers so they can navigate your site with ease. Also if you include links to other websites on your pages make sure they open in a new window so that your readers don't lose your site when they click.

Some useful widgets you might want to include are:

Print Friendly. This installs a button to your webpage for easy printing.
Retweet button. This makes it easy for readers to share your website with their twitter followers.
Facebook like button for easy sharing on facebook.

Share widgets are available for most other social media sites too or alternatively add a bar to your website using a widget like the free tool bar from http://www.wibiya.com to make it even more interactive.

What other features do you think are must haves?

Robin Falls Magazine is an online magazine for writers and artists, published every two months. The first issue came out on 1st December 2009 and proved to be a huge success with thousands of visitors to the site.

It was created and organised by April Robins, who is also the brains behind the Facebook group Red River Writers and the Robin Falls internet radio shows. The aim being to give another channel for writers and artists to share their talents.

A new feature has also been added at the Blog Talk Radio shows and they are looking for people to be Robin Falls Chatroom Representatives, for short Chat Reps. They will ask questions in the chatroom during shows. If interested please email aprilrobins@hughes.net.

A message from April Robins, CEO Robin Falls, LLC

The Editors at Robin Falls Magazine are April Robins, Jo Linsdell- Feliciani, Leslie Graham, and F. Jay Robins. The Art Department is ran by Kim Reale Johnson with her are Wendy Whittingham and Mj Gillot.

We would like to invite you to visit our new Robin Falls Magazine. The magazine is a seasonal online display of work by international Writers and Artists. Most are members of FaceBook group Red River Writers.

It is divided into four sections: Red River Writers, Robin Falls Kids, Radio Shows, and the Book & Art Shop. Within the pages of the sections are 5 interactive, recurring posts where you can ask related questions and get answers from experts.

Red River Writers section contains: Articles, Poetry & Lyrics, Short Stories, Writing & Promoting, Book Reviews, Videos, Excerpts from books, and Art Displays.

Robin Falls Kids section contains: Articles, Stories, Poems, Music, Art, Kids Activities, Book Reviews, Writing & Promoting Tips, Coloring Pages, and Book Trailers.

Radio Shows section relates to Red River Writers Live and Robin Falls Kids Blog Talk Radio Shows. There you will find profiles of Shows, Hosts, Guests, and Assistants. The shows motto is “To Entertain and Education.” Currently Robin Falls produces 15 different styled radio shows, representing all genres. There pages will definitely entertain.

Book and Art Shop at Robin Falls Magazine features work of friends of Robin Falls from all genres. Direct links to learn more about each item with ability to purchase are provided.

As if that was not enough, the magazine is stuffed with links and flashing buttons that will lead you directly to one of our more than 500 merchant affiliate stores. Special effort was made to give you an exciting online shopping experience. There is variety galore and discounts to boot.

So, please enter and relax by our beautiful falls while you view the magazine's magnificent scenery at http://www.robinfalls.com/RFM.html.

What is Wikio?

Wikio is an information portal with a news search engine that searches press sites and blogs.

With Wikio you can very easily create pages to follow the breaking news that interests you. Our info is continuously updated!

Wikio is a participative service: you can publish an article directly on the site or comment on an existing item.

You can also vote for an article or a group that captures your interest in order to increase its visibility on the site.

Each page offers an RSS feed that allows you to subscribe to receive the information that appears there in the reader of your choice.

How can I best make use of Wikio?

Wikio is a new information portal that allows you to follow online news from press sites and blogs, and also offers an extremely useful shopping tool.

By typing a keyword into the search box, you will gain immediate access to all relevant articles, videos and audio podcasts that have been published on the subject.

With Wikio Shopping, the search results will provide you with the best offers for each product, as well as press and user scores, reviews, photos and videos that we have found online.

You can sign up for free and receive all the news about any and all topics that interest you, or the most recent articles published on your favorite media sites and blogs. This news will be continuously updated on personal news pages that you can create with a few simple clicks of your mouse.

You can also contribute personally to the high-quality and comprehensive nature of Wikio news by voting for articles that interest you and boosting their positions in search results, or even publishing an article yourself.

Why sign up with Wikio and save my personal pages?

If you don’t want to run the risk of loosing your news pages when deleting cookies, you will need to create a Wikio account.

You will find the sign up link on the top right of every page, and creating a Wikio account takes less than a minute.

If you create a Wikio account you will also be able to access your personal news pages from any computer.

What can I do with my personal pages?

Creating personal pages on Wikio allows you to automatically remain up to date with news on topics that you are interested in, or follow new entries published on your favourite press sites and blogs.

You can subscribe to a press site or blog by simply clicking on the “subscribe” link found next to the title of every article published on Wikio.

If you want to subscribe to news on a specific topic, you need simply perform a search on a related keyword, and click on the link “subscribe to this news” that appears at the top of the results page.

You can also create a personal page by directly clicking on the “new page” tab underneath the Wikio logo. You can then add keywords relating to your favourite subjects or those with which you wish to remain up to date. You may also simply add your favourite press sites and blogs and then follow all the new articles that they publish via your personal page.

You can, of course, create several personal pages for different areas of interest. These pages will be updated with new articles and posts on a continuous basis.

For more details visit http://www.wikio.com/

Mission and History

Journalists are hungry for more training. In a recent survey, more than 95 percent of professional journalists said they want more training, but they struggle with limited resources and finding time in their busy schedules.

Enter News University. A project of The Poynter Institute for Media Studies funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, NewsU is committed to providing interactive, inexpensive courses that appeal to journalists at all levels of experience and in all types of media. Officially launched in April 2005, NewsU offers an innovative approach to helping journalists enhance their skills. We know the most successful journalists never stop learning.

News University is supported by a grant from Knight Foundation, part of the foundation's Newsroom Training Initiative, which aims to increase both journalism education and news industry investment in training.

The Poynter Institute's Mission
Poynter is a school dedicated to teaching and inspiring journalists and media leaders. It promotes excellence and integrity in the practice of craft and in the practical leadership of successful businesses. It stands for a journalism that informs citizens and enlightens public discourse. It carries forward Nelson Poynter’s belief in the value of independent journalism.

FAQs

What is News University?

NewsU (www.newsu.org) offers newsroom training to journalists and journalism students through its interactive e-learning program and links to other journalism education and training opportunities. The program is a partnership between the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and The Poynter Institute for Media Studies.

Who is the audience?

Eventually, we expect our scope will be international, with courses in a number of languages. Initially, we are focused on meeting the training needs of U.S. journalists, journalism students and educators. Courses at NewsU vary from beginner to veteran journalist and cover all types of media—print, broadcast and online.

When did NewsU start?

Our official launch was in April 2005.

How much does NewsU charge?

Many courses are free, especially those that are self-directed. We plan to make sure that costs are very reasonable for both individuals and organizations with limited resources.

Does NewsU offer financial aid for fee-based courses?

We know times are tight. So, thanks to a grant from The Harnisch Foundation, we are able to offer journalists a limited number of scholarships to our Webinars. You need to be a registered user at NewsU and explain a little bit about why you need financial help. For details, go to www.newsu.org/scholarships.

What types of courses are offered?

We offer courses across the scope of journalism: leadership and management; reporting, writing and editing; broadcast; online; ethics; visual journalism; and journalism education.

Will special software be needed?

No special software is needed. NewsU’s interactive learning courses are Web-based. Depending on the course, a high-speed or broadband connection might be important for the learning experience. Many of the courses, however, require the Flash player plug-in.

What is the format for NewsU courses?

News University offers four kinds of e-learning:

Self-Directed Learning Modules. (In e-learning language, they’re called “asynchronous” modules.) These are the ultimate in e-learning flexibility. Participants can start and stop whenever they like, progressing entirely at their own pace and going back as many times as they want to review the material. The modules make use of interactive technology, so they're more engaging than a mere collection of Web pages.
Group (or "semi-synchronous") Seminars. Participants gather in a virtual space, logging in from anywhere, day or night, over the course of several days or several weeks. A faculty member guides the group through new material, moderates discussions and provides individual feedback.
Webinars or eSeminars ("synchronous" modules). These are live seminars or events broadcast over the Web; participants can tune in from their computer at work or at home and ask questions in real-time. And if they can't join us live, we make recordings of many of these seminars available as self-directed learning modules.
Seminar Snapshots. These are edited video highlights and other materials that capture the key learning points of seminar presentations at The Poynter Institute or at other training events.

How much time do participants need to take a course?

Many courses take about one to two hours. Our goal is to provide tightly focused modules that allow participants to easily find the time to complete a course. Participants will be able to enter and exit the course as their time permits.

How do participants sign up for a course?

It’s very simple. Register. Enroll. Learn. To access any e-learning course, register with NewsU on the site’s home page. Once you've registered, prompts on the site will walk you through the steps you need to enroll in a specific course.

Does NewsU work with other organizations?

Our goal is to provide the technology and expertise to journalism associations and educators so they might offer specific courses to their membership. We are already working with such organizations as the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ), the Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ) and the American Copy Editors Society (ACES) to develop e-learning modules. NewsU is willing to work with any group that wants to help journalists get training through e-learning.

In addition, Access, the NewsU blog, highlights other journalism training available online.

What role does Knight Foundation play?

News University is supported by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. This grant is part of the foundation's Newsroom Training Initiative, which aims to increase both journalism education and news industry investment in training.

Why is Poynter going into e-learning?

News University extends Poynter’s mission as a school for journalists. About 1,000 journalists a year visit the institute’s campus in St. Petersburg, Fla. And Poynter's Web site (www.poynter.org) is the most popular trade site used by journalists nationally. NewsU offers interactive training in craft and leadership skills to professional journalists and journalism students who cannot attend a seminar in Florida.

We know that training opportunities for journalists are more important than ever. Journalists want more training, but they struggle to find the time within their own busy schedules. (For more about this topic, please read "Training: It Matters More Than Ever." This report, published in July 2004, outlines the hunger for training among journalists and shows the great potential for e-learning. It was conducted by Urban & Associates, Inc., for The Poynter Institute and News University and builds on the 2002 study by Knight Foundation and the National Council of Journalism Organizations.)

At the same time, news executives recognize the need for training; yet they struggle to make effective use of their newsroom budgets.

News University’s e-learning program hopes to meet these training needs. It also will be an opportunity for Poynter to extend its reach and mission by increasing our ability to teach.

NewsU, however, is much more than Poynter. NewsU is an e-learning portal linking journalists to the growing amount of midcareer training content available through the Internet, including the teaching of the Knight Chairs in Journalism. NewsU also will offer content from a number of different journalism groups and associations, as well as link to other e-learning opportunities.

Is NewsU interested in other courses?

We are open to any course topic that helps journalists do a better job or helps them grow as professionals.

What kinds of courses are we looking for?

The content of NewsU courses will span the spectrum of journalism training needs: leadership and management; reporting, writing and editing; broadcast; online; ethics; and visual journalism. Topics range from writing better leads to understanding photographs as story-telling images to understanding how to cover specific issues such as drinking-water quality to how to manage your boss.

How do I develop a course for NewsU?

If you or your group would like to discuss the development of e-learning courses for journalists, please read the Course Development FAQ.

Other questions? Contact Howard Finberg, Director of Interactive Learning at The Poynter Institute at hfinberg@poynter.org. You can also call the Institute at 727.821.9494.

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