Sue Knott's Blog: Knott The Screaming Type, page 4

Getting to Know Goodreads

Goodreads seems to be such a tremendous tool for authors and readers alike. I'm still trying to figure my way around it. ['m guessing there is far more here than I have as yet uncovered.

Today, I asked someone who is reading one of my books to be my goodreads friend. I don't know if that is weird or not. I don't even know what, exactly, it means to be a goodreads friend.

I only have one "gf" at the moment, a person who read one of my books and asked me to be her friend. The only thing that I know that friendship means right now is that I get to see what she's reading. I find that very interesting and valuable! The more I know about my readers' literary tastes, the better I feel I can write books that truly connect with readers.

I am so very busy writing, that I find it difficult to keep with all the new and different offerings in the social media world (and everywhere else!). But, I try to devote a little time to it each week.

If any of you have insights you'd like to share with me about how you use the friend feature on goodreads, I'm all ears. And if you want to friend me, I'd be so honored to be your friend.

Seeing what people are reading feels a little "stalkery"...that may be too strong a word, but it definitely feels like spying (in an impersonal way). But, as a former advertising copywriter, I am used to collecting and analyzing data on people's habits and turning that into useful insights that improve products and communications. (As an author, I've been doing this by reading reviews on various books and analyzing what readers like and don't like. I suppose I am a total research nerd.)

I've read in the trade press that goodreads will be starting to sell books sometime this year...don't know if that's speculation or a fact, but it will be interesting to see what happens in the book world when/if that comes to be.

Nutritional Content of Writing

I don't believe writing has to be "literature" to be worthwhile. However, I do believe an author who provides no substance to his/her work is doing the reader a disservice.

Writing can provide meaningful insights and entertain at the same time. Giving the reader interesting, new ideas to chew on even after the book is finished should be a goal all writers strive toward. At the very least, incorporating fascinating information should be a given.

Without some worthwile knowledge, some insight into the human condition, some historical background, some fun facts...writing can be like empty calories: yummy going down, but otherwise a waste.

The Dreaded Author Photo

How does one select the photo to appear on the author page? Considering myself rather dumpy, I can't help but think that exposing readers to my face would be a disservice to them. Not to mention, a sales deterrent.

Is there a camera anywhere with a lens fuzzy enough to erase the sun damage? Is there a photo retoucher with enough skill to make me look fabulous? I dooubt it.

Would fans be disappointed if I used my facebook photo (a peacock)?

I'll try to get a picture up here someday soon...but, hopefully, it will look nothing like me.

Comma or no?

First things being first, I guess I'll tell you that I struggled with whether or not to put a coma in the name of my blog. Or, better yet, a colon.

I decided against both because I don't scream and I have more important things to do than worry about this particular punctuation issue. Plus, I like the feeling of leaving the title as ambiguous as possible. What fun is life if we don't occasionally leave others wondering if we are trying to say one thing or the opposite?

Which brings me to what I consider the most inane word in the English language: oversight. Tell me, what good is a word when its too major meanings are pretty much the direct opposite of each other? While it's usually clear which meaning the author intends, the feeling of the other meaning overshadows the communication.