[Writing Post] On Weather and Internet Articles

It’s a cold day in North Texas, and as shocking to the system as it is, I do love it. It’s crisp and bright, and perfect fireplace weather. I love me some fireplace weather. And for me, fireplace weather is also writing weather, but there are no excuses when you’re curled up in front of the fire. There are no excuses ANYWAY, but this feels different. Don’t ask me why.

I’m trying to figure out what to write about today. You know, besides the obvious “I need to write more/be more productive” stuff. Or yet another post on why I don’t participate in NANOMO. Because… November… So I’m scanning Facebook, and the one thing that pops out is a growing annoyance. The “X number of Mistakes Y Group Makes…” posts/articles are starting to chafe. And, coincidentally, the “Z number of Solutions to Stop/Fix Q Problem…”

These articles are meant to be helpful I’m sure, but in this day and age of soundbites, 140 character Tweets, and All Hail the Bullet Point, it’s hard to find real answers to anything. Or if there is an answer offered, it’s in the form of a class/seminar you can take, likely for a fee – which makes the whole thing an infomercial.

It doesn’t help that half the tips and tricks offered don’t apply to fiction. Some do, some don’t. And yes, social media is the 800-pound Gorilla, no one really knows how to best use it. Though, fortunately, it does look like the constant pounding to buy books via all channels of social media is wanning in favor of “building relationships” with fans/readers. Though the one thing some are calling a “mistake” strikes me as wrong – in part.

And article I just scanned called 12 Mistakes Authors Make in Connecting with Readers makes some good points – like trying too hard to sell rather than connect – but makes me cringe with others. The article wants authors to downplay interaction with other authors versus readers. I get what they’re trying to say, but dude, come on… authors are first and foremost readers (or should be). And we do need to spend time with other authors and author communities to grow, to learn, and to maybe connect with readers we might not normally encounter – the other author’s audience by becoming part of their audience.

I wish I had time to do the “in depth study of social media” – or the money. Because I could go into serious time and money debt at conferences, workshops, and training modules, but I’d lose what audience I have not actually writing, and I’m sorry, even “Professional ” social media marketers have no idea what’s going to work. And I really don’t understand the author’s point on Crowd-Sourcing… what does she want sourced to other people?
So, engage at will, I love interaction. But I’m also going back to work. Oh, and for the record, it does look like I’ll have a new story out before long. I’ll let you know when it’s available.

Tags: audiences, authors, internet help, mistakes, weather, writers, Writing