Best Twitter Tips for Writers
For any self-published authors out there – I have blogged on Off The Shelf Book Promotions about publicising your book on Twitter. Debbie’s book Sell Your Books aims to help self-published authors market their books. It is concise, well-written and chockablock with useful tips, from identifying your target market, planning your strategy to getting media coverage. While it [...]
Avoid The Knife
Vivian Magero wasn’t at all as I expected her to be. We were told that we were to meet a young woman who had narrowly escaped Female Genital Circumcision (FGM), a practice that is seen as barbaric and abusive. She had escaped being cut, not because of the intervention of Western aid workers [...]
Gates Foundation Blog – Why Kenyan Girls Miss School
Keeping girls in school is a vital part of any international aid program. It’s an issue important to highlight today, on the first ever United Nations International Day of the Girl. Over the past few decades, this has shown to have lasting effects, not only for the girls themselves, but also for their families, their communities [...]
Keeping Children Safe Online
Protecting our children from danger in their day to day life is always a balancing act. How much freedom is enough for them to grow into independent and confident adults, while still keeping them safe. As much as we might like to wrap them up in cotton wool and keep them home, as they grow [...]
Is The Twitter Honeymoon Over?
‘Is Twitter anything more than an online echo chamber?’ asked Laura Marcus in the Guardian today. Drawing attention to the fact that twitter users tend to follow those who share similar political viewpoints and interests, Laura quotes Guardian columnist Suzanne Moore, who stated “You chose who to follow. There is a whole world [...]
Upcoming Publication – Learn Twitter in Ten Minutes
A couple of months ago, I was approached on Twitter by a follower I have ‘known’ for some time. She represented a publishing house and wondered if I would be interested in writing a book about how to tweet. The company already has books on the market about learning to play Chess, and are looking to develop [...]
Start a Blog
If you like writing then a blog is a great way of sharing your work with others. Or perhaps you like making things, or doing experiments. Maybe you have a particular interest or hobby that others would find interesting. A blog is an online diary or showcase of your work. You can write every day [...]
Dealing With Internet Hate
The teenager who sent abusive tweets to Tom Daley has been arrested. Exactly what they will charge him for is at present unclear. There is plenty of evidence on the troll’s timeline to charge him for other abuses. I read several racist and homophobic tweets last night. According to the Twitter rules, ‘Violence and [...]
Gates Foundation Blog – Peter and Teresia’s Story
Teresia bustles around her tiny straw-roofed house, arranging enough furniture for our delegation of new media journalists and bloggers to sit. She and her husband listen attentively as they are read the information and disclosure forms that enable KEMRI (Kenyan Medical Research Institute)/CDC to work with the data collected. As I mentioned in Friday’s post, the [...]