The Writer’s Technology Companion

Tools, Tips, and Technology for Writers

Entries for the ‘How To’ Category

Podcasting 101 : Part 5 - Adding Music and Editing Using Audacity

One thing that can really “punch up” the sound of your podcast is a soundtrack. However, don’t start flipping through your CDs just yet! Commercial music can be very, VERY expensive to license for podcast use — if the labels will deal with you at all. Using music from your own collection without a license can get […]

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Podcasting 101 : Part 4 - What to Podcast

If you’ve gotten this far, you’re probably ready to get started podcasting. But what should you talk about?
A lot of fiction authors read their own work, either a short story or poem per episode, or a chapter of a longer work. There’s even a website, PodioBooks, devoted solely to author readings of their novels in […]

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Podcasting 101 : Part 3 - Promoting your Podcast

Once you’ve recorded a show, you need to upload it somewhere on the Internet. You could upload it to your own site, but if your show is at all popular you’ll soon find yourself paying additional bandwidth charges — most personal and small business hosting packages charge after a gigabyte or two of traffic, and audio and […]

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Podcasting 101 : Part 2 - Recording your Podcast

In order to do a podcast, you need some way to record yourself. You can make a perfectly good podcast by plugging a microphone or telephone headset into a computer’s mic jack or USB port and recording it using free software like Audacity, an open source multi-track recorder. Some people even use their mp3 player’s […]

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Guest Post at Problogger: How to Write Reviews

Readers of The Writer’s Technology Companion might be interested in a post I wrote for Problogger, called Write Reviews That Add Value and Solve Readers’ Problems. If you’re not already familiar with Problogger, it’s the go-to site for people who blog for pay and offers tons of great advice about both the writing aspects and […]

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Podcasting 101 : Part 1 - Introduction to Podcasting

The people I envied the most in college were the kids who got to work at the college radio station. Staying up all night broadcasting their favorite tunes and talking with their audience, however small, seems so unbearably neat. I wanted to join them, but I could never find the time to take the required […]

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How to FTP

FTP stands for “File Transfer Protocol” and is the easiest way to upload files to a site on the Internet, especially if you want to send more than one file. You can think of it as sending files directly to the site through the backdoor, rather than going to the site through the front door […]

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Write a Story on Twitter! A Very VERY Short Story Writing Contest

Copyblogger is hosting a unique contest: tell a story in exactly 140 characters on Twitter. The prize: a 4GB iPod Nano for the best entry!
If you’re not familiar with Twitter, here’s the deal: Twitter is a “micro-blogging” platform, sort of an “IM meets blogging” thing. You can post test-message-sized “tweets” (up to 140 characters) from […]

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Free e-Book on Writing for Helium

Bob Younce of The Writing Journey has released an e-book detailing how to make money writing for Helium. The Helium Report offers advice on how best to use Helium’s system to make a strong income from the site — Younce shows an income of just over $1,000 US with 2 hours a day work over 45 days.
I’ve […]

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Spread the Link Love: Link to Other Blogs to Promote Your Own

One of the best ways you can promote your website is to link to other sites.
Doesn’t make sense on the face of it, does it? How can sending people away from your site build traffic to your site?
Well, there are several ways linking to other sites can help build up traffic for your own.

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