8 Basic Tips for Social Media Etiquette

The PBS Blog

On social media, everything is a part of your brand and is an extension of you. People don’t know you personally so all they have to work with is the vibes you give off. From the way that you send emails, your blog posts, your social media posts and newsletters, everything. What you publish reveals who you are and can tell people one or two things. Either you’re a nasty, disrespectful person or you’re a kind, respectful person. It doesn’t take much to show others respect and appreciation and it may also grant you a follower, or more, a supporter for life. Below are some basic actions we can implement to help to keep our respect levels at an all-time high.

Give Thanks

When someone reblogs or pingbacks on one of your posts, say thank you. It really just takes a second. Although the person probably didn’t share your post…

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3 Important Things All Writers Need to Learn In Their First Year

Meg Dowell Writes

Being a new aspiring writer is terrifying.

It’s also extremely difficult.

Many writers don’t make it past their first year — not because there isn’t plenty of advice out there on how to succeed, but because they lack patience, discipline, and self-worth — things you don’t always realize are important as a writer until they’re the weights dragging you down.

These are some of the most important things new writers should learn in their first year. Not how to get more traffic or followers or money, but how to survive the most common hangups that prompt new writers to quit too soon.

Never expect instant gratification after doing anything

One of the reasons many writers quit not long after they start is their unrealistic need for instant gratification. They start a blog on June 1 and quit on June 30 because they don’t have millions of clicks or thousands of…

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Is Mediocrity The Only Path To True Equality?

Tara Sparling writes

She’s got an opinion and she’s not afraid to use it

Another day, another publishing row. The latest storm to hit the shelves is about diversity. To cut a short story shorter, Penguin Random House has committed itself to promoting more diversity in literature, because they say books “should reflect the diverse society in which we live”.

Although she claims her remarks were taken out of context, the UK-resident American writer Lionel Shriver said that positive discrimination will make literature a poorer sort of art. She said “we can safely infer … that if an agent submits a manuscript written by a gay transgender Caribbean who dropped out of school at seven and powers around town on a mobility scooter, it will be published, whether or not said manuscript is an incoherent, tedious, meandering and insensible pile of mixed-paper recycling.”

Much frowning and finger-wagging ensued. I always enjoy a…

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Ten Writer’s Habits I’ve Acquired. Which to Kick, Which to Keep? – By Pamela Schloesser Canepa…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

It happened the first time I committed to NANOWRIMO. I became a slightly different person, a more intense version of myself. In looking back at the last two years since becoming a self-published author, I realize how much I’ve changed. Here is a list of ten habits I acquired when I decided to stop writing in isolation and become a published author.

1. Likely the most common habit, I started losing track of the time at night. This is because I was either in writer’s groups on Facebook learning or staying up chasing an idea. When this happens, it means you are catching the spark. Be thankful. It’s not a bad habit. It certainly beats falling asleep in front of a TV show.

2. Getting hooked on a favorite show on Netflix (Hulu, Roky, whatever). Please don’t confuse this with falling asleep in front of the TV. This habit is…

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The Continued Tale of Trademarking A Commonly Used Word

What I know now, that I wish I knew then …

M T McGuire Authorholic

The advice kettle is sage and wise and also keeps the water hot, like an urn, only not.

Back on topic this week, I was asked for some advice by a writer who is just starting work on her first book. Even though she appears to be of sound mind, she was dead chuffed with what I wrote and asked if I’d share it on my blog so she could send people to the post. As a result, by special request, here is my rambling view on er … some of the aspects of writing that popped up.

BEFORE YOU START ….

1. What do you want to do?
a) have fun writing a book.
b) have fun writing a book and maybe make a bit of side cash – or at least get the cover artwork and editing costs back.
c) Rule the world: Yeh, move over JK, I…

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How to Write Effectively While You Are Traveling

Nicholas C. Rossis

This is a guest post by Cal Bailey. Cal runs MountainLeon.com – a travel blog he started after two years of backpacking around the world. If you want to learn more about life on the road or his blogging, you can read his latest post here.

I had hosted a guest post about travel writing in the past, as the subject fascinates me. To get paid to travel–that’s the dream for many writers, right? If only it were that easy…

Image: Pixabay

One of the best perks of writing is that you can pretty much do it anywhere. All you need is your laptop or pen and paper plus your creativity, and you can write wherever you are.

Right?

Well, not exactly. Writing, like all skills, demands discipline. Effective writing is more than just scribbling a few words to produce good quality…

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Another Chuckle for Your Day

May 12th is Fibromyalgia Awareness Day!

7 Tips to Writing Prequels and Not Hurting the Originals

Legends of Windemere

Age of Apocalypse

As I said, prequels are a risky endeavor because you can easily slip up and make a mess of both series.  Continuity becomes very fragile since you’re basically traveling back in time and we all know how often that turns sour.  Many authors might think of this as nothing more than writing any other series and assuming their own memories will guide them to safety.  Unfortunately, we are creatures of improvement and dabbling, which means we always have a chance of getting hooked on a bad idea because it’s cool for this specific story.  So, what are some tips to writing prequels?

1. Make an outline or note system that focuses on areas that the two series can or may crossover.  Mark down where you go into descriptions for cities and creatures in the original to make sure you don’t redesign them.  Note your systems like magic, currency…

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Why Entrepreneurs Start Companies Rather Than Join Them

Steve Blank

If you asked me why I gravitated to startups rather than work in a large company I would have answered at various times: “I want to be my own boss.” “I love risk.” “I want flexible work hours.” “I want to work on tough problems that matter.” “I have a vision and want to see it through.” “I saw a better opportunity and grabbed it. …”

It never crossed my mind that I gravitated to startups because I thought more of my abilities than the value a large company would put on them. At least not consciously. But that’s the conclusion of a provocative research paper, Asymmetric Information and Entrepreneurship, that explains a new theory of why some people choose to be entrepreneurs. The authors’ conclusion — Entrepreneurs think they are better than their resumes show and realize they can make more money by going it alone.  And…

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Supreme Court Sales Tax Case Should Help Book Industry via #BookMarketingBuzzBlog

How To Ebook

Supreme Court Sales Tax Case Should Help Book Industry via

BookMarketingBuzzBlog

As the Supreme Court weighs arguments in a case before it about whether Internet sales can be taxed just like a purchase at the mall, book publishing insiders anxiously await their decision.  Will a vote to tax online sales impact the book industry, and if so, how?

On the positive side, if Net sales are treated like those at a physical store, a boost will be given to the tax proceeds collected by the government.  The e-commerce world is huge and growing bigger by the day, and without a change to the law, billions of dollars each year will go uncollected for roads, safety, education, elder care, healthcare, and all of the valuable services a government can and should provide.

In 2002, with the Internet into its second decade of existence, 45 billion dollars of goods were purchased online.  The amount doubles…

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Platform: What IS It? Why Do Writers Need One?

How To Ebook

BY KRISTEN LAMB

A platform offers major advantage when it comes to selling books. Before social media, non-fiction authors had an edge. These authors already had an existing audience by the time their books were ready for sale.

Novelists, conversely, found themselves relying on a lot of pure luck, prayer, and alignment of the stars. The fiction author had little to no control regarding the business side of their business. The only way to build a platform was to not completely FAIL with book one.

Great.

Non-fiction authors, however, were not nearly as vulnerable because they had ways to cultivate a following ahead of time. Those ways also permitted them to KEEP growing the platform even bigger as they continued to publish more works.

For instance, if one happened to be an expert of some sort, it was far easier to build an audience interested in your topic. Therapists, psychiatrists…

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Smorgasbord Laughter Lines – Men vs. Women in the happiness stakes and Marriage.

14 Lies Your Self-Doubt Won’t Stop Telling You

Meg Dowell Writes

1. Every moment you spend NOT writing is a total waste.

2. If your first draft isn’t perfect, you’ve already failed miserably. Don’t bother trying again.

3. If people don’t love you as a person, they’ll never value your work as a writer.

4. You’re too young to try publishing something. No one’s going to listen to you.

5. Someone younger than you has already achieved what you’d die to do. You’re pathetic. It’s too late.

6. You should have accomplished more by this point in your life.

7. The only thing you’re good at is wasting precious time.

8. Everything you’ve ever written has already been done, better than you ever could have done it.

9. This is pointless.

10. If you’re struggling to finish a project, it’s because you’re doing a terrible job.

11. You can’t afford to make mistakes.

12. Why should anyone ‘important’ ever give your ideas…

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So What is Wrong with America and So Right with Canada?

Pen & Paper

I asked myself why Canada has no School Shootings, No Concert Shootings, No Church Shootings, and Mall Shootings? Why are they without so much violence in their everyday lives and why does America have 33,000 deaths a year and Canada, all most none. What is the difference?

Canadians have lots of rifles and guns. They do lots of hunting of deer, caribou, quail, sometimes bears, and even wolves.  So why is it we have so much violence everyday in our lives, in every city, town, and community in America. The difference is they have smart, common sense gun laws, they have diversity from every country, they care about their children’s lives, their families and friends. So, what is wrong with America?The Canadians have no weapons of war – no AR 15s, no AK 47s for one thing.

They don’t hate you for the color you are or what religion you…

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How To Survive Living With A Writer At Christmas #SundayBlogShare #Christmas #ASMSG #AmWriting

Meaningful Monday’s~ Bullying~

Dreamwalker's Sanctuary

When I  was in school  in the days before the internet, I knew what it was to be bullied at an All Girls School, by girls in the school. 

I was the child with a home-made gingham summer  school uniform that my mother had made. It had  an extra  deep, doubled rolled hem and a bought lace collar along with pres-studs down the front. With buttons sewn on top. At first I was so proud of my new dress, because it had a fancy collar made of lace, not plain like the others. And I proudly went off to my new School aged 11.My dress started out miles too big. But  each year as I grew the hem was let down, you could see the material hem marks of each layer…  And it was a good thing that it was in those later  years, the mini skirt was in fashion.

My winter…

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Facebook Tests Split News Feed

Nicholas C. Rossis

Photo by http://offers.hubspot.com/science-of-facebook-marketing

As many of you have realized, Facebook has been making it progressively harder to share non-paid content. Usually, only a tiny percentage of your friends and followers (around 2 to 5%) sees whatever it is you’re posting–unless you pay a small fee to have it appear on people’s timelines. Now, Facebook is considering splitting its News Feed in two, as The Independent reports.

The company has confirmed that it is trying out the idea of dividing the site in order to separate commercial posts and pages from personal news.

Normally, Facebook’s News Feed wraps up a host of information from different sources, putting posts from pages with millions of followers alongside those from people’s friends and relatives. Under the test, these will now be split apart, meaning that pages will be put into a separate feed that people will have to actively click through

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Create – Teach – Motivate (Week 3)

What motivates you?

Is it joy and happiness, the love of another? Or is it frustration, anger or the need for justice?

There are many paths to motivation, but to create action from that motivation, to actually do something about it, there is two components that are needed in order to ignite that impulse.

Clarity + Emotion = Motivation

Clarity gives you the why and puts you on the right path. Emotion gives you the fuel to move you along that path.

But beware. This equation, when altered can create very different kinds of motivation. Here are a couple of scenarios of how they could play out.

Clarity + positive emotions = hope, excitement, possibilities and dreams.

Clarity + negative emotions = jealousy, hate, guilt, shame.

Emotions without clarity = hopelessness, despair, confusion.

Below is a older post that I hope motivates a little personal power in you. Because in the end…

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17 Secrets Only Book Lovers Are In On

20 Symptoms of Writeritis

Myths of the Mirror

image from pinterest

This 2-yr-old post was one of my most popular, and for those who missed it, I once again share the symptoms of this incurable condition.

***

As some of you know, a pervasive syndrome has troubled a segment of society for centuries. After years of research, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders finally classified these symptoms under the diagnosis: Writeritis. 

Writeritis is defined as a persistent, maladaptive pattern of writing that leads to clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by six (or more) of the following within a single month:

1. A marked craving for increased amounts of writing, and longer periods of time to write.

2. An unquenchable thirst for coffee.

3. Repeated efforts to cut down or control word count are unsuccessful.

4. Withdrawal occurs when writing is discontinued or suddenly reduced. Symptoms include shakiness, moodiness, and/or irritability.

5. A tendency to rapidly relapse into extreme patterns of excessive rewriting – even after…

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Mental Health Awareness Week 2017 – Surviving or Thriving?

Worth sharing.

The Last Krystallos

This week 8^th – 14^th May is Mental Health Awareness Week,
and this year the Mental Health Foundation have chosen the theme:
Surviving or Thriving?

It’s a thin line.

Two thirds of people in the UK say they have experienced a mental health problem, with women, youngpeople, and those who livealone affected most. The survey, completed by The Mental Health Foundationin 2017, also discovered that those over the age of 55 cope best with taking steps to make their lives better, 85% of the unemployed have experienced mental health issues, and that 3 out of 4 low income families suffer compared to 6 in 10 in the highest income positions.

4 in 10 people live with depression and over a quarter of the population experience panic attacks.

Out of 2,290 people surveyed, sadly, only 13% reported…

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Dear me: how fiction authors adapt to writing memoir

Nail Your Novel

If you’ve been following me on Facebook or on my newsletter you’ll have seen I’m taking a creative interlude to work on a collection of travel memoir pieces. It’s a new kind of book for me and it’s raising some interesting challenges, particularly as I’m used to the freedoms of fiction.

So I thought I’d gather together a few other fictioneers who’ve crossed into memoir to discuss the differences.

Let’s meet our novelists-turned-memoirists.

Jean Gill

Jean Gill @writerjeangill has published in a wide variety of genres – historical fiction, fiction in translation, teen novels and a goat cheese cookbook. Her memoir, How Blue Is My Valley, is an as-it-happens account of her first year living in Provence.

Joni Rodgers

Joni Rodgers, who you might recognise from The Undercover Soundtrack and this post about ghostwriters and their soul projects,  had two novels published by small literary publishers, and…

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10 Ways First-Time Writers Can Get Noticed on Social Media

Pen & Paper

Writer’s Digest, Emily Sweet, Guest Column, March 8, 2017

The changing literary and book publishing landscape makes it difficult for new authors to breakout. A plethora of new distribution formats, especially focused on self-publishing, opens brand new avenues for writers to get noticed, but also makes it incredibly easy to get lost in the sea of content. Unless you have a pre-existing social platform or public profile that extends beyond the world of books, “discoverability” can be a very elusive thing and it can be nearly impossible to get noticed on social media.

The changing literary and book publishing landscape makes it difficult for new authors to breakout. A plethora of new distribution formats, especially focused on self-publishing, opens brand new avenues for writers to get noticed, but also makes it incredibly easy to get lost in the sea of content. Unless you have a pre-existing social platform or public…

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