NO INTERVIEW TODAY
Sorry, but time was short, storms kept threatening the power, I had a birthday, and I never got around to interviewing any writers this week. I’m afraid you’re just stuck with little old me, one year older and hopefully slightly wiser.
Thanks to all of you who took the time to wish me Happy Birthday last week. I am humbled by the outpouring of love from my friends and peers. It’s been a good life and it only gets better.
We are in the middle of 72 hours of some serious weather here in Olympia. No, not on the scale of a hurricane, but the winds are hovering around the fifty-to-sixty mph level, and the rain is non-stop, and flooding is happening . . . in other words, it’s great weather to write.
LET’S GET STARTED WITH THE QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Never go to excess, but let moderation be your guide.” Marcus Tullius Cicero
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
I’m currently teaching myself Twitter. I know, I know, I’m a little late to the show, but I can only do so much, folks, and Twitter has fallen by the wayside and that’s just the real of it, as one of my characters, Billy the Kid, is fond of saying.
Now the reason I mention that is because I realized there are a lot of social media sites available where writers can market their brand, and I mean A LOT!!!!! Too many, in my humble opinion, so I concentrate on just a few, namely Facebook, Pinterest, my blog, sometimes Linkedin, and now Twitter.
Why too many?
This is just my subjective opinion, so if you do differently, don’t get all bent out of shape over it. I’m more concerned with doing quality marketing rather than blizzard marketing. I want to do select sites and do them extremely well, rather than belong to twenty different social media sites and do them poorly.
And my other concern is I never want to flood the market with my book marketing to the point of becoming an annoying pain-in-the-butt.
TIP OF THE DAY
Be a real person first and a writer second.
I am betting the metaphorical farm on my personality and my writing abilities. I am convinced, in the long run, that the quality of my writing and my personality will both be huge factors in whether I am successful or not. In that light, it is very important to me that I let you know me as a real human being and not just some huckster who is trying to sell his books. I want there to be a very real personal relationship between me and my followers, a connection of two human beings.
I may never be famous or rich because of writing, but the followers I do have will follow me into hell, and I can live with the smaller numbers knowing I’ve touched, deeply, a select few.
Be a real person first and a writer second!
UPDATE ON NIUME
I got my first payout, a grand total of ten bucks, but hey, it only took a month and hey, that was without me making much of an effort on that site. In other words, I think NIUME has real possibilities for someone who really wants to become an active member of that community.
CONTESTS TO CONSIDER
FanStory has a Lune Poetry Contest with a deadline of October 24th, a $100 prize for the best. What is Lune? It is 5 syllables in the first line, three in the second, and five in the third…it does not have to rhyme. Check it out here.
Write a Halloween story for another $100 prize, also offered on FanStory. Check out story requirements by following this handy link.
A SHOUT OUT
A shout out to a new writer friend of mine, Sarah Potter, on her website SarahPotterWrites. This is a talented and personable writer and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed by following her.
A QUESTION ABOUT LENGTH
Someone recently asked me “what’s the difference between a short story and a novella?”
The answer is you!
Ta-Da!!!!!
Seriously, the difference is length. A short story is in the neighborhood of 3,000-8,000 words, give or take a paragraph. A novella is shorter than a novel, so figure 10,000-60,000 words. Please note these designations are flimsy at best so, my best suggestion . . . don’t worry about it!
AND THAT’S ALL FOR THIS WEEK
I thank you and I thank your parents for giving birth to you.
How’s that for a farewell?
Bill #greatestunknownauthor #shadowskill
“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”
Billybuc
Artistry With Words 