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Community Management — Get TogetherCommunity 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 — Get Together

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on May 26, 2026

Conquer Your Fears and Get Together

Yes, you can—and should — get together! Life online is all well and good. Many of us spend large chunks of our time connected, whether that is via a desktop PC, a smartphone, a laptop, or a tablet. Newer technologies will, undoubtedly, make it even easier to get and stay connected.

But sometimes you’ve just got to say: Stop the Internet, I want to get off!

Of course you go offline every night for bed (er, you do, don’t you?), at the absolute minimum. But there is more to it than that.

When your community has been around for a significant period of time (say, a year), your users are going to, naturally, be curious about meeting one another. In person. With no screens dividing them.

And this is excellent. It is a sign of the community jelling. You should encourage this. Or, if you like, you can even suggest a meeting yourself.

I mean, why the hell not?

Informal Gatherings

For informal gatherings, there is little, if anything, that you need to do. If you can attend, great! And if you are not able to, ask people to take pictures. However, remind your users they should get permission before they take any photographs and post them online.

Furthermore, if there will be minors present, emphasize that photographs of them really should not appear online. Be prepared, if the child’s parents ask, to remove such photographs if they end up on your site. But that is about it.

Formal Gatherings

Formal gatherings allow for a lot more dazzle. A get together can be as expensive or cheap as you like. Your attendees might wish to reserve a block of hotel rooms, or even a hall. Or you might just need to make reservations at a restaurant.

Or you could think outside the restaurant, and consider a visit to a museum, historical attraction, or nature preserve. Your group might enjoy attending, say, a minor league baseball game (it is often a nominal fee to get your site or company mentioned on the scoreboard or over the public address system. Usually this takes the form of a charitable donation).

Or your users might even enjoy a potluck, or a cruise, or a bowling tournament for fun. They might like to run a 5K race (or just watch) or even attend lectures or form a book group. And they might even enjoy helping to build a house for charity or volunteer at a soup kitchen for the day. The only limits are your imagination and the focus of your community.

Because a forum devoted to young mothers, for example, might enjoy a gathering where they can bring their children. Whereas a board focusing on a hip hop artist might prefer attending a concert.

Get Together Swag

For a gathering (in particular, for one specifically planned and sanctioned by you), it is nice to bring swag. That is, forum- or company-specific merchandise. Make it free for the taking! Hats, tee shirts, frisbees, key chains, whatever you like.

The young mothers’ forum might like diaper bags or onesies. That hip hop forum might like licensed mix CDs, or special music that they can download.

Just give them the URL and a key or password, so they can get it exclusively, at least to start. And, it is never a problem if people begin to share the URL and the password. Because you want them to do this.

Gatherings are fun. It is so neat to finally see and get together with people you only know from online. Once you have heard their voices and seen their mannerisms in the flesh, you will never read their posts the same way again.

Want More About Community Management?

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

Community Management Tidbits

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

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

Want to see more from me, on writing, and the business of being an independent author? Click here to add my site as a preferred source.

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A Day in the Life of a Community ManagerCommunity 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,

A Day in the Life of a Community Manager

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on May 21, 2026

A Day in the Life of a Community Manager

Whether paid or volunteer, the life of a community manager tends to be fairly similar. Community management can be a piece of social media marketing and management, but it does not, strictly, have to be.

Most of a Community Manager’s time divides into three different modes:

1. Discussions
2. Nurturing and
3. Disciplining AKA Trust and Safety

Discussions

The discussion piece involves creating new discussions and shepherding them along. Users will not return, day after day, without new content. While the users are, ultimately, responsible for the content in a community, the Community Manager should create new content as well.

This is not always topics as it can also encompass informing users about changes in the site blog (if any) and even a Facebook fan page (if it exists).

This discussion piece will evolve as the community evolves. In a community of fewer than one thousand users, content from the Community Manager might be the only new content for weeks! Which…can sometimes be problematic.

As such, it can loom very, very large. But it can also have a much stronger calming effect if other content is snarky.

As the community grows, regular Community Manager contributions should diminish. But there should still be some involvement. Otherwise members may feel the Community Manager is hanging back a bit too much.

It is a community, and that means that the users want to know the Manager(s). An easy and somewhat safe way to do this is by creating discussions.

On Topic/Off Topic

And the discussions need not always stay on topic! Lively discussions can be almost spun from whole cloth if the Manager can get the people talking. An automotive community might thrill to talking about cooking.

A cooking community might engage in an animated discussion about the Olympics. And a sports community could very well bring its passion to a topic like politics.

In particular, if the community is single subject-based (e. g. about, say, Coca-Cola), going off-topic should probably at least peripherally relate to the overall subject.

Hence Coke could branch out into cooking and, from there, into family relationships. Or into health and fitness.

But a push to discussing politics may not work unless it stems from a major recent news item or if there is precedent. And, if you get started with politics, it is maddeningly hard to put that genie back in the bottle.

Finally, if a member is ill, or has passed on, getting married or having a child, an off-topic discussion can spring naturally and effortlessly. This happens regardless of the community’s main subject matter.

Corporate management may not love off-topic discussions. But they keep a community together, and they do help to keep it viable.

Nurturing

The nurturing piece relates to the discussion aspect. However, it tends to encompass responding to and supporting good discussions on the site.

This is especially helpful if the Community Manager identifies top users who are good at making topics who the community likes.

And then nurtures them to promote their discussions over more inferior ones.

Use nurturing to encourage newbies. And use it to encourage members who might become superstar users if they only had a little more self-confidence. Give them a track record of support and positive reinforcement.

But keep in mind that welcoming people can get old rather quickly. But there is nothing wrong with a form welcome, whether it is an email or a private message or even a popup. Why not explain where to go to contact a Moderator? Or where to look and even where to report if the site is down?

Another use for a welcoming message can be to link to the Terms of Service and any other rules the community must abide by.

The Life of a Community Manager and Relationships

Nurturing can also take the shape of developing relationships with members. The Community Manager does not have to be friends with everyone, even if the site is very small. However, they should get to know the users.

Private messages (if available), writing on a wall or the like can do this.

Furthermore, the Community Manager can use private messages, etc. to head off potential problems at the pass.

Headstrong members might be wonderful when they write on topics not related to their overarching passion. Or they might respond to a tactful request to tone things down a bit. Or a lot.

The Community Manager can encourage those members to take part in those other discussions. The manager can reach out to other community members. Friendship can help to minimize flaming.

After all, it is a lot easier to go ballistic on someone if they are just faceless to you. But with your friend Joe, it is a rather different story.

Disciplining AKA Trust and Safety

And this leads me to the disciplining part. It is often the first thing that people think of when they think of community management. That includes things like pulling spam.

It also includes giving users timeouts or even outright suspending them when their activities run against a site’s Terms of Service.

Trust and Safety can also mean checking content to be sure that it fits community standards. Those can be everything from avoiding porn to getting rid of health misinformation.

The Facebook Trust and Safety team, for example, once had the unenviable responsibility to weed through violent and disturbing imagery. Nowadays, that is a task done by AI.

And it also includes shunning and ignoring. These can be extremely powerful. The Community Manager can help to mobilize other users.

But the Community Manager Must Do It Right

An email or private message campaign is almost always a very poor idea. Rather, the Manager must lead by example. Do not take the bait when challenged, unless it is absolutely necessary. But that is rare.

It is the Community Manager’s call when to take it, particularly if personal insults fly.

Often the best tactics include: (a) get offline and cool off. And (b) ask another Community Manager or Moderator to determine if it warrants disciplinary action. And then enforce that if it does.

One thing a Manager should never forget: there is far more to the community than just the people posting. There is often a far larger audience of lurkers, both registered and unregistered.

They are watching events unfold but rarely comment. By leading by example, the Community Manager can influence not only active posters but also the community at large.

Customer Service is Key in the Life of a Community Manager, Even if the Forums are Free, with no Real Customers

During a typical day, new members register. Also, members lose their passwords, or start and respond to topics. Furthermore, they answer older topics. People engage in private communications (if permitted on the site).

Members may disagree on something and they may do so vehemently. The site may get spam. Or someone might add violent and disturbing imagery.

The Community Manager can become involved as a content creator if content creation lags or goes too far off subject. He or she should discipline difficult members if necessary.

However, generally, a Community Manager’s main task, both daily and over the life of the online community, should be to carefully nurture and shape relationships.

Want More About Community Management?

If my experiences with community management resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about how online communities work, and how to best make them work for you and your organization.

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

Want to see more from me, on writing, and the business of being an independent author? Click here to add my site as a preferred source.

• Going From a Collection of Users to a True Community
† Risks of a Community Without Management
• Are Off Topic Posts Ever Okay?

Next blog post

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Self-Review – The JungleFairy Tale for Skeptical Adults, jungle,

Self-Review – The Jungle

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on May 14, 2026

It is Time to Look at The Jungle

A good ten years after I wrote it, The Jungle still feels as fresh and horrifying as it did when I committed it to pixels.

I wrote this story during the third quarter of 2016. It was written for an anthology that was to be called Disarm, which, unfortunately, never came to be. That anthology was meant to be about gun control.

Background

In 1994, in December, a troubled young man named John Salvi shot up a few abortion clinics in Boston.

At the time, I was working as a claims supervisor for an insurance company downtown. I had somewhere between two and five employees under me (I cannot honestly recall; I just remember two of them so it may have been just the two).

Everyone in the room was female, and I was the eldest, often by at least ten years. I was only 32 years old at the time. Keep in mind, this was long before cell phones put the internet in your pocket. Hell, it was before most people had ever gone online.

I believe it was a good five years before I even went onto Usenet. And so, we listened to the radio or called people we knew, desperate for information. While we were not that close to the danger, we had no way of knowing that.

It felt as if every single woman in Boston and environs had a target painted on her back. And maybe we all did.

I remember being scared, and my coworkers asking me, “What do we do now?”

And I said, “I guess we could make a barricade if we had to.”

Fortunately, we did not have to.

Plot

Much like in the true story, a gunman is terrorizing abortion clinics and the people who work there or use those services. The narrator and her coworker Dan are trapped in the break room. They have already barricaded the door and are wondering what the hell is going on.

They barely know each other, but in the heat of the moment, that does not matter. Together, they hunker down, afraid of what could happen if they do so much as try to stand up.

Characters Caught in The Jungle

The characters are the narrator and her coworker, Dan. She mentions a few other people who work with them, including a receptionist who loses her life that day.

Memorable Quotes

Amidst the K-cups, the stirrers, the paper plates, and the plastic utensils, we wait.

We unplugged the coffee maker and added it to the mess in front of the door. It is two round tables on their sides and six chairs and, absurdly, the coffee maker. It’s as good a break room barricade as anyone has ever made, I figure.

I’m the new girl. I’m just a file clerk. This is my summer job. I was just supposed to make some cash and sock it away for Boston College next year, but instead it’s me and my coworker, hunkered down in the break room, waiting it out.

Genre and Overall Mood in The Jungle

This story is in the contemporary fiction genre. The mood is grim and frightening.

Rating

The story has a T rating. There are corpses, and there is bad language.

Takeaways

I could have done better with this story, but I also think its rawness is a part of its quality. It was a truly frightening time, and I still remember it, over 30 years later. I bet my coworkers from that time do, too.

In memory of Lee Ann Nichols and Shannon Lowney.

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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Self-Review – Getting Over It

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on May 12, 2026

It is Time to Look at Getting Over It

This story, Getting Over It is…weird. Yeah, that is one good word for it.

I wrote this story during the third quarter of 2016. It was for a mental health anthology that, alas, never came to fruition.

Background

I had wanted to write something or other to get into this particular anthology. But this is not a great effort from me. The truth is, the better story is No Trip to Jupiter. But even then, I may be damning with faint praise.

Plot

From the start of her junior year, the narrator starts watching a construction crew at her school, who are building a new school building. Quickly, she becomes obsessed with a hardhat who she names Curtis. She attributes wealth and status to a man who does not know she exists.

Eventually, the only way she can even start getting over it is to start on medication.

Characters Who are (Maybe) Getting Over It

The characters are the narrator; her Spanish teacher, Mrs. Murphy; a construction worker who she dubs Curtis; and the rest of the construction crew and her mostly unseen classmates.

Memorable Quotes

I have decided his name is Curtis. He looks like a Curtis, with his cute beer belly and his hardhat and boots and sunburn and scruffy cheeks. I think I love him.

But I should start from the beginning. It is my junior year, and this is the last year anyone will go to school in this actual building. A new school is being built next door. When we started the semester a few weeks ago, the foundation was already poured – I think – and the area was being dug up, maybe for the plumbing. I’m not sure. That’s when I spotted him. He was driving a back hoe and he was carefully moving dirt around. He turned the machine and must have seen me, because he smiled and waved. I think he even winked at me!

So you know we go from classroom to classroom and seventh period Spanish is held in a room with windows that look out over the new construction.

I get to watch Curtis every day, while he runs the back hoe or grabs a shovel and digs in with the other guys or eats a late lunch. He’s a nice guy; it’s obvious, because he is so much better than the other workers but he’s a good person so he lets them eat lunch with him.

Genre and Overall Mood

The genre is contemporary fiction. The mood is warped and should 100% give off a proto-stalker vibe. But the girl is young and I know my initial intention was to give her a crush that had gotten out of hand.

However, it is entirely possible that these days we would consider her potentially to be a danger to herself and others. After all, throughout the entire story, she never wavers from her own firm beliefs.

Nothing will crush or change her inner narrative or her overall world view. Never mind that she cannot tell the difference between fantasy and reality. Perhaps she never could.

Rating

The story has a K rating. The narrator is weird and loopy but more or less harmless. More or less.

Takeaways

A good decade later, and I am unsure as to what, exactly, I was going for with this one. This story is odd and feels like it was poorly and hastily executed. It just plain does not have much of a point to it. Ah, well.

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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Self-Review – No Trip to Jupiter

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on May 7, 2026

It is Time to Look at No Trip to Jupiter

There can be No Trip to Jupiter for this put-upon narrator character.

I wrote this story during the third quarter of 2016. It was for a mental health anthology that, alas, never came to fruition.

Background

When the initial anthology was announced, I was seeing a lot of people in my social media feed who essentially seemed to be (to me) romanticizing mental illness. And all I could think of was: that’s not reality.

In addition, perhaps twenty years before that time, a girl I had known (the daughter of friends of my parents) had had mental illness and she tried to kill herself by jumping out of a window. This had made her a quadriplegic. But she did not have any siblings.

And so, a part of the idea for this story was: what if she had?

Plot

The narrator is the only family her mentally ill little sister will have left. Because the sister is a quadriplegic, she will need care for the rest of her days.

The narrator is clearly unhappy about this turn of events. However, she also does not make anything too super-clear.

Which means that she may resent being her sister’s keeper but act as her caregiver even though she does not want to. Or, she may simply abdicate the responsibility once their father passes on.

This would not necessarily mean abandoning her sister at some bus station. Rather, it would (presumably) be more like hiring a professional care team and staying out of their way.

Characters Taking No Trip to Jupiter

The characters are the narrator who is nearly 100% of the time talking about her sister. She mentions their parents but by this time, their mother is deceased and their father is soon to follow.

Memorable Quotes

I guess I should have seen signs even earlier. She was the one who said there were movies playing on the glass of our dad’s computer imaging scanner. She was the one who made a weird green and blue glass cover for the ceiling fixture in our room and then, a year later, said she was afraid of all the weird green and blue things and people which were only in our room. Well, duh.

Anyway, that all changed when she turned sixteen or so. I’m older; I was nineteen. That’s when the cutting started, although she may have been doing it earlier and just hiding it better. I was off to college so I missed the signs and everything was happy smiles and all the wonders of the world whenever I came home for a visit.

But yeah, I’ll get back to the cutting. It seemed to relieve her stress, to make herself bleed, as if she were a medieval lady being treated for some unexplained fever.

When I went back to college for my senior year, she tried to kill herself in earnest. Not by cutting, but by what happens when you step out of an open window and hit the pavement down below.

Genre and Overall Mood for No Trip to Jupiter

The genre is contemporary fiction. The mood is pretty grim.

Rating When There is No Trip to Jupiter

The story has a K+ rating, as there is plenty of talk of suicide.

Takeaways

When I first wrote this story, I recall being truly peeved at people who seemed to feel that mental illness was some sort of fun and hip thing, like it was cool to be, let’s face it, messed up. And it seemed juvenile. It still does.

And so, I wanted to tell the story from the perspective of the sister who is, in a lot of ways, the one left holding the bag. Because mental illness is far from glamorous or fun, and the people who have to silently serve or step back need some recognition, too.

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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Self-Review – The Lost Luggage of TimeChance Encounter in Time, 1960s Temporal Crimes, Side Pages, Crime in Time, Side by Side, Time Stretching, It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, Recruitment Time, Lost Luggage of Time, Timelines are Alive, playback,

Self-Review – The Lost Luggage of Time

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on May 5, 2026

Finding the Lost Luggage of Time

The Lost Luggage of Time has a truly strange vibe to it, but it is also easily one of the better stories I wrote at, heh, the time.

I wrote this story during the fourth quarter of 2016. And then I mainly forgot about it. So, it was more or less lost for about a decade. This seems fitting.

Background

I wrote this story for an anthology on Wattpad, The Wattpad Decameron. However, I am not so sure the actual posting is still there. Good thing I keep everything I do.

Given that I have been a road warrior, airlines have ‘lost’ my luggage more than once. And so, I got to thinking about whether time travelers could actually lose their luggage.

Plot

A storyteller sits at a bar and tells what seems to be a fantastical tale about time travel and cleaning up older messes.

Finding the Characters in The Lost Luggage of Time

The characters are Keiran Shapiro, Steve Riley, Elsbeth Mayville, and Miss D’Angelo (I never give her a first name).

Memorable Quotes

Time traveling involved getting into a booth which resembled an ancient voting booth and it really did have a lever. A shepherd would adjust the date, time, and spatial information on a virtual board and then pull the lever. The lever was clunky but rather satisfying to pull. Plus all other methods were fraught with errors and issues. The lever was simply more reliable.

The shepherds’ several booths were overseen by Chief Engineer Steve Riley. Riley was as big as a house and couldn’t even fit into a booth anymore – and those booths were built for up to four people.

“You planning on sowing discord again, Shapiro?” asked Riley as he fiddled with controls.

“When do I not?” Shapiro held up the freeze gun. It was about the size and shape of the palm of his hand. He declared, “Hark, one freeze gun.”

“Got it. I see you had to change your ’do. And your outfit.”

“1066. I don’t think they knew about Mohawks then.” His hair had been shorn to nearly nothing, to get rid of the green. Plus Kieran’s normal outfit, a study in black leather and denim, had been swapped for chain mail. He had a quiver of arrows and a crossbow slung over one shoulder. He almost looked like Robin Hood crossed with a knight.

“Probably not. You gonna meet some Saxon honey?”

“Heh, doubtful. Didn’t they just bathe once a decade or so?” Kieran asked.

“I don’t know from history. I just fix the machines.” A soft chime emitted. “Looks like D’Angelo is about to arrive. Happy trails, Key.”

Genre and Overall Mood for The Lost Luggage of Time

The genre is science fiction. The mood is mostly light although Kieran does have a somewhat messy end.

Rating

The story has a K+ rating. As I often write time travelers, these folks are a little rough around the edges, but are also hyper-smart. Sometimes that means swearing. Although in this instance, it does not.

Takeaways After Finding the Lost Luggage of Time

Rereading this one, I was rather pleasantly surprised that it is actually pretty good! Within it, I can see some of the seeds for works like Time Addicts, The Obolonk Murders, and Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline. Plus, there is even a Shapiro!

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.

Leave a Comment
Self-Review – The PlaybackChance Encounter in Time, 1960s Temporal Crimes, Side Pages, Crime in Time, Side by Side, Time Stretching, It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, Recruitment Time, Lost Luggage of Time, Timelines are Alive, playback,

Self-Review – The Playback

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on April 30, 2026

It is Time to Look at The Playback

So, one thing about The Playback is it is the kind of story I rarely write any more. While I love lyrics and they can often inspire, this one seems a little too on the nose.

I wrote this story during the third quarter of 2017. It was originally for a third Stardust, Always anthology to fight cancer. However, that book never materialized.

Welcome to Developmental Hell.

Background

I am pretty sure that I was thinking about the old Crash Test Dummies song, Afternoons and Coffeespoons when I first wrote this one.

In particular, there is a line:
Maybe if I could do a play-by-playback
I could change the test results that I will get back

And so, I realized, there was the potential for almost a time travel story in that little piece of the lyrics.

Plot

On her death bed, the narrator speaks to a doctor about a wish to save her nephew. According to the narrator, this conversation has occurred several times before. Why?

Because the narrator has perfected a form of time travel, and has been working through numerous iterations to save her nephew. The nephew has a glioblastoma. This nasty form of cancer figures in another of my stories.

But to reveal too much would go heavily into spoiler territory.

Characters

The characters are the narrator and her doctor, and the people in the narrator’s life who she mentions. But she is the only one who does any talking.

Memorable Quotes

I know you think I’m on my deathbed, Doctor, but I’m not. I mean, I am, but I can fix this. I’ll start from the beginning.

Yes, yes, I know I sound like any of however many other crazy, sick old ladies in this hospital. I get that – I do! But I also know that, underneath your lab coat, you’re wearing a blue blouse with a red ink stain.

Don’t look so shocked. And don’t try to tell yourself you showed it to me. I mean, you did. But not today. Not in this version of today.

Yes, I mean version. Because, you see, I can play back my life.

Genre and Overall Mood for The Playbook

This story is in the science fiction genre. The mood is somewhat neutral, as you cannot tell if it is going to be positive in the end.

Rating for The Playback

The story has a K rating.

Takeaways from The Playback

I really like the idea behind this one. It is simple and straightforward.

However, there are definitely a few flaws with this one. One is that it ends on a cliffhanger and with no real resolution. Most likely, I was trying to add a Twilight Zone vibe to the story.

But it does not truly succeed in that area. Rather, the attempt just falls flat.

Another flaw (which may not really be a flaw, as I think about it) is that the method of time travel is extremely basic. Still, that could be an advantage here.

Since the narrator tries to get the doctor to help her, the only way that can make any sense at all is to have the method be exceptionally easy.

This way, the narrator can comfortably ask the doctor to learn the technique. It also works well in the context of a short story. In a far longer piece, the methodology of time travel could have become a lot more complex.

Although for the doctor to be able to realistically learn the method in less than an hour, it does make sense for it to be a ridiculously simply matter to learn.

Argh, I am so conflicted!

So, imagine how my readers must feel. Hmm.
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.

Leave a Comment
Working With a Facebook Page as an Indie AuthorFacebook, 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,

Working With a Facebook Page as an Indie Author

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on April 28, 2026

The Best Way to Start Working with a Facebook Page

How do you go about working with a Facebook page?

As an indie author, you are also, to be perfectly frank about it, a small business owner. As such, it makes the most sense to treat your Facebook page a lot like many other small business owners do.

That is, it works as a front door, an advertising platform, a means to exude professional authority, and a collaborative space for a community.

Always keep in mind that Facebook is constantly A/B testing. In other words, they are checking to see if new layouts or color schemes, etc. will make you click more.

So, these instructions might be a little out of date after a while. This is what currently works. Caveat emptor. Or maybe caveat clicker.

Adding Images When Working with a Facebook Page

Images are always helpful. Use them as a measure of branding for your work and always use images you have permission to post!

If someone else created or photographed an image you are using, even if you now own the rights, it is a courtesy to link to them and give them a shout out.

A lot of my father’s and husband’s photography is on my personal author page, and people like to see newer work from my husband.

It is just another way to acknowledge that this is a community and this solitary pursuit is far from being completely solitary.

Some Details for Working with a Facebook Page

Since the specifics change all the time, I cannot go into a lot of detail (sorry!). However, for your company or author page, you will most likely want to add to and update things like the background image. Add events and post to the wall as you like.

I would also strongly suggest adding an image every single time you update. Text-only updates get lost in people’s feeds. Images are less likely to be missed.

Updates

Retaining attention is all about the updates.

You can schedule a few months in advance, so make a point of doing this. In addition, you can cover a lot more if you spread out your work and set it to emerge at various times.

Just look at your insights to get an idea of when people are online, and match to those times as well as you are able to.

Setting Up a ‘Buy Now’ Button

You will definitely want one of these. Right in front of your background image, there are three buttons. The one on the left (which is actually in the middle of your background) is a variable.

Pull down on it and choose what you want to showcase. Select Edit Call to Action and enter a link directly to buy your work. Be sure it is a link directly to your work on Amazon or Smashwords or wherever.

That is, clear away the extraneous junk on the URL. So, for Amazon works, this is everything after the ISBN.

If you have nothing to currently sell, you can always upload a YouTube video and change the call to action to a call to watch a video on your site.

There are other choices such as Call Now. So, use whatever works best for your needs.

And if you want to start advertising on Facebook, well, that is a whole other thing…

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.

… And Facebook for All

• Creating a Facebook page
† … Your Profile Page
• Offsite Sharing
† All Your Account Settings
• Facebook versus Forums

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Self-Review – The BrideWill's Dog, secretarial pool, Aenor the Wanted, Vive André, Saddle Up, Bank Teller, Camp, Courier to the Soviets, Mina's Mission, Handle, Great Cleanup, Never, Cave Canem and Cave, My Life, Field Gleaner, Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline, hermit, bride,

Self-Review – The Bride

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on April 23, 2026

It is Time to Unveil The Bride

While I have written about some weddings before, I do not think I have concentrated quite so closely on the bride until this short story. Also, this story is a part of the Real Hub universe.

I wrote this story during the third quarter of 2018.

Background

As I was writing The Real Hub of the Universe, I got to thinking about Shannon Duffy’s subject immediately before Ceilidh. And then I got to thinking about his wife, and her point of view. I felt Blima deserved to have a say.

Plot

In a nineteenth century shtetl in Europe, a teenaged bride gets ready for her wedding day. And night.

She has met the groom maybe one or two times before. This was typical for the time.

But what is different here is that the groom has a friend who will insert themselves into just about every aspect of the marriage. Then again, how many people have an alien shapeshifter for a companion?

As for the casual homophobia, it was unfortunately very typical for the time.

Characters

The characters are Blima Shapiro, her younger sister Chana, and their brother, Yussele.

Memorable Quotes from The Bride

“Blima, do you think he’s handsome?”

“I don’t know. He’s a boy – I mean, man. They are all the same, more or less.”

Chana snipped a loose thread from her sister’s simple gown. “Papa isn’t just some man, the same as all the rest.”

“That’s because he’s Papa,” Blima said. She looked at her light brown hair in an old mirror that was a little wavy and distorted. “I won’t get used to not looking like myself anymore. A sheitl! They all look so horribly ugly: dark brown, straight, in a tight bun. I suppose women all look the same as well – at least, married women do.”

“But you’ll take it off at home,” Chana pointed out. “And you can take it off when it’s just us girls. Aunt Rachel does.”

“Yes, I know. This whole process is so wretched! I don’t even know why Mama and Papa chose him in particular. They’re all the same. Did they close their eyes and point, or something? I do not see the specific appeal of Herschel Taub.”

“Don’t forget his friend, Levi Alschuler.”

“And him!” Blima looked at herself in the mirror again. “I don’t want to be married to either of them.”

“Do you think they…?” Chana’s voice trailed off.

Blima emitted a standard exasperated teenaged sigh. “If they do, then that nonsense stops tonight.”

Genre and Overall Mood of The Bride

The genre is historical fiction. The mood is neutral to slightly positive. I have no doubt that a lot of girls in Blima’s position would have been scared, angry, confused, or worried. But Blima is none of those things. Rather, she is just resigned to her fate.

In keeping with the custom of the time, she would have no say in the matter and no real incentive to do anything about the situation beyond perhaps protecting her family, assuming that she could. And that would only be if she was caught in an abusive situation.

However (spoiler alert), Herschel is a decent person who never hurts her. And so, because she cares for him at least minimally, she wants to have him to herself. This means she shuts Shannon (Levi) out a lot of the time. This includes when Herschel is dying from a stroke.

Rating

The story has a K rating.

Takeaways from The Bride

It was a tough time for young girls. They had very few choices in life, very little agency. The differences between the Shapiro sisters and, say, Kitty and Mink from Mettle or even Nell from that story are striking.

Even Ceilidh has more of a say in her fate. And that is saying a lot.

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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Self-Review – Miss Milky Wayshipwrecked, 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, Miss Milky Way,

Self-Review – Miss Milky Way

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on April 21, 2026

It is Time for a Review of Miss Milky Way

Here she comes, Miss Milky Way…

Okay, maybe not that, exactly.

I wrote this story during the third quarter of 2018. But I do not believe there was any sort of prompt for it.

Background

The whole idea of an alien civilization requiring us to somehow pass a kind of test is not new to me. In that way, the plot of this one is rather similar to A Show for the Galaxy.

I suppose it comes from the standard nightmare of being suddenly thrust into a situation where you are taking a test with no preparation. But here, naturally, the stakes are even higher.

Plot

If beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder, then what happens if that eye just so happens to belong to a sapient non-human species?

With a lot of the usual weirdness that goes on in beauty pageants, there’s only one small problem in the contest to crown a new Miss Milky Way. It’s really tiny.

I probably shouldn’t even bother mentioning it.

What is it?

The losers will have their home planets destroyed.

Not even the runner-up to Miss Milky Way will be able to save her planet.

Characters

The characters are Earth competitor Kristi Smithers; Baenifa, who has glittery scales; Divix, who has lobster-like claws; Baenifa, who has glittery scales; Hruvna, who has numerous feather-like skin tags; and Kyiya, a jellyfish with a methane tank which she breathes from.

Then there are a number of contests who I do not name. One is composed entirely of vapor; another looks like a wolf on two legs; a third looks like a large eggplant with feet. Plus, there are a number of other contestants from other worlds in our galaxy.

Memorable Quotes from Miss Milky Way

“They’re all beautiful, ladies and gentlemen and intersex and non-gendered beings. Let’s all give them a round of applause!”

Applause was a relative term. Sometimes it was like human clapping. At other times, it was like whale songs or clicking or humming. Some of it was silent, and achieved by waiting. Such were the many ways the attendees at the first-ever Interstellar Pageant – at least it was the first one where Earth had sent a contestant – showed their appreciation.

The pride of Bayonne, Kristi Smithers, took it all in, smiling her best pageant smile, the one she had used since she was a child going to toddler pageants and sweeping those awards. Victory was all but assured. The Solar System pageant had been a piece of cake – as if she ever ate cake. This level would be no different.

Smile! Genre and Overall Mood for Miss Milky Way

The genre is science fiction. The mood runs the gamut from silly and cheerful to tense to defiant.

Rating for Miss Milky Way

The story has a K+ rating. A lot of this story is lighthearted and kind of silly. But the consequences of losing the pageant are rather frightening, and they are very, very final.

Takeaways

I like Kristi, who has spunk and heart and is a lot like the USO kick line character in Guilty of Imperfection, Jennifer Wesley. But unlike Jennifer, Kristi has a chance to stop things early.

And the best part about how Kristi can turn the tables is by scrapping the idea of a competition completely. So, the key to victory is to cooperate with the competition.

For the glittering prize of becoming the most beautiful woman in the galaxy pales in the face of potentially saving billions of lives. Kristi will take that tradeoff any day of the week.
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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Adventures in Career Changing

My leap into a Social Media and Writing career

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