P.J. Kaiser's Blog, page 8

My new post "Indie Publishing: One Size Does Not Fit All"

 

Today, I have the pleasure of announcing that I have written a guest post for the lovely writing website "Easily Mused," brainchild of Kemari Howell and Tomara Armstrong.  My post is a high-level recap from the Indie Book Event 2011.  Want to know more?  You'll just have to go over and check out my post:  "Indie Publishing:  One Size Does Not Fit All."  It is also the kick-off post for a series of more detailed posts in which I discuss specific topics from the conference.  So don't miss it, okay?!

Inspiration Minute – NY Newlyweds – August 8, 2011

In my feature, "Inspiration Minute," I'd like to share with you something that has caught my attention or inspired me recently.  Be forewarned, it may take a bit more than a minute! For readers, these posts might show you something interesting that you hadn't considered before and for writers, these posts might inspire a story – either directly or indirectly.

You may have seen the news that gay marriage has been legalized recently in the state of New York.  These photos of recently-married couples brought a huge smile to my face and may have inspired some stories as well.  Maybe they'll do the same for you.  Enjoy!

Please let me know if this is interesting or inspiring in the comments!  It will help me to hone in on the best items for future installments of "Inspiration Minute."

Inspired Links – August 7, 2011

In my "Inspired Links" feature, I provide links and brief descriptions of thought-provoking articles.  I hope you enjoy these little treasures

- Not sure which avenue to pursue to publication?  Check out "Indie, Big Six or Small Press Publishing:  Why Not Choose All Three?" from Kim Wright, guesting on Anne R. Allen's blog.  This is a terrific post because of her level-headed analysis.  Too many of these posts are biased in one direction or the other and don't provide such an even-handed viewpoint.

- Haruki Murakami fans will be pleased to know his novel 1Q84 is being released in English this fall.  This post from "The Millions" includes the first few lines from the novel as a teaser.  I'm ready to read now!

- Considered your backup strategy lately?  Read this post from Dan Blank:  "Preserving Your Legacy:  Backing Up Your Digital Media."  I wish I had read it before my blog was blown away last January.  Visiting Dan's blog also reminds me that I need to catch up on watching his video interviews.

- Submitting your writing to literary journals?  "The Submitter's Dilemma:  Choosing the Right Literary Magazine for Your Work" from "Beyond the Margins" is a must-read.  And, in a similar vein, check out "Why Fiction Magazines Are an Untapped Goldmine for Authors" from Doug Lance, guest posting over at The Creative Penn.

- Considering plotting but not quite sure how to go about it?  One option is the "snowflake method" outlined in this post from Randy Ingermanson.  The post is not new – I've seen it make the rounds on Twitter several times – but I thought I'd share it in case you haven't seen it.

- We've recently had another terrific guest post from Claudia Hall Christian over at the Tuesday Serial site entitled "Why Your Serial Fiction is Likely to Fail and What To Do About It" which contains some excellent tips.

If you're wondering about my methodology for choosing links for inclusion in this post, rest assured there isn't one.  It's just a collection of things that I found interesting and I thought you might too.  Please let me know what you think!

 

Happy Birthday, #amwriting!

This entry is part of a blog carnival celebrating the 2nd birthday for the #amwriting community. Johanna Harness, the mastermind behind this Twitter-based support-group of writers, invited members of the #amwriting community to post blog entries on the anniversary (August 3rd). There is a good chance that you arrived here via a link on Johanna's website. And after you check out my post, below, you'll want to move along to Jamie Ridenhour's post.

I apologize if you've stopped by earlier and my post wasn't up.  You see, I had to clean all the writing files off of my desk in hopes of taking a picture of my desk – aka my writer's nook.  So, I now have a nice neat desk, but unfortunately Wordpress is not cooperating and I am unable to upload my picture.  So, moving right along …

I want to mark the occasion of the birthday of #amwriting because it was born about a month after I began to write fiction.  I remember when #amwriting used to be used by writers who were writing in the morning – hence "a.m." It wasn't long until it really took off and people began using it 24×7.  It morphed into "I #amwriting."  It was and is reassuring to know that no matter the time of day, there is somebody out there writing.  Writing is such a solitary endeavor that it's very comforting to know you're not alone.

Using the hashtag, we talk about what we're writing, what we're not writing and how it's coming along (or not).  We ask questions and provide assistance.  It's become an entire platform of not just Twitter chat, but valuable content over at the #amwriting site along with author profiles so we have an opportunity to showcase our work.

Although I'm generally not a big fan of quotes, I wanted to share the quote that hangs above my desk providing me constant inspiration:  "We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations" (C. Swindoll).  #Amwriting has provided such wonderful opportunities resulting from a simple need of writers to connect to each other.

Thanks to Johanna and  all the members of the #amwriting community – you're the best! Happy Birthday!

Thanks for stopping by Now, you'll want to move along to Jamie Ridenhour's post - the next stop on the #amwriting birthday tour!

 

 

Indie Book Event 2011 – I'm coming!

Going anywhere without my kids isn't really my thing.  My kids are little, my husband works long hours, we don't have a steady babysitter… all of these things mean that my writerly life generally takes place in the virtual space.  But tomorrow I'm bucking the trend.  I'm showing up *in person* at the Indie Book Event.  I'm so excited I'll be lucky not to pee my pants.  I will be meeting *in person* fabulous people like Donna & Alex Carrick, Gene Doucette, the terrific gal behind "The Sunday Book Review" and the awesome ladies in the Indie Book Collective, among many others.

Interested in attending?  Check out the event here.  If you can't make it, you can follow along with the tweets tomorrow at #ibe11.

I will have my laptop, my iPad, my MIFI and all my batteries will be charged, so I plan to be a note-taking machine.  I may not be live-tweeting because I won't want to miss any of the content.  We'll have to see how the day goes.  But I will be sharing what I learn in upcoming blog posts.

So, stay tuned, watch this space, and say a little prayer that I don't go postal being away from my kids for the whole day

Three For Thursday: Things I Like About Google+

Welcome to my blog feature – "Three for Thursday."  You may not see an installment every Thursday, but when I can manage it, I'll be sharing three cool – er – somethings.

I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook, as I've talked about several times on this blog.  Kind of like that crazy neighbor lady who smells bad but always tells me I look like I've lost weight.  But I digress.

And then along came Google+.  I won't waste my time and yours giving you some sort of history or high level overview of Google+ – you can get that in a thousand other places.  What I want to share is what has struck me as some key advantages of Google+ in the two weeks since I joined:

1. The entire system is built on the concept of Circles.  Circles are essentially like lists on Twitter and Facebook, except where lists are a bit kludgy on Twitter and an unintuitive afterthought on Facebook, they are front and center in Google+.  Circles are easy to build and manipulate.  I can envision some lovely functionality down the road when they enhance the drag and drop capabilities.  You "follow" people by placing them in a circle.  It's best to think in advance how you might like to organize yourself, but it's easy enough to change it down the road if you make a mis-step.  I have three circles entitled Tiers 1 through 3.  If I only have a few minutes, I check only the Tier 1 stream, more time and I check 2 and still more time and I check 3.  I also don't put anybody in a circle just to be nice – I put them there because I am interested in their posts.

2.  At the moment, Google+ is filled with Type-A people.  Early adopters are cool peeps and are busily sharing wonderful content even as we speak.  If you are dragging your feet about getting on Google+, please don't take offense – I'm not saying YOU aren't cool too.  I simply mean to say that it's a very interesting place to be right now.  There are almost no spammers and I have not yet encountered anybody who's trying to do the hard sell on me.  Everybody is still exploring and learning.

3.  Privacy and Security are user-centered, not "big brother"-centered.  Rather than feeling like you're signing over your first-born when you join the network, you have a feeling of being in the driver's seat.  You can customize your security settings easily.  The best privacy feature is being able to easily select how widely you want your update broadcast:  to an individual, to a small group, to a circle, to multiple circles, all your circles, your "extended circles" (the circles of your peeps) or public.  That's some serious flexibility and it's there at your fingertips rather than having to dig through multiple screens to find it.

So, two weeks in and I have to say I'm a convert.  Facebook still has a lot of value to me but only for the connections that I've made there in my personal account and on my fan page.  So, I'll still be hanging around that neighborhood, too.  But I'm also kicking the tires of Google+ and liking what I see so far.  If you're interested in joining, I happen to have a few invites, so just drop me a line.

Are you on Google+?  What are the things YOU like (or dislike) about it?

 

Inspiration Minute – May Mississippi Floods – July 18, 2011

In my feature, "Inspiration Minute," I'd like to share with you something that has caught my attention or inspired me recently.  Be forewarned, it may take a bit more than a minute! For readers, these posts might show you something interesting that you hadn't considered before and for writers, these posts might inspire a story – either directly or indirectly.

Remember when the Mississippi River flooded in May?  If you live in the region I'm quite sure it's unforgettable.  I caught a couple of these photos making their way around Twitter, but hadn't seen this collection of photos from The Atlantic.  The first photo alone is enough to inspire a story.  This collection serves as an incredible reminder of the power of mother nature.

Please let me know if this is interesting or inspiring in the comments!  It will help me to hone in on the best items for future installments of "Inspiration Minute."

Inspired Links – July 18, 2011

In my "Inspired Links" feature, I provide links and brief descriptions of thought-provoking articles.  I hope you enjoy these little treasures

- Who do you have in mind when you write?  Do you write solely for yourself or do you write what you think your readers want or somewhere in between?  "Are Your Readers In Your Writing" by Jael McHenry over at Writer Unboxed addresses this question and the ensuing conversation in the comments is definitely worth a read as well.

- If you're trying to follow the in's and out's of the publishing industry these days, you'll be interested in this post over at BubbleCow:  "7 Publishers Trying to Get It Right."

- Looking for some quick hits on the topic of writing craft?  Check out this series from Victoria Mixon:  "How to do everything wrong."

- Wondering how much of your time to invest in writing versus building your platform?  Check out this inspired post from Dan Blank:  "Honing Your Craft vs Connecting With Your Audience."

- If you missed it, you'll want to check out the Tuesday Serial interview with Jim Bronyaur in which he talks about his serial "Pulsate" and his path to publication.

If you're wondering about my methodology for choosing links for inclusion in this post, rest assured there isn't one.  It's just a collection of things that I found interesting and I thought you might too.  Please let me know what you think!

 

Inspiration Minute – Kissing in Vancouver – July 11, 2011

In my feature, "Inspiration Minute," I'd like to share with you something that has caught my attention or inspired me recently.  Be forewarned, it may take a bit more than a minute! For readers, these posts might show you something interesting that you hadn't considered before and for writers, these posts might inspire a story – either directly or indirectly.

This is a wee bit late for International Kissing Day (which was July 6 in case you missed it), but you may have seen this photo a few weeks ago as it was circulating through the media outlets and Twitter and Facebook.  I thought it was fascinating that the photographer didn't even realize what he'd captured until his editor pointed it out.

If you're writing a story involving romance, please make sure your characters would be willing to make out in the midst of a riot, otherwise it's clear that their love isn't strong enough to be convincing.

ps  If you missed International Kissing Day, there's no time like the present to make up for it MWAH!

Please let me know if this is interesting or inspiring in the comments!  It will help me to hone in on the best items for future installments of "Inspiration Minute."

Inspired Links – July 8, 2011

In my "Inspired Links" feature, I provide links and brief descriptions of thought-provoking articles.  I hope you enjoy these little treasures

- If you are considering self publishing then you simply must check out this post from Seth Godin in which he shares a spreadsheet put together by Jenny Blake.  This spreadsheet is a tracking mechanism for marketing efforts and provides an exhaustive laundry list of various marketing efforts an author might undertake.

- Another must-read post is "Publishing Your E-Book:  A Quick How-To" by Ania Ahlborn.  It's exhaustive and informative.

- K.M. Weiland always has interesting writerly content on her blog and her series "Most Common Mistakes" is no exception.  My favorite post in the series is "Is Your First Person Narrator Overpowering Your Story" which contains a list of key tips for writing in the first person.  I read this post when it was originally posted and just recently listened to the podcast as well.

- "It's a Trap:  The Easy Ending" by Steph Sinkhorn is a great rundown of common problems with endings.  Writing endings is a big bugaboo with me and this post offers some terrific insights.

- Darrelyn Saloom wrote this wonderful guest post for Jane Friedman's blog:  "Editing a Life" which is more about simplifying and organizing and less about writing, but it's beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

- Anybody who thinks they don't have any time to read fiction should check out the latest issue of "5×5 Fiction," edited by Angel Zapata.  It's chock full of bite-sized morsels of fiction.

- For an in-depth analysis of the changes taking place in "bricks and mortar" bookstores, check out this post by Kristine Kathryn Rusch:  "The Business Rusch:  Bookstore Observations."  And if this excellent post isn't enough, then check out the 81 (and counting) comments!

- Many years ago, I used to be into dream analysis.  I have several blank notebooks that are filled with my dream journals and amateur attempts at interpretation.  I have had two dreams that have turned into short stories.  So, Emily Gray Tedrowe's guest post on Caroline Leavitt's blog was a fascinating read for me.  I hope you enjoy it too.

- "The Art of Being Different:  Why You Shouldn't Compare and Compete, But Seek to Change the Game" by Justine Musk provides some real food for thought on rethinking the rules of the game – whatever game you happen to be playing.

- "What Social Media Stats Should You Include In Your Book Proposal" by Michael Hyatt provides some insight on key blog and social media metrics.

- In case you missed it, you'll want to check out "5 Tips for Writing Kick-Ass Serial Fiction" by Claudia Hall Christian over on the Tuesday Serial site.  She provides some excellent tips whether or not you are writing serial fiction.

If you're wondering about my methodology for choosing links for inclusion in this post, rest assured there isn't one.  It's just a collection of things that I found interesting and I thought you might too.  Please let me know what you think!