Author Business 101: Books, Brand & Buds

author success, how to sell more books, how to find readers, book marketing, Kristen Lamb, book promotion, social media for authors, author branding, Kristen Lamb, author business

Publishing is a business, and—SURPRISE—so is being an author. By definition, anyone who decides to go pro is automatically an author business. ‘Business’ is what separates the hobbyists, dabblers, amateurs and wanna-be’s from true professionals.

I can already hear the great gnashing of teeth. Calm down. *hands paper bag* Breathe. 

One of the main reasons emerging writers fail to see any fruits from all their efforts is a lack of foundational knowledge. What does the author business actually entail?

Not nearly as much as one might be led to believe, which we talked about in my last post What Chef Ramsay Would Say About Writing.

Think LIKE a BUSINESS

When we add the word business to author our thinking shifts. To succeed in business it’s critical to first define it (known as a mission statement). What IS our business, and what does it DO?

Writers need to do the same. What kind of author do we want to be? It matters. As we mentioned last time, Louis L’amore had a very different operational tempo than Michael Crichton. So decide. It isn’t set in stone. We can change our minds, so relax 🙂 .

Suffice to say too many authors (I’m guilty too) get mission drift because we fail to focus and keep this SIMPLE.

These days it’s easy for emerging writers (actually all writers) to become confused and overwhelmed. Why? Digital age authors now have the ability to perform roles that were off-limits before Web 2.0.

Yet, just because we CAN perform these roles doesn’t automatically mean we MUST.

Feel free to learn formatting and cover design. Want to become a mega-marketer/promoter? Go for it. Is this all essential? Nope. All we need are the Three Bs—Books, Brand and Buds. Focus on these THREE first because all that extra stuff is a waste of time and resources without the Trinity of Success.

Fortune Favors the Prepared Not the Perfect

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No matter what business we’re in—including the author business—education is critical. A quick caveat, though. We don’t need to know every single last little bit of everything before acting.

There’s a fine balance between diving head-first into a lake without testing if the water’s only three feet deep versus believing we need to map the world’s oceans before ever learning to swim.

A happy medium is all good.

Be wary of any expert who gives you a panic attack with all the stuff you ‘must know’ or ‘must do’ to succeed.

Any ‘expert’ who tells you (especially as a beginner) that the author business is so vastly labyrinthine we can’t possibly comprehend it has an agenda. Yes, there will come a point where there is far too much for us to manage (complexity)…which is why God created editors, and literary and film agents.

My training company offers classes from top professionals on the finer points of this business, but nothing we teach will work without the BIG THREE B’s—books, brand and buds.

Author Product—Books

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All businesses have a service or a product. As authors, our products are BOOKS. Not spam. Please leave that to Hormel.

Our top priority is to write great stories people want to pay to read. That is all. Start simple. Every mega-author-success started SIMPLE. Begin with a great story and simple goal.

J.K. Rowling

Began with a goal of writing young adult fantasy fiction with a boy as her core protagonist. At the time, this was crazy talk! Boys didn’t read books. Girls did. Yet, Rowling stuck to her core simple goal and look at what Harry Potter eventually evolved into.

She didn’t begin with a detailed plan for merchandising, fan fiction, and sketches for a theme park at Universal Studios. This all evolved from something inherently simple—the saga of a boy who was really a wizard.

Andy Weir

For a more recent example, let’s look at Weir. After a string of failures and meh writing successes playing by the ‘rules’ Weir figured he had nothing to lose being different. His goal? Write a hard science book on his blog about an astronaut stranded on Mars. Then? Crowd-source experts for accuracy.

Every agent would have told him this was a dumb use of time and he’d never get a book deal. No reader would buy a book already posted for free on a blog.

Andy didn’t care and pressed on with a story and idea he was passionate about, and The Martian broke all the rules and the records (the book and the movie).

Author Business—Brand 

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Brand is also super simple and you can do it yourself. In fact, ONLY you CAN do it. We’re in an age of authenticity, so outsource and pay people to ‘be you’ at your own peril. That’s called…cat-fishing.

Which just ticks people off.

Branding is not complicated. A brand is simply what comes to mind (impressions/emotions) at the mention of a name.

When I mention Tiffany’s no one thinks coupons and deep discounts. It evokes a specific color, the iconic Tiffany blue box with a white bow. Luxury, indulgence, special.

What about Walmart? Starbuck’s? Levis? Apple? Porsche? All these businesses and products evoke images and emotions. Celebrities are a brand. Samuel L. Jackson conjures up a very different impression/emotional response than Amy Pohler.

We Are the Brand

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In life, all people have a personal brand—the jock, the tech geek, history buff, gym rat, Pinterest mom, etc. These will also come tethered to emotional impressions which can be good, bad or neutral.

We humans label people based on behavior/impressions. Maybe this is unfair, but fair is a weather condition.

There are people in life and on-line we can count on to make us smile, to laugh, to encourage, inspire, uplift, and generally make our day just a bit better.

Then there are those who are high-maintenance, manipulative, hotheaded, depressing, critical or nonstop complainers. They use the term ‘spreading awareness’ when we all know they’re really spreading poison. We don’t like these people in life OR on-line.

The only difference in a personal brand and an author brand is our name eventually should become a bankable asset driving book sales.

People won’t remember what we said, but WILL remember how we made them feel. Everyone has an off day but what are we consistently putting out there? When someone says our name, do others smile or reach for antacids? What is their experience?

Brand CAN Make or Break Us

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Businesses are very careful about product and brand. A restaurant can have the most amazing food in the world, but if the experience/impression is a disaster, the restaurant as business is doomed.

In this post from a couple years ago, I relayed my experience at a hot NYC restaurant, owned and operated by a chef who’d won Iron Chef. We were stoked to eat at this place and called ahead for reservations and to make sure they could accommodate my food allergies (which they assured they could).

Problem was, this world-class chef forgot the business of his business. Yes, his food was ‘art’ but ultimately his job was to feed the people who showed up to fork over $300 to eat. He was charging those high prices not only for superlative cuisine…but for an incredible experience.

This chef refused to serve me just a steak with vegetables and kept instructing the waitress to push parsnip soup on me.

Why?

Because removing the potatoes (loaded with dairy I was allergic to) ‘….ruined the aesthetic balance of the plate.’

Actual quote.

It was only after this hungry and highly pissed off Texan threatened to ruin the aesthetic balance of a pretentious chef …that I got my steak (probably dropped on the floor but I didn’t care because I was famished).

A year later when I returned to NYC, that restaurant was gone. The steak? Forgettable. A chef refusing to accommodate severe allergies because it impacted how the plating LOOKED? Killed his restaurant, his brand and his dream.

Takeaway here is that the book business is not about us, and ALWAYS about the reader. Feel free to never get on social media or talk to anyone. But how do you feel about people who never engage with you until they want something? 😉

Also, feel free to rant and rave and spout whatever on-line, but again, that’s placing ego over experience. Thus, if we use our on-line followers as a meat-shield for all that ticks us off…we should not be shocked when patrons ‘dine’ elsewhere 😉 .

Why Social Media?

author success, how to sell more books, how to find readers, book marketing, Kristen Lamb, book promotion, social media for authors, author branding, Kristen Lamb, author business

Books used to be the strongest part of an author brand because there was no social media. Ah, but here’s where it can get sticky. Savvy authors are constantly engaging on-line and in person. Interaction with us ideally becomes a regular part of our fans’ days…which can eventually become a stronger component of our brand than the book.

Marketing and ads (alone) don’t sell books. Never have and never will. Word-of-mouth is what sells books, thus the idea of not engaging on-line is pretty much career suicide.

Readers of today discover who and what they love on-line and they’re far more likely to buy from authors they know and like. And, cumulatively, they’re spending a LOT more time with authors on-line than in the 12-15 hours required to read a novel.

Food for thought 😉 .

Even though I firmly believe the small, independent brick-and-mortar is making a MAJOR comeback, algorithms will be a critical determining factor of which books (authors) grace the shelves.

Bookstores need to SELL books to pay for overhead and make a profit. SHOCKING FACT: Bookstores will order boxes of a mediocre novel with a passionate fan base (and strong on-line sales) over a novel so glorious angels sing…only no one’s ever heard of the book (or the author).

If a book isn’t selling on-line, why would a bookstore risk shelving it? They won’t because it’s bad business.

Author Platform—A.K.A. ‘Buds’

author success, how to sell more books, how to find readers, book marketing, Kristen Lamb, book promotion, social media for authors, author branding, Kristen Lamb, author business

True, novels are powerful for a brand (which is why we need an excellent product), but times are a changing. The reader of the digital age is far more likely to factor in how they feel about the author as a person before making a purchase. This is why platforms are vital to success.

What is a platform? Buds. Buddies, peeps, followers, fans, devotees, and friends. Real ones. Yes, it takes some time, but true fans/followers/friends are GOLD and worth every minute we invest in them.

True on-line friends are positively evangelical about our blogs and books. I’d take five hundred devotees over five-hundred-thousand purchased followers who don’t give a hoot.

You Be YOU

author success, how to sell more books, how to find readers, book marketing, Kristen Lamb, book promotion, social media for authors, author branding, Kristen Lamb, author business

You be you…unless you’re a jerk. Then my advice is to fake it until you’re no longer a jerk. I had to, which I relayed in my Confessions of a Recovering Jerk. Social media forced me to learn emotional discipline, discernment, and revealed I was not a very nice person. Over time, my habits changed and with steady practice, eventually I changed.

This said, keep it simple.

The brand is simply YOU (and you’re more than a writer, FYI so talk about something other than writing, please). Social media is social, like a party. Just be present, be fun and be cool.

Yep, that’s pretty much it. Create a relationship. Talk to people. Give, listen, be interested in others. #MindBlown

Humans gravitate to authenticity…just don’t get crazy. It’s okay to have a rough day but followers a) don’t want to be regularly depressed b) dragged into needless drama and c) we aren’t stupid. We can spot manipulation and it ticks us off.

I’m cleaning up my Facebook friends. If you can see this, type in the comments how we met.

I bet no one will give this post even ONE share.

I can’t believe you would say that. You know who you are O_o. Just unfriend me.

The hell? What is this? Sixth grade?

We don’t like Vague-Booking, drama or having to jump through hoops. Authors who are that high-maintenance and we’ve not even MET in PERSON? Buh-bye.

Conversely, don’t feel the need to be super happy all the time. Followers don’t like Pod People fakes either. Folks who are constantly #blessed #blessedlife #keepingitreal #blessedandreal #reallyblessed. We see through it, which is why we are #gone #unfriending #RollingEyes #FeelingGagReflex.

Keeping It Real & Special

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Contrary to what some ‘experts’ might proclaim, it’s unnecessary to be everywhere all the time. We can’t do this and also write excellent books. Social media omnipresence is the sloping road to hell. Being everywhere all the time inevitably requires automation to remain sane and also have time to write BOOKS.

Problem is, who wants to eat spam? I don’t. Why would I shovel that garbage onto my fans? I’m not on Twitter to be blasted with ads. If I want to gorge on unwanted spam I can open my Yahoo mail.

I know some people will defend automation to the death. Fine. Opinions vary. Yet, I find the same people with five Twitter identities barking out the same messages want to take MY time and attention, but rarely give of theirs.

Hmmm, once dated that guy in college. Wasn’t fun then either.

This goes for books, too. Other ‘experts’ claim we need to publish a book a month or a novella and have a newsletter and be on every social site and blog every day and get a book blurb and contests and guest posts and run promotions….

This reminds me of an old Country & Western song: How Can I Miss You if You Won’t Go AWAY?

See? SIMPLE

Books, brand and buds. Just because this is simple doesn’t mean it is easy. Writing novels readers want to pay retail for is hard work. Being on-line and engaging regularly requires discipline and robots cannot do it for us.

We can do a little a day, consistently and it all adds up.

What Are Your Thoughts?

Does this help the idea of the author as business seem more doable? For me, three BIG ideas to keep track of help keep me grounded. Trends and fads are exhausting. Great stories, fun and friends are ALWAYS popular. Publishing might change daily but humans don’t. So share those funny memes and cat videos because YES it is great for positive branding 😉 .

I love hearing from you and am not above bribery!

What do you WIN? For the month of JANUARY, for everyone who leaves a comment, I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly. I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less).

CLASSES!

Business of the Writing Business: Ready to ROAR!

Instructor: Kristen Lamb

Price: $55.00 USD

Where: W.A.N.A. Digital Classroom

When: Thursday, February 15, 2018, 7:00-9:00 p.m. EST

Being a professional author entails much more than simply writing books. Many emerging authors believe all we need is a completed novel and an agent/readers will come.

There’s a lot more that goes into the writing business…but not nearly as much as some might want us to believe. There’s a fine balance between being educated about business and killing ourselves with so much we do everything but WRITE MORE BOOKS.

This class is to prepare you for the reality of Digital Age Publishing and help you build a foundation that can withstand major upheavals. Beyond the ‘final draft’ what then? What should we be doing while writing the novel?

We are in the Wilderness of Publishing and predators abound. Knowledge is power. We don’t get what we work for, we get what we negotiate. This is to prepare you for success, to help you understand a gamble from a grift a deal from a dud. We will discuss:

  • The Product
  • Agents/Editors
  • Types of Publishing
  • Platform and Brand
  • Marketing and Promotion
  • Making Money
  • Where Writers REALLY Need to Focus

A recording of this class is also included with purchase.

Self-Publishing for Professionals: Amateur Hour is OVER

Instructor: Cait Reynolds

Price: $99.00 USD

Where: W.A.N.A. Digital Classroom

When: Friday, February 16, 2018, 7:00-10:00 p.m. EST

Let’s get down to brass tacks. Are you going to go KDP Select or wide distribution with Smashwords as a distributor? Are you going to use the KDP/CreateSpace ISBN’s or purchase your own package? What BISAC codes have you chosen? What keywords are you going to use to get into your target categories? Who’s your competition, and how are you positioned against them?

Okay, hold on. Breathe. Slow down. I didn’t mean to induce a panic attack. I’m actually here to help.

Beyond just uploading a book to Amazon, there are a lot of tricks of the trade that can help us build our brand, keep our books on the algorithmic radar, and find the readers who will go the distance with us. If getting our books up on Amazon and CreateSpace is ‘Self-Publishing 101,’ then this class is the ‘Self-Publishing senior seminar’ that will help you turn your books into a business and your writing into a long-term career.

Topics include:

  • Competitive research (because publishing is about as friendly as the Red Wedding in Game of Thrones)
  • Distribution decisions (because there’s actually a choice!)
  • Copyright, ISBN’s, intellectual property, and what it actually all means for writers
  • Algorithm magic: keywords, BISAC codes, and meta descriptions made easy
  • Finding the reader (beyond trusting Amazon to deliver them)
  • Demystifying the USA Today and NYT bestselling author titles
  • How to run yourself like a business even when you hate business and can’t math (I can’t math either, so it’s cool)

Yes, this is going to be a 3-hour class because there is SO much to cover…but, like L’Oréal says, you’re worth it! Also, a recording of this class is also included with purchase.

The class includes a workbook that will guide you through everything we talk about from how to do competitive research to tracking ISBNs and distribution, and much, much more!

Time is MONEY, and your time is valuable so this will help you make every moment count…so you can go back to writing GREAT BOOKS.

DOUBLE-TROUBLE BUSINESS BUNDLE

BOTH classes for $129 (Save $25). This bundle is FIVE hours of professional training, plus the recordings, plus Cait’s workbook to guide you through everything from how to do competitive research to tracking ISBNs and distribution and more.

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  1. Alas, the self promotion and social media aspect of today’s author reality is my downfall. I never know what to blog, tweet, or post, or why anyone would be interested in what I have to say, lol. But I always enjoy your posts. Great info and insights with a liberal helping of humor.
    Have a great week!

    1. Funny stuff. It is simple. Seriously, go look at my Facebook profile and it is mostly goofing off. Then once and a while I mention a book or class. RELAX. HAVE FUN! People gravitate to FUN!

  2. Nothing like a good, strong cup o’ Kristen Lamb in the morning.

  3. I recently discovered this brilliant lady, Kristen Lamb and can’t get enough of her wit and wisdom! Advice is spot-on and definitely is needed in a sea of way too many voices claiming to know the way to success. It IS what you make of it and the road is made smoother with such sage advice. Thanks, Kristen!

  4. Thanks so much for this timely post! I have 3 authors on the cusp of publication (2 self/1 trad) and have been talking and talking about business angles, but now here you’ve put it all in a neat package!

    Glad to see my harping on ‘never forget your readers’ is backed up here, too. The old, ‘don’t try to sell hair gel to a bald dude’ idea works here, too.

    I have been asked about the potential of blending genres, and how to handle marketing of such a maneuver. I tend to advise that I would go by reader feedback, if you garner readers who normally read romance, but have found your YA adventure to fit their reading needs, then you might start looking at pointing toward that genre. What say you, wench? :o)

    Thanks again for thinking of it, sharing it, and keepin’ it reals.

  5. Spot on, Kristen! I’m focusing on writing the best books I can and keeping my online presence to a steady amount of time and a variety of posts. Overall, though, I’m focusing on engaging with my readers and fans on as much of a personal level as I can and as they would enjoy. Thanks for the encouragement to keep with my plan!

  6. Another great reminder, Kristen!

  7. Just when I have become completely overwhelmed and drowning in the details, you come along and toss a bucket of cold reality on me, and I calm the heck down. Thanks for this – I keep forgetting I’m in this for the long haul. Good to be reminded of the basics! Here’s a big virtual hug, one Texan to another!

  8. PARSNIP!!!!!!

  9. “People won’t remember what we said, but WILL remember how we made them feel.” Pure gold.

    I get the books and brand – have worked on both. Buds, not so much. I’m very reticent about my online presence because I know that I personally cannot remember the last time I went to the movie theater. Why? Because I can’t walk out to my mailbox without tripping over a post, article, tweet or some other ubiquitous reminder of Things People Say that really gets between me and liking their product on a personal level. I avoid reading anything a writer, director or actor has to say like the plague. There are still a few Hollywood icons whom I admire for their work and I’d like to keep it that way.

    And so I just kind of put my work out there, put up the occasional flash fiction in my blog and leave it at that. In today’s toxic social media climate, I simply know for a fact that the minute I open my mouth to talk about basically anything, somebody is going to take exception. Trying to talk on-line leads me to mental gridlock because somebody somewhere is going to be offended by – well, just about anything these days. #PleaseDon’tHateMe.

    The few fans I have respond to my fiction. And that’s really the most important thing I have to say, I guess. What happens in my stories and snippets of what-if. I am 100% totally scared of alienating the few fans I have by opening up “me” and saying something that will detract from the value of the product. Because I don’t know them. Will the fact that I was in the Navy make me #RomanticSailor or #BabyKiller? Who the hell knows?

    Making friends and connecting on a personal level usually takes a mutual interest in something. And those are not the people I should be trying to sell to. Been there. #UsedToBeFriendsUntilIPitchedMyBook. Seriously, there are people I knew for *years* who stopped talking to me the moment I said, “Hey, check out my book.” Or even sent a free copy. From my limited experience, friends and marketing don’t mix.

    People like you and Larry Brooks do a great job of talking to us writers and building a community. Of writers. Doing the same thing with readers – a whole different ballgame. Readers trust one thing and one thing only – other readers. That’s why there are machine gun nests at every interface between reader and author on Goodreads. Our job is to stand in the window and smile. Quietly. While people whisper about our mismatched tie and jacket.

    Or, how about if somebody has actually had contact with you on the Internet in any form whatsoever? Bye bye 4-star review, because you’re “friends and family.”

    There is a definite bias against fiction authors engaging their fanbase for some reason, and that too is part of the business equation.

    None of this is to say buds can’t be done. Many authors do, I guess. But it’s a bit of a minefield.

    BTW, I’ve driven through Amarillo many times. That alone is sufficient education to know that when a Texan asks for steak and fixins’, you don’t talk about aesthetics. #Getreal.

    1. “today’s toxic social media climate” brought a deep sigh of cognition. thank you, mr. lawrence, for stating one’s obvious reluctance to join the maniacal dance, i.e., facebook frenzy. is it true the majority of writers are introverts? if so, then how bizarre to require them to expose their naked minds to the world. egad. still, my deepest gratitude to kristen lamb, first for being a fellow Texan, and second, for making the inevitable seem somehow more palatable.

  10. I must say, Kristen, that I find it hard to believe you were ever actually (according to your own words) a jerk at any point in the past! That is just not you!!

  11. So glad I have you to keep me grounded and not go down a million bunny trails.

  12. It’s just hard to be you when you’re a natural introvert who isn’t terribly funny or amusing.

    Been trying to figure out social media for over a year. I suppose it’s telling how much I enjoy it when I admit I didn’t have a social media account, not even a Facebook login, until a year ago.

    1. You don’t need to be funny. Share stuff from others who are. All over YouTube. Poach from my page, LOL. I find some hilarious stuff.

  13. Thanks for this post Kristen. This makes it much more doable (and sane)! I really need to spend more time on Facebook (although I don’t know what to post half the time), as long as I use a timer as it’s a great ‘time suck’. 😉

    I’d be interested in doing your ‘Business of the Writing Business’ course, but not sure if I can make it at this stage. Fingers crossed!

    • Ramshah Akbar on January 30, 2018 at 1:55 am
    • Reply

    And once again, the lady with unbeatable publishing wisdom and amazing wit nails it! Great article.

  14. Hi, Kristen. This comment (a) will NOT make you cry (promise!), although it may make you scratch your head; (b) is not specifically about this terrific post, but about many recently; (c) is only for your information at this point, because there may be nothing you can do or need to do about it. Still, I want you to know what’s happening.

    The “problem” is this: when I read your posts in e-mail (using Outlook 2010), some of the photos are so large that even if I make the e-mail as wide as my screen, the photo is still bigger. That makes it really hard to read the text because they are automatically made as wide as the image, not the e-mail window. That means I have to scroll all the way to the right, finish the line, then scroll all the way back to the left; lather, rinse, repeat. Ugh.

    When I read the same post on line, however, everything is fine. The images are the right size and nothing goes kablooie.

    Weird.

    And this used to not be a problem. Even more weird.

    I need to do some research with some Outlook experts I know, and I’ll let you know what they say, but in the meantime I’m curious if any of your other readers are experiencing this same problem. If not, then something strange is going on with my computer… not that that would EVER happen. 🙁

    And thank you for continuing to provide all this wonderful advice.

    1. I have no idea. Someone said something similar and I have worked hard to make the images smaller. I will look into it and get my tech people on it. THANK YOU for persisting in spite and for letting me know so I can fix it. (((BEAR HUG)))

      1. Hi, Kristen. Sorry it’s taken so long to get back to you on the issue of “oversized” images in the e-mail versions of your posts, but I now have some information I think you’ll find useful. It comes from a lady who’s a “senior member” of the Outlook forums staff on the slipstick.com web site.

        The idea I bounced off of her, based on my experience with my own web site, was to reduce the size of the images you select to around 400 pixels horizontally (whatever software you use to do this should adjust the vertical size automatically to keep the proportions right). Diane responded, “Using right-sized images can make a huge difference in how fast a page loads, which can improve SEO and google page rank.

        “Many put smaller versions of the image on the page and link a larger version to it… that gives you the best of both worlds- a right-sized picture and a higher quality/larger image for those who want it.

        “Email images diffidently [I think she meant “definitely”!] should be sized – i’d say probably 500 – 600 wide max would work well for most recipients – it will fit nicely in the reading pane or a bowser window.”

        A side benefit I discovered when I did this was that the size of my regular back-up files shrank from single-digit gigabytes to hundreds of megabytes, and I’ve got A LOT less to back up than you do!

        Changing an image dimensions should be quick and easy–“save as…,” select the new horizontal size, click somewhere to let the software select the right vertical size, click “Save,” done–so it shouldn’t slow you down in getting your posts done.

        Hope this helps!

  15. Thank you so much for your post, Kristen. You always make a complicated situation easy, and easy to understand.

    I’ve had a problem with your newsletter as well, although different from Ross Lampert’s. For the last week or so when I open the email and an image flashes and disappears. Well, it doesn’t really disappear, if I scroll to the right – the far right – I find it, properly sized. I’m using Windows Live Mail [still!] and never had this problem before, with yours or anyone else’s email.

  16. Good stuff again, Kristen. I need to be consistent in interacting online. I feel I do okay with it, but there’s always room for improvement.

  17. So much stress about what to do on social media and different advice on what to do I just mostly talk with friends and family. I don’t want to annoy anyone or worse alienate them, so never did much, and felt like I should be doing something more, but as to what? Now I’m not going to worry about it. Thank you!

    1. We never need to ‘worry’ about anything. There IS a way to build a platform that is fun. It takes time, authenticity and steady effort. But we can’t outsource to robots or firms for real results. We need a plan then a good plan of action to back it up….as in just being regularly present and engaging as a person with PEOPLE. Simple.

  18. I do like to share nice blogs like this with tips, writing programs, writing apps, and the occasional book writing website/app that pops up. As for my book only when there’s a new chapter out on wattpad. :p Facebook is great for finding beta readers, I joined a few books clubs and asked the members if they would when it’s finished. They said they would. So nice! <3

  19. 10,000 brownies for you! Tosses a GLOMP your way. ^_~

    • robintvale (Jessica) on April 27, 2019 at 3:21 pm
    • Reply

    I really dislike it when people post the manipulative stuff like:

    I’m cleaning up my Facebook friends. If you can see this, type in the comments how we met.

    I bet no one will give this post even ONE share.

    I can’t believe you would say that. You know who you are O_o. Just unfriend me.

    Folks who are constantly #blessed #blessedlife #keepingitreal #blessedandreal #reallyblessed.

    People who that stuff too many times will get an unfollow. Why can’t they simply say they wish people would talk to them more, or you know actually saying hi to those that haven’t been talking to them? I’d say it’s their own fault for adding so many friends they don’t bother talking to. so they caused that problem to begin with.

    I’ll just post what I’m thinking, pictures of my son, or our kitty. Everyday stuff like recipes I tried out (with pics) some writing articles I like. Share a few books that just got published. I’m not on Facebook too often as it’s a time suck. (Fun!) Vacation photos are fun too.

    I dunno’ I’ll just post what I think is interesting and not worry about it too much. 😛 I think the people posting too many adverts (spam) are trying too hard and have become desperate.

    On another blog, I like to visit, he says (sorry forgot his name) #shame he says a lot of what you say about this. Mainly write lots of books and post them up on Amazon or your website and keep doing it. the more books the better.

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