Conda V. Douglas's Blog: Conda's Creative Center, page 9
July 13, 2012
Author Pratfalls and Great Social Media Wars
This upcoming Tuesday, July 17th, I'll be giving the luncheon speech at the Idaho Writers Guild in Boise. My talk's all about the various mistakes all writers make. I know I've made every single one, a number of times. Most of the problem is that I'm an author and therefore neurotic and unbalanced--as in swinging from one extreme to the other.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the new world of social media. Every writer I know (including myself) swings from one extreme to the other. Part of the problem is that no one is certain what works the best with social media--is it SEO? Part of the problem is that social media seems to operate as virtual word of mouth, but which mouths and when? Us authors drive ourselves wild figuring that out.
The unbalance comes from not knowing how much is too much and wasted time and effort, or possibly even annoying), how much is enough (we want to sell ourselves and our titles), and how much is too little (my mom always said, "If you don't tell people that you have a book out to buy, they won't know.).
So what's a writer to do? Here's a tip from my talk:
ALWAYS REMEMBER THE WRITING COMES FIRST! Or as my wise mom said too, "You need something to sell, and the more product you have to sell the better." I'd add that having more than one piece of writing published is very useful too, for cross-marketing.
So everyone, keep writing!
Anybody got a secret to sell millions of books? Please share here! Anybody got a rant about the life of a writer nowadays? Share here!
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the new world of social media. Every writer I know (including myself) swings from one extreme to the other. Part of the problem is that no one is certain what works the best with social media--is it SEO? Part of the problem is that social media seems to operate as virtual word of mouth, but which mouths and when? Us authors drive ourselves wild figuring that out.
The unbalance comes from not knowing how much is too much and wasted time and effort, or possibly even annoying), how much is enough (we want to sell ourselves and our titles), and how much is too little (my mom always said, "If you don't tell people that you have a book out to buy, they won't know.).
So what's a writer to do? Here's a tip from my talk:
ALWAYS REMEMBER THE WRITING COMES FIRST! Or as my wise mom said too, "You need something to sell, and the more product you have to sell the better." I'd add that having more than one piece of writing published is very useful too, for cross-marketing.
So everyone, keep writing!
Anybody got a secret to sell millions of books? Please share here! Anybody got a rant about the life of a writer nowadays? Share here!
July 4, 2012
Happy Fourth of July!
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!
AN AMERICAN BEAUTY ROSE TO CELEBRATE My hope is that everyone today who is an American celebrates and is grateful for our freedoms. I'm grateful for the freedom to create whatever I wish, whenever I wish. I've been in countries where that freedom is not available and seen the culture and soul killing results.Let's celebrate our freedoms and work to set those others free of tyranny.
June 23, 2012
A Review of a Fun Summer's Read A Courtesan's Desires
This book is a type, romance, that I don't often read, because I don't write in this genre -- or haven't yet. But I needed to review it because it was a perfect for and perfectly delightful summer read.
One of my major complaints about romance novels in general (especially the historical ones) is that they can be overwritten. By that I mean the author puts every ounce of historical information the author knows in the novel, so it takes forever to read! Now I love history, especially European History (my major in college), but if there's too much it bumps me out of a story.
A Courtesan's Desires is an excellent balance, just enough historical verisimilitude to keep me reading and engaged in the 19th century world of a young Hutterite woman, who is thrown from her insular world into a far, far different one. I adore reading about history and groups I know little about, and this novel begins with stepping into the Hutterite world and gives the reader a wonderful taste of that world. Action filled, A Courtesan's Desires also moves along at an excellent clip, I read this short novel in a lazy summer afternoon! Only one tiny historical inaccuracy bumped me out of the work and only because I was a history major -- and I doubt any other reader will ever catch it. For anyone who enjoys a historical romance, A Courtesan's Desires will be a great read.
One of my major complaints about romance novels in general (especially the historical ones) is that they can be overwritten. By that I mean the author puts every ounce of historical information the author knows in the novel, so it takes forever to read! Now I love history, especially European History (my major in college), but if there's too much it bumps me out of a story.
A Courtesan's Desires is an excellent balance, just enough historical verisimilitude to keep me reading and engaged in the 19th century world of a young Hutterite woman, who is thrown from her insular world into a far, far different one. I adore reading about history and groups I know little about, and this novel begins with stepping into the Hutterite world and gives the reader a wonderful taste of that world. Action filled, A Courtesan's Desires also moves along at an excellent clip, I read this short novel in a lazy summer afternoon! Only one tiny historical inaccuracy bumped me out of the work and only because I was a history major -- and I doubt any other reader will ever catch it. For anyone who enjoys a historical romance, A Courtesan's Desires will be a great read.
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