Sally Ember's Blog, page 104
August 16, 2014
#RazorSocial’s Ian Cleary’s latest Social Media Tools
Thanks, +Ian Cleary and #RazorSocial for posting your quarterly finds. This time, 9 Social Media Tools we can all understand and benefit from using!
My favorite one TO BE TRIED is:
2. Optimize Your Content for Google with Seologies
Seologies is an SEO tool that can help you optimize your content to improve its relevance for Google.
If you want to rank for a particular keyword combination in Google, you need to make sure your content is very relevant to that keyword. If it’s relevant, then Google will expect to see a lot of content related to that keyword within your content. Also, when you rank for a particular keyword combination, you have a good chance of getting more traffic for other, similar keywords so it’s useful to consider these within the content.
This is not about just throwing in content for the sake of it. You use Seologies to find out if there’s content that you haven’t considered for your post.
There’s a couple of ways of using it. For example, you can put in an existing post and enter the keywords you want to optimize it for. Or you can just enter in keywords and get a list of words that it considers to be related.
In the example below, I entered ‘surfing’ and got a wide variety of keywords. When you hover over the keywords, it will show you the relevance of the keyword on the right-hand side, and it will also show you some sites with articles related to that keyword. These are sites that could be worth linking to.
Go to Ian’s site for the rest of this and the entire post!
http://www.razorsocial.com/9-interesting-social-media-tools-q2-report/
Filed under: Blogging and others' content, Social Media Tagged: Ian Cleary, Razor Social, Tools
August 15, 2014
‘Into the Woods’ director Rob Marshall answers all your burning questions
For @Mario Cossa and other Sondheim fans: the upcoming “Into the Woods'” movie director tells about ITW adaptation.
Originally posted on Inside Movies:
[ew_image url="http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/i/2013/01/..." credit="Disney" align="left"]
Before Disney released a trailer and an assortment of first- (well, second-) look photos at Into the Woods in late July, there wasn’t much information available about the upcoming movie adaptation of the beloved 1987 Broadway musical. That’s why fans latched on tightly earlier this summer, when composer Stephen Sondheim indicated that the film had made certain changes to the show’s script—ones pertaining to death and sex and the elimination of fan-favorite songs.
Sondheim wasn’t pleased with the backlash. Despite the theater legend’s follow-up explanation, some fans had already decided that Disney was making a squeaky clean adaptation of an otherwise dark, adult show.
But director Rob Marshall, the man behind movie-musicals like Chicago and Nine, wants to put fans at ease by clearing up a few things.
View original 470 more words
Filed under: Writing
Robin Williams: sober and battling Parkinson’s, according to wife
More info about #RobinWilliams’ decision to end his life brings a new perspective to the entire situation. Parkinson’s Disease….
Originally posted on Inside Movies:
[ew_image url="http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/i/2014/08/..." credit="SSPL/Getty Images" align="left"]Robin Williams’ wife Susan Schneider issued a statement Thursday morning, revealing that the Oscar-winning actor and comedian had been battling the early stages of Parkinson’s disease, in addition to depression and anxiety. According to the statement, Schneider says Williams was sober at the time of his suicide on Monday, Aug. 11.
The coroner’s office has yet to release its toxicology report.
The full statement:
“Robin spent so much of his life helping others. Whether he was entertaining millions on stage, film or television, our troops on the front lines, or comforting a sick child—Robin wanted us to laugh and to feel less afraid.
View original 136 more words
Filed under: Writing
August 14, 2014
Notes from the SUBstitute Teacher Underground: Back-to-School Special Guest Post!
It’s that time, again, when students and adults go back to school. Here’s a report from the point of view of the itinerant substitute teacher in secondary schools in northern California. How much of this story (the “good” and the “bad”) might be true in schools where you live?
Education in the Trenches: My Life as a Substitute Teacher
by D.G. Mitchell
image from writemejenb110.wordpress.com
It’s 5:30 AM when I get my first call for a substitute teaching assignment. A robotic voice tells me “This is the XYZ School District” and instructs me to push “1” if I am interested in a job. I’m only half-awake, but I dutifully push “1” and hear the description of a job at one of the local secondary schools.
PE teacher/wood shop. No, thanks. I press another number, telling them, “I can’t take this job, but call me back if you have another.”
Then, I go back to bed. At 8 AM, I’m having breakfast when the robot calls me again. They need an English teacher at another school. Of course, school has already started, but it was an emergency. They’re also getting a little desperate. So I take the job, rushing to get dressed and get out the door, travel mug in hand.
For about two years, I have had this routine, working as a substitute teacher in several school districts in Northern California . Many jobs are listed online, so one can avoid the early wake up call if one finds an assignment the night before. But, I am never quick enough: those jobs get snapped up in a hurry. More often than not, I get the wake-up call. Not knowing if I’ll be working until early each school day is nerve-wracking, but I am glad for the work.
Walking into a new class for the first time is something I never get used to. Years ago, I taught full-time in a junior high school in San Francisco, so I’m not new to teaching. Now, being in semi-retirement, I can always use the extra money, which is why I signed up as a “sub.” I didn’t realize how different “subbing” is from regular, full-time teaching. It’s also not very easy. Some teachers tell me they would never consider doing it.
It was many years ago that I was a full time teacher. A lot of things have changed.
Computer technology is one of the biggest and arguably more positive changes. Standardized testing is another, not so positive. A relaxation of discipline in the classroom, a lowering of expectations, gang violence on and off the streets: these are all definite negatives. It’s a very different world these days.
Let me describe my worst teaching day as a sub. After that, I will try to balance your understanding of my experiences by presenting one of my best days.
I believe that if one maintains a professional attitude, good days can make up for bad ones. See if you agree.
And just to be fair, I won’t mention any specific schools or teachers. I do think some of these observations apply to all schools at one time or another.
Interestingly, my worst-day experience occurred at one of the “better” high schools in the North Bay. I arrived on time, got handed a key and a folder, and tried to figure out where the classroom was before the bell rang. When I plan it right, I have time to review the lesson plans, scope out the classroom, and act as if I know what I’m doing when the kids come pouring in.
image from doug-johnson.squarespace.com
And they did come pouring in, loud and boisterous, nearly oblivious to my presence as the substitute teacher. When the bell rang, they all but ignored the fact that I was standing there, waiting for the class to settle down. It was First Period. Many of the kids came in with their heavy backpacks, hoodies and hats, holding their cell phones and their breakfasts.
My first request to them was to quiet down so that I could take attendance. That was routinely ignored. So I announced again, much louder, that if I called a name and did not get a response, that person would be marked absent. That request almost worked. But many of the kids had ear buds in their ears, listening to music or the radio, so they still did not hear me. And, they continued eating their breakfasts and texting on their cell phones.
I asked: “Are food and drink allowed in this classroom?” I got what is by now a familiar response: “Our teacher lets us do it.”
I was disgusted. There was food everywhere. It was very hard to maintain some kind of order while kids were eating, texting, or plugging their ears with ear buds and listening to music.
It’s hard to believe a teacher actually allows all this, but unfortunately in many high schools, this turns out to be true more often than not. But that wasn’t the end of the problems.
The school announcements came on, beginning with the Pledge of Allegiance. To my dismay, I noticed that fewer than half the class did not bother to stand up for the Pledge. Worse, those that were standing did not say the Pledge or even mouth the words. Most of the kids stayed in their seats, not even bothering to remove their hats or their hoodies.
I wouldn’t have thought this would bother me, but it actually upset me. Maybe because I’m considerably older than these kids and older than many of their teachers, I can’t help recalling another era, when it was unthinkable to show such disrespect for the flag. Maybe I’m showing my age here, but that “other” era was when I was in high school, in the early 60s. As I said before, a lot of things have changed since then.
At this point, I decided to attempt to utilize what is called a “teachable moment.” I temporarily turned away from the lesson plan the regular teacher had provided. Instead, I asked the class: “Why do so many of you refuse to stand up for the Pledge?”
image from ontheculture.com
I got a variety of sneers and laughs, but I saw that they were actually thinking about this. So, I pressed on.
Becoming the patriot that I never thought I was, I asked: “Do any of you have family members or friends in the military?” I saw many nodding and some raised their hands.
I chose to follow that question by reminding them that, at this very moment, “Some of your family and friends might be risking their lives for that flag. Did you think about that during the Pledge?”
It suddenly became very quiet. I think I made my point. I could have gone further, ignored the lesson plan and insisted on a short essay on a topic like: “What does the flag mean to you?” But then that “teachable moment” was interrupted when someone got a phone call, two kids got into a fight, and, inexplicably, one kid got up and left the room, never to return.
It was going to be a very long day.
With great persistence, I returned to the lesson plan. I should mention that I was fortunate to have been given a good lesson plan. Sometimes, I get just a brief description of what the class is doing, or maybe I get lucky and I can show some videos. At times, I am without a lesson plan or even a seating chart, so I’m completely on my own. In the schools that observe a “block” schedule, where the basic period length is just under two hours, this lack of direction from the absent teacher can create total chaos for a sub.
Meanwhile, back in the class, I had kids read aloud and answer some written questions. It took a while to get kids to read and to make sure the rest of the class could hear the reader. To a casual observer, it looked and sounded totally chaotic, with the food and garbage, the ear buds, and the low clamor of side discussions. But, in fact, the kids were actually doing the assignment.
However, about 45 minutes into the hour, two girls suddenly walked into the class, ignored my questions (“Who are you? Why are you 45 minutes late?”) and simply sat down as if I didn’t even exist. I was appalled at their disrespect. I asked that they leave to get a note from the office explaining their lateness. They stormed out, calling me some horrible names as they exited.
We tried to return to the assignment.
About 20 minutes later, those two girls returned, with the Assistant Principal. I usually never meet the administrators of a school, so I had to admit I had no idea who this person was nor why these girls were returning.
The Assistant Principal told me to admit them. I requested a private conference with this administrator, outside the door. We stepped into the hall where I explained how these girls had been belligerent to me, called me names, refusing to acknowledge me as a teacher. And, “By the way,” I asked, “why is it OK for these kids to have all their garbage all over the floor in this classroom? Is this typical?”
Unfortunately, the administrator did not see this as a problem. She informed me: “Each teacher can make their own rules for their classroom.”
I pointed out that my Substitute Handbook explicitly stated that there should be “no food or drink in the classroom.” I inquired, “Why is this not enforced?”
She dismissed the whole thing, again saying it was “up to the teacher.”
image from http://www.docstoc.com
Not the administration? Doesn’t it work from the top down? I kept those questions to myself, as the Assistant Principal did a quick about-face and walked back to her office.
I re-entered the classroom. That class ended soon after. I collected the papers and the kids left the room, as boisterously as they had entered it. There was a short break, when kids could go out and get snacks (which, of course, students brought back into the classroom the next period).
Things went from bad to worse as the day wore on. The next period was just as bad as the first. Fighting a losing battle with distractions from the food, drinks, cell phones and ear buds, I could not get them to even look at the assignment. I tried to intervene in another very loud and vulgar verbal battle. It could only be resolved by my referring one of the proponents to the Assistant Principal, presumably for detention.
That student also yelled at me as he was leaving, calling me a “faggot” (among other things). At that point, I really started to come apart. I admit, I used some inappropriate language myself to get him out of the classroom. This was not very wise, as I later found out. It was a little better to get him out of the class, but not much was accomplished. In fact, nothing at all. Apparently, the class sided with the disruptive kid so they refused to cooperate with anything I asked them to do after I ejected him
After lunch, as I was preparing for my last class, I had a visit from another administrator, who turned out to be the school’s Principal. She said: “We need to talk.” Those were fighting words; never a good thing.
She arranged for another sub to watch my class so that we could go to an empty classroom. We had a rather uncomfortable discussion. Justifiably, she was appalled that I had used a four-letter word while kicking out the unruly student. Of course, I had been listening to four-letter words all morning, but that was irrelevant. I had to plead guilty.
But, I also recounted some of the “highlights” of my morning, trying to explain to her, based on my having subbed in so many schools in this district, just why this particular school was the most unruly, slovenly and disrespectful (to the teachers, to the flag, to education).
Needless to say, she did not take my criticism of “her” school very well, particularly on the heels of my unprofessional behavior. She told me not to come back to her school. End of discussion.
image from http://www.zazzle.com.au
Thinking I was through as a substitute teacher, I was surprised to continue to get calls from other schools. Luckily, I returned to several junior high/middle schools that I had particularly liked. Since my original teaching experience in San Francisco had been with that age group, I noticed that I was a lot more comfortable with the younger kids.
Middle school kids seemed to have much less “attitude” than the high school students, and they were basically fun to be around. Not that eighth graders can’t also be a handful (raging hormones, etc), but I never took it personally. Bonus: since my original credential was in English, with these gigs, I enjoyed a lot of very fun assignments, teaching poetry, writing in journals, showing movies.
One of my best teaching days was in an eighth-grade English class at a middle school, where kids were expected to work in teams and come up with an original poem by the end of the period. As a former English teacher, I found this to be the perfect assignment. I had them read a few poems to get started, then talked about rhyme schemes and “scanning” a line. This was something new to them, so they actually showed a lot of interest, especially when I threw out some long technical words, like Iambic Pentameter and Anapestic, and challenged them to come up with some lines in those meters (my own favorite, and my alma mater, The University of Michigan, is a perfect line of Iambic Pentameter; I shared that with the class, as we all recited the familiar rhythm.
Typical eighth-graders, they tried to best and put down each other, occasionally getting a little silly or risqué, but actually enjoying the assignment. They were actually writing poetry. By the end of the period, each team was challenging each other, shouting their lines across the room.
image from info.marygrove.edu
Collecting their papers, I felt that they had really learned something and had fun at the same time. I felt validated as a teacher who instructed, not just filling time as another “sub.” On top of that, the school Principal actually came in to see what was going on and gave me a “thumbs up.” That made my day!
Good teaching days are few and far between, as every teacher knows. As a sub, they are even fewer. Returning to the same school and getting to know the kids better each time certainly helps. Getting support from other teachers and administrators also helps. Though I had one bad experience in one particular high school, I had enough good experiences in some of the middle schools to encourage me to continue subbing.
I’ve learned that there are certain things I simply cannot change. Cell phones, texting, electronic devices, computers are here to stay and I have to get used to them. Some teachers will insist that these items stay in the backpacks. As a sub, I don’t always have the authority to make such a rule, but it’s nice to see that some teachers have already instituted it. Food and drink will continue to bother me, as will the ear buds, baggy pants, hoodies, tattoos, and so much more of the current teen culture that I don’t fully understand. But I’m working on it.
It all starts up again in mid-August when the schools resume.
image from miracleon32ndstreet.wordpress.com
I’ll be watching my computer screen to avoid that 5:30 AM wake-up call. And I hope to be seeing some kids that I already know, finding out how they’ve changed over the summer. I always have a hopeful feeling at the beginning of the school year. Maybe this one will be a lot better.
Filed under: Blogging and others' content, Life lessons Tagged: Substitute Teaching
August 12, 2014
Remembering Robin Williams
“I went to Google. I saw someone in front of a little monitor, sitting on a red exercise ball. I think that’s how they’re hatching new employees.” — Robin Williams
What a mind. Miss you already, #RobinWilliams.
Originally posted on TED Blog:
Robin Williams hijacks the TED2008 stage before the BBC World Debate. Photo: Andrew Heavens
It’s 2008, moments before a BBC broadcast live from the stage at TED. But something’s gone wrong. The house lights are still up, the camera ops are looking at one another, official-looking folks are wandering at the stage apron muttering into headsets, and the panelists are sitting patiently onstage but looking, increasingly, baffled. Minutes go by.
And then a voice rises from the audience, wondering “why at a technology conference everything is running so shittily”! As Kim Zetter wrote: “at least that’s the word I think he used; it was hard to hear the last word through the audience’s laughter.” It was Robin Williams, who’d spent the day watching TED, and who now jumped out of the audience to grab the mic and reel off 10 or 15 minutes — reports vary — of improvised…
View original 82 more words
Filed under: Writing
An Obituary for Robin Williams in the Form of His Best Scenes
What an amazing legacy the uniquely talented #RobinWilliams left for us all. I bet he wishes he could respond with some witty improvisations to this outpouring of respect, honor, gratitude and sadness the world is showing at his passing.
Originally posted on Quartz:
Robin Williams, the gregarious American actor who delighted audiences in films from Dead Poets Society to Good Will Hunting, was found dead today in his home outside San Francisco. He was 63. The police called his death a suspected suicide (pdf), and his publicist said Williams “had been battling severe depression.”
His long career on the stage and screen can be measured and remembered in many ways, but for now it might suffice to enjoy the actor’s most famous or otherwise evocative scenes. Here they are in chronological order.
Death to Smoochy (2002)
Bicentennial Man (1999)
What Dreams May Come (1998)
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Jack (1996)
Birdcage (1996)
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
Aladdin (1992)
Awakenings (1990)
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Good Morning Vietnam (1987)
HBO: An Evening With Robin Williams (1982)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1981)
Mork & Mindy (1978-1982)
Filed under: Writing
August 10, 2014
My Blogaversary and 1st year of Book Marketing: Report Card
First of all, thanks for financial and technical support to my niece, Sarah Miranda, my sister, Ellen Fleischmann, and my son, Merlyn Ember. Thanks, also, to WordPress.com techhies and Q & A and fora participants.
Second, but equally important, I am grateful to all of my readers, responders, rebloggers, guest bloggers and/or followers for your interest, suggestions, support and interactions. My site would be dead air without you!
On my one-year Anniversary of my Blog, what many call a “Blogaversary,” I am summarizing and analyzing my accomplishments and progress, to date. Let me know what you think!
My Blog Stats
I ended my first full year of blogging with 243 Followers. 208 followers are on WordPress; 35 are on Tumblr.
THANKS, all!
I started with a site that was new and unknown so it wasn’t even rated by ALEXA. I had zero “backlinks.”
Today (8/9/14), I have 128 Backlinks. My ALEXA international rating is 419,061 out of over 4 millions sites.
For the USA, sallyember.com is rated 68,034 out of over 2 million sites.
If you want to check your site’s rankings on ALEXA, get the free extension to your toolbar and check about once every few days by going to your main page/splash page, then clicking on that icon on your toolbar.
I aspire to have a Google Page Ranking: yet to be earned.
Total Number of Visitors/Views: 8326
I figured out early on how to cross-post each of my blog entries to my personal/author’s pages on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (although I mysteriously have to “refresh” this connection periodically, according to prompts from WordPress).
Later, I added Goodreads, Amazon, Shelfari, BookLikes, and Google+ as well as my Spanners Series page on Facebook as automatic recipient posting sites.
About twice a month, I utilize one of the images in each of my original content entries and put those posts on my Pinterest “My Blog Posts” board, which then automatically cross-posts to Twitter and Facebook, again.
Mostly due to these cross-posting, my Followers on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, LinkedIn and Goodreads have all increased dramatically. When I started my Blog, I was brand-new to Pinterest, Author Central, and my series’ pages, and mostly inactive on LinkedIn and Goodreads; and had only 7 Twitter Followers. Here are the Blogaversary comparison stats.
FOLLOWERS/LIKES/CIRCLES TALLIES, August 10, 2013 – August 10, 2014
(all links are on the right sidebar of my website)
Twitter 7 to 3441
Pinterest 0 to 208
LinkedIn 200 to 500+ (LI maxes out the count at 500)
Facebook personal 232 to 1438
Facebook Series page 0 to 937
Google+ personal 0 to 1301
Google+ Series page 0 to 29 (not much action, here; can’t get blog to cross-post)
Goodreads author page 110 to 1113
Amazon Author Central page 0 to 142
PAGE/POST VIEWS
My highest-ever number of views in one day was 197, spread around several posts and pages.
Month-by-month Views/Visitors:
Aug, 2013 = 114 (first day was August 10)
Sept. 200
Oct. 307
Nov. 528
Dec. 535
Jan., 2014 = 999
Feb. 1,144
Mar. 740
Apr. 580
(concussion/accident 4/6/14; offline a lot April – June)
May 830
June 872
Jul. 1,161
Aug.(to date) 326
Highest single-day Views = 197
Average Views/Day
for 2013 (5 months): 13
for 2014 (7 months): 30
Blog Posts
200 of my 357 posts (about 40 are reblogs) had 10 or fewer views. These include ALL of the Serialized Excerpts of my sci-fi series, Volumes I and II, most of the reports of these books’ reviews, and many others that I thought were more popular than that.
One of my posts was featured on “Freshly Pressed,” the elite selection gleaned from among all daily blog posts, highlighted for that day in WordPress’ Blog Reader!
Views by Country
Views by visitors from 111 countries
Highest = USA, with 5,909
2nd = UK, with 484
3rd = Canada, with 354
4th = Australia, with 155
5th = Germany, with 128
6th = India, with 125
The rest are 60 or fewer; many are just 1 or 2, so far.
Highest page views were for my site’s main pages:
–ABOUT (my blog’s splash page), with 2,001
–the Home page’s Archives, with 1,703
–The Spanners Series page, with 492
For individual posts, the highest number of views were for:
–#Buddhism and #Science: the Facts, the Yogis, the Practices , with 232
–My #Literary #Meh List 2014: 15 Plots, Devices, Characters I’m BORED with, with 205
–Why My First Experience with Using #Pre-Orders Will Help Get My NEXT #Ebook Higher on #Best-Seller Lists, with 185
–15 Points about the #Effects of #Concussions on #Meditators’ #Brains, with 160
–Pros and Cons of #Writers’ Critique Groups, with 112
–When #Spiritual #Teachers Respond with #Countertransference, with 110
Total number of comments (and half or more are my replies): 202
Setting aside the two posts with the most comments that were part of Blog Hops, the next-most commented-upon post was
–15 Points about the #Effects of #Concussions on #Meditators’ #Brains, with 12
BLOGGING and BOOK MARKETING ASSESSMENTS
I learned a lot about how to assess my book marketing efforts from many people. I excerpt from PROMOTING MY BOOK , by Lee Gale Gruen, with my commentaries as to my progress/use of these ideas and link to Lee and her sites at the end of this section.
(I first saw this article posted in “Funds for Writers,” compiled weekly by the wonderful Hope Clark: http://www.chopeclark.com Thanks, Hope!)
I am therefore scoring myself on Book Marketing for my first two self-published ebooks according to Lee’s great list, below, of marketing tips and ideas. Let’s see what I learned!
Lee recommends these activities, below, and I agree:
1. Read websites and books such as APE by Guy Kawasaki and Michael Kremer’s books. I also join and watch many free webinars, teleseminars, and Google+ Hangouts On Air regularly for more tips.
2. Join writer’s organizations. Learn from your peers. I joined several here in California with great successes. I will be looking for writers’ groups/clubs in St. Louis in September. Any recommendations?
3. Network at writers’ groups, conferences, online forums, etc. I’ve only been to one conference, so far, but may go to more. How are they worthwhile?
4. Check writers’ websites, materials, author talk/book signings. Learn from their examples. I need to more of this but I do follow quite a few writers’ blogs and learn from their posts.
Lee also talks about “creating” one’s own marketing “tools,” and I get an A+, here! I’ve done them all and I hadn’t even seen this list prior to doing them!
1. Have a website to refer interested people. I have that via my blog, http://www.sallyember.com
2. Purchase your website name (domain) immediately. Thanks to my niece, Sarah Miranda, I did this right off! sallyember.com is MINE!
3. Print flyers with your book cover, synopsis, photo, and bio to hand out at events. I have done this and gotten some new readers from it by handing them out at my writers’ groups.
4. Get business cards. I got free ones from KLOUT, at first, then ordered almost-free ones from Vistaprint.com.
5. Compose a cover letter to email to prospects. I have done this for, in my case, book reviewers.
6. Post a video of yourself discussing your book on http://www.YouTube.com. I did this by accident: the Q & A for my Book Launch talk didn’t work, so there is a 2-hour monologue of me on my youtube channel. Also, 2 more vids of me reading chapters from each of my ebooks and book trailers are on that channel. Starting August 6, almost-weekly episodes from CHANGES, my Google+ HOA, are also there.
7. Add an electronic signature to your emails with links to your website and video. I had done this, but then my son said a signature with many links after it is viewed as “spam” and “shouting” at email recipients, so I removed them. What do you think?
Lee’s advice for how to “Promote Yourself” caused me to realize how much I still have to accomplish here. The BOLD ones are TO BE DONE.
1. Sell yourself as well as your book. Develop a useful message other than just “buy my book.” I mostly do this by curating interesting content and creating it on my blog, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn. I also repost on some sites like Suvudu, StumpleUpon, Reddit, etc. I’ve also joined and interact with folks in a lot of Groups on Goodreads, Facebook, LinkedIn and Communities on Google+
2. Give author talk/book signings.
3. Volunteer to speak at book clubs, speakers’ bureaus, panels, etc. I have volunteered to some book clubs, but no invitations have arrived, yet.
4. Mention your book in conversations using your “elevator speech:” a one-minute synopsis of your book with a hook to grab the listener. I don’t do this as often as I should, but I do it.
5. Ask readers to post a review on Amazon and Goodreads. If I could find my readers, I would do this more! I wish readers could “opt in” to “author can find me” lists.
6. Submit articles. I’ve been published in my local newspaper and my retirement newsletter. I want to do this.
7. Join HARO (http://www.helpareporter.com) to submit yourself as an interview subject for writers and journalists. I’ve had 6 interviews and will be in an upcoming book. I’ve started my own Google+ Hangout On Air, submitted responses as an Expert on Quora and Ask an Expert, and am considering joining this org, next.
8. Write a blog of interest to your target audience. http://www.sallyember.com is mine. Is it of interest?
9. Look online for similar blogs. Submit guest blogs. Links to my guest posts are on my site. Look to the right and scroll down.
10. Build an email address list. Email a notice of each appearance, blog, etc. I’ve been slowly building this list, but many commenters or followers don’t provide and I can’t find their email addresses, only Twitter handles or website URLs. How do I get email addresses without paying to get them via a service?
11. Host a book giveaway on http://www.Goodreads.com. Goodreads still doesn’t allow ebook giveaways. SNOBS.
12. Network or search online for professional reviewers. I submitted my book to http://www.midwestbookreview.com for small press publishers. I only do this when there is no fee. I refuse to pay for book reviews.
BIO: Lee Gale Gruen is an actress, author, speaker, and blogger. Her book website is: http://AdventuresWithDadTheBook.com. Her blog, “Reinventing Myself in My Senior Years” is at: http://LeeGaleGruen.Wordpress.com
My Overall Grade/Score for Year One in Blogging and Book Marketing
Well, I give myself an A+ for effort
I earned about a B- for effectiveness, I think (but it’s difficult to make comparisons since I don’t have others’ stats nor know their efforts).
If I’m going by the numbers of books sold (Volume II of The Spanners Series, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, just went on sale June 9) or sold and downloaded since Volume I of The Spanners Series, This Changes Everything, went permafree on April 1 and went on sale December 19, 2013, the dates don’t jibe and the numbers won’t be impressive (to me, anyway). We all have Hugh Howey to thank for that, right?
Plus, even though I can get rankings or paid sales stats from some sites, I can’t get sales or free download numbers from all sites. So, the numbers below are not all-inclusive; they’re just what I can get. Here are the stats for book sales and downloads:
12/19/13 – 3/31/14 Sales and 4/1/14 –> Free downloads for
Volume I of The Spanners Series, This Changes Everything
66 books sold
2296 free downloads (about 40 for reviewers)
6/9/14 –> Sales for
Volume II of The Spanners Series, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever
4 sales
4 free downloads (all for reviewers)
I look forward to becoming more “visible” via this and other parts of my “author platform” in my second year blogging and being a fiction author.
Please comment and share your experiences! Best to you all!
Filed under: Blogging and others' content, Marketing Tagged: authors, ebook, indie authors, marketing, Sally Ember, self-publishing, Writers
August 9, 2014
A mantra and mudra of compassion for all beings
We all need to pray, meditate, wish: whatever moves you, to try to get these morons and horrible leaders to STOP THE KILLING!
Originally posted on Blazing Light, Love's Song:
Meditate every day for world compassion. We are one. Anyone’s suffering is all people’s suffering. War is possible because we are at war within ourselves. Bring compassion to each moment. This is the true power.
Filed under: Writing
Are Humans Superior Creatures?
Thanks for posting. I see Cetaceans as the most intelligent, or perhaps Cephalopods. Certainly NOT humans. Best to you.
Originally posted on Auxiliary Memory:
I believe the people of the future will look back on these times and judge us harshly, like we judge the people of the 19th century for slavery, colonialism, genocide and other atrocities those folks committed without any apparent ethical qualms. They will see even the most liberal of us as heartless in our neglect of poor people, animals, the Earth and the environment. I’ve always wondered how people like the abolitionists gained their insight to see beyond the ethical status quo. There have always been a few people that were more empathetic than the common crowd, and I think they were the bellwethers of their times. If you you read and watch the news carefully, there are always stories that portend the future of human kindness. To change requires going against the tide of common opinion, and that’s hard.
We like to think humans are different from animals. That…
View original 924 more words
Filed under: Writing
5-Stars for Volume II of The Spanners Series on Goodreads!
John Betts’s review of This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, Volume II, The Spanners Series, from Aug 01, 14 on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/983982709?book_show_action=false&page=1
5 of 5 stars
Read from July 09 to August 01, 2014
I enjoyed reading this following on from book 1, book 1 give the groundwork so you really get into book 2 quickly and understand what is going on from the very beginning, if I had more time to spare, this is a book I would have read cover to cover non stop.
Cover art by Willowraven
Thanks, John! More info about and links for author, John Betts, below.
Twitter https://twitter.com/JohnArthurBetts
LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=nav_responsive_tab_home
Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/johnarthurbettsfantasyworld
Google+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/115539396811049169679/posts
Mia’s Legacy
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mias-Legacy-John-Betts-ebook/dp/B00MDIQ0CE
The Twin Rings of Ra https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/327514
An Adventure of Bunny Bertie and Blueberry Elf http://www.amazon.co.uk/Adventure-Bunny-Bertie-Blueberry-Elf/dp/1784075965 and
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/407885
Filed under: Reviews, The Spanners, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, Volume II of The Spanners Tagged: Book Review, The Spanners Series, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever
