Old Friends

I’ve finally found a little chunk of time to get back to my blogging. My writing time has been going to a fictional story that is bouncing around in my head. Perhaps I should say it has gone into rewriting the first ten pages two or three times. Each time I think it gets better. The down side is that I’m not getting on with it. Now I’ve come to believe that I should write the entire story down to its very end and then come back for my rewrites, however many they may be.

Then a couple of other events interfered with my gettting to this blog. One was attending a graduation in Texas and the other was a visit from an old friend for several days. I just hope I live long enough to finish writing my story.

Now, back to the visit from my old friend which was wonderful. We have known one another for —– years: too many to admit to. Shall we just say that we essentially grew up together. Our parents were best friends. The remarkable thing is that we were very different from one another as children. She was a happy, outgoing kid while I was shy, introverted and troubled. Somehow, we got along great.

Fast forward many many years. I moved away from my home town. She remained. Marriage and children followed. Careers followed. Happy events and unhappy events followed. Our lives took different paths. But somehow our friendship remained … strong.

My friend came to visit a short while ago and we found out that we are no longer so different from one another. We have, and have had, some of the same problems. We have dealt, and are dealing with them, in similar ways. We have some of the same interests: travel, reading books, going to the theater and concerts, movies, understanding world events and politics. The list goes on. The few days she was here just flew by and I can’t wait for our next visit.

Some childhood friends grow so different from one another over the years that they can hardly find a few words to exchange. How lucky I am that is not the case with my old friend.

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Understanding Blogs

I thought I was doing pretty well understanding the internet and deciding just exactly where I’d fit in and how to use it in general. I did the Facebook and Twitter thing and discovered that it wasn’t really how I like to communicate with people, especially people who I don’t even know. Then I was invited to be friends with people who wanted to sell me something, or teach me something, or were looking to me to fulfill some other type of need of theirs … which shall remain nameless.

So even though I am still participating in social media, sort of from the sidelines, I spent more of my time writing a blog. Why? Well, I like writing, especially about things that happen in everyday life that arouse some emotion in me. Politics make me angry. Seeing a good movie or play makes me want to tell my friends. Animals bring out the “Awww” factor in me and I like to share those stories. Then there are interesting people. Yes, I am fascinated my them and play with trying to figure them out.

But now I’ve hit a brick wall again. It’s not that I don’t get enough hits. I am getting more and more hits all the time. But They are coming from companies who want to sell me real estate, insurance, or used cars. And there are a zillion people who want to teach me something like editing, or publishing, or marketing books.

So, I’ve decided to write this blog as an experiment to see who is going to read it. If you are one of my subscribed readers, please ignore this. If not, let me know why you’ve read this blog!

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A New Year-A New Direction

I haven’t posted but one or two blogs this past month for one of two reasons. One is that I’ve untaken a move from one house to another of monumental propotions. This is not meaningful to anyone but me.

The other is that it seems that this blog isn’t going anywhere. I often feel that I’m talking to myself. If that is the case, then I might as well be writing a journal and should get off the internet altogether. What little connection I have established online has been with fellow writers who have many of my same aspirations and are experiencing many the same frustrations I have had.

Many of those who do find me online are so often interested in teaching me “how to” do things. These experts very often are others who have had no more background in writing, editing, publishing, marketing, etc. than me.

Therefore I have decided to take a new direction in 2011. Much as I like, admire, and often envy other writers, I plan to change the relationship I have had with them in the past. I am going to branch off and try to engage the readers of our material. I am going to try to understand what they like or dislike in our work. What are they reading? Why? What do they look for when they spend time reading? Were are they coming from? Do they prefer to read a book that is a paperback, or do they prefer the Kindle, or like product?

There is so much to know. I may even start a new blog, going down an entirely different route.

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The Importance of Comments on WordPress

Christmas is about a week away now and I am still trying to stop reeling from all I have to do. Lucky for me I live in southern California and it has been raining non-stop for days and the forecast is for more rain in the coming week. I am thrilled. I don’t like driving the freeways in the rain, especially since I just heard on the news that the accident and fatality rate has quadrupled over the weekend. So I am at my computer catching up on just about everyone and everything.

During the overload period just prior to this week, a period when I also needed time to move from one home to another, I had almost forgotten that I write a blog, namely a WordPress Blog.

Then, out of the blue, I received a Comment! The email from WordPress announcing this comment reminded me that I, in fact, write one. I love writing this blog and I love receiving comments, but I get very few of those and I must wait a long time from one to another. It matters not. It is the writing I really enjoy doing.

Then, about ten minutes ago, I got a comment. And it was a comment on a blog I’d written quite a long time ago. It reminded me that the blog world goes on even without me and even when I haven’t added my thoughts to it. I am so gratified to know that, that I even took time out to tell all of you how important a comment can be.

And, as soon as I get through rewriting the story I’m working on the umpteenth time, I shall write a blog about rewriting. Come on back and read it … then write me a comment!

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Amazon’s Book Ranking

My mother came from the Old World; by that I mean Europe, many decades ago. If you’ve read Becoming Alice you know her pretty well. One of the things I didn’t write about was her propensity for interjecting into our conversations sayings for the ordinary things that happen in life. One of her favorite was, “every pot has its own lid.” That one was used to make old maids feel better about being unmarried. It meant that there was a man out there somewhere for her that would fit her needs, just like there was a lid for every pot.

Lately, I’ve thought about another one of her favorites: “a watched pot doesn’t boil.” It has absolutely applied to my latest experiences on the internet. I have a habit of watching, and I mean almost daily, my statistics on various sites to which I am connected. I am curious to see if anyone, and how many people, might have read a blog after I’ve posted it. Often I get a few hits and then the numbers don’t go up any more. But I keep looking.

Another statistic I watch is Amazon’s Book Ranking for Becoming Alice. There, the numbers change all the time, but mostly in the wrong direction.

This last month, my normal routine has been completely disrupted. I have had to move out of my home of many, many years. I’ve had an estate (it’s a joke, it’s just used furniture) sale and arranged for a donation to charity for what’s left over. I am now having to face cleaning the whole place up. Therefore, there has been no time to check my stats anywhere.

It turned out to be a great thing, because my stats jumped considerably in positive directions on all sites, especially my Amazon site. Since I can’t figure out Amazon’s ranking system in the first place, in future I am not even going to look at it for days or weeks on end. After all, “a watched pot doesn’t boil.”

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Calling a Book a Product

I’m pretty active in several social media groups. I’d been told that it would be a good idea for letting people know about my memoir, Becoming Alice. I’ve learned a lot in the process. I’ve met a lot of nice people who are doing the same thing I am, the only difference is that their book, or product as it is called, is different than mine.

On the various sites to which I belong, I’ve joined several groups, all related to my subject and interests on the internet. My friends in these groups all come to this marketing … oh, oh, I shouldn’t have used that term because we might all be kicked out of these sites … come to these sites from entirely different points of view.

I find that many of the members are selling themselves as experts in helping the rest of us to sell our products. Many more try to teach us to be successful by blogging. I’ve noticed that a lot of these products are things as diverse as beauty supply items to real estate sales services.

Some very small group seems to be promoting their books, also called products. This is where I have to register a complaint. Selling a book is entirely different than selling shampoo or insurance coverage.

I have read that we need to sell our books to target audiences. Okay, in my case that target would include many rings since the book has appealed to men and women, young adults, people interested in wwii, people interested in family relationships, people who are Jewish, or maybe not, etc. etc.

So, being unable to target my product anywhere specific, but rather to everyone, everywhere, I shall now go back to writing my next work and let the chips fall where they may.

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Family Relationships

One of the easiest A’s I ever got in college was in an Statistics course. Looking back on it now, I wonder if I got that A because the instructor had an eye for me. Right after the final exam, he asked me out on a date. Unfortunately, I did not have an eye for him. There is such a thing as chemistry and it just wasn’t there. Luckily I got that A before I had to reject him.

Getting that A in Statistics confirmed my feeling that neither my left sided brain nor my right sided brain dominates the other side. So naturally I am compelled to check my statistics on all sorts of things on the internet, such as my ranking on Amazon, how many books Becoming Alice is selling at this point in time, and how many people are reading what kinds of blogs I’ve posted on this, my WordPress blog. It seems that many of you are interested in the one entitled Relationships.

So I went to Amazon’s list of Tags to see what books are written about Relationships. I have yet to find one, other than my book, that is not about male/female relationships, dating, fun on Match.com, being dumped, getting over being dumped … Need I go on?

Obviously I made a mistake listing Becoming Alice under that heading. I should have gone to Family Relationships where we can see not only husband/wife but also father/son, father/daughter, mother/son, and mother/daughter all trying to get along. I wonder if there are tags for each one of those relationships.

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Guest Blog: Ghostwriter for Hire

Laura Sherman is a freelance writer and chess coach. She writes fiction and non, ghostwriting for several clients. To learn more about her and her projects, please visit http://www.Friendlywriter.com and http://www.SayYesToChess.com

GHOSTWRITER FOR HIRE

By Laura Sherman

What’s a ghostwriter? How much would I be paid? Will I get credit? How can I be a ghostwriter? These are common questions I hear a lot as a freelance writer.

A ghostwriter is someone who writes for someone else, putting their ideas down on paper. Many people have story ideas or non fiction books they want written, but they don’t have the time or ability to put it together themselves.

Ghostwriters can write press releases, articles, letters, etc. as well. Really anything that a person might need written, but aren’t able to write themselves.

Some ghostwriters are paid handsomely. However when you are just starting, you need to build a resume and probably won’t get paid a small fortune for your first book.

Negotiation is part of the game. As a freelance writer, you are also a salesperson. Work out ahead of time what you would like to make an hour, estimate the amount of time it will take you to write the book, add in a little buffer room and multiply the numbers.

If you know your client well and have worked with them before, you can estimate the time needed easily. It is tricky when you have a new client. It is a good idea to try to get to know them a bit first, email back and forth, talk to them on the phone and see how you communicate with each other. If it is hard at this stage, know it will get much harder as the project progresses.

Some people don’t like that they often don’t get a credit if they are a ghostwriter. Personally, I don’t mind. If the novel becomes a bestseller, I know that I will get many more assignments. I can always write my own stories later, but for me, getting paid to write and help others is a dream job.

If you want to venture into the field of ghostwriting, you should come up with a writing resume and samples of your work. A blog is a very good calling card for your services.

Next, you will want to let everyone know that you’re a freelance writer. If you don’t mention this to people, they will not know. It sounds basic, I know, but many writers get shy at this step.

If you feel you need to build your resume a bit (which isn’t always necessary, but some clients require experience), you can offer to help friends for a lowered rate or perhaps exchange your time for theirs in some way. You can also consider helping a non profit group, as they are often in need of such services.

If you want to be a freelance writer, you should practice your craft at every opportunity. If you’re specializing in fiction, join writing groups and enter contests. Read novels and books about writing from authors you admire. If you want to be an article writer, write articles and guest blog. Read other articles and figure out what styles you enjoy reading.

Regardless of what stage you are at in the process, you should write as often as you can. Writers write. And please don’t listen to any naysayers, who might discourage you with helpful tips like “don’t quit your day job”. Keep going, work on improving and write. And write. And write.

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Procrastination or Writer’s Block

I’ve tried to post a new blog about twice a week. It is the way I work. If I don’t give myself deadlines, I just don’t get around to doing much of anything. I book my tennis dates every Tuesday and Thursday. I get out on the court no matter how I feel, or how much else, even more important things, that I have to do. It is not that I don’t like playing tennis; I do. But sometimes I operate on so much overload, that I feel a little guilty about doing something that I actually enjoy, something that I can postpone without anything terrible happening to me.

I have been trying to continue writing my next writing project, which I have actually started and worked out in my mind, but I can’t seem to get beyond the first dozen or so pages. Is it procrastination? Is it writer’s block? Or, perhaps it is overload on other things that I think are more important at the moment?  Actually, I think it is the latter.

Right now I am enjoying the company of my daughter and granddaughter who are visitng from their home in Connecticut. Of course, that is more important to me than saying to them, “Go ahead and watch some TV, or go on a walk, or go shopping … while I crank off a few pages on my writing or post another quick blog. Actually, they are in the shower right now while I do this blog.

The other more important thing in my life right now is that my house is on the market to be sold. It seems that as soon as I sit down to write anything, I get a call from my broker saying, “Can you be out of the house by nine this morning so that I can show your house?” Well, of course he can. Only that involves my flying around like the white tornado to clean it up and strip it of anything laying around junking it up. I have been told  it should look like the work of a developer having his house on display at an “open house.”

There are times when I have an hour ahead of me before anything more important happens in which I can hit the computer for a little writing. But then I look at the keyboard and think about all I have to do,  stressed to the max, having hit that state of affairs that is called  writer’s block. It is impossible to keep from postponing any serious writing … I think it is called procrastination.

As you can see, I am in a vicious cycle right now. My daughter is just out of the shower. I’ll have to talk to you later.

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This Business of Blogging

I am a newcomer to the internet, and to social networking and blogging. I probably would have had to learn how to get on the internet for the sole purpose of being able to email my friends … and maybe to receive confirmations of purchases. Of course I would have had to learn how to make purchases online. I did all that. I learned how to make reservations with the airlines and book hotels on Expedia. I learned how to buy books on Amazon and clothes from the Land’s End catalog. And I learned how to communicate with iUniverse, the publisher of my memoir Becoming Alice.

Then I got sucked into pulling information out of Google and found out that as a published author I should be social networking and blogging. I think the idea is that my presence on these sites would stimulate sales of my book. However, I was warned not to let anyone know that was my intention because I could get kicked off the sites. Lucky for me, it has turned out that most of my connections on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn  aren’t all that interested in my book. I think they are there to hauck their own book. But that’s okay. I think there are some very interesting people among them that I am happy to be connected to.

The next step is to start blogging, which I did about a year ago.  I don’t know much about who is reading my blogs because from over a thousand blogs which I have written, I have received only 26 comments. I am happy to say they are good ones. The big surprise has been that I have actually enjoyed blogging. Perhaps that is because I am a writer at heart, and not much of a salesperson.

My curiosity made me read an article written about how to be successful at blogging.  I found out that there are two kinds of bloggers, niche bloggers and generalist bloggers. I tried to figure out what I am and had to admit that I woud fall into the generalist department. That is because niche bloggers aim their blogs at a target audience and I have never been able to figure out a specific target audience for Becoming Alice. It seems to appeal to both men and women, perhaps a bit more to women. It appeals to history buffs, especially those interested in WWII. And young people, especially adolescents who seem to identify with the young Alice. So, I’m all over the map with trying to find a niche audience and I kind of like it that way.  I won’t get into trouble with being caught marketing and I can write about whatever comes into my mind.

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