Self-publishing is a hot trend.  The most successful self published authors treat their books as if they’re working with a publisher. While it’s easier than ever to publish something to Amazon, the low barrier to entry has flooded the Kindle store with less than stellar content. Much like the blogosphere, only the best rise to the top, while the rest get lost in a sea of noise. After many conversations with several successful self-published authors, we’ve narrowed their advice down to 5 essential elements. Content. Editing. Platform. MORE >>

As always, the weekly blogosphere trends have been provided by Regator.com. Try a brief, polite email or phone call first, detailing what you’d like to talk about, the amount of time you expect it to take, why you are interested in talking with that individual in particular, and when/where the piece will be published. Blogosphere Trends + Interview Tips. This column is written by Kimberly Turner from Regator (a great tool that gathers and organizes the world’s best blog posts) – Darren. Think again. Keep a database of people who can be interviewed or quoted on your topic. MORE >>

Proofread carefully before you publish. Everyone makes mistakes (mentioning typos in a post always scares me because that’s inevitably when something sneaks past you), but endeavor to make as few as possible because once you hit publish, your errors stick around on the internet. Blogosphere Trends + Improving Readability. Hello again, fellow bloggers! Last month, we talked about how to find and interpret your blog’s readability score. If you weren’t happy with what you found, don’t worry: there are plenty of ways to improve readability and we’ll look at a few today. MORE >>

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the weekly blogosphere trends, provided by Regator.com. Consider each then choose the best one before publishing. Blogosphere Trends + A Challenge. This column is written by Kimberly Turner from Regator (a great tool that gathers and organizes the world's best blog posts) - Darren. Hi-dee-hoo, fellow bloggers! Click any trend to see posts about it.) Then share a link to your post in the comments. Let’s take a look at this week’s most popular stories…and your challenges: 1.  Ground Zero Mosque. Star Wars. MORE >>

When you pitch a post or idea, it should be something that has not been published on your blog or any other blog. Lesson: Once your post is published, your work is not finished. How NOT To Get A Guest Post Published On A Blog ”. Blogosphere Trends + Guest Posting. This column is written by Kimberly Turner from Regator (a great tool that gathers and organizes the world’s best blog posts). Darren. So it makes sense that, this week, we’ll be focusing on the art of the guest post. Keeping that in mind as you send pitches (or review incoming pitches) will take you far. MORE >>