I’ve been dreading this week. The truth is, I have no idea how to self-promote. I’m seven months away from my book launch, the idea of “building my personal brand” makes my face do the quizzical thing usually found in bad stock photos, and I definitely don’t have any money for “swag.” So, instead, I’ll talk about some things to not do when you’re self-promoting. Don’t: … only talk about…
Publishing my first book in 2019, I often find myself daydreaming about what it must have been like to do this a hundred years ago when there was no internet, no blogosphere, no Twitter or Facebook or Instagram to manage. I don’t know why, because I have absolutely nothing in common with him, but I always picture F. Scott Fitzgerald, scribbling away at his writing desk, blissfully ignorant…
I want to go on record as saying that I have nothing to add to K.A. Doore’s perfect post yesterday. 🙂 Being part of a literary community is the best thing I writer could wish for. Writing itself is a solitary and lonely, and often isolating, endeavor. But if we’re really lucky writers, we learn some craft techniques and make friends along the way. Then you have people in your…
Imagine an author. If you’re anything like me, you’re probably getting a vision of a scholarly genius, possibly in an elbow-patched smoking jacket, pounding in a fit of literary fervor at the clattering black keys of an antique typewriter. Which, of course, is located in an attic apartment with a skylight, the wide windows open to a rolling vista of Parisian rooftops, the air redolent of coffee and perhaps a…
I typically don’t make New Year’s Resolutions, on the theory that I’m more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants girl (a pantser, as we dorks say in writing parlance). However, I’ve been assigned the topic of resolutions so I’d better acquire some, stat. In the interest of making other writers feel better about themselves, I’m going to be brutally honest. Writing:Ideal: Finish Novel-In-Progress.Achievable: Finish current chapter.Keeping It Real: Finish tweet about…
Calling Debut Authors! Now Accepting Applications for the 2018 Debutante Ball! Read this post to learn more. Hurry! The deadline is July 28! This week the Debs are sharing things about themselves that might be weird, strange or that most people might not know. I’ve been blogging for a long time, nearly since blogging was a thing. In 2005 I was especially prolific and my “About Me” page was a crazy list…
This week we’re writing about technology, and wow, Crystal nailed just about every tech tool that can help you keep your otherwise-unruly in-process novel organized. And Amy put up another hilarious-yet-not-hilarious post about what it’s like to write in this political climate (oops, I think that was a bit of a spoiler). Anyway, I thought I’d put my usual (somewhat whiny but always real) memoirist tilt on things. When I…
I’m not the youngest girl in the room, but in most things I like to think I’m younger than my age. I’m reasonably fit, and my body doesn’t feel like it’s 50 when I ask it to do things like run or bike or ski. I watch a bunch of TV shows that target a demographic I haven’t been part of for over a decade (Crazy Ex Girlfriend! The New…
Last week I mentioned that none of the agents and editors I spoke with were concerned that I had no platform for my novel, which is true. But it’s also true that once you have a book contract there’s an expectation that will change, and you will join the rest of the universe on social media. I dutifully opened accounts with several sites, and have had varying levels of success…
Social media is killing me. It’s rotting my brain from the inside. Not just social media, actually, but the entire internet. That may seem like hyperbole, but right now I’m feeling pretty damned overwhelmed by the vast rabbit-hole-ness of what’s flying around on invisible waves of data and crashing into my consciousness every time I turn on my computer. Right now I have the following tabs open on my toolbar:…
