Tell All Tuesdays!

image from openclipart.org by j4p4n

Looking for the proof?  Check out Metrics Monday to see my numbers.

Twitter Update: 
-My strategy is going well.  So well that my plans to expand my social media reach are on hold.  Twitter is taking up all my time/energy.  The husband laughed at me when I lamented over this.  He said this was a "sign of success" AND that the goal should be that the Twitter expansion is so vast, I can't maintain my job and building the account.  That blew my mind and now I'm evaluating what would be "enough" on this campaign.
-I've incorporated 2 main Twitter Groups the #sixwordstory folks and #themerrywriter group.  Both are good engagement/conversation starters.
- I want to keep #womenwriters on my radar, but I'm not as "engaged" there as I need to be.
-I want to make inroads to #amwritingfantasy this week

North Alabama Writers' Group Blog
Thought having conversation starters and helpful resources would be enough to drive this blog.  It is not.  I'm brainstorming what other forms of promotion I need.  What I have is:
-Harassing the group I'm working with to comment and share entries.  It would help if it wasn't just me and Chris building this community
-Reaching out to my mom for some ideas cause she is a savvy lady who's much better with the in person engagement than me
-Maybe hosting some Write Ins at the library?  Getting more local and thoughtful that way?
-Want to have a logo for our group along caricatures for our group members and some merch.  By Dec.

Writer's Ramblings Blog
-This is going great.
-Views exceed expectations
-I have recurring series, one plugs into the larger writers' community
-Would like more comments so it feels less like I'm working in solitude to an audience of search engine crawlers, but that will have to come with time.

Research-y Things
-Watching booktubers with an eye towards releasing a book review on YouTube.  I've got a great niche in mind and am three quarters done with the book.
-Considering what to do with my Goodreads account, I feel like it should be easy to incorporate, but it's proven to be difficult
-Trying to work up time and energy for a Facebook launch because that's a thing.  Maybe Oct?

Creative Works
-wrote about 500 words and completed some outlining.  Blogging is taking up a lot of time but I will get faster.

Metric Mondays

image from openclipart.org by lyo

My week review posts are too long, so I'm breaking it up into straight numbers and progress updates/plan adjustments.  Today is straight plans.

Twitter Analytics 

Been active 24 days and I have 285 Tweets, 622 profile visits, 121 new followers, 55 mentions, and 25.1K impressions.

I've had a small drop in conversion only 19% of people who look at my profile follow me.  I am still gaining about 5 followers a day.  If this rate continues, that's 550 new follow by the end of 2018.

My Engagement is 2.8% this week, so I'm improving at a steady amount each week.

I post about 11 times a day.  I plan five posts and the others of responses or impromptu promotions.

Blog Stats

This blog is doing as expected.  I get about 20 views per day and am not seeing any interaction.  I'd like to see traffic grow over the next month to maybe 50 views a day.  Plus, I'd love comments.  Advice, thoughts, all feedback is good feedback at this point.

The North Alabama Writers' Group Blog is building more slowly.  Good news: got traffic every day of the week.  Bad news: 6 of the 7 days saw single digit traffic.  We average 3 visits a day with the high day giving us 11 views.

  The spam comments continue and it's annoying for me crawl through the 30ish comments every day.  What would be an improvement for this blog is for my group to come to the page and read the articles, comment on a few posts, and share a post or two with their social media.  I need a plan on how I will turn the blog around and it will be without the help of the group.  More on that later.

How are your metrics?  Are they where you want them?  Tell me more.

The Merry Writer: Bath Time!

image from openclipart.org by qubodup

The Merry Writer has a fun daily question for writers I wanted to try getting in on.  Check out Ari Meghlen's blog and Twitter along with the Hashtags #themerrywriter where you can see everyone's responses.

What do you do to relax/decompress after a bad day?

There's a toooon of ways I decompress.  My favorite is a long hot bubble bath filled with bath bombs, bath melts and yummy essential oils.   Once I'm out is lotion bar time and then a nap where my skin absorbs all the hydrating cocoa butter, shea butter, and coconut butter that's sitting on my skin.

Assuming I don't have hours of time to relax, I like reading, writing, playing video games, cuddling with my dog, talking with my husband, or doing a five minute mindfulness routines.  I have a couple of mantras I use that include "Relax, nothing is under control." "Just for today, I will not worry."   If all else fails, I start thinking about all the stuff that's great in my life.  Humble brag, but most of my life is awesome, so why should I let the 15% of it that's happening in this moment run the other 85%?

Editing: The Gnat of Writing

image from open clipart.org by Firkin

Recently, I've been writing more quick articles and reviews.  In the past I posted them with no grammar check because I'm not married to any of these little blurbs and editing is exhausting.  If I have to spend hours checking every little thing, I'll never get content out.  All bloggers, writers, and curators know lack of content is a death knell for our livelihoods.  I can't be relevant without constant production.

During this revival, I've realized that having sound content may be as important as having consistent content.  My "personal brand" can't be littered with typos.  What sane editor wants to deal with that?

My blog may be the only time someone sees my writing.  If they don't like the tone and structure in a small informational blog: how will I get them to read a short story or a novel?

To combat my slipshod internal voice, I'm using ProWritingAid on all my blog posts, book reviews, and stories.  This wasn't an easy decision for me because I'm resistant to editing.  It takes longer to edit than it does to write.  It's draining, and it makes me question my ability to be a published writer.  Who would put up with all my little mistakes when there are so many authors who must have a more sophisticated grasp of proper grammar?

Surprise, I don't hate running everything through a grammar check as much as I'd imagined.  There are points that hearten me even.

1. The editing process takes less time the more often I do it.

2. I think my grammar is better.  I'm catching myself more before I hit the editor.

3. I have basic serious mistakes that are crippling my work.

-Example one, I can't keep capitalization consistent for shit.  Don't know why I can't decide if I'm creating a title or if something is a proper noun, but my capitalization consistency is terrible.  It takes a stupid amount of time for me to do a consistency.  No wonder an editor doesn't want to pick me up.  What a flipping nightmare.

-Example two: I can't stick to writing numbers out or typing the word down.  Thankfully, this won't riddle my creative writing but it's all over the blog and I wonder if it exhausts readers.

-Example three: I use two or more adjectives that mean the same thing.  At one point in time, I thought using so many adjectives controlled the tone and drove the reader to my conclusion.  Now I see I'm holding too tight to the reins.

-Example four: I have too many sentence fragments.  This one is the most difficult.  My storytelling style borders on the poetic.  Fragments belong in my work.  But, I may rely too on flow to instill story.

-Example five: I don't use article a or the half as much as ProWritingAid believes I should.  This one I'm still fighting the good fight.  A and the are unnecessary and take away from the tone I want to achieve.  Who knows, maybe the repetitive nature of the feedback will change my mind?

Now that editing takes less time, and I can catch mistakes before I use a check, I resent the process less.  Part of me looks forward to editing because it means I'm one step closer to submitting.

What about you?  Is editing less daunting over time?  Do you have common foils you need to overcome in your writing?  Speak up ^_^

The Merry Writer: Do you Even Collaborative Write Bro?

image provided by open clipart.org by Firkin

The Merry Writer has a fun daily question for writers I wanted to try getting in on.  Check out Ari Meghlen's blog and Twitter along with the Hashtags #themerrywriter where you can see everyone's responses.

Have you ever/would you ever collaborate with another writer?

Yes.  I LOVE collaborative writing.  Starting in fourth grade, I created skits and scripts with a group of friends.  In high school two friends and I had a series of notebooks where we told each other ridiculous stories and would try to take over the story.   During college, I wrote poems, scripts, and short stories with friends and assigned partners.

In writers' group we have an exercise where one person starts a prompt and after fifteen minutes someone else has to take it over. It's silly fun, and it pushes story creation forward faster than I could produce on my own.  If you can find a friend, associate, or partner you trust, then working together and letting them steer the parts you don't know how to navigate is perfect.

We always talk about how writing is solitary, but I don't think it is.  Even stuff I "write" on my own, someone else proofreads, edits, and suggests.  One day, I hope someone else will publish it for me so I don't have to shoulder that burden and someone else will help me market the story.  Working with others to achieve a mutual goal is a collaboration and all of it qualifies as a writing project.  

Co-writing something helps prepare a writer for the kinds of cooperative relationships he or she will need to create, edit, and sell a book.  It shows you know how to be a good part of a team and it may help you develop new skill sets.

Would I work with someone else on a future endeavor?  I'd love too.  One reason I'm taking over the "face" of my writers group is because I like reaching out and helping others.  I like hearing about others creative works, asking questions, making suggestions, and when others let me, I'm happy to leave a fingerprint or two.

Talk to me.  Do you like collaborating with others, or do you keep you work to yourself? I want to hear about your process ^_^

Progress Report: All the Good (and Bad) Numbers

image from open clipart.org by Firkin

Twitter Numbers 

Per Twitter Analytics: I've been active on Twitter 18 days and have 192 tweets.  I've had 483 profile visits, gained 97 new followers, and 36 mentions.

My engagement averages about 2% which is an increase from my 1.5% last week.  That engagement averages about 1 link click per day, 2 RT a day, 11 likes, and 1 reply per day.

What does this tell me?  First my follow increase seems strong.  20% of everyone who checks out my profile follows.  This suggests I'm doing well finding relevant quality content to retweet and I'm sorting it well with the Hashtag system to direct my Tweets to the right people at the right time.

I'm on track to gain 100 followers every month.  Remember my following count when I reactivated was 347.  My following has grown 22% in 18 days and that's a lot.

I'm midrange active on Twitter.  I have 5 planned posts a day and everything else is impulsive gravy.  What takes off is a mix of planned posts and impulsive ones.  It averages out to 10 ish posts a day.  They debate the life span of a Tweet but it seems to range between 8-30 minutes.  At the most generous range, I should post twice an hour.  I'd NEED to buy a subscription to a Tweet scheduler to achieve this without going crazy.  I'm looking different options, but I would like 30 days of Twitter before investing.  More details on schedulers I looked at coming.

As a writer and blogger, my link clicks are terrible.  If I can't entice people to check out the posts with interesting titles and snippets, then I need to post links more often to make up for the low conversation.  I'm not comfortable doing that just yet because I feel like my blogs need more evergreen content before I dive into more aggressive self promotion.

General Clean up notes: I've cleared all inactive accounts from my Twitter feed.  Will address again in thirty days.  My following to followers ratio improved, but not in an "ideal" range yet.  I keep telling myself it won't matter once I break 1k, but I've got months before that happens.

Blogs:

The North Alabama Writers' Group blog is drowning in spam.  It's made me rethink everything I thought about how to judge a blog's success.  There was a time where a lot of comments on a blog amazed me, now I know that comments =/= traffic.  Our all time highest view rate is still 19 views and we're not even averaging 3 people visiting a day.  

 It's frustrating because we helpful content like the recent release of Calls for Submission in September but we also have reflective pieces like "Creating Aliens" by Christopher M. Palmer.  We even have crossover pieces like "What's in a Name—A Name I stole from Another Blog!" where I discuss my personal struggle to name characters and places WHILE ALSO offering resources to help other's find good names for their characters/places.

This blog's early numbers success has slumped a little.  It tells me posting on Tell All Tuesday, is very important to driving my traffic.  Good news, there is traffic.  Bad news, it's not worth talking about.

Unlike The North Alabama Writers' Group Blog, I know this blog doesn't have a lot of added value yet or "evergreen" blog fodder.  I am working on adding more.  I have scheduled posts that should improve traffic.

Writing Projects 

I've written more of the second/third/final draft of my novel Follow Me: Tatter Veils.  All forward motion is exciting.  I love this book more than I can express.

I've continued rearranging "Comes in Threes" and when I'm done with this short, I'm moving on to "1000 Words" (which will be 1000 words), and then I want to write one more flash.  Zach challenged me to write 3 flash pieces this week, and I'd like to have three in hand.  I'm toying with a step counter story called "The Tracker" or a reverse mortgage story that doesn't have a name.  All the ideas are sad and bittersweet.

Random Notes: 

My Goodreads reviews are up to date.  I'm half way through the next book on the list and hoping to finish reading/reviewing this week.

I have plenty ideas for the blog and hope to batch those together with the research and link work on Wed.

Batching is helpful, but it doesn't maximize efficiency as well as I'd thought.  For example, to get a sense of accomplishment from the work I need to write, edit, add links, and schedule each post before moving on to the next "job".   In an ideal batching scenario, I'd write all the blog rough drafts, then edit several posts, then place all the links for these posts together, and then find all the pictures.  I can't group the tasks that well yet.  Besides, that much editing all at once is exhausting.  Still there are benefits.  Being in "blog" mode increases speed of writing multiple posts.

Thanks for reading my update, tell me about how your own campaigns are going!  Are you seeing the growth you'd like on social media or on your blog?  What are you doing to achieve that growth?  Talk to me.

Want to see more related to this post?  See how far I've come from Aug 29th or earlier on Aug 21st.  

What's my strategy on Twitter?  Here's a post on the 8 Step Twitter Plan

Looking for the Larger Picture Check out Why a Twitter Campaign and Why a Blog at All

Batching Projects for Efficiency

image from open clipart.org provided by J4p4n

I read "How Can I build My Platform and Still Have Time to Freelance Write?" bt Elna Cain.  If her article had been "and Still Have Time to Creatively Write?" she'd have written a post just for me.  As it is, I found one insight interesting.

Cain  batches her tasks to maximize efficiency.  Batching, according to Cane is about putting similar tasks together to save time.  Like she writers all her articles for her clients and her own blogs, then after that's done she goes ahead and finds the graphics for those posts.

On reflection, when I retroactively added pictures to older posts, instead of adding photos as I went, it was faster.  So right away, I'm stoked to try batching to improve efficiency!   The next obvious question: what can I batch?

Like Cain, I can write blog posts for my personal blog and The North Alabama Writers' Group together and then go look for pictures.  I could also throw in my book reviews for Goodreads (long backlog).  I've already written a list of all the posts I need to write and a tentative schedule for them.

Also like Cain I could find the pictures AFTER I write all the posts.

In my creative writing, I can batch edit complete stories.  Likewise, the research for my creative writing, my social media links, and my blogs could all happen together.

I'm always trying to batch my social media presence.  First, I check the North Alabama Writers' Blog and tackle the comments waiting approval, then I swing here and see if there are comments, then I go to twitter and check on my notifications, see if I need to do anything with those.  Afterward I jump to Hootsuite and post schedule.  Then I go to Commun.it and see if there's anything popular I need to respond to and then I jump to ManageFlitter and unfollow about 50 people. After that, I try not to look at social media again at all until the evening because while it's a powerful tool to reach an audience it's also a notorious time waster--mixed results there.  I',m going to have a ton of difficulty batching Social Media when I expand out to something beyond Twitter, and Goodreads.  For my sanity I will wait at least a month and hope some "check now" compulsion goes away.


Does anyone else batch tasks?  If so, what do you throw together?  Is there anything else I could combine to help my efficiency?

Tuesday Tell All: A Day Late so Wednesday Writers? Analytics Deep Dive

image from open clipart.org provided by J4p4n

Blog Update:

NAWG member Christopher M. Palmer created a delightful post on "Creating Aliens" and comment wise it seems to be taking off.

Traffic wise our most trafficked day is still only 19 views, but we are getting steady 10-15 views a day and we are receiving many comments.  I don't know how it works that there doesn't seem to be page views but there are comments, I would think you couldn't comment without viewing.  *Shrug*.  

I haven't written anymore posts for the North Alabama Writers' Group but my post "What's in a Name?" dropped on Aug 26th.  All the credit for the idea and structure goes to Rick Polad.  This was a fun response/ add on post and I'd like to write more posts along these lines.

I added a little more content to my "September Call for Submissions Roundup" Post which will drop Sept first on North Alabama Writers' Group, so keep your eyes peeled!  I also added more content to another post regarding writers' tools.

On this blog, I posted my Twitter Plan (sitting at 5 views with no Twitter promotion).  It's worth reviewing because you can compare what I'm doing with the results I post each week.

I also posted a page on Bloggers and Groups I follow to stay up to date with calls for submission.  It should a a great resource for authors who want to keep update with the markets.

In the to be posted file:  I wrote a post on batching that will drop on Sunday.  Basic stuff, but it made me interested in exploring my process and increasing productivity.  I've started a post that's reviewing a book on publishing and promotion, but it's not finished.

I changed the layout, the book shelf look felt old, so I went pink watercolors.  What do you think?

Thank you all for viewing and Retweeting posts around this blog.  Last week's update got an impressive 57 views.  It's cool so many people stopped in to look at my projects and plans!  

Twitter Update: 

I've been active on Twitter for 12 days in in that time I've posted 120 times (10 times a day—too much to be sustainable long term), received 9,953 views, 377 profile views, 26 mentions, and I've gained 58 followers.   per Twitter Analytics.

That's 38 more followers than this time last week!  If I average 25 new followers a week (and can keep them), that's 100 new eyes every month.  Combined with my current following I could have 1k followers in 6 months.  That's steady growth I could sustain long term.

If I'd posted this update yesterday, my most popular tweet would have been my tweet with last weeks update.  467 views and 16 retweets!  You guys rock!  I hope you had fun/ could gather something from the number analysis.  However, as of this morning my most viewed tweet is a reply to @oceanviibes.  He/She has so many following, it shouldn't surprise me this of hand response to first place with 501 views and 8 engagements.

Using Hootsuite, I have posts scheduled until Monday.  It is becoming more difficult to find things to RT or tweet.  I think some of Twitter's repetition is hitting me.  To fight this, I'm playing more in Hashtag convos and hoping this will give me more fresh content to post.  

I've continued to delete inactive accounts from my following feed.  Brought the number of following to 653 and with a following of 406 I'm close to "reasonable" range, whatever that's worth.

Writing Updates: 

I completed editing all but two of my short stories, so I have 5 stories ready to go.  One of my stories is a "novella" length so I will wait until I'm back from Vegas to dive into that.  The other two will also need a lot of love, so I'm on hold in working them.

I wrote a new short story on the flight here.  Current title "Comes in Threes" and it's a horror fantasy genre.  This was a 100% original idea that wasn't on the list.

I've also gone back in through my novel.  Chapters 1-3 are complete.  Chapters 4 &5 need a complete rewrite but I have plans to work on that later today.  

Other projects are likely to be touched: the writer's group round robin.  I played with it in July and came across an editor's ethical quandary.  Since then I've decided I can do what I want to my part of the writing and I should create two separate endings for the work and post all up on North Alabama Writers' Group.  

I want to look at Cress Legacy because I think I could bring it to a close this week.  Also, I have a short story called "1000 Words" that I think I could cross off my list.

Got into the writing class and it starts Sept 3.  Blog posts on that are sure to follow.

Goodreads Update :

-All my reviews on Goodreads.com are up to date.  I was about 10 books behind and now I'm caught up.  Goodreads is part of my organic social media promotion campaign.  Since I already read a lot and often review, keeping up to date with it felt like a natural minimal effort add on.  More to come on the part Goodreads may play in my future social media chasing.

Two weeks away from trying to engage Facebook.  I don't want to, but I feel like it's the obvious next part establishing my blogs and writing in the larger world.  We'll see, maybe it won't be so bad or maybe it will drive traffic so wildly I'll wonder why I never bothered with it before.

My Twitter Plan in 8 Steps

image from openclipart.org by GDJ

1. Create and Share Interesting and Unique Content

- retweets of stuff that grabbed my attention: quotes, articles, funnies, unique perspective/advice, books I plan to read or have read
-sharing my personality
-sharing personal efforts vs results.  This differs from the other generic "how to get views bro" because it's about what I'm doing and what results I'm getting, but it's also different cause I'm not really doing as they suggest

2. Schedule Posts.

-Some days I'm super into Twitter and some days I'm low on social mojo.  An obvious solution is to use a Scheduling site to plan out posts.  My goal is to have 4-5 posts a day with only 10 posts in one day for consistency’s sake.  I'm using free versions of Hootsuite, Commun.it and Buffer to achieve these goals.
-Side benefit to my feed, when I Retweet your posts a week later is won't show up in anyone's following both of us as spam.  Instead, it will breathe a second life into great content.  I want to showcase stuff so it doesn't feel like an echo chamber all the time For reals, I want to help other people while helping myself because I believe we can win together.


3. Create More Personal Connections on the Medium

-following hashtag conversations and replying to people/holding a conversation
-replying to questions, following up with others
-thanking people for helpful content, posting reviews and otherwise interacting beyond the like button
-I want to get into #sixwordstories and some other creative hashtags.  Meet other creators, contest holders, and stretch my own creative muscles more
-trying to be a friend to people by offering advice and support instead of "on and bubbly" or "sharp and snarky". Looking for a whole person approach
-@ people with content I think they'll like or that makes me think of them. Right now that's real life people but a goal is to build relationships with people online that I "know" well enough I can tag them
-checking in once a week with people's feeds whom I connect to.  I've got a short list of ten names where I make a personal check in.

4. Using Commun.it's "Popular Tweets of Your Feed" Section to See What is Trending and What People are Interested in.

-When possible, I make a relevant RT, like, or reply, scheduled out to give a second surge to something already popular (fashionably late and not just behind the times, I hope)
-Also so I can test what's popular on my feed and better style my Tweets to fit--this is limited for me because I want to find my audience for my writing and if I mimic someone else too much, I'll just find their audience

5. Use of Hashtags

-I have about four related lists I'm working with.  I also have days of the week plans, and I schedule.
-Also I'm interesting in cultivating my audience for writing, so I peek in to hashtags that match my book so see what people are saying and who's out to play

6. Once a Week Check in 

-This is part a batching thing and part a community builder
-I will look at everyone's feed on who has followed me over the week on Friday to see if we have common interests and then I may follow them back.
-I am also once a week checking in on some people who have consistent content I enjoy that might get swept away in my feed

7.Checking in to Twitter Analytics:

-By looking at my success and failures at least twice a week, I can see what works and doesn't work in my post records.  I can tell if it's content or time that may have garnered attention.  I can figure out if the hashtag communities I am drawn to are working for me.  And, as a little of a numbers geek, I can find endless entertainment in my ranking.  What worked, what didn't work, and theorizing why.

8.Unfollowing More People.

-I started unfollowing people on Tuesday. I thought it would only take one purge to get rid of everyone who is not relevant. Sooooooo wrong.  I've been dropping about 50 people a day.  When I got back to my Twitter, I was following 900-ish people and now I'm following 676 people.  This is cool becasue it means soon I'll be able to pick up more groups that interest me.  Agents, publishing companies, asuthors, and finding a few more of those dreaded content marketers.  I have a love hate relationship with content marketing.

- I am cleaning up contacts inactive for over a month or people whose account appears to have shifted away from my interests during my time off Twitter.  Of my Twitter plans this is my least favorite part of the work load, and I hope it's least important.

And these are hopefully my 8 steps to a successful Twitter Campaign.  Am I missing anything?  Do you have a cool sight you use that I should sheck out?  Tell me in the comments below.

Want to see how this plan is going? Check out:

August 21st Progress Report
August 29th Progress Report
September 4 Numbers 

Progress Update: Blogs, Twitter, and Creative Writing

image from optnclipart.org by liftarn

Blog Updates:

I created two more blog posts for North Alabama Writers' Group one will post on Aug 22th and the next will post Aug 26th.  I've also collated my September Call for Submissions Post and it's scheduled to drop September 1st.

Ran through my older posts in the Writers' Group and added pictures to them from openclipart.org so they will be more tweet-able.

The response is still underwhelming.  3-19 views a day with no comments from people I don't know or interact with.  I'm not discouraged, the blog has only been on the scene for under a year AND we engaged other writers less than a week ago. I expect low numbers.

Resurrected this blog with a primary post yesterday. They viewed the post four times, which is far more views than expected give my lack of promotion.

  I filled out a page of blogs/services I follow because they keep me up to date on calls for submission and open publishers.  Have four solid links and am hoping to expand to ten links before publishing.

Continue working on it with an update/analytics post today and have two other ideas I'm fine tuning and will schedule later today.

Twitter Updates:

Twitter is very early in the campaign, but so far it seems to go well.  Thanks to  Hootsuite, I've got posts scheduled through Saturday.  My free account will take me up to 30 posts, with 21 lined up.  19 will still be in the queue Wed morning.

Twitter Analytics look amazing, but that's no surprise.  Resurrecting at three year dead account always looks promising at the start.  Still, 74 profile visits in 4 days is nothing to sniff at.  Added 20 followers, so a third of the people who looked at me followed.  Feels like progress.

My top tweet is funny if generic. and my second most popular tweet is a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon tweet.  First day is the most successful with diminishing returns on subsequent days.  I got 109 impression on Aug 20th with a Hugo Award announcement.

So far important, new, and funny gets the most eyes.  Seems blog posts and funny gets the most engagement.

Commun.it ssuggested about 74 people not to follow and I went through to delete anyone how hasn't posted sometime this year.  Annoying, but healthy to purge inactive accounts.  My follow to follower ratio is off and may come off as "desperate" even with all the unused accounts gone.  The only downside is now commun.it wants me to unfollow 90 more people, like it was encouraged by me taking some of its advice.  Guess what, I follow people cause I like the posts not because they follow me.

Commun.it also points out the most popular posts trending within my feed.  When possible, I comment or RT.  Also, commun.it suggests thanking accounts with high engagement, it's something I'm considering doing once a week to the top five accounts?  I don't know, feels very hokey and a little obvious.  

Looked up a ton of writers' hashtags and picked out 14 I like and will try to dip into.  From there I picked up themed posting and want to make certain I'm using days of the week hashtags.  Wrote myself a schedule and created a timer so I don't fall into the twitter abyss.

Writing Updates:

I put together full list of completed, in need of review, in progress, and ideas for stories.  The plans don't include a lot of creative writing until my vacation starts this Friday.  While writers' goals feel in order, I don't know what of these projects will strike my fancy while on vacation, so it's hard to set up any metrics surrounding the process.

 The main thrust of my work this week is knocking out all the basic social media junk so it will run on auto pilot while I'm working the story side.  At some point, the process will need fine tuning so I can manage both but that's a week away.

Last, I tried to sign up for a creative writing course, but it won't let me right now because "PayPal checkout is down".  Will revisit that tomorrow.

Putting On My War Paint: Time To Twitter

uploaded to openclipart.org by j4p4n

Two years ago, I began an ill-advised campaign to write/freelance blog/publish a book.  I bit off way more than I could chew.  My goals were too broad, and I added in more things I "had" to do too often. I decided the whole circus wasn't for me.  Instead, I focused on my writing, I reached out to agents, and got grass roots and joined a local writers' group.  

Well, I'm back at it again, trying to make something work.  What different this time?

First, my goals are more limited.  I'm looking to create a genuine community and audience for my creative writing endeavors.  

Second, I'll work with a team of fellow local writers trying to stir interest in our different projects instead of trying to shoulder all the work on my own.

Third, I've got a very strict schedule I plan to adhere to.

I will pursue audience by:

1. Posting in The North Alabama Writers' Group Blog, writers group blog I hope my fellow writers will join me in maintaining.  I've been curating it for the last year.  If the blog was a plant, it wouldn't survive my tender care, even if it was a cactus.  20 posts in 33 weeks sounds ok, but the spacing is fubar-ed.  Nothing between April until July and now I'm blitzing posts every four days.  Pacing in my social engineering needs some fine tuning.

2. Reviving my Twitter account and trying to mobilize old contacts while also making new contacts.  Of social media, Twitter seems to be the most manageable for me.   Short bursts into the void seems more tolerable.

 My previous attempts saw scattered successes.  This time, I have a specific plan for each day that should help me interact in ways that will be more meaningful but also be fun.  I also think Twitter will be less frustrating this time vs my last attempt.  The goal this time is to interact with people and show a little of who I am where the goal last time was to funnel traffic to the blog.  It's cool if you guys come to the blog, but I'm not in Twitter for that.

3. Bringing this blog back as a recording tool to track success/failure.  I love analytics and I know there have to be dozens of others who would show up for the statistic updates.  Beyond what interests others, there's something about complete statistical transparency that feels good.  It's a weird moral high ground, but if it makes me happy and accomplished, why not?

4. I will also use the pages option in this blog to create an organized collection of resources I use for writing, measuring analytics, doing the social media, and so on.  It would be soooo cool if this kind of researching helped others, but the pages would be a success if I didn't have to hunt and peck all the time for stuff I half remember once having a link and description to.

5. I will reinvest in my creative writing by taking a work shopping class.  I miss the creative writing classes I took in college and the structure might give me the kick in the butt I need to produce again.  Tired of standing in one place.

6. Write!  The workshop should help but key to the "revive my social media to gain audience" campaign is the assumption I have stories ready to share.

Companys with Good Writing Advise Blogs

Ordered alphabetically 

Apex Publishing: I love Apex Publishing.  They support new and emerging Scifi authors along with established authors.  They have open submission for their magazine and themed calls of submission.  They pay $.06 a word, they have awesome art and interesting themed prompts.  I guess you'd consider this blog inspiration fodder?

ProWritingAid: Beyond offering an AMAZING software series (see my personal experience here and also enjoy as I compare this service with peers) their blog suggesting other software applications, offering grammar/editing advise, and also supplying writing/plot structure is very enjoyable.

Scifi Monkeys: They have a lot of interesting reviews and conversations surrounding all current Scifi material.  They also hold a "Seasons" call for submissions for those looking to write/submit

Writers' and Editors Blogs I Read

This list in alphabetical order.

Alexander M. Zotari "Notes from an Alien":This blog centers around book and writing questions/topics Zotari wants to explore.  He only brings the conversation forward if people engage with his posts.  A wonderful way to bring in interested lurkers, though it sometimes leads to repetitive posts.  I enjoy seeing quiet people come out and post, and "Notes from an Alien" succeeds in catching many people's thoughts.

Ari Meghlen: She is a writer and outside of blogging focuses in the fantasy genre.  She gives excellent advice on how to start up an organized writing routine.  She shares her personal writing goals, she updates with her progress, she is one of the hosts of #themerrywriter on Twitter.  Her style is to the point and very approachable.  She's also building a job info list resource for writers.

Cal P. Logan: As I add this entry, he's just getting his blog up and running.  It looks like it will revolve around indie author book reviews as well as some notes on his querying/writing process.  I'm curious to read more

Christopher Graham: Has "The Reading Ape'd blog where he offers a lot of how to's that will interest authors.  I struggle navigating his site as the layout while very good is not intuitive to me, but his articles are worth the work.

Elna Cain: She is a freelance writer who manages I believe four blogs along with her freelance posts. I enjoy her post layouts and while some of her tips/tricks/suggestions are generic, I like how positive and persistent she is.  You can see that she has personally used her own techniques to gain success.

Hannah Heath: a writer who blogs on building one's platform and gives writing advice.  Fun and to the point blog style with a clean visually pleasing blog home.

Jacob Brundle: He promotes his upcoming publication and he writes about different ways to approach the creative process and how that may impact your progress/ you work.  He has a very clean blog with an engaging style.

Jeffrey A. Moulton: He has an interesting quirky blog style that's most at home with the speculation I enjoy in good science fiction.  His style connects odd outside inputs together for interesting conversation and writing prompt fodder.  Fun and offbeat on his blog with dark horror present in his novels.

Joy D Fanning: An aspiring writer she creates content related to the writing process and preparing to write/publish a major project.  As another writer seeking publication, I have a lot in common with her only her chosen genre is science fiction.  She's also part of a blogging collaborative "The Aspiring Author Blog"

Just Publishing Advice: The title says some of it.  This blog gives publishing advice, grammar advise, advertising advice and social media advice.  All interesting and easy to implement.

K. Kris Loomis: An eclectic writer who creates both fiction and non fiction.  She's into reading, yoga, and self care along with helpful suggestions on how to interact with others and build your presence authentically.

K.M. Weiland: author who provides step by step guides and advice to completing creative writing projects and seeing publication through.

Lauren Sapala: is a writer who focuses on the writing and publishing market specifically from the perspective of a highly sensitive personality type.  She approaches problems/issues/concerns from a deeply empathetic core and often provides more sympathizing that step by step advice.  She is patient, well spoken, and encouraging.  Her writing style speaks to me and is very engaging.

Lionel Ray Green: a local writer who encourages me and shares his writing breakthroughs with me. His blog is an eclectic mix of observations, reviews, and market announcements.  He has insight specifically in the horror market.

Morgan Wright: An up and coming author with an amazing twitter presence and what seems to be an extensive, growing blog presence.  I enjoy her layouts and services so I keep and eye on this blog even though these isn't presently much to talk about

Nat Russo: a writer who offers writing advise to other writers.  His book series is fantasy and currently on my "to be read" list.  I enjoy his advise and presence.

The North Alabama Writers' Group: A blog I curate with my writers group.  We post flash fiction, writing exercises, book reviews, and random writing topics we usually talk about in writers group.

An Outsider's Way: a writer's blog about natural healing and poetry.  It's more a spiritual vibe I enjoy that direct advice.  Still pretty writing and worth a peak.

Planet Simon: A fiction writer with insights into the science fiction/fantasy genre.  His site has a wonderful layout and a simple friendly style.

Polar Bear Editing: offers editing and publishing services and as such the blog specializes in publishing/editing advice.  Has a lot of delightful humor in it and fun graphics.  Also hits topical self published books pontoon out the good and bad.


Rachel Poli:  She is a writer who offers advice over different writing hurdles, advertises contests, flash, writes reviews, presents open calls of submission, and also hosts #themerrywriter on Twitter

Stefanie Sears: A freelance creative who blogs her own personal journey and accomplishments.  I enjoy watching her progress and gleaning ideas from her progress as I hope others find in my recording with this blog.

T.A. White: an author I found through her "Dragon Ridden Series" on Kindle Unlimited.  Her blog focuses on updates of the three series she's juggling the release of.  The woman is a machine and an inspiration for anyone looking to publish fantasy in today's market.

Women Writers, Women['s] Books: Love, love, love this blog site.  It offers encouraging and helpful information for all writers and it features female writers and their journey specifically.  It's easy to hear about Stephen King's thoughts, but where is the female experience.  I see Margret Atwood and Amy Tang quotes and advice once in a while, but it's nice to always have a sight I can go to to hear my fellows talk about their struggles in the industry or in their own work.

Writer Writer: a new blog created by Morgan Wright and David Collins.  They have short story contests where they publish the final work for free to their blog.  Views are public knowledge on their blog so you can decide if the potential exposure is worth "giving away" the story.  They also have resources for fellow writers to check out including books, worksheets, and articles.

So My Book is Written

Finally, after what feels like eternity, my book is completely written (well I say completely but the my mind flicks back to a possible three chapters that may need to be added)!    It's a been a joyous week of telling all eight of the people I know that I have a completed book and do they want to read it?  


Of course the work has just begun.  This past Tuesday I started writing and sending proposal letters to agents.  It makes me wish I were more consistently social because now I'm stuck cold calling and I better leave the most enticing pitch letter ever or no one will read.  How can something feel both like all my dreams are coming true and my worst nightmare at the same time.  How can I be so excited to write each new pitch and send it out to another agent and also completely dread hitting the send button.  There's always this sense that I'd have found some really convincing words if I'd just waited longer to send the pitch.

So far the process is more exhilarating than tedious.  I'm looking forward to recieving my first few rejections because that will put me closer to an acceptance.  I don't expect but I hope some of those rejections will come with corrective criticism.

Likewise, later I expect to be desperate or sad or bored or some other emotion but for right now, all I am is thrilled and I hope it lasts for at least the next six weeks or so.    

Is Making and Maintaining a Popular Blog Best for You and Your Vision?

(from openclipart.org j4p4n's collection)

So when I first decided to come back on the writing scene I wanted to freelance write for others.  It wasn't just that I loved writing, it was that I hated my job.  I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone by writing again and feeding that part of me that keeps me stable, and making money at it--which would free me from my job.

(from openclipart.org from johnny_automatic's collection)

It was a few days research before I dove whole heartedly to blogging and surfing freelance sites for work.   I figured, look at all these people who do this, I can do it too!

I wrote a lot, and at first I felt better.  Writing anything after so long away was a relief, a purge of poison, and a dopamine injection straight to my neural pathways.

(from openclipart.org from GDJ's collection)

 Watching the numbers stack up also really boosted my confidence.  I thought it would take me months to build up a 1000 page hits, again based off previous interest.  It only took a month to hit 2000 page views.

The glow in victory was short lived.  Before long, I dreaded the blogging.   Instead of looking forward to sharing different thoughts and insights, I looked at it like so much work.  How will I title and structure this post for maximum hits?  Which communities will I post this in for advertising and have I read and commented on enough recent posts to get return traffic?  Have I looked at my core folks' blogs and +1, commented, reposted enough for them recently I feel confident in a return?  Do I have enough spacing between my own self promotion posts and posting other interesting articles?  Are the articles I'm posting of value, saying something new and different or at least saying it in an engaging way?

(from openclipart.org Steren's collection)

It became less and less about the writing and more about the marketing, or to use a buzz word more about the "brand".   At core, successful blogging comes down to creating a "personal brand" and marketing your "brand" to what people want.  People don't want to read frustrated rants about customers doing annoying things--especially when they may be that customer and doubly so if there's no suggestions on how to be less annoying.

(from openclipart.org j4p4n's collection)

• Readers want helpful advice broken into neat lists and bullet points. 

• Ideally, Readers want titles that tell them there are X number of things to look at here.  No matter how well formatted the following work, no one will look if the title doesn't suggest a strong list.

• Readers want tons of fun graphics that are engaging and apply to the posts they're reading. (and in this post, I've done an excessive amount of graphics.  Turns out I have a love hate relationship with supplying graphics for posts)   

• Readers want a cheery positive tone.  Better if it can be funny but minimally a positive can do attitude is needed.

(from openclipart.org johnny_automatic's collection) 

• Readers want to see you doing more than just writing.  They want to see you curating quality levels of knowledge in at "niche".  If they go to your feed, they want to see you liking and sharing related articles--even better if they see interaction between you and a more authoritative writer/blogger from the same "niche" positively interact

So what do Readers give Writers in return for all these extra hours of work--besides an audience?   Truthfully, the Writer gets nothing if he or she isn't selling or promoting a "brand" related service.   Adsense and amazon marketing tactics have shown to provide bloggers less than dollars a day in most instances.  So really, blogging isn't the money maker, it's the new advertising.  The question is--what am I advertising?  Is getting a ton of hits really effective to what I'm marketing?  Could I promote better through forum interaction that would be less demanding than maintaining a popular blog?  Do I get enjoyment or can I produce efficiently when blogging in the specific format it take to generate hits?

For me (and perhaps others)  it became apparent that blogging in the way that's designed to generate larger traffic was too exhausting.  While I felt driven to work on my novel, to browse through my poetry library, to share new thoughts and apply for more freelancing--the sheer time it took to maintain my presence via the blog ate all my time.

It's better for me to be more causal, with less readership, but have time to work on my actual projects: the novel and learning swift and playing with my Aquaponics fish tank.

For those of you who thought this would be a list of all the stuff to make a good blog--don't fret!  It's not in my goal set but I know who to follow to make that happen.  May I suggest:

Bloggers Who Offer Advice on Having a Successful Blog/Freelancing Career Whom I very much enjoyed reading and interacting with:
Kristy Stuart
Elna Cain
Sherman Smith
Sue Ann Dunlevie
Juntae DeLane
Carol Tice
Jeremy Crow
Gina Horkey