Alexandra Bogdanovic's Blog: That's life... - Posts Tagged "advice"

For some reason my friends are on my mind quite a bit these days. Perhaps it's because I haven't seen any of them for a while -- although that's hardly unusual.
Some of my closest friends live in other states. Some live nearby. But geography isn't the issue. All of us are busy.
Lately it seems we've all been extremely busy. Too busy to return phone calls. Too busy to return texts. Too caught up in the stress and frenetic pace of 21st century life to put our own issues aside.
It's not an indictment. I'm not upset. In fact I've never judged or based friendships solely on the amount of time people are willing to invest. I measure them against far more intrinsic values.
My dearest friends aren't the people I've known the longest or those that I hang out with most. They are the people who have been loyal through thick and thin. They've put up with the drama and they've never hesitated to give me a swift kick in the butt when I needed one most. They haven't asked me to trust them. They've just shown that I can.
There's a fierce, unspoken bond. I know they've always got my back. And I'll always have theirs.
My closest friends are an elite group. I can count them on one hand.
As I do, I remember something my father always said. He told me that you'll be lucky to have a few truly good friends in life.
I am definitely a lucky girl.
Until next time, "That's life..."

Judging by the number of views last week's post got, the topic clearly resonated with a lot of you.
And while I appreciate your support, it left me in a bit of a pickle. How can I top that? I've been thinking. The answer is, I probably can't. So I decided to shift gears this week.
After all, even I can only rant and rave so much.
So without further ado, here are my all-time favorite quotes about writing, reading and related activities. Enjoy!
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1. Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. ― Benjamin Franklin
2. There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.
― Ernest Hemingway
3. If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. ― Toni Morrison
4. Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on. ― Louis L'Amour
5. I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn. ― Anne Frank
6. The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go. ― Dr. Seuss
7. Classic - a book which people praise and don't read. ― Mark Twain
8. If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that. ― Stephen King
9. You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them. ― Ray Bradbury
10. Readers are not sheep, and not every pen tempts them. ― Vladimir Nabokov
11. Read a lot, write a lot is the great commandment. ― Stephen King
12. She has learned to love. To fear. To hate. And then to love again. Through it all, she writes. ~Once Upon A Time There Was A Girl ― Kimberly Kinrade

Until next time, "That's life..."

I can hardly believe it. It's been a little over two years since I gave birth to my first child -- or more accurately, the 174-page, 9.6-ounce bundle of joy known to millions (okay, maybe a few hundred thousand) as my memoir, Truth Be Told: Adam Becomes Audrey.
Like all new "parents" I've read a lot and gotten quite a bit of advice about how to raise a child (or in my case, how to market a book). Some of it has been good, some of it has been bad and most of it has been worthless.
Suffice it to say I've learned a lot the hard way and discovered that, well, I've still got a lot to learn.
In hindsight, one of the biggest mistakes I made was heeding my publisher's advice not to engage in any marketing activities prior to publication. Truthfully I don't know why they insisted that I wait, and although I could probably hazard a few guesses, this is neither the time nor the place for pointless speculation. After all, what's done is done.
I made another big mistake by deciding not to have an e-book created at the same time the paperback was published. I had my reasons at the time. Although I made my book available to the general public, I initially targeted educators and gender and women's study groups as my primary audience. While appealing to such a specific niche, I did not see a pressing need to make my memoir available in an electronic format.
I also feared that by making the book available in two formats (one of which would theoretically be less expensive) I would be competing against myself. To be honest, cost was also a factor.
The good news is, I can now remedy all of that. Or at least I can try. Back in August, I finally bit the bullet and spent the money to have Truth turned into an e-book. It was released in various formats earlier this month and is now available for your Kindle, Nook and other tablets and e-readers. I also hope to make it available here on goodreads as well.
No matter which format the book is in, however, one thing hasn't changed. I have an unusual, compelling and important story to share. I hope you'll be generous enough to read it, and that if you do, that you enjoy it. More importantly, I hope you'll learn a thing or two.
I have.
Until next time, "That's life..."

So here I sit. It's 6:30 p.m. on Thursday and I'm desperately trying to dream up a creative, insightful, entertaining topic for this week's blog. And I'm failing miserably. It's infuriating.
But I've got to come up with something. I mean, I can't not do a blog post this week.
Or can I? I mean, I've done more than 70 posts and I don't want to break my streak. And what would happen to my brand? I mean the book marketing pundits and the gurus and the experts all say that every self-published or Indie author worth their salt has to have a blog. Blogging at least once a week is recommended -- blogging two or three times a week is essential. It's one of the best ways to set yourself apart as an author, allow your current and prospective readers to get to know you and develop a following, or a fan base. Or so they say.
By the way, has anyone figured out who they are? When you do, please drop me a note and let me know. I've been dying to find out.
In the meantime, I'll keep debating whether or not to follow their advice, but it will probably take a while. I mean, there's advice about blogging, the use of social media, book reviews, book contests, book trailers, book launches (although I'm kind of past that point) book signings (I've never done one but I would love to) book fairs, e-books, audio books... I think you've got the point.
There's good advice, bad advice and contradictory advice. They say the worst thing any author can do is scream, "buy my book" but let's be honest, isn't that exactly what we all end up doing? We're all finding creative ways of screaming for attention and patting ourselves on the back when we achieve even a modicum of success. Hell, I've even resorted to the deliberate use of double negatives to set myself apart.
After spending two years (and thousands of dollars) trying to sell my memoir, I'm broke, I'm tired, I'm frustrated... and yes, I am screaming.
Is anybody listening?
Until next time, "That's life..."

January 1 is a very important day at our house. We don't just celebrate the beginning of the new year around here. We also celebrate Eli's birthday.
For those of you keeping score at home, he just turned nine.
Of course, I'm not sure whether he's on his "first" life or his "ninth." But any way you slice it, he's definitely been through a lot.
So, with tongue in cheek, I present Eli's guide to longevity and happiness in 2015.
1. Read.
2. Get plenty of rest.
3. Eat only the finest foods.
4. Meditate.
5. Spend plenty of time with family.
6. Avoid stress.
7. Play.
8. Exercise.
9. Do not work too hard.
10. Find joy in simple things.
11. Bask in the sunshine.
12. Ignore negativity.
13. Appreciate true friends.
14. Forgive those who have used or betrayed you.
15. Stand up for yourself.
16. Bite and scratch (fight) only as a last resort.
17. Take pride in your appearance but do not succumb to vanity.
18. Take nothing for granted.
19. Never forget how awesome you truly are.
20. Live.
Until next time, "That's life..."

It suddenly dawned on me that I've been doing this for a while now.
By my reckoning, I've been blogging here on goodreads for two years... give or take a few weeks.
At first it was something I felt compelled to do. As authors... or more accurately, as indie authors it's something we're supposed to do. Right?
According to the experts, (whoever they are) blogging is supposed to help us "build our brand," develop a following, or a fan base, etc., etc., etc.
So I set out to follow their advice (for what its worth), came up with a name for my blog and wrote my first post, called "Here I am."
Since I introduced myself in that first post, I've written about my adventures as an author, my adventures in general, my book, politics (sort of), capitalism, patriotism, sports, celebrities family, travel, New York, Europe, Australia and (last but not least) my cat.
I've been serious, I've been snarffy, I've been unabashedly opinionated and I've made no apologies for any of it. I've been true to "my brand" and more importantly, I've been true to myself.
That's not to say I haven't made a few changes along the way. I started writing on Wednesdays and then shifted to Thursdays. Somewhere along the line I started blogging on Sundays and now I'm doing a Monday blog. Go figure.
It took some time, but I mastered enough html formatting to get by and -- after quite a bit of frustration -- I learned how to include photographs in the posts.
But something far more important changed. What began as a chore and became a habit also became fun. My weekly post morphed from something I dreaded to something I actually enjoy.
For those of you who have been along for the ride since day one and those of you who joined in the fun, all I can say is thank you so much. I couldn't have done it without you.
Until next time, "That's life..."