
<p>I am always coming across some very handy websites for bloggers and writers, and thought it was about time I collected them into one list. So here goes…</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Goodreads</h2>



<p>Goodreads is the first stop for all your book-related needs. It is a good place to find general reviews of books (that you may or may not have read), specific recommendations from your favourite authors and friends, and organised lists of popular books. These sites aren’t the only place you can find these kinds of information but they are a great source.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Wikipedia</h2>



<p>Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia that focuses on all aspects of life in general, including culture, history, politics and current events. It is one of the largest collaborative efforts in the world with more than 17 million registered users and counting. The site doesn’t just contain articles; it also contains infographics and videos as well as blogs by its contributors covering everything from literature to technology. ;</p>



<p>This online encyclopaedia has been around for nearly 15 years now but still remains one of the most trusted sources for information on the web. If you want to learn more about any topic then this is an excellent place to start – just don’t expect it to be perfect or free!</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The New York Times</h2>



<p>The New York Times is perhaps best known for the newspaper that it publishes — The New York Times — but this isn’t its only product (note: there are no ads!). Besides newspapers there are also several other ways you can get your news at NYT HQ including sports coverage (NYT Mets), business coverage (NYT Business) and international news (El Pais). ;</p>



<p>If you are interested in learning more about how your favourite news outlets do their jobs then this site might be helpful – just don’t expect it to be perfect!</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">FixSpell.com</h2>



<p>This is a fantastic free resource to <a href="https://www.fixspell.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">change US English to International English</a> or vice versa. Rather than minutes, the whole article can be changed in a few seconds.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Economist</h2>



<p>The Economist provides comprehensive coverage of economics worldwide through its pages in print and online editions along with audio podcasts that delve into topics such as politics and finance. ;</p>



<p>This publication isn’t just interesting because it exists; it provides an essential resource for journalists trying to keep up with modern trends in information technology and other areas like manufacturing or education that have changed so fast over time.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Quora</h2>



<p>Quora is an online community where people ask questions of one another. There are some amazing places to dig around there for topic ideas.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Writing tools for bloggers and writers</h2>



<p>We understand that many writers are using word processors to create their posts and posts are often posted at the same time as other tasks in their <a href="https://www.homeofficeoutlet.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">home office</a>. We’ve heard from a lot of writers who found it frustrating to have to remember to switch back and forth between two different tools for each post.</p>



<p>If you use Google Chrome (or any other browser), you can open up “2>;1” – it is a tool that makes it easy for you to keep track of your blog’s posts in one place, with the ability to segue into any other page on your site.</p>



<p>I’ll be honest: I didn’t think about this until I was asked pointedly by someone whether we were offering something similar for bloggers and writers. I had never thought about this before, but now it seems like a natural extension of what we do (and while we aren’t writing articles or post-editing blogs ourselves, our service can help bloggers and writers organise their content much better).</p>



<p>Most of the blogs we read are written by or for people who are very busy, and so getting them to do it on a regular basis can be a real challenge. There are many great blogging tools out there that streamline the process of creating content, but can be very intimidating.</p>



<p>For instance, WordPress is a huge and complex piece of software designed for authors and bloggers who want to build websites. While it is incredibly popular among bloggers, it is not available as a free download. ;</p>



<p>It requires you to pay for an account and use their custom version of the software. This is why most bloggers use something else — it’s not just about writing more content; it’s also about paying for software that helps you do your job professionally (and make money too!).</p>



<p>There are many blogging tools that let you create the same type of content with minimal effort — but they either fail to support your workflow or they break down completely when you’re trying to publish a new post on a regular basis (e.g., blogger tools that only allow you to post once a day).</p>



<p>Some people will argue that these tools are only useful if they help you create great content, but I disagree: if you don&#8217;t have time to write every day, then these tools aren&#8217;t going to help you at all! A good tool should let you do both: give you some time each day for writing and let you produce some high-value content over time in addition to writing in-between articles (which would be much more difficult without such tools).</p>



<p>Others can be very helpful in the short term, such as Medium’s new WordPress version. It lets us share our stories and essays in a very simple way with nearly no friction — all we need is our social media accounts linked up with Facebook or Twitter accounts so we can publicly share our work! ;</p>



<p>But I think most people would rather have less “work” than more “work” (or at least less work than no work at all), so I really like this tool’s simplicity and its ability to integrate closely with whatever platform most closely suits our current needs.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Blogging tools for writers</h2>



<p>It’s not uncommon for a writer to have a lot of interesting things to share and want to do it in a way where it is easily digestible and accessible. In this blog post, we’re going to look at some of the tools that have made our lives easier, faster, and more successful with writing.</p>



<p>It seems that every time we need something on this list, there is an app for it (e.g., Buffer for email newsletters; Trello for projects/projects; Evernote for taking notes/to-do lists).</p>



<p>So what do I mean by “something on this list”? Well, let’s take today’s topic: blogging tools. There are many good tools out there that are designed to allow you to write better and be more productive. But they all come with drawbacks: they come with a learning curve (to do everything you can think of) or have too much functionality (too much information is overwhelming). ;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Handy blogging tools for writers</h2>



<p>Lately I&#8217;ve been reading a lot of posts on the success of bloggers, particularly ones that have writing or publishing blogs. Some of these are really good and if you&#8217;re a blogger yourself I&#8217;d be happy to recommend them. ;</p>



<p>The <strong><a href="https://backstageviral.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">problem</a></strong> is that a lot of the advice seems to be about things that writers can do for their own websites. That&#8217;s great, but let&#8217;s face it &#8211; writers don&#8217;t write blogs, they are more like publishers in the sense that they publish others&#8217; work. So how can we extend this advice to blog/writer sites in general?</p>



<p>I&#8217;m going to give a few suggestions:</p>



<p>1) Give bloggers more control over their content creation tools &#8211; not just about how blog posts look but about how they are structured (i.e., what kind of structure should go into each post?)</p>



<p>2) Give bloggers more control over the blogging experience &#8211; not just about writing and publishing but also about the site itself (the design, layout and other aspects). ; And while we&#8217;re at it, let&#8217;s give bloggers more control over posting content &#8211; not just what is in each post but also how it is presented and structured (e.g., using images, video or writing styles)?</p>



<p>3) ; Give bloggers more control over their publication experience &#8211; not just about publishing content via RSS feeds but also about creating their own books/publications or other such self-published works?</p>



<p>4) ; Give bloggers more control over posting content to social media outlets &#8211; not just about what is on each post but also how it is presented and structured (e.g., using images, video or writing styles)?</p>



<p>5) ; Give bloggers better tools for building an audience &#8211; not just about making money from blogging but also about building relationships with readers?</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Handy websites for writers</h3>



<p>The above list is a quick summary of the sites mentioned in this post. You can no doubt add some of your own over time.</p>

Handy Websites for Bloggers and Writers
