A to Z Reflections

After a week to recover, it's time to think about how we all survived April.  You can find more reflections post and add your own at the A to Z site. Make sure to link directly to your reflection post and not your blog in general.

The Good
I made it through. I had all my posts done ahead of time and I enjoyed writing them.
I had lots of visitors each day.
I visited some really terrific blogs nearly every day such as:
Burggraf's Blog
Madly-in-Verse
Messymimi's Meanderings

The Not So Good
I didn't visit as many people as I wanted to during the challenge.
I neglected some of the blogs I regularly visit.
I didn't write near as much as I planned during the month. And when I did, it was in shorts spurts that is leaving holes in my plot lines and character development. Another words, a lot of it was crap.

The Verdict
Will I do the A to Z again next year? Probably. It's not for sure though I'm leaning toward doing it. It might have a lot to do with selling my house next spring and where I'm at with that. Moving means interrupted internet so we'll see.

Onto some more social media news. If you're a writer, you should belong to the IWSG. Follow the blog and post every month. It's so easy. Join the Facebook group. And today, follow us on Twitter @TheIWSG. I promise, we'll follow you back. The IWSG management will be using another social media avenue to share news, insights and the professional and emotional support to our wonderful group.

I enjoyed Mother's Day with my sons. They weren't all here at the same time because of work issues and my daughter wasn't home at all. She called twice. I'm so proud of the adults they've become. They're not perfect but they didn't have a perfect mother. And I'm blessed with two step-sons I couldn't love more. Hope you had a chance to spend time with your mother or your children visited you.

"A mom's hug lasts long after she lets go." Unknown
"Motherhood: All love begins and ends there." Robert Browning

Have you followed IWSG on Twitter? Did you reflect on A to Z? Have you found some interesting blogs lately?

Insecure Writer: Social Media

All writers, especially those newly published or seeking publication, are told they need to get their name out there.  We're supposed to have a web presence. I've read endless blogs, attended workshops, read professional magazines and other publications explaining how to do this.  But I have some problems with some of the advice.

I really don't like twitter. I've been on it for quite a while and at first I found lots of interesting links and met other writers, readers and bloggers.  But as my followers and the people I followed grew in numbers, I started to find less and less to interest me.  Some writers and the publishers I follow do nothing but promote.  I don't care about 99% of the celebraty news I see on there.  I check in now and then but seldom tweet myself and almost never click on links anymore.  Guess I failed that part of social media.  I give myself an D-.

I find Facebook amusing at times.  People post some interesting things and I keep up with some of my out of state relatives there.  I also find some links to interesting blogs and keep up with author friends and their successes. Sometimes I post a link there to my blog posts or those of my friends.  I do announce any of my new releases there.  I give myself a C- on FB usage for promoting myself.

The one area I'm doing okay in regards to social media is blogging. I've made lots of interesting and helpful friends.  Blog challenges like the A to Z in April and this Insecure Writers' Blogfest have helped me grow my blog audience and connected to me to other bloggers around the world. And I really enjoy.  But I know I could do better. I could spend more time visiting other blogs and perhaps I could blog everyday instead of three or four times per week.  My excuse is that I need some writing time.  I give myself a B- for my use of blogging to build my online presence.

I'm currently resisting joining pinterest.

So my insecurity for the day is that I should be doing more with social media and my excuses for not are time and lack of interest.  My overall grade on this part of my writing career isn't exactly honor roll status.

Thanks to Alex Cavanaugh for starting this blog fest.  You all can still join anytime.  So are you comfortable with the amount of time you spend working the social media angle? Do you do too much or too little? Have you seen results from doing more?

E: Envy Versus Energy

Be around enough writers and you'll find some you envy for various reasons no matter how successful you are yourself.  Nearly all of us know a writer who has found more success, more books published, more money made, better agent, successful booksignings and name recognition.

I envy fellow bloggers who have large followings and always seem to have something clever to write about and get dozens of comments each day.  I wish I had half the knowledge and understanding of the murky waters of promotion using social networking as some of my fellows. 

Often I've read novels with such gripping plots and memorable characters I wish I could have written or perhaps someday can write such a book.  I envy them but I use it to inspire me.

Envy can goad us to greater effort but it can also drag a writer down.  Instead of turning creative energies to our own work we can waste time wondering, 'why not me?'  Jealousy is seldom an attractive emotion and it can slow down a writer's career if one spends time wishing instead of working to achieve the highest level of success possible.  Don't let envy drain away your energy away.

What traits do you envy in other writers? Does envy inspire you or have you suffered frustration viewing others' successes?

Blog vs. Website

Exactly one month ago, I decided to do away with my website and go with a blog only.  Thanks to all my wonderful readers who gave me their opinions and insight into their experiences.  They were split about half and half on having both or having a blog only. 

After a month, I thought I'd share my verdict of how it's going.  Let's start with numbers.  I have more than doubled the number of followers on my blog and have more comments than ever.  Page visits for my blog this past month have been triple the usual number of visits I averaged on my website. 

When I decided to do away with my website, I also set a goal for myself to keep my blog active with frequent posting and also to set aside time to visit other blogs.  It's also so easy to change the design on my blog compared to making changes on my website.  In a few weeks I'm going to add another page to my blog to promote an upcoming release.  What's not to love about blogging?

I know from the previous discussion some more of your were thinking of going blog only.  Did anyone else dump their website? 

Thanks to everyone who gave me advice and shared their experiences.  I'm learning more every day.  I'm grateful to all my new followers and especially those who stop by here often to comment. 

Now if only I could keep up with Facebook and Goodreads.  Twitter only receives my attention on rare occasions though I usually find lots of links to follow when I do go there.  So now that I settled my blog decision my next question, oh wise audience, is what other social networking tools so you deem worthy of your time?  Facebook?  Twitter?  Goodreads?  LinkedIn?  Others?