Peggy Jaeger's Blog, page 251

Facebook….turns out, it’s a good thing

[image error]

Yesterday I extolled some of the wisdom Jane Friedman imparted last weekend at Fiction Fest 2017 in her master class. One of the biggest takeaways from the workshop for me was how powerful Facebook can be for an author.

When I first began my journey as a published author in 2015 I had the typical Facebook page where I trolled the news feed for posted info on family and friends. It was my then-editor who suggested I make myself a professional FB page for my author career. The thought of now having to manage and keep track of 2 things on FB, not to mention Twitter, Pinterest, my website, my Amazon page,  yada yada yada was a little daunting and a whole lot of nauseating.

[image error]

But I heeded her advice and did it. The one thing I was adamant about though, was that the professional author page was  going to be for anybody who wanted to follow me as an author. I was going to keep my personal page just that – private. The reason was an easy one for me because I have small children in my family and friends circle and their parents post pictures of them frequently. I didn’t want some wackjob creepy person to see those pictures. There are a lot of undesirables on the Internet, hunting for innocent prey. And I know that sounds dramatic, but have you read the news lately??? Not dramatic at all.. simply proactive.

So. Two pages. Two separate entities. Double the work. More to keep track of. But you know what? it was a good thing. I have waaaaaaay more “friends” on my professional page than my personal one. I don’t post anything on the professional page I wouldn’t want everyone in the cyber world to see, but I’m able to keep private what needs to be kept private on the personal page. One of the good things about Facebook is that you can set up protection and privacy settings on posts.

Jane is a big proponent of reader and follower engagement on her FB page. She uses her page as a tool to interact with readers, answer questions, make announcements, show her blog postings. She feels authors should use the Professional page as their number one tool for marketing and acquiring new followers who then become readers. I always felt that Twitter gave me my biggest bang for engagement, and in reality, I have more twitter followers than I do FB followers (not many more, but a few). One of the drawbacks, Jane says about Twitter, is that it is very much a right here- right now thing. In other words, once you post something you have about 17 minutes or so for people to see it. After that, it gets lost in the quagmire of a hundred billion other tweets and the scroll shoves you waaaaaaay down low. Makes sense. On Facebook, your postings get added to the newsfeed, your followers get notified you’ve posted something, and if you come back to the post a few hours later and simply “like” it, it brings it back up in the current scroll. That’s genius in my mind. Plus, everytime someone likes or comments on your post you get a notification and respond in kind.

[image error]

Facebook parties are a fabulous markteting tool for new readers and engagement as well. Facebook ads can be a tool to drive people to your page, but be careful. Don’t go crazy and spend more than you think you really need on an ad.

So. Facebook. I will now be using it a great deal more than Twitter. Still love to tweet though!

[image error]

When I’m not Facebook-ing or Tweeting, you can find me here:Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me// Triberr

So…my weekend

[image error]

There really should be something done about lousy internet in hotels and conferences! I was at a fabulous conference this weekend and couldn’t blog about it because it took FOREVER to get connected to WiFi. Oh well…better late than never.

Friday night I took a master class with marketing guru Jane Friedman. It quite literally changed the way I view all the social media stuff I have to do as a writer who wants to get her book in front of strangers. For two hours she spoke about all the ways a writer can engage readers and get them to — not only visit their websites — but purchase their work.

First things first. Your website. You’re reading this so obviously you stopped here! But how did you find out about the website? Did you see a Twitter mention of it? Catch it in a newsfeed roll on my Facebook Author page? Or do you Follow me on WordPress? Since I don’t have a newsletter ( a major faux pas in Jane’s opinion), I don’t have a one-on-one way to let people know about new content on my site. I’ve debated for several years about having one because it’s just one more thing I have to do, but she says the benefits are worth it.

Next. The website content, itself. I don’t update my website frequently except for the blogs. My banner, headers, widgets, etc., are all pretty stagnant. And that’s the kind of traffic you never want: stagnant. You want your website to be fluid, moving, and new. So, Saturday morning between the hours of 1 am and 4 am ( since I never sleep. Damn this menopause insomnia!) I updated my website. I added a new category, changed the banner and some of the graphics, and posted new info on the pages.

Last. Your work. Or in my case, my books. It’s inconceivable to me that I never thought of this, but nowhere on my website was there a page for a reader to purchase my books. Not even a direct link except if I was blogging about the book. So, ta-da- new page. MY BOOKS lists all my work from newest to oldest, the covers, and all the buy links across the e-book network and traditional publishers. Whew! That was a ton of work but I think it’ll be so worth it in the end, especially when I start to see an uptick in sales.

Jane spoke of several other ways to drive traffic to your work that I’ll be discussing tomorrow. Today I wanted to focus on the website itself.

When I’m not attending conferences of updating my website, you can find me here: Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me// Triberr

 

I’m still alive…

[image error]

 

I’ve kinda been on radio silence for the past few weeks and haven’t posted 4-5 times per week per my New Year’s Goal. I’ve been a little busy because I booked a blog tour for my upcoming 10.3.17 release of A SHOT AT LOVE and it required me to write over 20 blog pieces and fill out more than a dozen interviews.

Yeah… I know. Intense. Here’s a list of the stops I’ll be making. There are prizes along the way!!!!

September 25: Christine Young

September 26: Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews

September 27: Laurie’s Thoughts and Reviews

September 28: The Reading Addict

September 29: Romance Novel Giveaways

September 29: Inside The Mind of an Avid Reader – review only

October 2: Danita Minnis

October 3: Up ‘Til Dawn Book Blog

October 4: Hearts and Scribbles – promo

October 4: Nickie’s Views and Interviews

October 5: Notes From a Romantic’s Heart

October 6: Fabulous and Brunette

October 6: Two Ends of the Pen

October 9: Independent Authors

October 10: K.T. Castle

October 11: It’s Raining Books

October 12: Read Your Writes Book Reviews

October 12: Rachel Brimble Romance

October 13: T’s Stuff

October 16: Queen of All She Reads

October 17: Readeropolis

October 18: The Pen and Muse Book Reviews

October 19: Mixed Book Bag

October 20: Long and Short Reviews

When I’m not touring, writing, trying to write, or blogging, you can usually find me here:Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me// Triberr

A weekend Conference

[image error]

A great weekend hosted by The Connecticut Romance Writers group. Already off to a fabulous start with a master class taught by the amazing Jane Friedman. I will be making some BIG changes in my social media content, I can tell you, just based on her suggestions and insights into the publishing and marketing world.

More to come today… stick around. I’ll be Instagraming and blogging about it.

Managing my writing time….

[image error]

I’ve mentioned before that I’m blessed and lucky to be retired so I can write whenever I want, for how ever long at a stretch I want. This usually adds up to 5-9 hours daily, depending on everything else in life that needs to be taken care of : laundry, grocery shopping, exercise.

But….there was a time not too long ago where that wasn’t the case. I worked outside my home at a job I detested, so writing was relegated to the back burner. During that time I’d sneak a few minutes before getting ready for the day to jot down a few lines of dialogue. Or I’d bring my lap top to work me so and take a solitary lunch so I could finish a scene. My menopause insomnia ( don’t laugh. It’s a real thing!) was good for one thing and one thing only: I used my inability to sleep to write in the middle of the night when everyone else was dreaming. My first book, SKATER’S WALTZ, was completely written between the hours of 1 and 3 am.

My husband worked, my daughter was out of the house, so it should have been easy to eek time out of the day to write. But it wasn’t because, you know….life.

Balance is a hard work for some people and for me it’s one of the most difficult concepts to accomplish. I never felt like I was giving my all to anyone or anything when I was working and writing. I am in awe of writers who have small children, volunteer at their school, plus work and have husbands/wives they need to care, in addition to homes that need to be tended. And by tended, I mean cleaned! Those writers truly have super powers that I do not possess. They can write a book, bake cookies for the school fund raiser, prepare nutritious meals for dinner, and everyone has clothes to wear, even on laundry day.

These writers have found their inner balance between writing and life.

I never did. It was only when I retired from that despised job that I was able to finally devote the time necessary to each part of my day and not feel as if I was cheating some aspect of it along the way.

So the title of this piece is Managing my writing time. I’m doing pretty well now that I don’t  have any place to be during the day light hours – and by that I mean I don’t have to go to a job location. All my friends still work, so there is no one I can get into Thelma and Louise trouble with during the day and the last time I went out to lunch on a weekday was way back in the beginning of the summer. I have no life, really, and I think I’m doing just fine!

Find out what the other authors in this blog series do to manage their writing time because they all have, you know…lives! I don’t! heehee

[image error]

1.
Expect no pearls of wisdom




2.
How I Lose My Shiny Marbles & My Precious Writing






3.
You Have Me Confused




4.
Time Management, Kenzie-Style






5.
Time Management for Authors




6.
Manage Time, Not Happening






7.
I Prefer to Call it Routine




8.
Time Keeps on Slipping






9.
5 Time Management and Writing Strategies




10.
You’re the busiest person I know






11.
Managing my writing time. . . .




12.
How I manage my writing time – Valerie Ullmer

Hey Canada!!!!

Just FYI, I am a steal, or rather COOKING WITH KANDY, is. Until 9.11.17 the book is one of KOBO CANADA’s 500 books under $5.00 sale!  At still just 99cents it’s a great price!! Thanks, my friends. BTW I LOVELOVELOVE Justin Trudeau!  Just saying!!!

[image error]

10.3.17…..#ComingSoon

MY newest Trailer for A SHOT AT LOVE, releasing into the book reading world on 10.3.17

Buy links:

Amazon // B&N // Kobo //Apple i-books // Google

I’m a DAILY DEAL!!!

[image error]

I know…that title sounds a little weird!! but for the first time EVAH I’m a NOOK DAILY DEAL and it’s Uber-exciting!!! Just #99cents for COOKING WITH KANDY. If you haven’t read it yet, what are you waiting for? It’s less than a buck!!!! Even my insanely frugal husband would pay #99cents for a book!!!!!

Hee hee!

[image error]

My bad habits…

[image error]

oh, peeps, there isn’t enough space in one blog posting for this topic as it applies to me!

Quick look at some of them: I bite my nails, I stress eat,  I emotionally eat, I eat when I’m bored ( you get it: I EAT!) I have knee-jerk reactions to things, I’m impatient with people. The list goes on and on and…..

You get it.

So, instead of picking one of my own terrible character flaws to expound on in this piece, I’ll stick to a bad writing habit. (It’s easier and less demoralizing!!!)

The worst writing habit I have is that I am not focused. I tend to flit from project to project, book to book, plot to Pinterest, continually, taking forever to finish one thing.

Every night I make a list of the writing things I need to get done the next day. The list usually has between 5 and 10 items ranging from: finish current WIP plotline, to write Friday blog piece, to everything I have to post onto Hootsuite. Interspersed into those writing necessities are things like: do laundry, go to bank, iron. Here’s yesterday’s list:

[image error]

And every day my list is completed to about 90-95 percent. I rarely have 100% done because…you know….life.

But still. 90-95 percent is great.

Yeah, it’s not, really, though. The 90-95 percent stuff that gets done, does so in drip and drabs. When I should be working -totally invested in- my current wip, I will write a little, stop, do one of the things ( or more) on the list, then MAYBE get back to my writing again later on. After errands….laundry…..lunch.

[image error]

It gets frustrating at times that I can’t just sit down and focus all my attention on the one thing that I want to, namely, just write.

Is this procrastination? Distraction syndrome? Or is it just the flitting and meandering mind of a woman whose husband claims “has too much time on her hands?” HeeHee

[image error]

I truly don’t know. My mind never rests, never stops, never says, “Whoa there, Nelly. Let’s focus on one thing at a time.” NO. My mind is like the genie in the Disney Aladdin, in constant motion, never calming, never taking a breath, always in motion, going from one thing to another.[image error]

 

 

 

 

It’s exhausting.

And you know what else it is?

Me. That simple.

So, bad habit, curse, or just the way I’m made, my mind will continue to meander. My thoughts will continue to jump from one thing to the next with lightning speed. My focus will remain….un. (Focused, that is!)

Want to read about other authors and their “bad Habits?” click on the links below and visit them. Leave some love. Or support. Or  encouragement….or, wait…is it raining? let me go look…..

[image error]

1.
What Bad Habits?




2.
Are They Really Bad?






3.
How Many Can I List




4.
Habitual Offender






5.
My Bad Writer Habits Make Me Look Like a Vampire




6.
Bad Habits? Not Me. . . – Robin Michaela






7.
Addicted to my iPhone




8.
I’ll Finish Some Day – Linda McLaughlin






9.
My bad habits. . . . .




10.
Despicable Me






11.
There are probably many – Valerie Ullmer




12.
What’s bad for one is good for another

I miss Jerry…

and Elaine, George, and even krazy Kramer.

[image error]

The Seinfeld show went off the air in 1998, but there are still so many ways the show impacts our society to this day.  Let me explain the history behind this blog piece.

Yesterday morning at the Gym I got into a discussion with the lovely Planet Fitness worker I see every morning when I check in, about watching television. We both stated how much we like Seinfeld. Now, this young lady is a good 25 -30 years younger than I am. She watches reruns of Seinfeld. I watched it when it actually ran, from 1989-1998. Yeah…I know. I feel a little old too.

But I digress…

We talked about how that show had so many relevant and timely sayings and situations that still hold up today and are even used in today’s vernacular. For example, Seinfeld introduced us to the annoying and embarrassing fact of “shrinkage.” [image error]

Remember that one?

How often do you use the phrase “yada yada yada?” Well, it came from a Seinfeld episode.

[image error]

 

Ever heard of the forgotten and wildly misrepresented holiday Festivus? [image error]

And speaking of holidays, have you ever Re-gifted? Or ever been accused of being a re-gifter? Thank Elaine for that one.

[image error]

 

And remember the first time you ever heard of the “BRO?”[image error]

Would you consider yourself Spongeworthy?[image error]

Have you ever double dipped?

[image error]

 

God, there were so many words, phrases, holidays, expressions that show made popular, it’s a wonder Jerry Seinfeld and the writers didn’t get royalties from Webster’s dictionary for all the new words they made trendy.

In addition to Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer, the other wacky neighbor – Jerry’s archenemy Neumann

[image error]

 

– also had some tidy tidbits and knew how to turn a phrase. [image error]

The true test of classic work of art- be it music, a television show, a powerful book – is how it plays to future generations and how they can see its relevance in their lives. I can watch an old episode of I Love Lucy and quote the entire thing from beginning to end. Lucy still makes me laugh out loud almost 70 years after her show went on the air! Seinfeld in almost 20 years out of the box but an entirely new generation is enjoying it and understands the lexicon the show invented.

And you know what? THAT’S what I want to do with my writing. I want to be relevant in the future. Being relevant right now would be nice, too, I have to say! But I want to – in some small way- have an impact on the people who discover my books in years to come. A positive impact, for sure, but an impact all the same. I want them, when they read the words I’ve written, to get it.  Just like we still get Jerry…and Lucy…and Abbot and Costello, and all the greats that came before.

When I’m not -yada yada yada – (you know the drill!)[image error]

Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me// Triberr