tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post7503398449808593399..comments2024-03-25T05:17:05.202-05:00Comments on Writing In The Crosshairs: 4 KEYS TO SUCCESS THAT WILL DEFEAT YOU!Roland D. Yeomanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00338410857990551352noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post-51287185458750702162014-03-06T20:21:35.326-06:002014-03-06T20:21:35.326-06:00J E:
Exactly! If we talk of only those subjects t...J E: <br />Exactly! If we talk of only those subjects that interest writers, we will draw only them. We have to find some way to break out of the Author Ghetto as I call it. :-)Roland D. Yeomanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00338410857990551352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post-89567851433040985882014-03-06T17:50:13.847-06:002014-03-06T17:50:13.847-06:00Blogs can be a tool for connecting with readers, b...Blogs can be a tool for connecting with readers, but you have to be blogging about something that would attract readers. So you do need a web presence, just one that works. Keywords are more important for attracting people to your book, but having an audience already would help TOOOOONS.J E Oneilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09780097298061829471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post-14940863127232219032014-03-06T09:25:01.628-06:002014-03-06T09:25:01.628-06:00D.G.:
Denise's "bloggers get annoyed when...D.G.:<br />Denise's "bloggers get annoyed when told they shouldn't be blogging" I can understand.<br /><br />Blogging is fun. It connects us. It makes us feel not quite so alone when we are writing our novels.<br /><br />WHEN WE ARE WRITING OUR NOVELS ...<br /><br />Even Super-Blogger, Alex, is blogging less these days when he is writing his latest.<br /><br />Many are blogging when they should be writing their novel.<br /><br />It is a different cyber-environment today:<br /><br />Blog tours no longer have the impact they once did. There are so many of them that none stand out.<br /><br />Cover reveals are the same thing. Too many, like fireflies in a swarm.<br /><br />I started my blog because it was conventional wisdom for an author to have one to gain an audience -- but that was before KDP.<br /><br />We were waiting for an agent and publisher to pick us up. Why not use that time to garner an audience while we were in a publishing holding pattern?<br /><br />Now, we can be our own publisher. The bane of all salesmen is to have a hot item but no inventory to sell.<br /><br />To have another book able to be bought before you publish the first one is only sensible. To do that you must write novels. Any time spent blogging at that time is time that is more wisely spent writing that first and second novel.<br /><br />We are a micro-wave culture. We want it NOW. I want to hit high sales with my first book and to do that I cultivate an audience who likes my blog posts. But after that first book is bought, and they want more -- there is none UNLESS I have written and published it.<br /><br />I could be wrong, of course. I am only one mind. ANd I have been wrong in the past, and will be wrong again! :-)<br /><br />Donna:<br />Most of us are singing to the choir. We will not succeed until we break out of the Author Ghetto, authors only selling to one another.<br /><br />To do that I have no clue. I wish I did!<br /><br />But JK Rowling had a core set of three books when the buzz really started, and those who gambled on her then had 3 books to read one after another -- it built momentum for her popularity.<br /><br />Like you said, blogging is a warm, friendly experience. My blogging friends pulled me through my cancer surgeries. And I have loved interacting with my cyber-friends. I have loved creating a world of ghost authors and a haunted jazz club.<br /><br />In essence, WRITING IN THE CROSSHAIRS is my blog-novel where I am the central protagonist.<br /><br />But I have made sure to have a backlist of novels to be gambled on should visitors find my tales fun and entertaining.<br /><br />And I get to be a creative writing teacher again! :-)<br /><br />Good to see you here!<br /><br />Alex:<br />Blogging is NOT a pyramid scheme, but it has some elements of it surely. When you began blogging, it was another time, rife with possibilities that now have become institutions.<br /><br />You have become an icon due to your generosity, Arlee's A to Z, and your own widespread IWSG.<br /><br />Now, the blogshere has exploded and yet become anemic at the same time. FACEBOOK and TWITTER have nibbled away at its uniqueness.<br /><br />Cyber-Attention spans have shortened. And the cyber-waves seem to be awash with BUY ME's!<br /><br />For the novice author new paths must be discovered to become noticed and bought. Old paths no longer lead where they once did. Seeing authors do what once worked but now do not is like seeing a puppy lick at an empty food dish that once was full. Contiuned licking will not make any food appear in it.<br /><br />Your blog is immensely popular, and it, of course, contributes to your books' success. But new authors need to do something "novel" to bring like attention to them.<br /><br />I wish I knew what it was. But having an inventory of books for readers to gobble up is an essential step in preparation.<br /><br />Boy, did I stir up a hornet's nest. :-)Roland D. Yeomanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00338410857990551352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post-48617340269491709462014-03-06T06:50:40.648-06:002014-03-06T06:50:40.648-06:00I was told to get my butt online a year before my ...I was told to get my butt online a year before my first book came out and network, as that would help when my book was released. (My own fault for not writing more, but I didn't intend to write more.) Blogging has certainly contributed to the success of my books.Alex J. Cavanaughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09770065693345181702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post-52033629553288111602014-03-06T01:19:20.944-06:002014-03-06T01:19:20.944-06:00Blogging is fun and friendly, but I'm of the m...Blogging is fun and friendly, but I'm of the mind that it is selling to other authors, so if that is the only marketing an author does, then you have to be really really popular to actually make your money off the books. Blogging for sales could be disappointing, as many of my indie friends have discovered.<br /><br />Not a bad way to spend your time, however. Who can't use more friends and connections to fellow authors. Social networking is important, and so is the committment to the craft. I learned a lot of good writing skills by writing blog posts.<br /><br />.......dholedolorahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08715849844092553699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post-65997275093282800382014-03-06T00:53:13.115-06:002014-03-06T00:53:13.115-06:00I agree with Denise, 'Unpublished bloggers get...I agree with Denise, 'Unpublished bloggers get annoyed when told they shouldn't be blogging. Says who? It's good writing / researching/networking practice.' <br /><br />I'll continue blogging as long as it's enjoyable. Are you saying social networks are better for newbies or the unpublished? Not sure I agree with that, it sounds a bit elitist.D.G. Hudsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213237734772028645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post-29450879576022701272014-03-05T23:55:13.603-06:002014-03-05T23:55:13.603-06:00Denise:
I did not follow my own advise but blogged...Denise:<br />I did not follow my own advise but blogged before I was published. However that was before KDP. <br /><br />I figured if I waited to be published before I blogged, I might never blog.<br /><br />And then, too, that was the time when the conventional wisdom was to blog to get noticed by agents and potential readers, too!<br /><br />Rules change. We must all follow our instincts.<br /><br />A book of short stories is still a book. :-)<br /><br />All authors are free spirits anyway, right?<br /><br />Nancy:<br />I think to have at least two books ready when you publish the first is a way to strike when the iron is hot.<br /><br />Let me know when you publish them, and I will spotlight them!<br /><br />And blogging friends are what saw me through my cancer surgeries!Roland D. Yeomanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00338410857990551352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post-46369957659761683242014-03-05T23:28:46.893-06:002014-03-05T23:28:46.893-06:00Hi Roland
I think blogs bring friendship but I agr...Hi Roland<br />I think blogs bring friendship but I agree they aren't good tools to find readers. I'm currently developing several series and will publish when I have more books in each. That way I can time the release of each.<br />NancyN. R. Williamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02174506528962095858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post-87449293966522535282014-03-05T22:16:34.599-06:002014-03-05T22:16:34.599-06:00All very interesting Roland. There are so many way...All very interesting Roland. There are so many ways to get noticed, but you have to find out what's right for you. Well, I've published short stories but not a novel yet, but I do have 5 novels in various stages of completion. I wouldn't publish anything that still needed editing. But I enjoy blogging, so there. Unpublished bloggers get annoyed when told they shouldn't be blogging. Says who? It's good writing/researching/networking practice.Denise Covey https://www.blogger.com/profile/07106490051555233439noreply@blogger.com