Dale’s Comments (group member since Sep 15, 2017)

Dale’s comments from the Navigating Indieworld Discussing All Things Indie group.

CeDany wrote: "I can't keep to these restrictive modes of competitions aka the rules.

I always go over the maximum word limits and as per the statement below -- that happens!!! And some out there still wonder wh..."

I write the story that comes to mind, then I edit, edit, edit to trim it down. It's not easy, but I can usually write a decent story in an hour or less. Once it came out under the 250 word limit the first time, but only once.

I like doing these from time to time as writing exercises. They force discipline on you. You have to identify a clear beginning, middle, and end early in the process, and you have to be as economical with your words as possible, which in turn directs you into "show, don't tell" mode. I've started using the IU photos for writing exercises in the creative writing workshop I run at my local library. Even if you don't post your story, it might be worth doing one on occasion, just for the practice. If you want...

Voted! I hate these popularity contests, too, but really that's all that online voting systems ever seem to be. Only a properly judged contest will have results based on quality. In this case, though, all the covers seem to me to be high quality, so you deserve to win at least as much as anyone else. ;-)

I have a conflict of interest this week. I had to vote for that Dale guy. Sorry. ;-)

I suspect I'm not alone when it comes to not being sure how to approach blogging. For nonfiction writers, it's probably easier than for fiction writers. If you write about a particular subject, or set of subjects, you can easily blog about them, too. But what if (like me) you mostly write fiction? At this point I'm mostly writing mysteries. Which suggests I should blog about . . . hmm.

So far I've mostly blogged about writing, sometimes in general, sometimes in relation to what I'm working on. But I'm not sure how much appeal that would have. I don't only want to be writing for writers, but for (with any luck) the wider readership for my published works.

If you're a fiction writer, how do you approach blogging? How well does it seem to work? Who are your readers, and how does your blog readership overlap with the readership for your books and stories?

Thanks!

Here's mine:

https://www.DaleELehman.com

I've not been too consistent with it lately, but mostly I've blogged about writing, sometimes about reading, and very occasionally about a few other things in life.

Alex wrote: "I've gone with the lady who did your covers, Amy, and what a fantastic job she's done, great recommendatio,..."

Great cover! The blurb isn't too bad, either. ;-) Remind me when the book is finally available. I'd like to read it.

Theodore wrote: "It helps to drop a buck or two in the till every once in a while. (;>)"

I've given them a couple of guest posts. That might count. ;-)

Theodore wrote: "Dale wrote: "On a side note:

Why is there always a typo?? I read that thing five times through . . ."

It's an immutable law of Nature. You can send them a note and ask Kat or Kyle to correct it...."

Thank you, I didn't know they would do that.

On a side note:

Why is there always a typo?? I read that thing five times through . . .

"PS He's says to tell you 'good luck."

Well . . . thanks. ;-)

I've just posted one for the current week, although it says its awaiting moderation. Yes, I'm going into competition against Ted again. ;-)

CeDany wrote: "Hiya!

Couple of questions, I'd love some answers to, if you please?

1) What is Authorsdb dot com? -- https://www.authorsdb.com/index.php
Somehow, no one who say they've registered on it, will exp..."

AuthorsDb is sort of a social media site for authors and readers. It allows authors to create a profile, add their books, and then do various kinds of promotions. They have an annual cover contest, for example (I've entered one of my books in it) and you can announce special promo prices. To be honest, I haven't gotten too deeply into it yet because of lack of time. I also don't much like their web interface. I find it a bit confusing. It looks like it has some Facebook-like features (such as status updates, following, etc.). I have no idea how many people are actually using the thing, though, or how much exposure it really gives you. I don't see any downsides to being there, but like most things it isn't going to give instant results. You probably have to put time into making it work for you.

I registered and put my books out there. Whether or not it's worth it, I guess we'll see. I don't much like their website.

I've entered the cover for True Death in the AuthorsDb.com cover contest and could use your vote. The full contest list is at https://authorsdb.com/2017-cover-cont.... I'm on the third line. But you can go directly to https://authorsdb.com/2017-cover-cont... and scroll down to the blue "Submit Your Vote" button. Click that to vote. They'll ask info about you to prevent multiple voting. They don't even let authors vote for themselves. How rude is that? ;-) Voting ends before the end of October. I can't find the exact date, but please don't delay. Thank you!

Caught up to this point . . . I hope . . .

I wrote a new guest post for Indies Unlimited which is now live: "The Top 4 Ways to Hone Your Writing". This is my second guest post there. It ties in with the blog post I mentioned at the start of this thread, but is instructional in nature.

Okay, I've put the subscription form at the top of the right sidebar, and removed the popup version. Should be much clearer now, if easier to ignore. ;-) Thank you for prompting me on this, Carole.

Carole,

Oh . . . uh . . . yeah. I have one of those popups that comes up when you look like you're leaving, but I also meant to put a link somewhere and I think I forgot. I'll have to look at that and get back to you. Sorry about that!

I didn't see an existing thread for promoting blog posts, so I thought I'd start one. I hope this works for everyone, especially the moderators.

I've been very sporadic with blog posts lately, but my new one, "The Indie Author Dilemma," might be of interest to folks here. See https://www.daleelehman.com/2017/10/t.... You can sign up for my erratically-sent newsletter, too, if you like. Thanks!

No problem. I just thought it worth offering a suggestion in case you were open to it. It's your book, of course.