Sarah Ettritch's Blog, page 20

Let’s Talk Facebook

Why talk Facebook? Well, maybe you’ve seen posts in your news feed lately about adding pages you’ve liked to an interests list. What’s this all about?

Suppose you go to a Facebook page and you like it (you press the Like button). Now you’ll see updates to that page in your news feed, right?

Not exactly.

You see, Facebook has an algorithm called EdgeRank that it uses to determine what you see in your news feed. Just like Google’s ranking algorithm, nobody knows the details of how it works, but generally you’ll see updates from people and pages that you interact with.

Let’s say you and I are Facebook friends. You often like and comment on what I post, and vice versa. In that case, we’ll see each other’s updates in our news feeds. But let’s say you rarely (or never) interact with anything I post, and I don’t interact much with your posts, either. Facebook will eventually stop showing us each other’s posts. To Facebook, it looks like you’re not terribly interested in what I have to say, and I’m not terribly interested in what you have to say.

When it comes to pages, it’s more of a one way street, but it works the same way. Let’s say you want to know when a new Rymellan story comes out. You went to my page and liked it, figuring that when I post about a new Rymellan story, it’ll show up in your news feed. Good in theory, but that’s unlikely to happen, because you haven’t interacted with my page.

Facebook has always worked this way. People are buzzing about it now because Facebook recently started to show page administrators how many of their “fans” their posts are reaching, and it’s not pretty. Because I don’t have many fans, I reach on average about 30% of those who’ve liked my page (that means I’m not reaching 70%!). Those with thousands of fans are reporting grimmer numbers. Some are reaching only 6-7%.

Here’s what Facebook is reporting for a post I made to my page last week. The reach statistic, as it’s called, is at the bottom:

As you can see, only a third of the people who liked my page saw this post in their news feeds.

Why has Facebook started to show this information to page administrators? Because it went public. It has to make money. If you have at least 400 likes on your page, you can now pay Facebook to show your updates to more of your fans. I don’t have 400 likes on my page. Even if I did, I wouldn’t sponsor a post.

So, if you’ve liked a page and you want to see all of its updates, you can either force yourself to interact with that page (blech!), or you can add the page to what’s called an interests list. Here’s an article that explains interests lists:

Facebook introduces interests lists

Let’s get back to my Facebook page. If you want to ensure that you’re notified when I release a new story, you can do the following:

1. Follow my blog by subscribing to the RSS feed.

2. Like my Facebook page and add it to an interests list.

3. Sign up to my mailing list using a form I’ll add to my website in the near future. It will be a “new release” list, so you’ll mainly get emails when I release a book. If you belonged to the Rymellan Stories list, you’ll know that I only sent you an email when I released a story. The new list will be similar.

I should have the signup ready within a couple of weeks. I have to get a post office box first, because I have to provide a physical address at the end of every email, to comply with spam laws.

Anyway, if you’ve seen people talking about interests lists on Facebook, now you know why. If you think other people might want to know, share this blog post to Facebook–and hope it shows up in their news feeds.

News Update: June 2012

A quick news update today:

Writing

I sent the first book in my new contemporary fantasy series to my editor last week, so she’s tearing it apart as we speak. I’ve started the first draft of the second book.

Website

I’ve added an excerpt from the Rymellan series to the audio excerpts page. I provide some context for those who haven’t read the series, then I read from the story Priorities.

I’ve also created more book trailers. Here’s the one for Threaded Through Time:

Coming up

I’ll release more details about the contemporary fantasy book, including the book cover, the blurb, the trailer, and a brief Q&A. Stay tuned.

In my last news update, I mentioned that I’d like to give away a signed book or two. I’m still planning to do that, probably around the end of July.

That’s all for now. Happy Canada Day weekend to Canadians!

Broad Universe LGBTQ Pride Podcast

Come one, come all…

I’m one of five readers featured on Broad Universe’s LGBTQ Pride podcast, which is now available for your listening pleasure. I read an excerpt from The Salbine Sisters. My introduction to the piece is about as long as the excerpt itself, but hey, part of a good reading is setting up the story.

The podcast is hosted by L.C. Hu. Catherine Lundoff, Julia Rios, KT Pinto, and Justine Graykin are also featured. If you’re an SF/F/H reader, definitely check this podcast out.

Broad Universe is an organization that celebrates and promotes women writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. I joined three years ago and decided to get involved. I’ve sat on its board for the past two years (my term ends tomorrow), and I’m also the web maven, so I oversee Broad Universe’s website and answer most of the email that comes in through the contact form.

If you’re a woman who writes SF/F/H, check us out.

Listen to or download the Broad Universe LGBTQ Podcast

Happy Pride month everyone!

News Update: May 2012

I’ve been busy adding content to the website and working towards an editing deadline, so I thought I’d do a news update.

Writing

The first book in my new contemporary fantasy series will go to my editor on June 25th. Since it’s around 60,000 words, she should have it back to me within three weeks or so. Given that, I’d normally say that I expect to release it sometime in August, but August will be unusually busy this year. My parents will celebrate their golden wedding anniversary (yes, that’s 50 years!), and one of my sisters will get married. Our family will celebrate a long-term marriage and a brand new marriage.

I may still get the book out in August, but to give myself some breathing room, I’ll say that it should be out sometime in September. If I release it earlier than that, great!

Website

I’ve added a video to the homepage of the website. It’s short and sweet, and features me giving a brief introduction to each of my books. Check it out. If you like it and want to help me spread the word about my books, share it.

In addition, I’ve added an Audio Excerpts page. Right now, there’s only one excerpt there, from Threaded Through Time. I’ll definitely add more.

I also added an FAQ a few weeks ago. It answers several questions I’ve received about the Rymellan series, touches on my writing process, and contains a photo of my workspace (thrilling, I know!). If you have a question you’d like me to answer, ask away in a comment or send me an email through the contact page.

Check the About page for details about my writing journey.

Facebook

Apart from the audio excerpts page, which I just added half an hour ago, you would already have been notified about most of these changes if you were on my Facebook page. If you’re a friend on my personal profile, I’m happy to have you on board. However, I don’t discuss my writing, fiction, books, or anything else related to my life as an author on my personal profile. I do all of that on my Facebook page, which you can find here.

I also post short comments and links to interesting articles on my Facebook page; stuff that’s too short for a blog post.

If you want my writing related updates to appear in your news feed, like my Facebook page.

Coming up

I’m currently working on a trailer for the Rymellan series. I hope to have it ready by the end of next week.

I’ll soon start talking about that first book in my new contemporary fantasy series. I usually don’t say much about a book until it’s gone to my editor, and that time is approaching.

More audio excerpts are on the way. If there’s a particular scene you’d like me to read, let me know.

I’d like to give away a signed book or two. I’m trying to figure out the logistics. Watch this space.

Conclusion

Have a great weekend. To my American friends: enjoy your Memorial Day holiday!

Rymellan 1: The Dance – Free Read

I’ve added The Dance, the first story in the Rymellan series, to the website. In addition to the HTML version that can be read online, I’ve provided download links to .mobi (Kindle), .epub (nook, Sony, Apple, kobo), and .pdf files.

If you’ve read and enjoyed the Rymellan series, I’ve love it if you’d spread the word by sharing the files with your friends, on social networks, and in any groups you belong to. Word of mouth is super important when it comes to letting people know about my work. As you’ll see on the title page, I’ve granted permission to share the files, as long as you don’t modify them.

You can simply point people to Rymellan 1 – The Dance, or email the files around. Whatever works best for you.

If you haven’t tried the Rymellan series, here’s your chance.

 

The Story That Almost Wasn’t

In my writing plans for 2012 post, I wrote the following:

I’ll focus on short stories, novelettes, and novellas for the remainder of the year.

Depending on who you ask, I’ve already blown that. This morning, I finished the first draft of a story that clocked in at 59,379 words. At that length, most would view it as a short novel. The word count will change during my editing rounds, but not enough to make a difference.

In the same post, I also said:

When I know if/when a story will be published, I’ll post about it on my blog.

And here we are. I don’t know when the story will be released, but I’m planning to release it.

Earlier this week, I added an FAQ to the site. One of the questions and answers is:

What are you working on now? The first book in a new contemporary fantasy series.

I wish I could narrow the genre down further, but the story doesn’t fit nicely into any of the fantasy sub-genres (except the broad “contemporary.”) It’s set in our time and world, hence contemporary fantasy. Maybe it’s urban fantasy, but based on the definitions I’ve read, I don’t think so. It has a lesbian main character, but I don’t consider it lesbian fiction. More on that later.

Writing this story didn’t follow my usual creative process; in fact, I almost didn’t write the story at all. When I’m ready to start something new, I open my running ideas file, read the list, and see what jumps out at me. In January 2011, this story begged to be written. But there was a problem. To start a story, I usually need a good idea of the beginning, a vague idea of the end, and a couple of key plot points in between (which is also a question/answer in the FAQ!). I didn’t have the key plot points, but I decided to try, anyway.

It didn’t work. I flailed around. The story was there, just beyond my grasp, but I couldn’t see it. I was trying to catch air. So I abandoned it and went back to my ideas file. A time travel idea jumped out at me, and Threaded Through Time was the result.

Fast forward to January 2012, when it was time for me to choose a new project. I don’t usually go back to projects I’ve abandoned. There are already enough ideas in my file to last me the rest of my life, and I’m constantly adding more. If an idea hasn’t worked out, so what? I have tons more to choose from. But this story had continued to nag at me—whatever the story was supposed to be!

So I thought, “Okay, let’s go back to basics.” Instead of fretting over what I didn’t have, I decided to finish the scene I’d literally left hanging in 2011, and then to ask myself, “What happens next?” Forget about trying to see ahead; just take it one scene at a time.

So I did. And I kept doing that. And eventually the answer to, “What happens next?” gave me the key I’d been missing. It turned out to be a character, not a plot point. Suddenly she was there, and it was a watershed moment. The lightning bolt had struck. It was smooth sailing after that.

Have a good weekend!

Word Hunting

Every once in a while I need to make up a word. For example, I made up the word malflowed for The Salbine Sisters. Given what I was going for, that was an easy one.

Sometimes I’ll hijack the normal usage of a word. The word joined is a past participle, i.e. the past tense of a verb. In the Rymellan world, I use it as an adjective. I also capitalize it, because Joined has a significant meaning in Rymellan (another made up word!) culture.

Last night, I finally settled on what words to use for certain groups and people in the story I’m currently writing—and rather late in the process, I might add. I’ve almost finished the first draft, but before I went word hunting, I wanted to have a solid feel for what the words should represent. Up to this point, I’ve been using generic terms, which I’ll replace during my first round of editing.

Given the nature of the story, at first I thought I’d go with Latin words or combinations thereof, but after playing around with that for a while, I decided to hunt for good old English words.

When doing this, my two most important tools are a dictionary and what’s probably my favourite reference book when I’m writing: The Synonym Finder. This book is absolutely indispensable (and also the sort of book you must have in print). At 1300+ pages, it’s also huge. Drop this baby on your foot and you might have to pay a visit to emergency.

I’ll often start with a seed word and look up its synonyms. A few will jump out at me, and I’ll look up their synonyms, and so on, and so on, until I suddenly spot a word and think, “That’s it!” or “That’s part of it!” As I do this, I’m constantly checking meanings in the various online dictionaries.

When the dust had settled, I’d found all the words I needed. I hadn’t made up a single word, but I will be hijacking the normal usage of one word and capitalizing it.

Today’s word is: deiform.

deiform: godlike or divine in form or nature — Dictionary.com

I’ll use it as a noun.

As I was looking up various words in online dictionaries, I came across this, which gave me a chuckle:

 

Methinks the Christian dating service in question might want to take a look at the keywords it’s using to target its advertising.

A New Look for Spring!

I’ve finally gotten around to changing the look of my website. I’d been using the Twenty-Ten theme, which comes with every WordPress installation.  It’s a great theme–definitely better than the one that came with earlier versions of WordPress–but I always considered it temporary.

Earlier this week I bought the Genesis Framework from Studiopress. I’d heard good things about it, and I’m pleased with it so far. I’m using the Lifestyle child theme.

Since I was fiddling with the site anyway, I’ve made a few changes. The Contact and Interview pages are now under About, and excerpts are no longer on the book pages. I’ve added an Excerpts item to the main navigation bar.

I’ll continue to tweak the site. Next up, I’ll expand the bio on the About page. Over the next few months, I’ll add an FAQ and audio excerpts (i.e. me reading excerpts from my work). If there are questions you’d like to see in the FAQ, or scenes you’d like me to read, let me know. The same goes for anything else you’d like to see on the site. Suggestions are welcome.

Chapters. Who Needs Them?

I’m around 45,000 words into what will probably be about a 55,000 word story. As I was typing away a few days ago, I thought, “You’ve done it again. You’ve forgotten about chapters.”

I remember when I was just about to send Threaded Through Time, Book Two to my editor, and I do mean just about. I was writing the email. I’d already attached the Word file. And I thought, “Oh, fudge! (yeah, right). You haven’t chopped the freaking (yeah, right) story up into chapters.”

So I went back into the Word file and rather arbitrarily added page breaks and chapter headings. I do try to end a chapter at a point that makes sense, but I don’t give the matter much thought beyond that.

When I realized that I wasn’t bothering with chapters (again) with my work in progress, I wondered how I’d feel if I bought a fiction print book that had only scene breaks—no chapters. I say fiction because I totally get why chapters are important for non-fiction.

As a reader, would I find a fiction print book with no chapters weird? Well, yeah, but only because I’m used to having chapters. I’m sure after reading a few books without them, I’d forget about it. I only think about chapters when I’m ready to turn out the light, or take a break. “I’ll just read to the end of the chapter.”

Sometimes that stresses me out, because there are still ten pages to go. It starts to weigh on my mind. I feel pressured. It sounds silly, but sometimes that’s how I feel. So I’ve started to turn the light off at the end of the current scene, and, hey, the world hasn’t come to an end.

When reading an eBook, I don’t need chapters at all. When I open a book, the eReader takes me right to where I left off. Chapters, shmapters. Who needs them?

Shattered Lives, the longest story in the Rymellan series, is 45,000 words long. No chapters. Because I was in “installment mode,” it never occurred to me to break up the story that way. I haven’t received any complaints. Not about that aspect of the story, anyway.

Now, I can see why chapters can be handy. “What, you want me to vacuum? Sure, I’ll just read to the end of this chapter—which is 150 pages long, by the way.”

“Wow, I love what happened in Chapter Five!” Okay, nobody ever says that. Hmm.

I won’t stop breaking my longer stories into chapters. There are times to buck convention. This isn’t one of them. But I’ll continue to write stories without considering chapters until the last minute. That just seems to be how it is for me.

What do you think? Are chapters necessary? Are they a requirement for print books, but not eBooks (or the other way around)? Could you read a novel with no chapter breaks, or would it be weird?

New Release – Rymellan 3: The Triad

Rymellan 3: The Triad is now available in print and eBook formats. Right now, you can buy the book at Amazon and Smashwords. Over the next month, it will make its way to other bookstores, such as Barnes & Noble, the Book Depository, iTunes, Sony, etc.

The Rymellan series is a science fiction series about two (at first!) lesbians who live in a strict society that selects mates for its citizens. More details here.

 

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