Little Free Library Five Easy Steps to a Little Free Library in Your Neighbourhood 1. Identify a location and steward. 2. Decide if you want to: Order a complete Little Library or kit from our online catalogue. Build it Yourself. Make it official!.Get plans and instructions. “Endow” for someone else (tax deductible!). Support Books for…
Street Photography: Fashion Photography of the Ordinary
by Laura Brown •
I see a lot of street photography when I look at photographs and sites that interest me. But, I never really felt they were interesting photos until today when I found the photos from Vivian Maier, vintage street photography. Looking at those ordinary people from the 1950s was fascinating. I started with one photo and then…
Making a Plan for Running Ads on your Blog
by Laura Brown •
If you accept ads on your site have you set up a pricing schedule? This is something I had not really done. I haven’t really thought of myself as a blog which runs ads yet either. So, it’s time I got it together and sorted out a plan. First, I have to get my brain…
How to Become a Contributing Writer to a Publication
by Laura Brown •
When you want to be a published writer and you don’t have a lot of writing to show an editor or publisher, choose a small publication and become a contributing writer for them. Contributing usually does mean you aren’t getting paid in cash money. There might be some kind of trade of services or goods.…
A WordPress Plugin to Share with Kindle
by Laura Brown •
This is a great plugin to have added in, smarter than social media I think. Getting your blog post forwarded to hardware (like a printer) is better than the software of Twitter, Facebook and the other social media sites. The Send to Kindle Button lets readers enjoy your blog anytime, everywhere on their Kindle devices…
Changing, Choosing and Deciding
by Laura Brown •
I’ve been off kilter for a few months. I stopped writing here awhile but I know I don’t want to stop writing Word Grrls. Instead I need to change my focus, choose something that works better for me and decide what I can maintain as myself rather than trying to be what other people claim…
Stop Regurgitating Content – Write What YOU Know
by Laura Brown •
Don’t be a bland and boring writer. Don’t pollute the Internet with regurgitated content. Hate is a strong word, but I do (almost) hate people who blog about topics they really know nothing about. They use other sources for information; they quote other people rather than having any real knowledge or personal experience. In short,…
Writer’s Block Is More Than The Fear Of White Paper (Or Screen)
by Laura Brown •
Guest post by Deanna Dahlsad. One of the things I now find myself doing in my consulting work is providing clients with a Writing Prompt Service. It was born, like any good service, from client needs. In working with my clients, it quickly became clear that whatever their reason for having a website or blog, writers, bloggers,…
My Seven Links
by Laura Brown •
MyTripBase started the My 7 Links project. It’s a blog meme but you can just pick your seven links and pass the idea along, or not. On Twitter, search for the #My7Links hashtag. THE GOAL To unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but…
Offalings Not Accepted Here
by Laura Brown •
Guest posting is not worth the time it takes to moderate, edit and argue about it. Why do all that for a post which isn’t paying you anything? I accept the odd paying post or text links, if they pay. I’m willing to put in some time working with them. But, the freebie guest posts…
How to Write Your Own Advice Column
by Laura Brown •
Writing an advice column sounds fun and easy. Until you think about being responsible for the thoughts and actions of the person who takes your advice. Then it gets a little scary. None of us are omnipotent, all knowing. After all, how often do you take your own advice? If you want to be an…
What to do with your Old Books
by Laura Brown •
It’s very hard to part with an old book, or a book you mean to read, someday. But, there comes a time for every book lover when the amount of books is a bit overwhelming and we need to narrow down the stacks of books just a little… It is TOO easy to pile up…
How to be OK with Criticism or Negative Feedback
by Laura Brown •
This Hub (as people at HubPages call the articles posted to the site) started from a question asked on the site. “What do you tell anti hubbers?” The first thing that bugged me about the question was “hubbers”. Titles should be capitalized. The second thing that bugged me was the whole attitude of the question.…
Great Things to do While Unemployed (or Underemployed)
by Laura Brown •
I read a sensible post about things you can do while you are unemployed. It was sensible. Probably practical even. But, it did not deal with the issue of keeping your soul alive, your spirits up and your creative energy high while you go through the ups and downs of being unemployed. Being without a…
Real Book Lovers Make their own Bookmarks
by Laura Brown •
I became more interested in bookmarks after my friend, Deanna, asked to use one of my drawings for a bookmark she wanted to print out for the First Annual Bookmark Collectors Virtual Convention. Before that I never put a lot of thought into bookmarks. I had a few, I lost a few and a few were…
Horror Writers are Nice Girls Too
by Laura Brown •
Writing horror is a unique experience. I have written horror and self published my horror writing. People have given me good feedback but I’ve yet to write something I feel really good about. So, I’m amateur horror writer. Still working on it. I like the drama and the challenge of putting the things that really…
Avatar-Making for your Online Profile
by Laura Brown •
An avatar gives you a face when you fill out a profile online. There are endless places you can use an avatar on the web: email signatures, blog comments, forum profiles, HubPages or any other site you create an account on. For this post I am focusing on sites which let you create the avatar…
How to Get Started (and Enjoy) Using Twitter
by Laura Brown •
Note: Originally published on HubPages, July 2012. What’s keeping you from using Twitter? Twitter is easy to use. Basically you type in text and hit send. You can do more, but you can get started with the basics and even skip a lot of the extras and not miss them. I’ve been using Twitter from…
Creating a Great Online Dating Profile
by Laura Brown •
One thing no one fantasizes about is writing that online dating profile, over and over again. Your name, age, looks aren’t too stressful to write about. It’s trying to come up with a pleasant, attractive and informative way of saying everything else that makes profile writing a troublesome aspect of online dating. Consider the profile…
Create Your Own Unique WordPress Theme
by Laura Brown •
No matter how many WordPress themes I look at and try, I never find exactly what I want. But, I do find more things I would like to have. When I ran my sites on Blogger I began using simple HTML and basic CSS. I learned how the Blogger code worked with the additional CSS…
The Women of WordPress and Women Blogging
by Laura Brown •
Once upon a time women formed groups to find each other online. Now, there are a lot of us wandering around, developing websites and blogs but the main groups for women online are about Mommy bloggers. Not every woman is a Mother and not every woman wants to focus on her family when she’s thinking…
How to Start a Diary or Personal Journal
by Laura Brown •
What to Write Any time you are not sure what to write or just can’t seem to get started – read back your last post to the journal and comment on it. Did you meet any goals, achieve something or did the day you expected turn out completely different from what you had written? Write…
Start Your Own Tourism Business
by Laura Brown •
Another home business idea for a writer is a tour guide. You can run the business from your home, in your town or city. Research the history and locations and write up the guide which you will use to tell people about the area as you give the tour. Tourism and travel are things we…
Could you Sell Your Old Books?
by Laura Brown •
I have a lot of books, too many books really. It’s so hard to resist an interesting book. I find them with the new books and I like the way they smell. I find vintage, retro and just plain old books at the thrift store and the second hand book stores (one of my favourite places).…
