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Character Review — Minka LopezCraig Firenze, Noah Braverman, Minka Lopez, Dez Hunter, Eleanor Braverman, Olga Nicolaev, Kitty Kowalski, Mei-Lin Quan, Nell Murphy, Elise Jeffries,

Character Review — Minka Lopez

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on February 12, 2026

Consider Minka Lopez, One of My Original Characters

So, just who is Minka Lopez?

A few of the characters for Mettle came to me quickly. Minka is one of them. But she was always the second half of a duo, Kitty and Mink. But she always felt like an insecure outsider.

I originally envisioned her as a kind of hanger-on, who would essentially worship Kitty and the popularity Kitty could bring.

Where Did Minka Lopez Come From?

I think we have all seen teenage girls just like Mink. Yearning to be popular, and hitching their wagon to what they think is the likeliest star.

But then as I started to write more of her, she got a difficult backstory.

The Past is Prologue — Backstory for Minka Lopez

This will come out a lot more in the Nanowrimo prequel story, which may very well have to wait until 2024. But there are little flashes of her background in Mettle all the same.

After all, Kitty is clearly wearing designer this and that, whereas Minka is more of a wannabe. Kitty has someone who styles her hair, perhaps every day and certainly most days. Mink has to do this herself.

Kitty also has somewhat softer outfits, clearly selected to show off her coloring and figure to their maximum potential. Mink, on the other hand, has to guess and make do.

I only hint at Mink’s home life, nothing more. She lives with her Aunt Doreen—but why?

A Description of Minka Lopez

I see the young actress Victoria Moroles for Mink. It’s especially gratifying to me that she made a TV movie called Cloud 9 with Dove Cameron, who I have always seen as Kitty. And this image, I feel, exemplifies their earlier life perfectly.

Victoria Moroles, Dove Cameron, and Tatum Chiniquy in Cloud 9; image is for reference purposes only.
Victoria Moroles, Dove Cameron, and Tatum Chiniquy in Cloud 9; image is for reference purposes only.

Moroles and Cameron also made a TV show together, Liv and Maddie. I really love that I’m not the first person who ever thought about putting these two actresses together.

Unfortunately, they are both past high school roles—and these are junior high/middle school roles, anyway.

Purpose/Theme/Motivation

Apart from trying desperately to be popular, Mink follows Kitty around a lot. Although Dez has something to say about that, at times. But while he and Mink are somewhat competitive for Kitty’s attention, they do get along.

Mink even leaves with Kitty, seeking the center of the city in the hopes of … something. Yet Kitty miscalculates horribly, and Mink barely escapes.

When she returns to Brighton, one of Mink’s main purposes comes to life—she serves as a witness to the horrors of downtown Boston during the extended power outage and other events chronicled in Mettle.

Another one of her purposes is that she has a paper calendar. Even when she is not around, the calendar (which Dez keeps until she returns) keeps the story grounded in time.

Quotes

There was a dull ringing noise, and something grazed Nell’s foot. It was Mink’s earring, but the silver was dull and twisted. Somehow, the feather was still attached. Nell held it up for a second, it looked so strange.

“Minka, I did not tell you to stop.”

“Mrs. Davis, look.” Mink swept her dark brown hair away from her left ear. The other earring was still in, as twisted as the one Nell held in her hand. The remnants of that earring were shoved into a too-small piercing in Mink’s ear, and she bled.

Mrs. Davis sighed. “Go to the nurse’s office. With, hmm—with Penny.”

Nell froze.

Kitty spoke up. “I should go. I mean, I’m practically a nurse already. I am a total fucking angel of mercy or something.”

“No, you’re the next one to read. Now Minka and Penny, go straight to the nurse’s office.” Mrs. Davis scribbled her signature on a pair of hall passes. “Get fixed up and come right back. No dawdling and no detours, understand?”

“Yeah,” Mink and Nell said almost at the same time. They left the classroom, closing the door behind them.

The hallway was all but deserted. “You gonna punch me?” Nell asked.

“No. Why would I do that?”

“Kitty usually does.”

Mink shrugged. “Oh. Well, she’s not here. So, I won’t.”

“You do everything Kitty tells you to?”

Mink gathered her hair into a rough ponytail. “It’s important to be popular. Fuck, this thing hurts.”

“Here, I found the other one.” Nell handed over the ruined earring.

“Did you stomp on it?”

“It was like that when I picked it up.”
Click to buy Untrustworthy on Amazon

Relationships

Mink doesn’t really have any romantic relationships in the story. But she does have one big, fat friendship relationship.

Kitty and Mink

The first time we ever really see her, it is in history class. And, she’s got not only her own homework, but also Dez and Kitty’s. Did Mink do their homework? I would have to say yes. In particular, I see Kitty as such a user that this would pretty much be expected. That is something like, if you want to hang around with me, this is the price of admission and access.

Mink is very much a sycophant for Kitty, going along with nearly anything and everything, in the almighty service of her attempts at social climbing.

Conflict and Turning Point

Mink’s conflict and turning points are virtually the same as for the other characters. In particular, when the power goes out, her life turns upside-down. Because her aunt is missing. Mink, essentially, becomes a homeowner at the age of 14.

Continuity/Easter Eggs

I don’t have any Easter eggs for her and don’t really see a way to add her to overall continuity or crossing over to anything else I’ve written.

Future Plans

Mink will show up in the prequel, as will the other main characters.

Minka Lopez: Takeaways

While all of the characters in the story change and grow, her change is perhaps the most radical. Because once she’s been through the events of Mettle, there is no way she will see social climbing or popularity as being important ever again.

Minka Lopez — the survivor character.

Want More of Minka Lopez and the Rest of Mettle?

If Mettle resonates with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about how changes in the periodic table nearly kill us all.

Character Reviews: Mettle

† Eleanor Braverman
• Noah Braverman
† Craig Firenze
• Dez Hunter
† Dr. Elise Jeffries
• Nell Murphy
† Olga Nicolaev
• Dr. Mei-Lin Quan

The Mettle Universe

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Character Review — Lex FeldmanMarnie Shapiro, Lex Feldman, Jazminder Parikh, Benjamin Chase, Astrid Hennigsen, Trixie LaRue, Ginny Carey,

Character Review — Lex Feldman

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on February 10, 2026

Consider Lex Feldman, One of My Original Characters

Who is Lex Feldman?

Lex Feldman is a kind of nervous but ultimately good person who gets Marnie to loosen up in some ways—and straighten up and fly right in others. He is an important character in the Enigman Cave Universe.

Where Did Lex Feldman Come From?

I went with Lex because I was watching reruns of The Tribe! The characters, of course, are rather different. For one thing, my Lex isn’t a jerk.

The Past is Prologue — Backstory for Lex Feldman

Competition for spots on wedge ships like the Valentina Tereshkova was fierce. Lex tried for the Chief Veterinarian job, but lost out to Tom Ciorciari. He was also breaking up with his last truly serious relationship before Marnie. For Lex, getting away to space is a way to heal.

But he can also spread his wings and become his own person.

Description

I see Oscar winner Adrien Brody here. It’s important for me to, in general, have Jewish actors playing Jewish characters. So, here we are.

Adrien Brody, who I see as Lex Feldman, DVM
Adrien Brody, who I see as Lex Feldman, DVM. Image is for reference purposes only.

He’s attractive but not 100% conventionally. I also love the idea of him being this twig of a person.

Yet he’s in love with Marnie, who is anything but a twig.

Purpose/Theme/Motivation

For Lex, most of his motivation is to be there for Marnie and support her in everything she does.

But he testifies for the side seeking to prove Enigmans are not intelligent.

When she chooses him to come along for First Contact, part of it is for moral support.

But he’s also there to essentially represent the animal side of things. Even with Enigman sapience essentially proven, there is always a smidgen of doubt.

Quotes

The scene: the hearing to try to prove Enigman intelligence. Here, Lex is cross-examined by Counselor Terry Lynn Shull. Hunter Garcia is serving as a magistrate.

Terry Lynn said, “Tell me, Doctor, do gorillas make gestures?”

“They do, and they can make gesture sequences, too.”

“Do they have a language?”

“We’re not sure.”

“Doctor, what’s a gorilla’s IQ?”

Lex motioned to his tablet and Hunter nodded. Lex clicked around a little. “Maybe seventy to ninety, but that’s just Koko, a gorilla who was taught to use American Sign Language. Gorillas without known sign language don’t necessarily have a measurable IQ, and Koko could have been mainly making herself look good.”

“How so?” Terry Lynn asked.

“She may have figured out that making gestures would get her what she wanted, but she didn’t necessarily truly comprehend much of what she was signing. If she signed for juice, let’s say, and she kept getting juice, she probably learned making a particular sequence of hand gestures meant she would get a cup of juice. But it might just be like a dog barking to ‘speak’ and then getting a treat. Both animals realize that if they do X, then Y happens. But it does not necessarily mean Koko understood that her sign for juice really designated juice. It’s not possible to tell if Koko understood it was a representation for the concept of juice.”

“What’s a dog’s IQ, Doctor?”

“Dog intelligence isn’t really measured like ours. It’s measured more in terms of problem solving, learning, and thinking. Cognitive processes, as it were.”

“Are Enigmans smarter or dumber than dogs, Doctor?”

“I have no idea.”

Relationships

Amy Allenby

Lex and Amy knew each other as children, and were on and off again for years. Marnie is particularly surprised when Amy writes to Lex and refers to him as Alec.

But Amy wants to stay in the Solar System, and she wants children. So, she and Lex parted ways and she married someone else.

With very little on her, even I can only conjecture. But he does at one point say she really did a number on him.

In all honesty, though, I have no idea of the specifics—and I created these characters!

Marnie Shapiro

When Marnie first walks into the Veterinary while he’s on duty, he’s nervous and clumsy, dropping a paper towel roll multiple times. For a junior guy used to working the night shift, a visit from the captain is a novelty. And, he already thinks she’s attractive.

When they go to Enigma (Tom is too shocked by finding chlorophyll and feels it’s all too much), they get overly excited when they first find alien life. And that leads to kisses.
Click to buy Untrustworthy on Amazon

Conflict and Turning Point

As with the other characters in The Enigman Cave, Lex feels the change come when Carter takes over in the Solar System in a bloody coup d’etat.

But unlike many of the other characters seen in the book, he doesn’t get a chance to declare his stance.

In that way, I treat him like Sharon Townshend and Charlie Hill. But his stand should be obvious. He is as appalled and angered as Marnie is.

Continuity/Easter Eggs

I don’t really have much continuity for him. He’s basically just a solid, dependable love interest.

Future Plans

Since he wasn’t in the prequel, I don’t rightly know if/when I will bring him back. But he is quite literally a supporting character. I don’t see him as being the stuff of his own stories. But I can be persuaded by the right idea…

Lex Feldman: Takeaways

Sweet, smart, nervous, and definitely in over his head, Lex gives Marnie someone in her life who will give back all the caring she exudes to the crew. Because Ben Chase sure as hell never did.

Do  you want more character reviews? Stay tuned!

Lex Feldman — the character who lets the main character shine.

Click to buy Untrustworthy on AmazonWant More of Lex Feldman and the rest of The Enigman Cave?

If The Enigman Cave resonates with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts and pages about how our society handles first contact with a species that may be as primitive as Australopithecus.

Character Reviews: The Enigman Cave

† Marnie Shapiro
• Trixie LaRue
† Jazminder Parikh, MD
• Benjamin Chase
The Enigman Cave Universe
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Character Review — Ginny CareyMarnie Shapiro, Lex Feldman, Jazminder Parikh, Benjamin Chase, Astrid Hennigsen, Trixie LaRue, Ginny Carey,

Character Review — Ginny Carey

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on February 5, 2026

Consider Ginny Carey, One of My Original Characters

So, who is Ginny Carey?

The secondary communication officer (she works nights) on the Valentina Tereshkova is important to the storyline in The Enigman Cave. In particular, this is because she has a mathematics background.

… and she also just so happens to be Dr. Jazminder Parikh’s ex.

Where Did Ginny Carey Come From?

In a small way, Ginny’s origins depend on a sorority sister of mine. Alix was a math major who went to library school. I lost touch with her for decades and, unfortunately, only heard of her death after the fact. But I based Ginny on her (somewhat) while I still believed she was alive.

But there are a number of key differences between them.

The Past is Prologue — Backstory for Ginny Carey

I honestly never thought to give Ginny much of a backstory. The main thing that any reader should understand about her is that she has more of a math background than you would normally expect from a communications professional.

But that’s about it.

Description

Slight and looking younger than she really is, Ginny has medium brown hair and eyes and looks bookish. But that is because, well, she is. If the story was taking place in our current time, she would most likely be either a teacher of small classes or a tutor or a librarian.

Purpose/Theme/Motivation

Loyal to Marnie, Ginny has no qualms about finding odd communications and immediately reporting them up the command food chain.

However, since she is a lower decks character, she does not learn about the really bad stuff with Carter until a lot later in the story than the higher up characters do. And, because she and Jazzie are no longer dating, she cannot get any insider information that way.

As Marnie explains in the book, it’s to give people like Ginny plausible deniability. If the senior staff are arrested or even executed, the idea is that Ginny and people like her would have a fighting chance to escape punishment.

Quotes from Ginny Carey {she and Dr. Simon Mendoza are on the surface, looking to capture an alien animal}

Ginny and Simon walked to the stand of ferns and found undergrowth. “Here, jackalope, jackalope,” she called.

“Silly gal. What if it’s a Jill and not a Jack?”

“Is that even possible? What if they’re just single gender?”

“Me you’re asking? I have no idea.” He set down a cage on the ground. “Pity we don’t have bait. Any idea what they eat?”

“When Brian was down here, he said he saw one of them with a small fern frond in its mouth. But who knows which species of fern? Aren’t there, like, three dozen found so far?”

“Approximately,” Simon said. “Here jackalope, jackalope.” She elbowed him.

Relationships

The only relationship I have for her is the one with Jazminder. But why did they break up in the first place? According to the doctor, they just wanted different things out of life. But we’re only hearing one side of the story.

Then again, these are my characters, and I’ve only heard one side of the story as well. Hmm.

Conflict and Turning Point

Much like the main characters and higher-level supporting characters, Ginny’s turning point is essentially when it becomes obvious that the government at home is collapsing.

Continuity/Easter Eggs

Ginny Carey doesn’t star in any continuity or in any Easter eggs. And being more of a lower decks type of person, I did not put her into the prequel.

Future Plans

Right now, I don’t have any plans for her. However, there is some room in the Enigman universe for a sequel or two. In part, I covered some of this in the crossover story, Timelines are Alive. But Ginny was not in that one.

Also, there is a possibility that I might want to write a longer piece about returning to Earth and even confronting Carter and his cronies. Still, someone would have to stay behind on Enigma, and it makes more sense for someone in communications to do that.

For any of the protocols to actually make any sense, Marnie would have to take Astrid Hennigsen along, just in case there were any communications issues on the way back to the mother planet. By the same token, Marnie would also have to take Jazminder with her.

Hence, Ginny and Jazzie would most likely not have a reconciliation. Although keeping scenes of interacting with the Enigmans could work. I don’t know. The truth is, I have never really sat down and tried to map out a sequel.

Ginny Carey: Takeaways

For a lesbian ex-girlfriend character, she started off as being almost a throwaway character. But then I figured out the mystery and came to realize that she would be the most perfect person to solve it. Go, Ginny!

Click to buy Untrustworthy on Amazon

Want More of Ginny Carey and the Rest of The Enigman Cave?

If The Enigman Cave resonates with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about how our society handles first contact with a species that may be as primitive as Australopithecus.

Character Reviews: The Enigman Cave

† Marnie Shapiro
• Trixie LaRue
† Jazminder Parikh, MD
• Lex Feldman
† Benjamin Chase
• Eileen Bragin

The Enigman Cave Universe
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Self-Review – Your Planet Smells Like Wet Dogshipwrecked, child, Mitalisque, Alien Justice, Hot Time in the Alien Town, Alien Entertainment, Shimmering Wasteland, Leave Your Tone at the Message, Your Planet Smells Like Wet Dog,

Self-Review – Your Planet Smells Like Wet Dog

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on February 3, 2026

Time to Look at Your Planet Smells Like Wet Dog

I love this line, and the title came long before the plot of Your Planet Smells Like Wet Dog.

I wrote this story during the second quarter of 2018.

Background

The title or at least the idea of it came from a series of fan fiction stories I wrote during the 2010s. But this story has nothing to do with those, apart from the fact that the aliens in both instances are rather canid in both appearance and aspect.

Plot for Your Planet Smells Like Wet Dog

When Private Rachel Corcoran, a data specialist, arrives to work with a canid alien species to merge their database with ours, she commits an unpardonable diplomatic gaffe almost immediately.

Characters

The characters are Rachel Corcoran, her unnamed supervisor, the canid alien supervisor, and Rachel’s alien counterpart, Gray. There is a third alien, but they never speak and I do not describe them at all.

Memorable Quotes

The three aliens standing with us were fluffy, with foxlike ears and pointed snouts. As one, they all tilted their heads to one side as they listened to the translation through their version of earbuds. I tried not to chuckle.

Their leader, who was reddish, spoke and we waited for the translation. “What does that mean?”

My superior officer was about to answer for me when I just said, “Forget it. I’m an idiot. I’ve got no diplomatic experience, and it shows.”

My superior added, emphasizing the first word, “Private Corcoran here is not used to the niceties of embassies. Her background is in data. She’s here to help you integrate your records with our own.”

“Yes, yes, of course. My right hand here is versed in such things. We are all anxious to see how our two technologies can merge.” The canid leader indicated a shorter alien with a kind of blue merle fur pattern. They were all canid, but at least they were wearing clothes. Thank God for small miracles.

“We’ll leave you two to get acquainted,” my superior said. Then she whispered to me, “Try not to make an ass out of yourself again, Rachel.” I nodded and they left.

Genre and Overall Mood

The genre is hard science fiction. And while the initial bit would make you believe that we might even suffer an attack for Rachel’s inability to keep her trap shut, it turns out all right. And so, the overall mood is positive.

Rating for Your Planet Smells Like Wet Dog

The story has a K+ rating. There is some very mild language in there, and at the start, it does feel as if things could go south rather quickly.

Takeaways from Your Planet Smells Like Wet Dog

It is a wonder, in science fiction, how anything gets done properly. And perhaps one of the biggest issues, I believe, is that there could always be someone a lot like Rachel, who would engage her mouth a lot earlier than she would engage her brain.

Oops. But at least she did not start an interplanetary incident. So, we will give her a gold star for that one. A really, really small star. Let’s not get carried away here.

Click to buy Untrustworthy on Amazon

Want More of my Short Stories and Novellas?

If this story resonates with you, then I hope you will check out some of my other blog posts about my shorter works.

And finally, for a complete list of my shorter works, please be sure to check out the Hub Page—Short Stories.

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WritingNaNoWriMo, writing, chapter length, how do I write a book, Plotting 101, NaNoWriMo Advice, RIP NaNoWriMo

Writing

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on January 29, 2026

So, what is all this about writing?

Boy oh boy, writing rules. I mean it.

The Before Time, Where There was Weeping and Wailing, and Gnashing of Teeth

So, one aspect of my career transition consists of writing a lot more. This has been both fiction and actual report-style stuff.

And I have found that I had truly missed it.

Sure, I had typed tons and tons of stuff before. But a lot of it covered such thrilling topics as documenting queries, or making lists of terms used by public service officers. It very rarely encompassed topics with wit, or style.

And I certainly did not have permission to make up any of it.

NaNoWriMo, I Loved You

I had known about NaNoWriMo for a while, but had never thought I had anything to offer.

In 2013, I woke up with an idea during the last week of October. I created a wiki and an outline for it, and I signed up.

And I wrote. And wrote.

Then about halfway through the month, I had finished. By the end of the month, the story had gone to beta readers and was edited.

But Now it is Over….

But I am still writing. RIP NaNoWriMo, but I can still do this on my own. And so, I will.

Now the Real Writing Fun Begins

Because, yes, it has been published.

It was and is the right thing to do, and the right path.

In addition, it feels fun. And it still feels pretty damned exciting. It feels like it is a fit.

Furthermore, it does not feel like something where I am stretching to fit into an idea dreamt up by someone else, or parallel a vision held by someone else. And I certainly do not feel like I was going through the motions. In addition, it does not feel like ho-hum, same old-same old.

Furthermore, it releases a pent-up inner artist who was shouted down by pretty much everyone I knew for way, way too long in my life. And that is exceptionally freeing.

It feels right. And it feels honest. So it feels free. It feels good.

And it feels like it is about damned time already.

Takeaways, the Future, and All That for Writing

The WIPs (works in progress) are piling up. And the publication dates of Untrustworthy and various anthologies are retreating further and further into the past. Although the Lizzie Borden House anthology at least is a lot more recent.

So, what does that mean? Well, in all honesty, it means I am probably going to go the self-publishing route, sooner rather than later.

Is it a good idea? I have no idea. But it is better than doing absolutely nothing. And it is also a damned sight better than just letting it all rot on my hard drive.

Pretty soon, it will be time to fling it out to the universes. Damn the torpedoes, and full speed ahead.Click to buy Untrustworthy on Amazon

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Your Elevator PitchPublishing, Published, Positive Reviews, Middling Reviews, Bad Reviews, Teasing, Blurb, Query letter, Elevator pitch, teasers, pitmad, rejection, Easter eggs, Starting, Digital Publishing Game, pocket conflicts, Manuscript Wish List, Reading, Submission Guidelines, Set Dressing, Hairstyles and Costumes, Aroma vs Odor or Stench, Mixing a Score in Words and Music, Disgusting vs Delicious, Hot or Cold, Publishing Stats, Jewish characters, trust your readers,

Your Elevator Pitch

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on January 27, 2026

Let’s Deconstruct Your Elevator Pitch

We have all heard of what an elevator pitch is. It seems like it is the kind of stuff for some overly eager new sales associates looking to make an impression on the big boss between floors.

But there is more to it than that.

Someone has just turned to you and asked, “You’re a writer. What is your book about?”

Don’t just stand there! You have got to be ready.

Some Ideas for Your Verbal Elevator Pitch

Try something like this on for size.

Imagine if animals started talking, and they told you what to do in a topsy-turvy world.

My book is about Alice; she’s a young girl, a little bored on a sunny afternoon, when she spots a white rabbit. The odd thing about this rabbit is, he’s wearing clothes and talking. She follows him down a rabbit hole, but then she can’t get out.

That is less than seventy words, and the person asking has the basic plot, the name of the main character, and a reason to want to know more.

Also, you do not give away any spoilers with this pitch. Is that important? You had better believe it is.

Your Pitch in Writing

Yes, you need one of these, too. But a written elevator pitch is going to be a little different.

Even if readers know you for writing sweeping, epic sagas, you should still write some short stories. They can be in your universe, or not, although it might help with both marketing and your own personal creativity if they can fit somewhere within your universe.

They do not even necessarily have to be sent out for publication, but they could be good for anthologies. Do not knock that. This is exactly how a lot of people get their starts.

In fact, if you are having trouble breaking in, or want to impress a publisher, try submitting to anthologies. You can get a publication credit and impress the publisher of the anthology. And maybe also impress other publishers.

That is a win-win right there.

Point them there, if someone wants to read a sampling of your work. Do not make them commit to a 100,000 word novel.

Unless, of course, you really feel like alienating a potential customer.

In all seriousness, never, ever do something like that.

How Do You End Both Types of Elevator Pitches?

Why, with a call to action, of course! Why, here’s one right now.

Click to buy Untrustworthy on Amazon

On Balance

Finally, try to have some fun with it. Is your main character funny?

What about quoting one of her best zingers, assuming you do not need to explain the joke (that is key)?

Now that is an off-beat idea for a pitch.

And it just might be memorable enough to snag you a customer.

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Community Management for Indie Writers – Look at Me!Community Management, Drawn to Scale. Freshening, Get Together, Love, Small Things, Without Management, True Community, Party Started, Terrible Netizen, Snakes in the Garden, Circle Game, Look at Me, Good Netizen, Corralling, Wandering off Topic, Facebook versus Forums, Superstar Users, Community Management Analytics, Community Roundtable, Community Management Haikus, Life of a Community Manager, Social Media Job Descriptions, Superstar Users, Community Roundtable 2010, community managers, off topic posts,

Community Management for Indie Writers – Look at Me!

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on January 22, 2026

Introverts, beware. Community management for the independent author is a big, old game of Look at Me.

Hey, Look at Me! Look at Me!

Come on and look!

Ah, marketing.

We have all seen it done well, and we have all seen it done not so well, and even downright poorly. And now, a look at applying it to your extant community. Which could be readers, prospective readers, beta readers, etc.

A poorly executed marketing strategy does more than turn off your preexisting users. It can also get your site marked as a spammer. And the scarlet S can get your site unceremoniously dumped from Google. And that means, essentially, the equivalent of the death of the site.

Spamming on Facebook will, of course, also get you dumped. Eventually.

Long Story Short: Never Spam

In order to effectively market your community, you need to cover three kinds of SEO/Marketing. Those are onsite, offsite and offline. Onsite will be covered elsewhere in this series.

You need good keywords and you need good content for onsite marketing. But after that, your optimization and marketing efforts need to move to something different. As in SEO.

Look at Me Doing Offsite Marketing

Note: this is not offline marketing, such as dropping your book on a train station bench, putting it into a little free library, or asking a bigger brick and mortar library to carry your book.

Offsite can be (mainly) divided into two areas:

1. Search Engines
2. Social Media

Consider Search Engines

You must submit your site to Google. However, do not submit to any other search engines. Why? Because the non-Google share of the market is virtually nonexistent (sorry, Bing). Hence this is a waste of your time, and they will likely pick up your site from Google anyway.

So do not use a blasting service. Heavens, no. You will never, ever need it and it is absolutely not worth it.

Consider search engines in other languages if applicable.

Look at Social Media

Social media implies interactivity, and not just voting links up or down, perhaps laced with the occasional comment.

While there are international ones (and if you have a perfect match between your content and their focus, then by all means establish a presence thereat), you really only care about the following:

• Facebook – an official fan page helps for any number of reasons. First of all, it can make your books and website known to friends, family members, business colleagues and any other connections to your currently friend list.

And you can use it to post photographs and links directly back to your site or where to buy your book.

† Twitter/X – even if your users are not, generally, on Twitter, it is still a useful marketing tool. Try feeding in a slice of the site via RSS. Just like with Facebook, this can expand the network of persons who know about your site and prose.

If X is not a fit ideologically (for you or your userbase or both), then by all means consider Bluesky or the like instead.

• LinkedIn (if applicable) – if your book is nonfiction and is about a going concern or about employment, then at minimum make sure your listing on LinkedIn is correct. You can add website and book buying URLs to your profile.

Furthermore, if going this route, make sure your site blog and social media streams are configured to feed and accept updates.

A Look at More Social Media

† Pinterest – demographics tend to skew heavily female and over thirty-five. Got books about a restaurant? A shoe store? Wedding products or services? A women’s health collective? A feminist bookstore? Go to Pinterest – but only if you have excellent images.

• Got great images but less of a female-centric slant? Consider Instagram instead.

† Tumblr – demographics skew heavily under thirty-five and even under twenty-five. Got a work about a video game? A work turned into an indie film (or about to be)? Go to Tumblr, but recognize that it is a lot more niche and fandom-centric.

Seeing as MySpace became niche before finally going belly up, you may find that Tumblr feels a little too much on its way out.

• Snapchat – demographics skew toward teens and tweens? Consider this fast-moving site for everything from YA (young adult) to NA (new adult).

† YouTube – longer form video content is a great way to get a message across.

• TikTok – 100% content-centric. Show this slice of the world what you are made of. This is for short-form video content and it is very algorithmically-driven, so you had better tag your stuff extremely well.

Back Linking

Backlinking is where you get others to add your site link to their own websites. Back-links help a great deal as Google gives them weight when determining the importance and influence of your site. And that is directly linked to search placement.

You always do better when more trusted sites link back to you. Do not get spammers to link to you.

Blogs

For your blog, go to other sites you admire. Just as importantly, post comments on those sites. This provides value to those other people, so they are more likely to spontaneously wish to link back to you.

Or link directly to them first, but do not leave it all to happenstance. Approach the webmaster of the other site and politely ask for a back link.

Some people are happy to oblige. Others are not, so remove their links from your site after a reasonable amount of time. Some may simply think about it, so give them a little time.

And be reasonable, but also be reasonable with yourself. If you are not getting link backs, try to figure out why. Are your requests too aggressive? Or do you ask people with wholly unrelated sites?

Do you, perhaps, have no content (or no meaningful content) for them to associate with? Look at your site with a critical eye before throwing in the towel.

Truly Offline Marketing and Optimization

Offline marketing and optimization can mean going back to techniques used before – shudder – there even was an Internet. Before computers even existed.

Depending upon your budget and the overall genre of your book, offline marketing can range from something as simple as business cards or baseball caps or tee shirts with the site logo to a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl.

It can even be completely free. After all, any time you mention your site or book to someone else, didn’t you just market it?

Look, sitting back and waiting for your site or books to take off will almost never work. You need to market, particularly in the beginning. Get your name out there!

Want More About Community Management?

If my experiences with community management resonate with you, then check out my other blog posts about how online communities work.

Here are some posts about my years in community management, and what I have learned.

• A Day in the Life of a Community Manager
† Analytics (see link below)
• Going From a Collection of Users to a True Community
† Risks of a Community Without Management
• Are Off Topic Posts Ever Okay?

Click to buy Untrustworthy on Amazon

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Community Management for Indie Authors – Let’s Get this Party Started

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on January 20, 2026

One way you can get the party started for selling your books and short stories (and perhaps poetry, memoirs, book covers, etc.) is to create an online community for readers and prospective readers.

Here are some tips on how to get everything moving.

Indie Writers – Getting This Party Started

W00t!! Come on and get this party started! So, you have made the decision to have a forum on your website, or a Facebook group. That is great!

It can be for any number of reasons, such as to generate sales leads or bring together your beta readers.  And so, you might have a site with forums, done up in Drupal, or maybe using a PHP application out of the box.

Or it might exist on Facebook exclusively. Or perhaps you have conjured up your own proprietary software.

And … nothing.

You have no users, no content, no conversations. The community should be a hubbub of activity, a virtual village. Instead, you are stuck with a ghost town.

Whaddaya do now?

Do not panic.

Recognize that no one wants to be first attendee at a party. So, you have got to get the party started. But how?

Success?

For any website to succeed, you need to be strong in four areas:

• Design
† Metrics/Measurement
• Content and
† SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

So let us operate under the assumption that you have the first two set (and, if you do not, make sure you fix, perfect and beautify your design as much as possible). If you are not already getting metrics, go get Google Analytics.

Now with those two set, you can, fortunately, work on the other two together. First of all, we will work on some elementary Search Engine Optimization. SEO divides into optimizing onsite and optimizing offsite. So start with a few basic offsite measures.

Create an X or Bluesky (or both) account for your website, and start to fill it with content. Follow likely members, or people you want to attract. In short, be a good netizen.

For Facebook

FB already has metrics and good design. SEO in this instance is creating more discoverability. This means posting when your customers and prospects are online (check demographic trends and do some trial and error experimenting) and posting regularly.

Also, always use an image! Numerous studies show posts with images cut through the noise a lot better than those without.

Content

For onsite SEO, it is time to move onto content. Because there is an intimate connection between the two of them.

Furthermore, your future users are going to want to see topics. And they are going to want to see them started by a number of different people. You will need to pull in some friends for this, and divide the new topics up as much as possible. Be sure to start with topics like this:

† Welcome to the New Members/Getting to Know You
• Basic News from outside your company, about you (if you have a company blog or press page already, link to them here and
† A few (say, half a dozen) topics showcasing your best keywords but are written for humans to read

For Facebook

Try a variant on the above by posting regularly and finding good, engaging topics. Experiment and figure out what your audience likes. Of course, do more of that. A lot more.

Keywords

That brings us to keyword research. Go to competitor sites, right-click and select “View Source”. Which keywords are they using? Consider using similar if not the same ones.

So if your book is about, say, infant and child care, your main keywords and key phrases are probably going to be words and phrases like infant, child, child care, childcare, children, baby, babies, pregnancy.

Do Google searches using these keywords and key phrases, with and without the words forum or community added.

Look at keywords and key phrases for those sites as well. Because you want to keep thinking of terms that your target audience will use for their own searches. Incorporate these words into your site and into the titles of some of your first topics.

Look at synonyms! If baby works better than infant, then use baby in the title but you can still put infant within the body of the post. Think like someone searching. What are they really looking for?

Specifics to Get Your Own Forums Party Started

Do not be afraid to be specific, for a child care book, try topics on such subjects as teething, sibling rivalry and readiness for kindergarten. Keep the keywords in the titles if you can logically and grammatically put them there.

Consider some really niche topics, such as handling siblings who are acting out because one child has special needs or a terminal illness. Because searchers are looking for those answers as well.

Now, you have some content, and you are getting some SEO, even if you are still low in rankings (do not worry, it is percolating). But you still need users. Here is where invitations come in. You, me, all of us – we have online networks.

We all have friends on Facebook, followers on X and Instagram and a network on LinkedIn, and a whole host of other groups of online acquaintances.

Plus we have friend and family email addresses.

Send Out Invitations to Get the Party Started

So craft an invitation. Make it polite, pleasant, simple and short. Be definite about what your forums are about (e. g. write more than “Please check out my site.”). So, if it is a writing community, mention that!

In particular, if you know people who like forums (perhaps you already regularly post on some other forums site, even if the main subject is radically different), invite those people.

And do this in small doses, say, 30 people at a time. This will keep an influx of new members from overwhelming you. And you can greet everyone personally, at least to start. Furthermore, it will add to the feeling of exclusivity that a small site can engender.

Do not worry if people start inviting others to your site, even these are people you have never heard of before. Because this is a good thing. You want them to do this.

So look for sites to link to you, and be sure to get reciprocal links. Consider adding a blog to provide directed quality content if you do not already have one. Furthermore, it will keep your users updated as to outages and new features as you add them.

Add a Facebook fan page for your site, although I would recommend waiting at least a little while after launching. After all, if no one likes you on Facebook, you will have the same issue. It is trying to attract people who do not want to be first.

Furthermore, you will need at least 30 Facebook fans (that number may rise in the future) to get metrics. And then you can really get this party started.

For a Community Strictly on Facebook

You can invite people via direct message. But be sure to target them as well as possible. Too much willy-nilly pushes to get uninterested people to join will be seen as spammy. You could find yourself in FB jail for that. So, be judicious.

But above all, have fun. And get this party started!

Want More About Community Management?

If my experiences with community management resonate with you, then check out my other blog posts about how online communities work.

Here are some posts about my years in community management, and what I have learned.

• A Day in the Life of a Community Manager
† Going From a Collection of Users to a True Community
• Risks of a Community Without Management
† Are Off Topic Posts Ever Okay?

Click to buy Untrustworthy on Amazon

Next blog post

Leave a Comment
… And Facebook for All – Offsite Sharing for Independent AuthorsFacebook, advertising, account settings, Profile Page Part, Home Page, Working, Facebook, Rest, Facebook versus Forums, Company Pages, offsite sharing, Facebook Page, demystifying Facebook, Facebook Video Ads, Facebook to Allow Users to Login with Less Info, Facebook video ads, Facebook Ads vs. Google, Organic Reach Decline,

… And Facebook for All – Offsite Sharing for Independent Authors

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on January 15, 2026

Offsite sharing is a bit like old-fashioned door to door marketing. But it has a modern twist and modern metrics. Both are ideal for the independent writer of today.

… And Facebook for All — Offsite Sharing

Offsite sharing is a fascinating concept. Perhaps the most compelling feature of Facebook consists of the availability of the Like button. And it is in so many places that there are likely many end users who can scarcely recall a time when it did not yet exist.

The Like Button and Offsite Sharing

Because the offsite Like Button dovetails beautifully with its presence on the site itself, i.e.,

“The Like button lets a user share your content with friends on Facebook. When the user clicks the Like button on your site, a story appears in the user’s friends’ News Feed with a link back to your website.”

Drag and Drop

Furthermore, the site tries to make it easy for even novice programmers (and people who can really only do drag and drop) to place a Like Button on their own sites for offsite sharing.

The premise is irresistible. You add the Like Button, people like your own site, and that information transmits back to Facebook and to the likers’ friend lists.

In addition, their friends, who may not have know about you at all, suddenly do, and the offsite sharing spreads even more. They, hopefully, check you out, like you, and the process repeats on and on, ad infinitum, or at least in theory.

And with enough intersecting friends with enough non-intersecting additional friendships, a few likes could translate into dozens, if not hundreds, or even thousands, of new people who know about you.

If those start to translate into sales, then you are golden.

Engagement and Reach

However, engagement and reach are both going down. And Facebook actually has the gall to try to get people to pay for what it does. Quelle horreur!

But, seriously folks, how do you think Facebook pays its bills? They do it with advertising. If users will not be charged (and Facebook would be mighty foolish to start charging all of those free sources of detailed consumer data), then advertisers will be.

And of course that already happens.

What gets a lot of people’s undershorts knotted is that the freebie advertising is harder and harder to implement. Facebook seems to push everyone with a page to start buying likes to get more offsite sharing.

Thumb on the Scale?

Whoa, Nelly! Because that would be kind of unethical, if the site was deliberately putting a thumb on an imaginary scale and making it harder for indie authors and others to reach their fans without paying for reach and engagement.

So, are they doing that?

While the jury is still out (after years!), I am still inclined to say no. After all, the site grows by leaps and bounds on a second by second basis. And so engagement and reach dilute without Facebook having to do a damned thing.

Finally, does the site benefit from making it harder for page and group administrators to connect for free? Absolutely. But do they have to work in order to create this condition?

Probably not (or at least, not much). Life does it for them.

Offsite Sharing: Takeaways for Indie Writers

Beyond issues with Russian interference and how the Facebook algorithm can sometimes tamp down third parties, offsite sharing can work pretty well there.

Political and other paid ads, though, are another story. They are a reminder that, every year, Facebook becomes more and more of a pay to play platform.

Hence if you want to share something from off the site, or you want to sell from your site by sharing to FB, then your shared content might be lost amidst the paid stuff.

You may simply have to attribute it to life in the big Facebook city, and start paying for some ads. So be it.

Click to buy Untrustworthy on Amazon

Want More About Facebook?

If my experiences with Facebook resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about the largest social network on the planet, by far.

• Creating a Facebook page
† Working with a Facebook Page
• … Your Profile Page
† Offsite Sharing
• All Your Account Settings
† All the Rest of It
• Facebook versus Forums

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… And Facebook for All, and for all Indie WritersFacebook, advertising, account settings, Profile Page Part, Home Page, Working, Facebook, Rest, Facebook versus Forums, Company Pages, offsite sharing, Facebook Page, demystifying Facebook, Facebook Video Ads, Facebook to Allow Users to Login with Less Info, Facebook video ads, Facebook Ads vs. Google, Organic Reach Decline,

… And Facebook for All, and for all Indie Writers

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on January 13, 2026

Independent authors if you need a sign to tell you to get on Facebook, consider this your sign. This is why.

For Liberty, Justice (?), … and Facebook for All

Facebook matters.

At least, that is what Mark Zuckerberg would want us all to think, wish and feel. I can understand that, a desire to make a website about as universal as possible.

Once the site was no longer exclusive to collegians, the inevitable business model was to universalize it. And the site, today (although that will probably change), has about the best chance to become a truly universal web experience as any site.

And yes, this is despite the advent and rise of AI. It is even despite the fact that a lot of the youngest generations (Generation Alpha and Generation Z, to be more precise) tend to disdain it. But even they cannot avoid Facebook. Their families and teachers are on it.

Universality

So, are you trying to sell your books and short stories (and perhaps cover designs) on the biggest social media site on the planet? Over 3 billion monthly active users are there, as of 2025. That is an awfully big flea market.

But, wait, not so fast. Is that number truly accurate? Absolutely not. After all (and for different reasons), my husband and I each have more than one account. Do you?

Even if you do not, I bet you have at least one friend who does, and probably lots more. In particular, if someone has ever been in Facebook jail, they have probably got at least one separate account.

And that is perfectly all right, and is absolutely permitted by the site (although they would like to change that). And they are trying to….

Real Names

Facebook also pushes for users to go with their correct names. Why? Because if you can hide behind a username, you might flame people more than if you cannot. But the anecdotal evidence certainly points to this not working. At all.

Real names also (in theory) help to eliminate duplicates. But in all honesty, how many guys named Mike Brown do you know? I can think of two I have known in my life and that figure is probably more like four or five.

Even middle names might not fix such a duplication issue. There are probably several men with the name of Michael David Brown in the world.

Also, though, another use for real names is better marketing. If you Anglicize your name, then an advertiser might miss that you are Hispanic, and incorrectly market to you.

However, keep in mind that second accounts are far more likely to be under a fake name.

Not So Fast On Those Real Names

We have all seen names which are not quite so perfectly right, though. How many of us have seen married women using a middle name of something like Was(whatever their maiden name was)? Hence Susan Davis might call herself Susan WasSmith Davis.

It is not a perfect solution, and you do not really have to do that, anyway. Still, there are plenty of people who do.

Others might place a nickname within the middle name field. Robert Bob Brady, or Richard Dick Daily. But again, they might not have to.

The more common nicknames are already going to come up in a search, even though, in both of these examples, the nickname starts with a letter different from the full name.

So, Elizabeth (Beth, Liz), William (Bill), Christopher (Chris, Topher {maybe}), and Amanda (Mandy) are all covered.

Stage Names on FB

Still others may try to use stage names, but Facebook would rather you just create a fan page or have someone do so for you. This is not just to nicely help you keep your personal and professional lives separate. It is also to market to your fan base better.

After all, even your most avid fans might not be too thrilled by a celebrity talking about the logistics of getting to a local hardware store.

Then again, I am pals with a number of former child stars from the 70s and 80s. They all seem to be using their real names. Only Pamlyn Ferdin seems to be keeping two separate pages/accounts.

But it is also likely that, say, the Livingston brothers are keeping separate accounts but those accounts are private and locked down tightly.

No Real Name, No, I Mean it, Facebook!

Then there are people who have damned good reasons for never using their real names, such as people escaping domestic violence. Facebook has gotten better and more sensitive when it comes to such needs.

And, FB may very well have to deal with this issue for anyone who becomes a victim of identity theft due to DOGE bull in a china shop-style actions. We shall see, although they have likely already dealt with identity theft in one way or another.

Why Facebook?

The main purpose of Facebook (in case you are just coming into the light after a few decades on a desert island), is to sell advertising. Its offshoot purpose is to connect people, of all stripes, for free. But it is those connections which sell the advertising.

There is a lot else to it, at least on a general basis. But it is still a valuable business tool for any Social Media Marketing Campaign.

But never forget: you are the product that Facebook is selling.

In fact, that is a good rule of thumb: if it is online and it is free, then guess what they are selling?*

*Note: me? I am selling books, and my own services.

The Best Parts of the Site for Indie Author Social Media Marketing

The main virtues of Facebook, when it comes to marketing your book(s), can currently be divided into three basic areas:

• Personal pages and peripheral connections to same
† Company pages and groups and peripheral connections thereto, and,
• Offsite connections back to the site

By “peripherals”, I mean all the extra stuff that goes along with the site experience, and not computer hardware peripherals.

In addition, FB Marketplace may or may not be a decent place for some people and companies to get some sales traction. But I would not count on it, if I were you. You will most likely find FB Marketplace is more for a used bike, not your books.

Other ideas include creating a Facebook page for you, the writer, or for your biggest series. Or maybe just for your biggest book. What about a group? That might be a good idea for your fans to gather.

You could use it to plan when you will be doing a signing or a reading. And then coordinate when you can meet and greet your bigger fans. Or use a group to gather together all of your beta readers.

The Concept of Universal-ish Reach at Facebook

Beyond just the sheer numbers, Facebook is extremely good at putting people together who are similar. You always get friend suggestions, yes? Those people tend to either have friends in common with you, or they have some other characteristic in common with you.

The part that is in common might be home town. Or it might be favorite sports team. Another possible connection could be where you work.

Now, face it: if you work in a huge Fortune 50 company, then you will have tons of coworkers. And the chances are beyond good that you will not know everyone. You may not even know everyone in your office building or even on your floor.

So sometimes when a friend request arises, it may feel like a mystery. Hence, look for a commonality. Sometimes commonality is religion, by the way.

So, if you are a Muslim person working in New York City for a huge company like Exxon, the list of people that FB tags as being somehow related to you is laughably long.

Clutches of People

But getting back to the people you do connect with. It is perfectly natural to hang out with the people you went to high school with, or who love the same sports team you do. You might feel more comfortable with fellow cancer survivors, horse people, etc.

Or you might want to set up a political echo chamber. Another thing you might want to do is spend time with people in the same profession as you, and do some networking (although LinkedIn really is better for that).

Your readers may want to get together online to discuss your book. And, spoiler alert! They might not want you to be a part of that discussion.

But no matter what, we people tend to group together. It is a natural tendency. We have been gathering together since before there was a Homo sapiens species.

Facebook just exploits that. Really, really well.

And if antitrust cases go one way, they might not in the future. But we do not know that yet.

Takeaways

Your readers and potential readers probably have a lot in common. Helping gather them together can be a way to relate to them but also sell more books. FB can be a way to put together a street team, too.

Your readers may very well connect with each other, too. This is great news all around, and not just for sales.

After all, FB friendships are as real and powerful and intimate as those which originated offline. I know more than one couple who met and married after first meeting there. Don’t you?

Click to buy Untrustworthy on Amazon

Want More About Facebook?

If my experiences with Facebook resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about the largest social network on the planet, by far.

• Creating a Facebook page
† Working with a Facebook Page
• … Your Profile Page
† Offsite Sharing
• All Your Account Settings
† All the Rest of It
• Facebook versus Forums

Next blog post

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Adventures in Career Changing

My leap into a Social Media and Writing career

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