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Content Strategy, Halvorson, Hip-Hop Content Strategy, Content Monster

Feeding the Content Monster

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on February 23, 2021

Feeding the Content Monster

Is there such a thing as a content monster?

I don’t mean the happy, contented monster. Because that one wouldn’t need any feeding.

I mean the concept of adding content regularly.

I enjoy writing about as much as, perhaps, any blogger. But sometimes the words just don’t come. And, in the meantime, you need to be pumping out content!

C’mon, chop chop! What the devil is wrong with you? Why aren’t you yammering, 24/7, like you’re supposed to?

Egad, it’s enough to put you off your feed. Or, at least, put you off blogging.

Case in Point

I used to write for the Examiner.

So I was supposed to post every month. And I did. I liked having an active status there, even if it was fairly marginal by the end. It’s not like I was buying groceries with my big earnings from there. And, truthfully, they did pay me one time. It thrilled me at the time. These days, I get an actual salary for my musings. Hence a pittance from the Examiner, while considerably better than a kick in the teeth, stopped cutting it.

And it was not enough for them, anyway. Instead, they would send me a reminder every two weeks.

The Whining Content Monster

This being constantly reminded never gave me content ideas. Going to their content idea bank never gave me ideas, either, although I knew they tried and did not fault them for that. I tend to zig when I should be zagging (or perhaps it’s the other way around). And, in the meantime, being prodded every fortnight never made me a happy blogger.

Instead, it made me feel like I was listening to a spoiled, petulant child who was dissatisfied with what I had provided, and only wanted more, more, more!

I gave you a Honda. And now you want a BMW? Cripes. Leave me alone, content monster.

Today

I still have to feed a content monster with a shovel. But at least I have other people to feed me ideas. Thank God.

Solutions

So far as I’m concerned, there are three real solutions for feeding the content monster.

Make a list, brainstorming, of everything that could possibly, ever, be associated with your topic

This list will change as time goes by, as you evolve, as the sun sinks slowly in the west, etc. etc. Refer to the list often, and record when you’ve written about a particular subtopic.

Let’s take my old weight loss column from back in the day. The list included things like carbs, aerobic exercise, running 5K races, shopping for clothes, etc. If I last wrote about clothes shopping in 2010, I could write about that activity again.

But if I last wrote about it last week, though, then forget it. So I would need to cast about for something else. Keep updating the last, even splitting out larger topics if appropriate. The subject of clothes shopping could divide by season. Or write one post just devoted to buying a swimsuit.

Strike while the iron is hot

That is, if you’re feeling inspired, don’t just write the current blog entry. If you’ve got the time, write the next five. Just go until you run out of gas. Any blogging software worth its salt provides the ability to schedule posts in advance. Take advantage of this.

Repurpose, repackage, reply, rethink

Go online. Look at others’ takes on your topic. There are few new topics under the sun. Someone has written about your topic. I can practically guarantee that. And that’s fine. Just don’t out and out plagiarize. But I don’t see any laws against referencing someone else’s blog or article on a topic and then expanding on it.

The Content Monster is a Cannibal

At a certain point, if your content is too similar, it harms your SEO efforts. It can compete against itself and cannibalize itself. You really, really don’t want that.

Takeaways

Nourish the content monster when you can, for there will be fallow times, and you must prepare for them. And, when it works for you, even silence can be golden. After all, if you’ve got absolutely nothing to say, who needs to hear that?

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The Conquest of LinkedIn – Your Profile Page

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on January 19, 2021

To Continue the Conquest of LinkedIn, Let’s Look at Your Profile Page

What’s up with your profile page?

You’re doing it. And you’ve got your resume up. You’re answering questions. And you’re joining groups. You’re even meeting people offline. But you aren’t getting an enormous number of invitations to connect.

Or, perhaps, you’re blogging and tweeting. But you’re not getting a lot of readers in either medium. And you’d love to get some of your LinkedIn buddies to read some of your stuff. Maybe you want to use your writing and social media skills as a part of your overall job search strategy.

So the most obvious place to look, and to fix, is your Profile page.

Just like with a resume, a news story, or even if you were trying to sell your home, it pays to spruce up the first thing people see. Hence special care should be taken, as this is your first (and it may very well be your only) chance to make an impression.

There are any number of things you can do to assure that this impression is a positive one.

Driving Traffic

And, you can even use it to help you drive a little traffic to your own website and/or blog. Here’s how:

• Make sure that you make use of all available fields, and customize these as you are able.
† Next, list your blog.
• and I also recommend adding X or Bluesky.

If another social media platform will fit better, then add your details there as well, such as YouTube for videographers.

More You Can Do With Your Profile Page

So assuming that your resume has been integrated in its entirety, your next task should be to update the summary and specialties sections in your profile page. First of all, the specialties section is essentially just for keywords, so load them up.

However, the summary section should be more grammatical. So don’t make it an old-fashioned and generic personal statement. Instead, highlight your main differences here.

Pix, Pictures, Images, You Get the Idea

Include a current, clear, professional image of yourself. And once that image becomes, say, about five, eight, ten or so years old, replace it with a newer one.

URL City, Baby!

LinkedIn won’t give you a nice URL unless you essentially make your own. But they offer instructions for customization. After all, it is absolutely in LinkedIn’s best interests for you to put your LinkedIn URL on, say, your resume, your business cards, etc.

And most people won’t do that if the URL is breathtakingly ugly.

It’s a very, very easy thing to do, and there is truly no excuse not to polish your URL.

Posts and Takeaways

Yes, you can add posts to your profile page (a feature which seems to come and go). But you don’t have to. This isn’t Facebook, so a continual stream of statuses (statii?) is not expected.

Finally, with a little polish, your front door (profile page) can look mighty inviting to all.

Want More About the Conquest of LinkedIn?

If my experiences with LinkedIn resonate with you, then check out my other articles about the largest networking site on the planet.

What LinkedIn Has to Offer

• Your Profile Page
† Your Resume
• Meeting Offline
† Your Network
• Giving Your LinkedIn Profile A Facelift
† Last Little Bits
• InMaps – Visualize Your Network on LinkedIn

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Community Management — The Circle Game

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 — The Circle Game

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on January 14, 2021

Community Management Tidbits – The Circle Game

What the heck is the Circle Game? Er, I do not mean this one. Don’t even think about it.

Forums have cycles, and so do users. That is, there is a start to them coming to your site and joining. But there is also a middle piece. And, inevitably, there is an end.

Community Phases are the Backbone of This Circle Game

There is not a lot that you can do about this. You can, however, stretch out the individual phases.

Discovery

The first phase is discovery. It all starts with excitement. The user has found your forum! It seems huge! The user can never possibly read everything. The whole thing is all too much.

It is heady, and the user may very well tell everyone he or she knows about you. Or, the user might want you all to him or herself. Either can happen.

Nesting

The next phase is nesting. The user makes friends and starts to get into an enclave or two. Enclaves are little groups within your forum, whether formal or informal. Even if your forum does not have actual designated groups, per se, this still happens.

In a community for single fathers, for example, a user might hang around with other users who became first-time fathers after the age of forty. In a folk music forum, a user might spend time with (and follow around) other users from Ohio.

This is perfectly normal – a carving of familiarity in an alien sea. But it does set up the next phase.

Boredom

The next phase is boredom. The community has too much sameness and does not seem to be changing quickly or thoroughly enough, so far as this particular user is concerned. But the user sticks around, however, grudgingly.

Departure

The final phase is departure. Whether that comes with a bang (a user suspension) or a whimper (the user simply fails to sign in any more), is immaterial.

Or, there is a third type of endgame, where the user posts a topic about their departure. This topic can be fond, hostile or even a ploy to get other users to beg that person to stay. Or to get other users to join them in exiting—or going elsewhere.

Do not put it past people to use their departure as a means of gathering friends or fans or followers in some new pasture. They want to start their own, new circle game. But they do not feel like putting in the time or effort to build an audience.

Fighting Back and Reversing the Circle Game

Does it always have to be this way? Well, this kind of a cycle is more or less inevitable.

The trick is to stretch out the first two phases, discovery and nesting, as much as possible, or to have the user cycle back from boredom to nesting again (e. g. to find a different group to hang with).

Or, a positive situation would be if the boredom phase were at least short (and put off) so that the departure phase would not be a suspension. And it would be less fraught with meaning.

Because a user taking leave, no matter how popular that user is, will leave behind less of a hole if they are a part of a 100,000-person forum versus a 100-user community.

How do you do this? By phases, of course!

Discovery, Reimagined

The Discovery phase of the circle game has two essential elements: new users and new topics. Increase both with good SEO and with encouraging as much user participation as possible.

Nesting, Transformed

The Nesting phase can be encouraged and promoted by keeping your community a safe, warm and welcoming place. Having formal specific groups is not strictly necessary for this, but it can be of help if your users are struggling in this area.

And, if you do go with formal groups, ask your users which groups they would like. They might surprise you. And it (almost) does not matter whether a group is terribly active.

It will still serve its purpose, to continue to afford your users with a friendly place within the forum, even if it is small. This is a place they can call their own.

Boredom, Shortened

The Boredom phase of the circle game can be delayed and/or truncated by keeping the twin flows of new users and new topics going. This means more and better SEO, offering new features and encouraging your users to continue adding new, interesting and diverse topics.

What if you simply cannot think of new topic fodder? So try taking a stand on a controversial subject, or ask for comments on a related news article. Or look in your archives, and see if an older subject might benefit from a fresh, new take.

Circle Game Departure, Delayed

Finally, the Departure phase of the circle game can, of course, be put off if the first two phases stretch out. When departure happens, do not ask most users to stay. Unless you have a very tiny forum, this kind of behavior will be impossible to scale.

And it generally does not put off the inevitable for too terribly long. Instead, try to find out from the user just why they are leaving.

Except for purely personal, internal circumstances (e. g. the user just started a new job and has no time for your community any more), there may be something you can learn from and improve on.

And asking why will also give you an opportunity, not to entreat the user to stay, but to let the user know that he or she is welcome to return at any time.

The Circle Game: Takeaways

Your users’ interest in your community will wax and wane. You cannot always do anything about it, but if an effort is made, your users are generally going to appreciate that. And your circle game will go on.

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.

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

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Writing Progress Report – Fourth Quarter 2020

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Writing Progress Report – Fourth Quarter 2020

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on December 31, 2020

Progress Report –Fourth Quarter 2020

How was fourth quarter 2020 for writing? So I spent fourth quarter 2020 working on NaNoWriMo. So this was either planning, or writing, or editing. The end of 2020 could not come fast enough.

Fourth Quarter 2020 Posted Works

First of all, I worked on the November 2020 NaNo novel. So, this was planning and preparation, plus some research in October. Then of course in November I wrote like the wind! And finally in December, I wrapped up more of the storyline and edited a bit. The book clocked in at a bit over 65,000 words.

Then on Wattpad I posted on the WattNaNo profile and nowhere else.

I also got some professional accolades and have a good 10 articles published in Enterpreneur magazine. So, of course this is huge for my career!

Milestones

Also, I have written over two and a half million words (fan fiction and wholly original fiction combined). So right now my stats on Wattpad for wholly original works are as follows:

• Dinosaurs – 323 reads, 9 comments
† How to NaNoWriMo – 22,775 reads, 308 comments
• My Favorite Things (like kibble) – 972 reads, 133 comments
† Revved Up – 59,320 reads, 530 comments
• Side By Side – 10 reads, 0 comments
† Social Media Guide for Wattpad – 14, 070 reads, 591 comments
• The Canadian Caper – 485 reads, 37 comments
† The Dish – 250 reads, 24 comments
• There is a Road – 189 reads, 28 comments
† WattNaNo’s Top Picks 2018 – 1,855 reads, 45 comments
• WattNaNo’s Top Picks 2019 – 1,551 reads, 10 comments
† What Now? – 2,471 reads, 104 comments

More Published Works

Also, I am amassing quite the collection of published works!

Untrustworthy, which is my first published novel. So yay!

A True Believer in Skepticism, to be published in Mythic Magazine.

Almost Shipwrecked, a story in the January 2019 edition of Empyreome, a site which unfortunately is no more.

Canaries, a short story in the March 29, 2019, edition of Theme of Absence.

Complications, a story in the Queer Sci Fi Discovery anthology. So this is an anthology where the proceeds went to supporting the QSF website.

Cynthia and Wilder Bloom, stories in the Longest Night Watch II anthology.

Props, a story in the Longest Night Watch I anthology. So this is an anthology where the proceeds go to Alzheimer’s research.

Surprises, a story in Book One of the 42 and Beyond Anthology set.

The Boy in the Band, a story in the Pride Park anthology. So this is an anthology where the proceeds go to the Trevor Project.

The Interview, the featured story in the December 14, 2018 edition of Theme of Absence. So they even interviewed me!

The Last Patient, a story in the Stardust, Always anthology. This was an anthology where the proceeds go to cancer research.

The Resurrection of Ditte, a story in the Unrealpolitik anthology.

This is My Child, a short story published in the April 8, 2019 edition of Asymmetry Fiction, another site which is no more.

Three Minutes Back in Time, a short story published in Mythic Magazine.

Killing Us Softly, a short story published in Corner Bar Magazine.

Darkness into Light, a short story published in Corner Bar Magazine.

WIP Corner

So my current WIPs are as follows:

The Obolonk Murders Trilogy – so this one is all about a tripartite society. But who’s killing the aliens?

The Enigman Cave – can we find life on another planet and not screw it up? You know, like we do everything else?

The Real Hub of the Universe Trilogy – so the aliens who live among us in the 1870s and 1880s are at war. But why is that?

Mettle – so it’s all about how society goes to hell in a hand basket when the metals of the periodic table start to disappear. But then what?

Time Addicts – No One is Safe – so this one is all about what happens in the future when time travel becomes possible via narcotic.

Time Addicts – Nothing is Permanent – this is the second in this trilogy. What happens when time is tampered with and manipulated in all sorts of ways? It’s the ultimate in gaslighting, for one thing.

Time Addicts – Everything is Up For Grabs – coming in 2021!

Prep Work

So, for this year’s NaNoWriMo, I wrote the second novel in the Time Addicts/Obolonks universe. A lot of this year has been spent on the plot for it. At this point in time, it’s just about time to start editing it. I have called this one Time Addicts – Nothing is Permanent.

Fourth Quarter 2020 Queries and Submissions

So, here’s how that is been going during fourth quarter 2020.

In Progress

As of fourth quarter 2020, the following are still in the running for publishing (I withdrew some and didn’t resubmit because … 2020):

This list is the name of the story and then the name of the potential publisher.

• I Used to Be Happy – Gemini Magazine
† Justice – Adbusters
• Mettle – RAB
† Soul Rentals ‘R’ Us – A Thousand One Stories
• Who Do We Blame for This? – Sonder Review

All Other Statuses

So, be sure to see the Stats section for some details on any query statuses for fourth quarter 2020 which were not in progress.

Stats

So, in 2018, my querying stats were:

† 68 submissions of 19 stories
• Acceptances: 4, 5.88%
† In Progress-Under Consideration: 3, 4.41% (so, these don’t seem to have panned out)
• In Progress: 10, 14.71%
† Rejected-Personal: 14, 20.59%
• Rejected-Form: 24, 35.29%
† Ghosted: 13 (so, these were submissions where I never found out what happened), 19.12%
So in 2019 my querying stats were:

• 23 submissions of 11 stories (so, 6 submissions carry over from 2018)
† Acceptances: 4, 17.39%
• In Progress: 11 (so this includes 2 holdovers from 2018), 47.83%
† Rejected-Personal: 4, 17.39%
• Rejected-Form: 3, 13.04%
† Ghosted: 1 (so, these are submissions where I never found out what happened), 4.35%

2020 Stats

So, in 2020 my querying stats so far are:

• 37 submissions of 12 stories (so 9 submissions carry over from 2019)
† Acceptances: 3, 8.11%
• In Progress: 7, 18.92%
† Rejected-Personal: 12, 32.43%
• Rejected-Form: 4, 10.81%
† Ghosted: 11 (so, these are submissions where I never found out what happened), 29.73%

It can be pretty discouraging and hard to go on when nothing new comes up which is positive. It was a huge lift when Killing Us Softly and Darkness Into Light got acceptances!

This Quarter’s Productivity Killers

So, it’s work, what else? I am working on a ton of things and so much of that is also writing. Hence, it can sometimes burn me out. Because fourth quarter 2020 will not be the end of that!

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Beta Readers and Editors

Beta Readers, Editors, Beta Reading, Editing, Beta readers, Beta Reading, Reading, How to Edit a Manuscript, editing part 1, Editing Part 2, choosing, Editing Tips, Beta Reading and Editing, beta reader,

Beta Readers and Editors

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on November 24, 2020

A Look at Both Beta Readers and Editors

Consider beta readers and editors – what’s the difference? Does it matter which one you use to help with your manuscript? Why yes, yes it does.

Beta Readers

Beta readers are people who read over your work. They evaluate it before it gets anywhere near a publisher. They might read for typos, spelling errors, grammatical issues, and punctuation problems, but that is often not a very good way to work with them.

Beta Readers and Continuity Checks

Instead, you want them to help you with flow and continuity. If your main character is female and 5’2″ and has a chihuahua on page 4, then she should still be female, 5’2″, and the owner of a chihuahua on page 204, unless there is some on-page reason why she isn’t. E. g.:

† They are transgender, and successfully transitioned (with or without surgery) to male. Or the character no longer identifies as female or male.
• The character had a growth spurt and is taller, or has osteoporosis, and became shorter. Or maybe her legs were amputated (er, sorry, character!).
† She gave away the chihuahua, or it ran away, etc.

The last thing you want is for your beta reader to wonder where the chihuahua went, particularly if the little dog isn’t a big part of the story.

Because if your beta reader is wondering, then a person who pays for your work will, too. And that confusing can rather easily turn into a bad review, or bad word of mouth.

Demographics

Good beta readers are in the demographics of the people you’re trying to reach with your novel. They like your genre or at least are willing to read in it and offer feedback. They don’t tear you a new one when they don’t like something, but they are also unafraid to tell you if something isn’t working for them.

Some Questions to Ask Them

Ask them:

• Are the characters believable? Are they distinguishable?
† Do you think the situations are plausible?
• Are there good descriptions for the scenes? Can you picture yourself where the characters are?
† Do the transitions work?
• Are the conflicts plausible?
† Is the conclusion a satisfying one?

Also ask about genre-specific issues, such as whether your mystery was too easy or difficult to solve, if your horror story was scary enough, if the technobabble in your science fiction novel was credible, etc.

The best way to get a beta reader is to be one! Offer a trade with another indie. Usually this work is done for free. So be kind, and either recommend your beta reader friend or at least donate a little something to one of their three favorite charities.

Beta feedback isn’t the gospel. You don’t have to listen to it all. And if you have a good reason to contradict what they are saying, then have at it. But if you’re going to just reject everything that they say, that should tell you something.

Either you’re not yet ready for people to critique your work, or you need other beta readers.

Editors

Editors are more professional than beta readers and they are generally people who you hire. They will do copy editing, where they check for typos, etc., although there should be a last pass by a proofreader before publishing, no matter what.

Editors can also check for continuity, but they will mainly read with the audience in mind. They are a good enhancement to the work of a beta reader, and are a good idea before you send your work out for querying.

Researching Editors

The best way to get an editor is to do some research. Ask people you know are published. After all, an editor no longer has to live in the same city or country as you (but you will do best with someone who is a native speaker of the language your book is in). Work with the editor on a sample chapter or pages. Do you get along? Are his or her suggestions reasonable? Are they slow?

And if you are absolutely, utterly stuck for funds, try a local college or university. You might be able to get an English major to help you, but be aware they probably won’t have experience and they may not be the best fit. But they may be all you’ve got.

And make sure to have a written agreement with them! This is a sample copyediting contract, and it’s pretty good. Be sure to change the contract to indicate the laws of your state apply!

Beta Readers: Takeaways

Perhaps one of the best parts about working with beta readers in particular is that they can often be your most ardent supporters. After all, they are getting early access to your raw, unfinish stuff! For writers with street teams, it makes sense for fans to do more than one of these tasks. That is, if they want to.

Also, if you ever join a critique group, you will most likely be doing some beta reading. And you will be receiving that kind of work/info in return. Try to check your ego at the door. Believe me when I tell you that I know how hard that can be. You are there to get feedback, and you cannot operate under the assumption that every person you meet is going to tell you how awesome you are.

In fact, if you are in a group where you are told how awesome you are all the time, then that’s a sure sign that you have outgrown a group and need to find one which will challenge you. It is, quite literally, the only way you are going to be able to get to the next level.

And above all else, be kind, both to your own beta readers and when you’re the one doing the beta reading.

Want More on Beta Reading and Editing?

If you want more on beta reading and editing, then please be sure to check out the following blog posts:

Beta Reading:

• Beta Reading for Indie Writers
† Beta Reading, Part 2

Editing:

• Writing Needs Editing, Part 1
† Writing Needs Editing, Part 2
• Choosing an Editor
† Editing Tips
• How to Edit a Manuscript: 7 Stages to Success

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Getting Story Ideas

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Getting Story Ideas

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on October 1, 2020

Let’s Look at Getting Story Ideas

Getting story ideas can sometimes be difficult.

Where do your story ideas come from? Harlan Ellison was known to quip, “Schenectady.”

I wanted to write a blog post about getting story ideas because it was perhaps the oddest thing. Because I really did see a dirty plate in the sink a few years ago. And I thought: there’s a story there. And there truly was!

Inspiration Comes in Many Forms

So for every dirty plate, there are a thousand other possible sources of inspiration. And I’ve been posting a lot of these sources. These are means of how I inspire myself but they are far from being all-inclusive.

And you don’t have to find any of them inspiring if you don’t want to. Also, your methodology will, undoubtedly, differ from my own.

However, here are some things which have worked well for me.

Personal Methodology – This is What I Do

• Look at multiples. That is, if you see one thing that is of interest, pair it with something unexpected. Or maybe add another thing to it. As a result of doing this, I came up with the phrase, “Smart kangaroos“. And this phrase helped me to write a ton of fan fiction.
† Flip the script. So what I mean is, consider the opposite of something you like. Or even consider something you dislike, and what it would take to make you like it.

Or, it can be something you just plain don’t know that well, or a genre you don’t normally tackle. Why not try it? What’s the worst that could possibly ever happen?

More Personal Writing Idea Gathering Methods

• Filter your outside stimuli. That is, look at the outside world like a character or a reader would. What do you notice? What do you ignore?
† Let ideas settle and percolate.
• Use brainstorming as a tactic. This means not filtering your ideas. The concept behind brainstorming is to throw a ton of jello against a wall and hope some of it sticks (or something like that; I am probably mixing metaphors here).

The short answer is: don’t self-censor.
† Write down your dreams. But recognize that, sometimes, they’re just too weird to turn into anything coherent. But that is all right.
• Write down your ideas, no matter what they are. They might be a turn of phrase, a scene, a name, a face, anything.

Getting Story Ideas: Takeaways

If all else fails, you can try getting story ideas by looking at writing prompts. Those are perfectly fine. But to make your own kinds of prompts, consider what you would be doing if you had to be the one coming up with the prompts.

Oh, and you can even just open up the dictionary, either online or in paper form, close your eyes and point.

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Writing Progress Report – Third Quarter 2020

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on September 29, 2020

Progress Report –Third Quarter 2020

How great was third quarter 2020? So I spent third quarter 2020 mostly working. The pandemic continued, as did the American conversation about race. Which is not a bad thing.

Third Quarter 2020 Posted Works

First of all, I worked on a number of new short stories. A lot of these had been drafted on paper and so I spent some time fixing and polishing them.

Then on Wattpad I posted on the WattNaNo profile and nowhere else.

Milestones

Also, I have written over two and a half million words (fan fiction and wholly original fiction combined). So right now my stats on Wattpad for wholly original works are as follows:

† Dinosaurs – 29 reads, 9 comments
• How to NaNoWriMo – 18,579 reads, 231 comments
† My Favorite Things (like kibble) – 972 reads, 133 comments
• Revved Up – 59,292 reads, 530 comments
† Side By Side – 9 reads, 0 comments
• Social Media Guide for Wattpad – 13, 479 reads, 590 comments
† The Canadian Caper – 473 reads, 37 comments
• The Dish – 250 reads, 24 comments
† There is a Road – 188 reads, 28 comments
• WattNaNo’s Top Picks 2018 – 1,814 reads, 45 comments
† WattNaNo’s Top Picks 2019 – 1,124 reads, 7 comments
• What Now? – 1,949 reads, 48 comments

More Published Works

Also, I am amassing quite the collection of published works!

Untrustworthy, which is my first published novel. So yay!

Almost Shipwrecked, a story in the January 2019 edition of Empyreome, a site which unfortunately is no more.

Canaries, a short story in the March 29, 2019, edition of Theme of Absence.

Complications, a story in the Queer Sci Fi Discovery anthology. So this is an anthology where the proceeds went to supporting the QSF website.

Cynthia and Wilder Bloom, stories in the Longest Night Watch II anthology.

Killing Us Softly, so this is a short story published in Corner Bar Magazine.

Props, a story in the Longest Night Watch I anthology. So this is an anthology where the proceeds go to Alzheimer’s research.

Surprises, a story in Book One of the 42 and Beyond Anthology set.

The Boy in the Band, a story in the Pride Park anthology. So this is an anthology where the proceeds go to the Trevor Project.

The Interview, the featured story in the December 14, 2018 edition of Theme of Absence. So they even interviewed me!

The Last Patient, a story in the Stardust, Always anthology. This was an anthology where the proceeds go to cancer research.

The Resurrection of Ditte, a story in the Unrealpolitik anthology.

This is My Child, a short story published in the April 8, 2019 edition of Asymmetry Fiction, another site which is no more.

Three Minutes Back in Time, a short story published in Mythic Magazine.

Darkness into Light, so this is a short story to be published in Corner Bar Magazine.

WIP Corner

So my current WIPs are as follows:

The Obolonk Murders Trilogy – so this one is all about a tripartite society. But who’s killing the aliens?

The Enigman Cave – can we find life on another planet and not screw it up? You know, like we do everything else?

The Real Hub of the Universe Trilogy – so the aliens who live among us in the 1870s and 1880s are at war. But why is that?

Mettle – so it’s all about how society goes to hell in a hand basket when the metals of the periodic table start to disappear. But then what?

Time Addicts – No One is Safe – so this one is all about what happens in the future when time travel becomes possible via narcotic.

Prep Work

So currently, my intention, for this year’s NaNoWriMo, is that I am writing the second novel in the Time Addicts/Obolonks universe. But I need to iron out the plot! So a lot of this year will be spent on that. This one will be called Time Addicts – Nothing is Permanent.

Third Quarter 2020 Queries and Submissions

So here’s how that’s been going during third quarter 2020.

In Progress

As of third quarter 2020, the following are still in the running for publishing:

This list is the name of the story and then the name of the potential publisher.

† A Kitten – The School Magazine, Zooscape
• Blue Card – Salvage
† Gentrification – Minola Review
• I Used to Be Happy – Whiskey Island Magazine
† Justice – Protean
• None of This is Real – Journey Into…
† Soul Rentals ‘R’ Us – Defenestration Magazine
• The Guitarist – The New Southern Fugitives
† The Student – Utopia Science Fiction
• Who Do We Blame for This? – Short Story.me

All Other Statuses

So, be sure to see the Stats section for some details on any query statuses for third quarter 2020 which were not in progress.

Stats

So, in 2018, my querying stats were:

68 submissions of 19 stories

† Acceptances: 4, 5.88%
• In Progress-Under Consideration: 3, 4.41% (so these don’t seem to have panned out)
† In Progress: 10, 14.71%
• Rejected-Personal: 14, 20.59%
† Rejected-Form: 24, 35.29%
• Ghosted: 13 (so these were submissions where I never found out what happened), 19.12%

So, in 2019 my querying stats were:

23 submissions of 11 stories (so 6 submissions carry over from 2018)

† Acceptances: 4, 17.39%
• In Progress: 11 (so this includes 2 holdovers from 2018), 47.83%
• Rejected-Personal: 4, 17.39%
† Rejected-Form: 3, 13.04%

• Ghosted: 1 (so these are submissions where I never found out what happened), 4.35%

2020 Stats

So, in 2020 my querying stats so far are:

27 submissions of 12 stories (so 9 submissions carry over from 2019)

† Acceptances: 2, 7.40%
• In Progress: 11, 40.74%
† Rejected-Personal: 8, 29.63%
• Rejected-Form: 2, 7.40%

† Ghosted: 4 (so these are submissions where I never found out what happened), 14.81%

It can be pretty discouraging and hard to go on when nothing new comes up which is positive. It was a huge lift when Killing Us Softly got an acceptance!

Third Quarter 2020 Productivity Killers

So, it’s work, what else? I am working on a ton of things and since that is also writing, it can sometimes burn me out. So there is a lot going on, and I am busy as all get out. Because you just know that third quarter 2020 will not be the end of that!

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Swag for Independent Writers

Swag for Independent Writers

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on September 17, 2020

Ah, Swag

Do you like swag?

So, swag is necessary when you go on the road. Work a convention at a dealer’s table, or get your book into a library, and you may need a little extra something to give away. Hence here are a few choices.

Bookmarks, a Very Common Form of Swag

Maybe the best and closest kind of giveaway item is the humble bookmark. In one sense, it’s perfect because it relates directly to books and reading. And you can spend as much or as little as you like. Plus maybe you only want something straightforward, perhaps a section of your cover, often printed on one side on heavy cardboard stock. And that’s great!

Because you’ve got some real estate, consider some additions, such as your website or even a QR code for a discount off one of your books. However, I suggest leaving one side blank for notes. While that’s not strictly necessarily, it may end up cheaper for you, not to mention it having an actual purpose.

Bookmarks are particularly useful because not only can you put them in your own books, you can put them in library or bookstore books. Yes, they might be removed and discarded. However, you need to consider that these are loss leaders; you need to be ready to lose some cash on these.

Business Cards

These seem hit or miss. If you go to conventions and run a table or booth, you will need cards. And again, try to keep the back blank. Pro tip: use matte. Shiny card stock costs more and it makes it harder to write on the card. Because you want people writing on your cards. Oh, and don’t be stingy with them. Give them away. Meet someone? Give them a card. Someone stops by your table? Give them a card. Like bookmarks, these will be discarded by a lot of people. Accept that as a cost of doing business.

Tee Shirts

These can work really well if you have a fantastic and memorable cover design, or a great catch phrase. Imagine a tee shirt which has your cover on the front and your catch phrase on the back. You can make people into walking billboards this way. Be ready to give a lot of these away, and maybe even use them as contest prizes. Most people will not purchase these unless you become really famous. Again, this is a cost of doing business.

Toys and Action Figures

Funko Pops lets you design your own male and female characters. But volume is an issue here. And so is the startup cost. The blank figures in that link are almost $10 apiece. Hence a large run of these may not be in the cards – so take advantage of their rareness and play on the scarcity aspect when giving these away or selling them.

For other types of action figures, look at prices and consider what you want to settle with. If the figure doesn’t end up looking a lot like you, how will that make you feel? If the answer is ‘terrible, of course’, then you might want to do something else with your swag budget.

Swag: Some Takeaways

Giving away swag may seem counterintuitive. After all, you want to make money, rather than spend it. But if you are new on the scene, it can be a great way to get noticed and show how you’re different from all the rest.

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The Best Lengths for Social Media Posts and More

Social Media, Social Media Writing, Social Media Writing Part, Social Media Writing Part 3, Best Lengths, Hesitation Generation, screen name, Happy Holidays, Relentless Pace, Cyber Infidelity, Podcasting, Neurotic Writers, Social Media Balance, Social Media Perfection, Losing Control, Social Media Tips, Employee Passwords, Look Like Online, social media, Social Media Platforms, Promoting Writing, Social Media Marketer, EditMe Webinar, Demand for Social Media Jobs, Stumbleupon surpasses, Less Conversation, Snapchat Settles with FTC, Quickly Boost Results, Hope and Hype, Auto-Service Economy, Sharing Less, Social Media background check, formatted posts, Four Important Social Media Stats, Cheat Sheets, Social Media Seduction, social back, Social media background check, Collaboration rocks, Wikileaks knocks, Editme Webinar, Cyber Legacy, Campaign 2012, Demographics, ways to improve, Time-saving tips, They Used to Call me Robot Girl

The Best Lengths for Social Media Posts and More

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on September 1, 2020

What Are The Best Lengths for Social Media Posts?

Best Lengths for social posts can seem elusive. What’s right? Does it ever change?

The fine folks at Buffer and, in particular, Kevan Lee, have done it again and have everything you always wanted to know about social post lengths but were afraid to ask.

In my travels online, I have seen blog posts that were under 50 words long. I have seen blog posts that were a good 10,000 words long. Tweets, of course, are limited. But there have been plenty of Pinterest pins with just an image and nothing else. Or they’ve got enough verbiage behind them to seemingly rival War and Peace. So, what’s ideal? Is there any science behind it?

Blogs

How long should blog posts be? Buffer likes blog post titles to be six words long (oops, this blog post’s title is too long). Interestingly enough, the blog post where I got the inspiration for this blog post from also has a title that is too long.

Sometimes, six words is just not long enough.

Thanks to Buffer for this graphic.

Interestingly enough, Buffer said blog posts are best at 1,600 words in length.

However, Yoast (the fine makers of an SEO plugin I use for my own blog posting–as do many other people!) provides good SEO credit for blog posts that are at least 300 words in length.

The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but one thing is for sure – those fifty-word blog posts just plain are not long enough.

Facebook

How big should a Facebook post be? Buffer said forty characters.

Keep it short, snappy, and to the point. According to Lee, Facebook posts that exceed forty characters degrade in engagement as they get longer.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but that 700-word screed you wrote? Better make that a blog post instead and just link to it. But if you put the whole thing on Facebook, people will scroll right on by. Yes, even if you add an image.

Here’s a trick to get around the forty-character wall – links show the title and some text, and you can always change these.

Or add an image with some text. But don’t go nuts! It is very, very easy to hit and exceed critical mass.

Best Lengths for LinkedIn Posts

How long should a LinkedIn post be? Buffer clocks in at twenty-five words, based upon clickthrough data.

How large should a Pinterest image be?

Buffer’s got you covered – 735px x 1102px. These taller pins seem to stand out more, and are therefore shared more often.

Best Lengths for Twitter Posts

How long should an effective Tweet be? Buffer said to limit it to 71 – 100 characters, in order to provide some space for people to comment before sending out a modified tweet (MT).

So keep hashtags at six characters for maximal impact. Yes, we all know that people sometimes use hashtags as a bit of wry commentary.

Tumblr in particular seems to inspire hashtags like #DudeLooksLikeALady (and not just for fans of Aerosmith). Excessive hashtagging is one of the characteristics of Instagram. However, the best length hashtag on Twitter has six characters.

Best Lengths for Posts: Takeaways

TL; DR – Check out the chart, and the cited article, for more information. The research on best lengths for posts is sound, and fascinating, and the article was a hell of a find.

Is it still relevant, years later? Eh, kind of. You make the call, sports fans.

The best lengths for social media posts keep changing. But there’s one constant in life—cut to the chase!

Want More About Social Media?

If my experiences with non-platform-specific social media resonate with you, then check out my other articles about navigating our social media obsessed world.

Life, Liberty … And Facebook for All – Your Home Page

Your home page is vital. Log into Facebook, and it’s the first thing you see. It’s your Home Page. So here’s what’s in it. You can divide it into what look like columns.

NOTE: Facebook constantly A/B tests. Features move around, change, are renamed and resized, or disappear all the time. These are rolled out in stages; your neighbor may have a different-looking Home Page from yours. And this is 100% normal.

Home Page Links

So first of all, column one (left side, top):

• News Feed
† Messenger
• Watch
† Marketplace

Then shortcuts; this is a section you add to or subtract from.

Then …

• Explore
† Pages
• Groups
† Events
• Fundraisers
† Games etc.

Your Feed

Then column two (center):

• Status messages on friends’ pages
† Other friend activities
• Anything your friends or the pages you follow are sharing

Column Three

Then column three (right, top):

† Events
• Friends’ Birthdays
† Marketplace
• Groups You Might Like
† People You May Know
• Targeted Advertisements
† A list of friends available on chat (at the bottom)

Let’s start with Column One:

Groups

So this is a list of the groups you have joined.

Pages

These are pages you are following.

Friends

So pretty obviously, this is a way to access your entire list of friends.

Create Group

So you can create groups for any reason. And this includes to support a beloved entertainment figure, promote your business or just complain about people wearing Crocs. So I’ll get into the specifics later.

Games

These will rotate as you access more games, depending upon recency.

Status Messages on Friends’ Pages

So this is the actual News Feed itself. And you can comment on others’ statuses (statii?) or posted links.

Your Home Page Still Shows Other Friend Activities

First of all, you are served everyone’s activities. Facebook can be a tsunami of data. However, a lot is aggregated; you are usually shown that six people joined a group, rather than separate messages on all half-dozen.

Events

So if you’ve got upcoming events and you haven’t RSVP’d, they’ll show up here, but you can jettison them by clicking the x on the right side. Note that you’ll be invited to all sorts of stuff, including sponsored activities and openings by commercial ventures. And RSVP’ing is not strictly necessary. However, as an event organizer, I have to say it’s appreciated so as to at least get a handle on headcount (and know who not to expect).

You need not RSVP for commercial store openings or whatnot.

Friends’ Birthdays

Whether they’ve made the year apparent is their own business. But if they’ve got the month and day up on Facebook, birthdays will show up here. And of course you’re under no obligation to wish people a Happy Birthday, but it is kind of nice.

People You May Know

So this is based upon some sort of an algorithm whereby Facebook looks at things like your current friends list, their friends, your location and possibly also your school(s) and workplace(s). However, I don’t believe the latter are included at this time. So if you have any mutual friends, Facebook lists them as well.

Facebook does not always get this right, or it gets it wrong in interesting ways, e. g. Facebook says I “may know” the spouse of someone I attended High School with. Well, unless I went to High School with the spouse (over 30 years ago), then there isn’t much of a likelihood there.

Hence there are times when this list is bewildering. Hey, Facebook is doing the best it can.

Targeted Advertisements on Your Home Page

Well, they’re as targeted as Facebook can make them. This apparently has a basis in your click activity, your likes, your friends’ likes and whenever you click on an ad to get rid of it. Again, sometimes Facebook can get this wrong in rather spectacular ways; for example, when I wrote this post originally, it showed me an ad for Toyota. And I have neither owned nor contemplated owning one, ever.

Your Home Page has a List of Friends Available on Chat

It should go without saying that you should never click on links from chatters you don’t know well. And you’re under no obligation whatsoever to answer anyone’s instigated chat.

So a big part of the Facebook experience is not only playing games but also sharing them with others, or sharing status or links. The way you see and can participate in this sharing is via your Home Page. It is, essentially, a bulletin board between you and your pals. But keep your own wall the way you want it. If you don’t want people to swear or argue politics, etc., that is 100% within your rights.

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

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Adventures in Career Changing Posts

Feeding the Content Monster

Case in Point

The Whining Content Monster

Today

Solutions

Make a list, brainstorming, of everything that could possibly, ever, be associated with your topic

Strike while the iron is hot

Repurpose, repackage, reply, rethink

The Content Monster is a Cannibal

Takeaways

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To Continue the Conquest of LinkedIn, Let’s Look at Your Profile Page

Driving Traffic

More You Can Do With Your Profile Page

Pix, Pictures, Images, You Get the Idea

URL City, Baby!

Posts and Takeaways

Want More About the Conquest of LinkedIn?

What LinkedIn Has to Offer

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Community Management Tidbits – The Circle Game

Community Phases are the Backbone of This Circle Game

Discovery

Nesting

Boredom

Departure

Fighting Back and Reversing the Circle Game

Discovery, Reimagined

Nesting, Transformed

Boredom, Shortened

Circle Game Departure, Delayed

The Circle Game: Takeaways

Want More About Community Management?

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Progress Report –Fourth Quarter 2020

Fourth Quarter 2020 Posted Works

Milestones

More Published Works

WIP Corner

Prep Work

Fourth Quarter 2020 Queries and Submissions

In Progress

All Other Statuses

Stats

2020 Stats

This Quarter’s Productivity Killers

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A Look at Both Beta Readers and Editors

Beta Readers

Beta Readers and Continuity Checks

Demographics

Some Questions to Ask Them

Editors

Researching Editors

Beta Readers: Takeaways

Want More on Beta Reading and Editing?

Beta Reading:

Editing:

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Let’s Look at Getting Story Ideas

Inspiration Comes in Many Forms

Personal Methodology – This is What I Do

More Personal Writing Idea Gathering Methods

Getting Story Ideas: Takeaways

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Progress Report –Third Quarter 2020

Third Quarter 2020 Posted Works

Milestones

More Published Works

WIP Corner

Prep Work

Third Quarter 2020 Queries and Submissions

In Progress