TWITTER! The most misunderstood – and underused – social media tool…

Oh, I’ve heard the mumblings and grumblings – “I don’t get any results from being on Twitter!”, and “People are only after followers on Twitter!”

And you know, I get that. If you have a blog on WordPress.com (which I do), you can rig it so my blog posts are tweeted automatically. And you know what kind of results I get?

Very little. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of followers I have on my blog due to Twitter. But – and it’s a very big But – one of my dearest friends, Ms. Edenmary Black (I’ll wave at her now, ’cause I know she’s reading this) and I met on Twitter. And a cherished friendship developed. Simple as that. 

Now, do you know why I normally get almost nothing in regards to those hallowed results? Just go to your page on Twitter some time. Sit, and watch. Do it like I did, just a minute ago. If you refresh the screen every five seconds, you’ll see anywhere from three to 10 new tweets. Every five seconds. You can’t compete with such a mad rush of information. 

So, you want results from the little blue bird? It’s actually ridiculously simple. But it takes time – as any facet of building an author platform does. 

It starts with your follower list. Mind is comprised of over 2,000 good people. Oh my God, right? Yeah, OMG, until you harken back to my statement about “Very little” proclamation. As the mumblings attested, everyone who followed me is hoping that I’ll follow them in turn, then they can brag on their blog about all their thousands of madly gibbering fans.

But. What if? What if, one rainy Saturday, you get yourself a cup of coffee, sit down, and start bringing up the profiles of those followers. Right there in their profile, is their website, or blog. (By the way, this is one of my big gripes about Facebook – no links to other sites on profiles.) So, start with the first one, and go to their blog. From there, it’s like you do with any site. Have a look around, read an article, if you like the article, comment on it, and if the place interests you, start following. 

Now, here’s a footnote to that. As a very good friend of mine, Liz Long, stated not long ago in one of her blog posts, it starts with FRIENDSHIP. Don’t go all crazy and just join for the helluvit. You do that, you might as well stay with the status quo on Twitter. Engage, converse, befriend. Repeat that mantra however many times as twitter followers you have. If you have a sizable population trudging after you on the bird, it’s gonna take awhile. So what? 

And while we’re “whatting”, guess what? You have tapped into an endless pool of other authors, publishers, book bloggers, and reviewers. So, don’t use it like everyone else, as a bragging post. Get smart, and use it for what it is – an incredible resource.

‘Nuf said.

 

 

Giving book reviews – honest reviews – can be savage business for a writer

I’ve reviewed a few books over the last few months, partly because I enjoy reading, partly for the expanded view it gives me of other writing styles, and a little because I feel it’s a duty. Some of the resulting experiences have been pleasant. Good books, well laid out, good plot, and edited nicely.

Others? Not so much. And that’s where the danger comes in.

Now, I’m going to attempt saying this without coming off all snotty. I have read a number of articles that argue the advent of indie writing and publishing has brought into the marketplace quite a number of lesser quality writing. Flooded Amazon, Smashwords, and wherever else with tomes that, if capable of uttering sound, would resemble a bobcat being scalded by steaming hot water. And you know what?

They’re right.

Not all of them, of course. As I mentioned, some have been good reads – great reads, actually. They definitely fall into the other category I’ve read about – the good authors who, for whatever reason, never have their work published by a traditional publishing house. And, as anyone who knows me can attest, I am 100%, four-square, full-speed-ahead-and-damn-the-torpedoes behind whomever wants to thumb their nose at the aristocracy of the writing world and whip that book out write in their faces.

But boy – the other ones. Take one I read just this past week. I’m not going to name the author, title, or anything about the book. This isn’t the arena for that. What I will say is that it sucked. I mean, bad sucked. The editing was horrible, it flowed like a ’59 Edsel with four fouled plugs, and the main character – the heroine, mind you – was (I’m not a psychologist, but take my word for it) bipolar. I can’t really tell you how bad it all was. But here’s the kicker, and I can’t figure it out for the life of me. It’s getting four-and five-star reviews. From a lot of people. Now, I should say that a number of folks agreed with my assessment, almost to a “T”…but what the hell happened with the others? They loved it, couldn’t put it down, blah blah, freaking blah. And I am confident enough to say that if I gave any of my author bud’s a copy of it, they’d put it down within an hour – maybe less.

So. Reviewing. It’s scary business. It’s a time when you have to put friendships, feelings, and any other emotional tugs aside, and write what you think. Anything else would be a disservice to both the writer, and to their audience. And it can also score you serious scorn too – not to mention recrimination in the form of your own negative reviews. By the way – and as you can see – the name up at the top of this blog isn’t King, Stine, or Cook, so anyone receiving a negative review from me just might have the urge to wonder just who in hell I think I am. Fair question, that. Suffice to say, I’m not an authority on writing, and in the case of reading I only know what I enjoy and what I don’t. After that, let the chips fall as they may.

And for a writer, how can it get any more dangerous than that?

The 16 Best Book Blogs to Read in 2016 | Scribendi.com

Click on the guy to read it!

Anyone who’s taken a crack at writing and publishing a book has it fresh in their mind just how complicated it can be. Genre. Audience. Editing. The Cover. Reviews. Publishing. Formatting. Oh, and lest we forget, how to write the darned thing. These blogs have much of that covered. They are some of the leaders in the industry on all that’s listed above, and a lot more. Go have a look!

BiblioCrunch – compilation of sites to list your book on…

Amazon is the mack-daddy when it comes to getting your book out – no question. But, if you had a child, would you call one friend, and hope everyone learns the news from them? Of course not. So, why list your book on one site? Why not put it on every site you can get your hands on?

Here is a list published by BiblioCrunch, listing quite a number of sites to place your book, as well as some Facebook pages to do the same…happy hunting 🙂

Source: BiblioCrunch | Self Publishing Blog

Do You Have “As You Know, Bob…” Syndrome?–How Writers Can Butcher Dialogue & How to Fix It | Kristen Lamb’s Blog

(By Marcy Kennedy, intro by Kristen Lamb)

Writing a stand-out novel involves a lot of individual pieces working together in perfect concert. If there’s no solid plot? Readers get confused, lost or bored. If the plot is great, but the characters are all one-dimensional paper dolls? No one cares. If we butcher grammar, spelling and formatting? It’s a formula for dismal sales or even a long line of one-star reviews from ticked off readers.

Hey, the world may think writing fiction is easy, but we all know differently ;).

One of the best ways to move plot forward with increasing momentum and to create living, breathing characters is by harnessing the power of dialogue. As an editor for twelve years, I can tell you dialogue is one of the single largest components of writing great fiction, and it’s the part that’s most often butchered. The story can be great, the setting, the prose?

(click on the image to read on)

 

How to Trick Yourself into Writing, Editing and Marketing – Rachelle Gardner

By Bryan Cohen:

Self-motivation is crucial for authors, regardless of which publishing path you choose. Writing a book is difficult enough, but when you add on editing and marketing, it can feel impossible. And I’m crazy enough to have self-published 32 times. How did I do it? I learned a few ways to trick myself into doing work when my brain wants nothing but mindless entertainment.

(Click on Rachelle’s logo to read on)

 

Want to improve your writing? Try “14 Prompts” by Joe Bunting, over at The Write Practice…it’s FREE

14 Prompts is a short eBook full of fourteen unusual writing prompts designed to both inspire you to write and teach you a few practical techniques to improve your writing. 

(Click on the image to read on)

 

For the Self-Publishers (a follow-up to Self-publishing and Libraries) | The Passive Voice | Writers, Writing, Self-Publishing, Disruptive Innovation and the Universe

In my last post, I specifically wanted to find out why people would self-publish novels when the vast majority of self-published works are likely buried in the avalanche of self-published books. Fortunately, a lot of authors did comment, and I learned a lot. So, I’d like to thank the authors for that.

…

This has nothing to do with quality, and in the last post I specifically said I thought plenty of great work was being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of publication. Thus, I wasn’t “bashing” such books, as some claimed.

Click on the image to read on – 

 

With thanks to Dianne Harman – Creativindie | 8 cover design secrets publishers use to manipulate readers into buying books

Indie publishers are slowly coming to realize the importance of an amazing book cover. Since many self-publishing authors are starting out on a very small budget however, homemade, DIY book covers are still a popular choice. But be forewarned: although book cover designs come in a wide variety, publishers consistently use reliable, time-tested techniques and guidelines to catch your attention and make the sale. You want your cover to be different and unique, but you also want to tick all the right boxes (because they work).

(Click on the image to read on)

 

 

 

The Zero-Fuckery Quick-Create Guide To Kick-Ass Characters (And All The Crazy Plot Stuff That Surrounds ‘Em) « terribleminds: chuck wendig

By Chuck Wendig…

When writers are tasked with creating characters, we are told to try these character exercisesthat entreat us to answer rather mad questions about them: hair color, eye color, toe length, nipple hue, former job, phone number of former job supervisor, what she had for lunch, if she were a piece of Ikea furniture what piece would she be (“Billy bookcase! NO WAIT, A SKJARNNGFLONG LINGONBERRY-FLAVORED COCKTAIL TRAY”). And so on and so forth.

Most of these are, of course, abject badger-shite.

Click on Chuck’s logo to read on: