I start lots of projects that never amount to anything, but this one (YAshelf) gets about 700 visitors a day and has a pretty strong site authority. The problem is, it was meant as a multi-author blogs and most authors are too busy to blog much or keep up with YA news.
Since it’s getting traffic, I’d like it to have more content. Not necessarily book reviews; I like to follow YA reddit or twitter controversies, and then do an overview or discussion.
The offer: if you have your own blog, website, or channel you’re trying to grow, you need more traffic and high authority backlinks. It should be unique, quality content, but you can use topics and link back to your original content, so you get a “broadcast” effect for extra visibility.
You can review books; create top 10 lists; comment on YA book discussions, problems or lifestyle challenges; do a meme roundup or share anything cool or clever you find. We’re not very picky, we just want users who end up on our site to see something new and unexpected, that makes them think or smile.
Ideally, it’s an easy way for your content to reach more people; more content on the site will attract a bigger audience, which helps everyone and all the sites linked.
We occasionally use the site to support YA authors and book launches, but are non-commercial; we would be open to featuring contributors on a staff page or a sidebar list. I was going to offer this to YA authors in exchange for an ad to their book in our sidebar, but like I said, they’re busy.
What’s in it for you? The SEO benefits might not be clear, and I don’t want you to think I’m just asking for free content writers. I’m hoping to build a positive community, but since it’s not a business expense, I’m not ready to hire a full-time writer.
BUT you can use this to grow your own platform or channel faster (because content with backlinks from high domain sites give your stuff a visibility boost). We could also call it an unpaid internship – and you could write on your cv, resume or college/job applications that you were a contributor (I can probably even write a testimonial for you if you need one).
This isn’t a job, so there won’t be a boss, or a minimum contribution level, or deadlines – just post stuff if you want to, when you feel like it. If you’re already doing that on goodreads and amazon, great!
But there is power to building your own platform and following, whether that’s your own website or social media accounts. There are faster, better ways to go viral than writing articles about YA fandom.
If you’re an introvert like me and prefer writing to being on video, or have considered blogging or trying to make writing a career and want to stay (or are already) up to speed with YA culture, new release authors, etc – this might make sense for you.
If it sounds like garbage, or overcomplicated, here’s something easier: I’ll set up a form for you to submit 1 simple book review and get a link back to your blog or website (coming soon). It should be super easy.
In the meantime, if it makes sense for you, we’d appreciate a link to this site from yours.
Click here to read more about contributing content.
You should be able to sign up for an account from the right sidebar >>
And if you get stuck, email or fb message Derek to upgrade your account access: derekmurphy -a- urbanepics.com
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