Ellen Jacobson's Blog, page 15

Simon The Cat Travels Through Time | IWSG

The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is a place to share and encourage, where writers can express their doubts and concerns without appearing foolish or weak. It's a great place to mingle with like minded people each month during IWSG day. The fabulous co-hosts this month are Erika Beebe, Sandra Hoover, and Lee Lowrey.

Every month there's an optional question which may prompt folks to share advice, insights, a personal experience or story. Some folks answer the question in their IWSG blog post or let it inspire them if they're struggling with what to say.

This month's question is:

"What pitfalls would you warn other writers to avoid on their publication journey?"

Check out how people have answered this month's question, as well as the other insecurities and writing topics they may have shared by visiting the IWSG sign-up list here. If you want to see how I answered the question, have a look below. 

* * *  Image via The Graphics Fairy

"Simon, what's going on here? Why am I lying on the ground covered in sand?" After sitting up, brushing the annoying grains off of my clothes, I gazed up and saw a giant pyramid reflecting the strong sun. And was that a giant sphinx nearby?

"Simon, answer me! Last thing I remember, I was taking a nap, and now I appear to be in Egypt!"

"You should be addressing me as Your Holiness or as He Who Should Be Adored and Worshiped," the large gray cat said haughtily. He flicked his pink tongue across one of his paws, then cleaned sand off from behind his ear. Apparently satisfied with his appearance, he added, "After all, I am a god here."

I snorted - which helpfully got rid of the sand lodged in my nose. "You, a god. Are you kidding me?"

"That's exactly why I used my powers to have us travel back in time to this place. Here, people will build statues to honor me, they'll fan me to keep me cool, and they'll give me all the belly rubs I desire."

I rolled my eyes - which unhelpfully dislodged some sand from my eyelashes into the corner of my eye. "You are so selfish, Simon."

He growled.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, just a tad sarcastically. Okay, a lot sarcastically. "I mean, you're so selfish, Your Eminence Who Constantly Has Tuna Breath."

He growled some more.

"By the way, before you whisked me off to the past, I was busy writing my monthly IWSG post about the pitfalls you should avoid when publishing."

"I thought you said you were taking a nap."

"Same thing," I snapped. "Napping is how writers talk to their creative muses."

Simon did the feline equivalent of rolling his eyes. It's hard to describe what that looks like, but you know when it's happened.

"And do you know what my number one pitfall was? Getting too attached to a character. You know how I write cozy mysteries. Well sometimes, some characters just have to be killed off. Get my drift?"

He swished his tail back and forth, kicking up sand all over me. "Fine, we'll travel forward in time, back to that stupid boat in stupid Florida. But, you owe me a belly rub. And a statue wouldn't hurt either."

* * *
I'm not sure I can really answer this month's question as I very much at the start of my publication journey having just released my first book in June. But here are a few pitfalls I've tried to avoid so far.

1 - Comparing Yourself to Others

If you watch writing podcasts or frequent certain forums and Facebook groups, you might start to believe that everyone but you is killing it. There are countless stories about how someone has become an Amazon best seller, how they're making six-figure incomes, or how they churn out a new book each month. It's really easy to get caught up in all the hype and despair that you're not successful like everyone else.

The truth is that most writers will never become best sellers or be able to fund an luxury holiday to a tropical island from their royalties. Comparing myself to those superstars would take all of the fun out of it. After all I started writing because I enjoy it, not to become rich and famous.

2 - Not Taking Your Time

Wow, there is so much to learn when it comes to self-publishing. I'm really glad that I had a rather ridiculously long pre-order period so that I could get all my ducks in a row before my book was release. Once you finish your manuscript, if you're anything like me, you'll be itching to push the publish button and get it out there for all to see. But if you don't take the time to make sure you get everything right, you might find yourself stressed out when things don't go to plan.

3 - Not Having a Cat

Okay, this is really a point that Simon wanted to make. He feels that it's really important to have a cat as one of your main characters. Fortunately, I have one in my cozy series - Mrs. Moto, a Japanese bobtail calico. She's a very sweet cat, doesn't have a god-complex, and isn't snarky. 

Don't let Simon hear me say this, but having a cat isn't essential. But not knowing the common tropes of your genre is a potential pitfall. I write cozy mysteries and many of them feature adorable furry companions. No, you don't have to write to market and tick every trope off of the list, but if you publish a book that doesn't deliver what your readers expect, then you might find that you get some bad reviews. For example, if I had written in gory detail about the crime scene or had explicit sex scenes, than I'm pretty sure cozy readers wouldn't be buying the next book in the series.

If you want to know more about my cozy mystery publishing journey, I'm documenting the good, the bad, and the ugly over on my author blog. There's a whole bunch of posts on things like editing, book format, beta readers, cover design, and going Amazon exclusive vs. wide.

What about you? What pitfalls have you experienced on your publication journey? Or what pitfalls are you hoping to avoid as you start your journey?


A dilapidated sailboat for your anniversary - not very romantic.  A dead body on board - even worse.
>>Murder at the Marina<< is the first in a new lighthearted and humorous cozy mystery series about Mollie McGhie, a reluctant sailor turned amateur sleuth.

Ebook and paperbacks available at Amazon (US) | Amazon (CA) | Amazon (UK) | Amazon (AU) | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Apple iBooks | Google Play | Book Depository | Books-A-Million

Find out more on Goodreads and add to your To-Read list. Check out my author website, follow along on Twitter and Facebook, and subscribe to my newsletter.

Thanks for stopping by our blog - we love it when people come visit! We're also on Facebook - we'd love for you to pop by and say hi! 

Blogging Break | Cat Picture #7

I'm on a blogging break until Wednesday, August 1st. To keep you amused in the meantime, here's a cat picture.

Blogging Break | Cat Picture #6

I'm on a blogging break until Wednesday, August 1st. To keep you amused in the meantime, here's a cat picture.

Blogging Break | Cat Picture #5

I'm on a blogging break until Wednesday, August 1st. To keep you amused in the meantime, here's a cat picture.

Blogging Break | Cat Picture #4

I'm on a blogging break until Wednesday, August 1st. To keep you amused in the meantime, here's a cat picture.

Blogging Break | Cat Picture #3

I'm on a blogging break until Wednesday, August 1st. To keep you amused in the meantime, here's a cat picture. Wait a minute, that's a dog not a cat! How did he get in here?

Blogging Break | Cat Picture #2

I'm on a blogging break until Wednesday, August 1st. To keep you amused in the meantime, here's a cat picture.

Blogging Break | Cat Picture #1

I'm on a blogging break until Wednesday, August 1st. To keep you amused in the meantime, here's a cat picture.

Happy Birthday Mr. Blog! Our 5 Year Blogging Anniversary & A Wee Break

Image via The Graphics Fairy
Mr. Blog turned five years old today. He's getting to be such a big boy. Can you believe that this is his 844th post? And that he has 1.6k Facebook followers? They sure do grow up fast, don't they.

Every year on Mr. Blog's birthday, I do a little reflection on blogging. On his first birthday, I had a look at how Mr. Blog stacked up against the criteria for a good blog. On his second birthday, I shared some random thoughts on blogging including wondering what type of blog The Cynical Sailor really was. On his third birthday, I talked about monetizing (or not) one's blog with Adsense and Amazon. I completely forgot about his birthday last year. Oops.

{If you want to see other posts on blogging tips and tricks from myself and others, check out this page.}

* * *
This year, I thought I'd talk about something a wee bit crazy that I did - starting a second blog over on my author site. Yes, it's a bit insane to manage not one, but two blogs, but I live on a sailboat which is the very definition of insanity.

I've talked before about how I wished we hadn't named this blog The Cynical Sailor because it really evolved over time from a pure "sailing blog" into, well, a blog full of a lot of random nonsense, some related to sailing and liveaboard life and some related to things like travel, cats, polar bears, and possible alien invasions.

So, when I decided I was going to become an author and publish books*, I thought it made sense to establish an author brand** and set up a website distinct from that of The Cynical Sailor. And here's why:

1 - Not everyone who follows this blog is interested in the writing side of my life. Although, I do post monthly on writing as part of the Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) blog hop, feature books and authors on my Saturday Spotlight series, and mention my writing activity from time to time in other posts, I think I'd lose followers if that was all that I talked about. In fact, I think I'd stop writing this blog if that's all I talked about.

2 - Although my current book series is sailing-related, I've got lots of other ideas floating around in my head that have nothing to do with boats whatsoever. I'd like to be able to reach a broader audience in the future (not necessarily bigger) and a more "flexible" website seemed like the way to go.

3 - I wanted a static landing page and never could figure out if that was possible using the Blogger platform. It seemed a lot easier to use WordPress to set up my new site and not to try to monkey around and retrofit this one to work like I wanted.

4 - There was a certain appeal in starting off "fresh" and creating a website that wasn't as cluttered as this one has become. It's kind of nice to have simple, clean site that has a pure focus on books and my author activities.

5 - If we ever do decide to call it a day on The Cynical Sailor, I'll have another presence on the web already established.

Now that I've set it up, my new site is pretty easy to manage. I only blog there twice a month (the first and third Mondays) talking about the writing process (I'm currently doing a series of posts on the different aspects of publishing a cozy mystery from a newbie's perspective) and sharing tidbits about our life aboard a boat that might be of interest to readers.

While blogging twice a month might sound like a lot (especially given the fact that I blog here three times a week), it's actually quite manageable. I've re-purposed some content from this blog and my posts on the cozy mystery publishing process are basically write-ups of research I've already done. Plus, I >>love<< blogging. If you don't love blogging, you shouldn't be doing it. Otherwise, it's just a chore you resent.

If you're interested, you can check out my other site - ellenjacobsonauthor.com - and see what I'm up to over there.

NOTES:
*Saying that out loud still freaks me out - me an author? You've got to be kidding.
**I feel so pretentious talking about my "author brand." I think I've been listening to too many writing podcasts.

* * *
For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it's summertime. For many people, summertime is about chilling out. I've noticed many bloggers are taking a bit of a break and I thought I'd do the the same thing. I've got a lot of work to get done on my next book during the rest of the month, so I'm going to take a blogging break until Wednesday, August 1st.

But don't worry, I'll probably schedule a blog post with a cat picture from time to time over the next couple of weeks so that you don't miss me and Mr. Blog too much.

What kind of blogs do you like to read? Are you a blogger? If so, how long have you been blogging for? Do you manage more than one site?

Thanks for stopping by our blog - we love it when people come visit! We're also on Facebook - pop by and say hi! 


Murder at the Marina - the first in a new lighthearted and humorous cozy mystery series.  "A dilapidated sailboat for your anniversary - not very romantic. A dead body on board - even worse."

Buy Links

Ebook available at Amazon (US) | Amazon (CA) | Amazon (UK) | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Apple iBooks | Google Play

Paperback version available at Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Books-A-Million

Find Out More

Check out my author blog, sign up for my newsletter, and follow along on Twitter and my author Facebook page.

Wordless Wednesday | Best Mail Forwarding Service Ever!

Wordless Wednesday is supposed to be about posting a photo(s) without any words. But, I'm a rule breaker, so here are a few words:

1 - Lots of people who live a nomadic life on sailboats or in RVs use a mail forwarding service which receives your mail and forwards to your current location as required.

2 - We could have signed up with an outfit like St. Brendan's Isle, which has a really great reputation, but we went with an even better option - Mom's Mail Forwarding Inc.

3 - Yep, my mom gets our mail and forwards it to us on a regular basis.

4 - She's got a real edge over regular mail forwarding services because she goes above and beyond the call of duty. We got a letter from the IRS, so she included some Oreos to eat while we opened it. {Oreos make everything better, even tax notices.} My sister and I got my mom some wine for Mother's Day and she sent me the cork from one of the bottles because it was cute. {Who doesn't love seahorses?} She even sends interesting articles, like one about a fascinating West African guy who works at her building.

What words does this picture(s) bring to your mind when you look at it?

For more Wordless Wednesday fun, click here. 

Thanks for stopping by our blog - we love it when people come visit! We're also on Facebook - pop by and say hi!