5 Easy Questions with Julie Musil!

Every Wednesday, I ask a writer the same five easy questions. In an effort to support and promote fellow wordsmiths, I feature authors who write a variety of genres, from sweet inspirational to mainstream thrillers. The writers themselves may be aspiring, published, or best-selling--all have made an impact on my life.


Thank you for joining me in welcoming…Julie Musil!!

Julie burst onto the blogging scene with a bang, and I noticed her media-savvy right away. She has a knack for building platform--any writer can learn from her. It came as no surprise to me when, earlier this year, she announced she'd landed an agent--Karen Grencik of Red Fox Literary Agency. (Congrats again, Julie!) Julie's kindness and generosity are evident everywhere she goes. I'm blessed to have her in my life and can't wait until the day she announces she has a book deal!
 
Let's get to it!
 
1. Beverage of choice? 
 
Thankfully it's water, which I guzzle all day long.  If I'm eating out, I'll order iced tea. And if I'm feeling especially saucy, I'll have a strawberry margarita when I'm out with friends.  


2. Any pets?

Our sons have two leopard geckos, which eat live crickets. Yuck. And we have two cute little rescue doggies, Stubby and Pete, who sit at my feet while I'm writing.

3. Dream vacation? 

Caribbean cruise with my family.  My husband and I took that trip for our honeymoon, and I'd love to share it with our three boys.

4. What are you listening to right now? 

Spongebob and Patrick going jelly fishing. Imagine Spongebob's cackle...that's what I'm listening to.

5. What's for dinner?

Chicken and veggie stir fry. Yum.

***

Julie, I've been drinking wa-a-ay too much soda this summer. You've inspired me to drink more water. You're a brave woman for allowing reptiles as pets. I can't even handle the idea of the crickets, let alone the geckos! And I would love to take a cruise with our kids. There's so much to do, endless food (as a mother of an active son, this feature is a big plus!), and stops at some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Heaven!!
 
Oh, and I'm pretty sure I know every SpongeBob by heart, and if I know them all by heart, then surely my kids do too...whoops! Guess I should turn the television off. :) Thanks so much for being my guest today!
 
Julie Musil ~
 
Julie Musil is the author of young adult fiction, an e-picture book for young readers, and articles for Scholastic MATH and Highlights magazines. She can be found at her website, Julie Musil: Children's Author, her blog, and on Twitter. She is represented by Karen Grencik of Red Fox Literary.



Are you working on a project this summer? Writers--what stage is your work-in-progress?
 
Have a fabulous Wednesday!

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One Tip for Writers Starting a Blog

If you're a writer and considering taking the plunge into the blogging world, I have one piece of advice.



Use your author name in the URL and the title.

I know, we all want our blogs to stand out. We want the title to be clever--a good thing--and catchy--another good thing. But failing to include your author name in the URL and the title will cost you.

There are two reasons to use your author name in the URL and title of your blog.

1. From a platform perspective:

You're starting to build a web-presence to help you either get published or get readers. Will agents, editors, or readers Google an obscure title? No, they will Google your name. We want every online effort to reflect back to our author name. Let's make it easy for search engines to find us!

2. From a reader's perspective:

I follow hundreds of blogs, and I read them in Google Reader. The title of the blog shows up along with the title of the post. If your author name isn't in the title of your blog, it makes if very difficult for me to connect you as the author.

A few days ago, in the name of researching this post, I counted how many blogs I follow that feature a play on the word write in the title but no author name. Twenty-five! My memory for matching authors with blog names is very limited.

If I see Julie Musil: New Blog Post, I'm more likely to read it because I know and like Julie's posts. (If you don't follow Julie Musil, go on over to her blog. She's terrific!) Plus, I connect Julie's name to her Facebook profile and her tweets on Twitter. Whenever someone retweets or shares one of her posts on a social network, I see her name with the title of the post.

On the other hand, it's very hard to remember that Write Bucket is written by Susie Sunshine. Even if I adore Susie's posts, I'm less likely to read them because I've forgotten Write Bucket belongs to Susie. (I made up Write Bucket and Susie Sunshine--my apologies if this is an actual blog.) If her post is retweeted, I don't see Susie's name in the title of the post, making it less likely for me to click on it.

If you already have a blog, consider altering the title to include your author name. It won't affect old followers (any existing links to your site from other blogs will still show up under your old title), but new followers will have an easier time coming back. In Blogger, simply click on "Settings" and type in your new title, example--Susie Sunshine: Write Bucket.

If you follow many blogs, do you have a hard time remembering who the author is if the name isn't in the title? Does it affect your reading habits?

Have a fabulous weekend!

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