Teasing is a subtle art. It is a lot like a fan dancer’s moves or a shy person’s come-on.
Teasing should feel like a movie trailer because that is exactly what movie trailers do.
Teasers are usually a bit longer than blurbs and are meant to generate excitement. They often end with a question, but they don’t have to. Think of how films are teased if you’re stumped for ideas.
She was spoiled, rich, and beautiful, until the Civil War ended it all. Scarlett O’Hara has lost nearly everything. But there’s a rich man who’s interested, and he might even love her. Can she win Rhett Butler and save her beloved home, Tara?
Revealing Too Much
Don’t get too obvious! In this case, you do not do yourself any favors by spoiling your own book. Notice how the above teasing for Gone With The Wind does not go past maybe the middle of the film?
And how it never mentions Ashley or Melanie Wilkes, the burning of Atlanta, or Scarlett’s first two husbands? In short, it stays focused.
I deliberately left the teaser off at just about when the first big reel ends. It used to be, in the theater, Gone With The Wind would have an intermission, the film was so long. This teaser ends just about a minute after intermission ends.
In fact, this is at least part of how the actual film was edited. The book gives Scarlett two children before Bonnie—one each from her first two husbands. But Wade and Ella aren’t in the film.
Then again, they aren’t in the book that much, either.
Revealing Too Little
This is another problem. If I just said Scarlett was a wealthy woman living a life of luxury on the brink of the Civil War, that would feel a bit incomplete.
I can go a little further, plus adding Rhett Butler’s name to the teaser brings in the chief male character (he’s kind of a main character, but if I had to choose, the main character would be Scarlett).
Marrying Rhett is one of Scarlett O’Hara’s main character drivers, whether it is to secure finances for her family or due to love on her part.
Bringing Rhett into the conversation means the listener or reader gets an even better idea about who Scarlett is, and what motivates her.
So, providing her motivation really cinches it.
The Bare Bones
We have something of a framework here. Of course, none of this is set in concrete. But these elements seem to matter the most.
1. Mention the main character by name. 2. Give a brief background to orient the reader to time and place. 3. Introduce the problem/conflict. 4. Add one driver of the main character’s behavior. 5. Wrap it up with tying the first, smaller driver to the most important driver of the main character’s behavior.
A Teasing Sample
To wit:
Alice is just plain bored, so she gets to daydreaming. When she sees a white rabbit wearing a waistcoat and carrying a pocket watch, it piques her interest.
She follows the rabbit when she hears it talk, and ends up in Wonderland. But Wonderland is odd, exasperating, and often downright confusing.
Can Alice get out of Wonderland with her sanity intact?
Here’s a Second Teasing Sample
Kansas is dreary and nothing ever seems to happen there. It’s a tough place for Dorothy, a girl with big dreams. When a twister drops her, her little dog, and her house into the land of Oz, things seem to be looking up.
But Oz has perils for both Dorothy and her dog, Toto. And Dorothy realizes she misses Kansas and her family after all.
Can Dorothy and Toto get back to Kansas and the people they love?
Practical Teasing Practice
I love practicing on classic works because just about anyone you talk to knows them, even a little bit. And, because they aren’t your own work, the pressure is off. That is, messing up the teaser won’t result in you losing sales or other opportunities.
Less internal pressure can help you be more creative, too. So, consider the following exercise.
Can you write a teaser for a classic work? Try it in the Comments section, and let’s see how you do!
How do you go about starting a Twitter stream? Should you plunge right in, or hang back? And what about oversharing?
Yes, I know it’s called X now. Oh, and a lot of these tips are perfectly good for Bluesky as well!
Your Twitter Stream Account
You will need a name! Let’s say you’ve taken my advice (or you have decided this on your own), and gone with an account just for writing. If you want a personal account, or you already have one, then you would want to make a second one.
Fine, but you need a name. How about a word like writer or author somewhere in there? You can’t go beyond 15 characters. Fortunately, you’ve got both letters and numbers, so you could conceivably add wr1ter or auth0r if you liked.
Go as short as you can while remaining coherent and unique. An abbreviations like wrtr is well-known, so you don’t have to worry about people getting confused.
Your Look
Settings are important in X as they are with every social network. X moves them on occasion. Every large site does beta testing, where they experiment with different layouts and looks to see what you’ll click on more often—this is normal.
Currently, they are under where it says “More”.
But you change your profile image from the profile page. Add a profile image and make it a head shot or at least a picture of the cover of your book, if you have one. Don’t keep the egg!
A background image is nice but not strictly necessary. X has some pretty decent generic images if you are unsure of how you want things to look.
Who do you Follow?
Following is as much a part of starting a Twitter stream as tweeting is. After all, you’re going to be answering people on occasion, not just blathering to the wilderness. Er, you do realize that now, don’t you?
Spend a little time chasing hashtags. #amwriting, #amediting, and #MSWL are great for getting started. Know an author you like is on X? Then follow him or her!
Publishers and agents are also good choices, as are your friends from NaNoWriMo or Wattpad or the rest of the writing community, even the fan fiction writing community.
Follow people who put words together into sentences and stories. Applaud their efforts and read what they have to say. It matters.
Your First Tweet for Starting a Twitter Stream
Yes, I still call them tweets. Don’t most people?
There’s no reason not to just say hi. It doesn’t have to be momentous. Be kind and supportive. Other writers are not your enemy and they’re generally not your competition.
That is to say, you can own both Untrustworthy (note shameless plug) or the Twilight books. Owning one does not make it impossible to have the other. A book collection is only limited by space, taste, and budget. It’s not like pie.
More to come later!
Want More About Twitter AKA X?
If my experiences with X resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about Twitter/X. While it’s now got a new name, and has changed considerably, a lot of these tips will still work. And they will often work with other social media platforms as well.
When NOT to Post on Social Media Platforms? Timing, as you might expect, is everything when it comes to posting on social media platforms.
After all, if you, say, tweet when your audience is sleeping, they won’t see your tweet. It’ll be lost in the mountain of missed social media communications.
We all have such a mountain of missed communications and connections. Social media just moves way too quickly for us to see, comment on, share, and experience everything. We’re only human, and of course that’s fine.
Your mission, though, is to post when your audience will be around, not when they’ll be offline, or busy with work, or settled into bed for the night.
Note: this information is from a few years ago. Yet a lot of it is still valid.
And even if the information (the actual times) is imperfect, it should give you an idea of what will work. Or what will not work. Because that’s important, too.
Zzzz AKA La La La I Can’t Hear You!
According to Kate Rinsema of AllTop (Guy Kawasaki‘s great site), the following are the most godawful worst times to post.
• Facebook – midnight to 8 AM † Instagram – midnight to 8 AM • LinkedIn – 9 AM to 5 PM † Pinterest – 1 to 7 AM and 5 – 7 PM • Tumblr – 12 AM to 12 PM † X – 8 PM – 8 AM
But pay attention to your audience. Because maybe they’re night owls. Or maybe they live on the other side of the planet.
I’m Here and I’m Listening
These are reportedly the best times to post on social media platforms:
† Facebook – 1 to 4 PM • Instagram – 5 PM to 6 PM † LinkedIn – 5 PM to 6 PM • Pinterest – 8 PM to 11 PM † Tumblr – 7 PM to 10 PM • X – 1 PM to 3 PM
What About Social Media Platforms and Different Time Zones?
Articles like this often vex me, because there usually isn’t any consideration taken when it comes to customers, readers, and audience crossing time zones.
My suggestion is to take these times as your own, for your own time zone, unless your audience is on the other side of the Earth.
Try for some wiggle room, e. g. if you’re on the East Coast of the United States, like I am, you might want to time things for later during the window if you’re aiming for an audience pretty much only in America.
But for a European audience, you should aim for earlier in the window but recognize that, with a minimal five-hour difference, you might not hit the window perfectly.
Or, you could set at least your tweets to run more than once. If you do this, though, I suggest spreading them apart by a day, say, posting post #1 on Monday at the start of the window, and post #2 at the end, and then switching them on Wednesday or the like.
But repeating other postings could turn out to be overkill for your audience. Try using the #ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) tag when repeating your posts.
Or, it could be fine. Because we all know that we miss scads and scads of stuff online. Maybe your followers will be fine with a little repetition. Hell, many of them probably won’t even notice it.
Caveat marketer.
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.
Mental energy is a mood, but can also be defined as ability or willingness to engage in cognitive work.
So, essentially, what I am talking about is the cerebral labor of writing. That is, as opposed to writing about it.
It’s Like Pie
Pumpkin pie slice representing mental energy. Image is for reference purposes only.
Wait, what?
So, hear me out.
The thing about pie is, of course, that it is finite. Never mind that you can always buy either a ready-made one or the ingredients for same. That is not what I am talking about.
Rather, what I mean is the concept of—this is it, it’s all I’ve got. That’s all there is, and there ain’t no more, if you will.
We Live in a Finite Universe
We have finite days and finite lives. Also, we have finite capacity. No matter how young you are, or your physical condition, you’ve got to sleep, right? At the same time, no matter how smart you are, inevitably you have to study at times.
Even if that just means opening a book, memorizing it, and calling that “studying”.
Er, that’s not studying.
But I digress.
No matter what, we are talking about something that is excruciatingly finite. So, until we develop time travel, or some way to stretch time, then guess what? We have all got the same 24 hour mix to play with.
Why am I Talking About This Right Now?
When I first wrote this blog post, I was looking at Wattpad, and came across a passage in a work about NaNoWriMo.
The passage essentially said that there’s always going to be someone or other who claims they wrote 100,000 words on the first day of November and is sitting pretty and essentially laughing at the rest of us poor peasants.
It’s a form of trash talking. I ignore it, and I urge everyone else to ignore it as well.
But, why?
Well, for one thing, it’s not likely to be the whole truth. Evidently, the fastest anyone has ever typed is 216 words per minute. Voice recognition isn’t necessarily any quicker, because you have to say the punctuation, formatting, and line breaks.
So, let’s do some math.
Only a little. I’m not insane. 😀
Math Time
So, 216 wpm * 60 minutes = 12,960 words/hour. And 100,000 ÷ 12,960 = just under 7.72 hours. So, it’s technically possible. But is it likely? Probably not, as this is assuming a person is typing at blazing speeds every second.
No breaks, no fatigue, no distractions, no editing, and no writer’s block.
Even people with exceptionally detailed outlines will have a moment or two or twelve in there where they aren’t certain of where to go next. They will also get up to visit the facilities or pet their dogs, kiss their children, or make themselves a sandwich.
Why am I Talking About This Braggadocio?
It’s because of this. I have little doubt that those 100,000 words need a ton of editing. That’s the part which I think some folks want the rest of us to forget when they make such claims.
Writing takes time and serious mental energy.
You spend it…
• Getting inspired † Planning • Writing † Editing • Packaging (i.e. marrying your manuscript to a cover, or to a title, or putting together a series, that sort of thing) † Querying • Marketing † Thinking up your next great thing
This is the finite piece. And now we go back to the pie example.
The Finite World We Live In
You can’t make the pie any bigger. Something’s got to give.
Banging out 100,000 words in a little under a full work day, without going over it, means typos. It means inconsistencies. And it means the last parts in particular are dominated by labor from a person who is exhausted. You cannot drink coffee or take speed, etc. your way out of it forever.
If you don’t spend time planning, you’ll spend it writing. And if you don’t spend time writing, you’ll spend it editing. If you don’t spend time editing, then packaging becomes enormous and takes longer. If you don’t work on packaging and spend time on it, then querying will take longer, because you’ll be faced with more rejections.
And finally, if you don’t spend time querying, and just take what you can get (and that includes self-publishing—no slam on it, but it is something we do without spending any time on querying), then you will spend that time on marketing.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
The energy will have to be used, and it will have to go somewhere. You will not be able to get away without doing the labor.
Shrinking That Finite World Down Even More
I’ve got a full-time job. I didn’t when I wrote Untrustworthy. But I do now. And that means eight (usually nine) hours are spent working. And I don’t even commute!
Unless you count walking from the bedroom to the office.
Hence let’s pull a third of a day out and toss it. I can’t spend it on writing this way. And neither can most people who have full-time employment.
Sleep? Cut another third of the day right off the top and 86 it. Even if you don’t sleep the full eight hours, it will catch up to you eventually. Not getting enough sleep means you’re not performing at peak efficiency. Plus, that can make you sick, so you would be out of commission for that reason, if nothing else.
So, even if you’ve got, say, an extra two hours, it’s likely that you’re not able to produce within those extra two hours (or several other hours, for that matter) if you don’t get enough rest.
What’s Left?
Personal hygiene, fitness, and meals tend to lop off at least another two hours, maybe as many as four. Household stuff like cooking, washing up, paying bills, cleaning, etc. can average out to around one-half to one hour per day. Even if you’re independently wealthy (or really lazy) and have someone else to do those things for you, you still need to eat, and you still need to clean yourself.
Again, it’s a matter of health. Any time you’re saving by not showering (eek!), you’ll most likely end up spending going to a doctor to get rid of a rash or an infection or worse. Do not do such things to yourself!
And this doesn’t even get into spending time with family or pets, or other forms of socializing, whether in person or online. Don’t put that stuff off forever, or your mental health will suffer, big time.
So, Where Do You Find the Time and the Mental Energy?
Most of the above isn’t just a drain on time. It’s also a drain on—you guessed it—mental energy. A long day spent, say, preparing tax returns, can wipe you out.
But I’ve got the weekend, you say.
Sure you do. And you may be spending it on writing. But there are likely other activities where you’re spending your time.
If you don’t spend time or mental energy on one, then you will spend it elsewhere. Maybe it’s dates or chauffeuring kids around or food shopping. It could be catching up on your sleep, too. Or maybe you’re binge watching something or other. Candy Crush may be calling your name.
Or, you just kind of zone out and suddenly it’s 8:43 PM when you thought it was only 6:43. Not that I’ve ever done that… Heh.
You could be a weekend warrior for fitness or maybe that’s when you clean your house. You do you. But at least there’s a little bit of time in there.
Here are a few places to slip it all in. And no, I am not suggesting that you go nonstop and work yourself to death. Don’t be silly.
The Shower
We all do this. It’s something to do with the relaxation and the rhythm of water. Our minds wander, and we can come up with ideas. This is, of course, not the time to edit. But remember all the stuff I mentioned above, about needing to market, etc.? Some of your shower time can be spent on that.
You can’t write anything down, so it’s not a good place for the specifics. It’s more for the big picture. It’s for the lightbulb moments of, hey, I could advertise on TikTok.
The Commute
Mine is nonexistent these days, but it didn’t used to be. You’ve got your phone with you, right? Then if you think of something on the bus or train, why not email it to yourself? Or put it in a document on a drive you can access from both work and home. The details are yours to figure out.
If you drive, then you can get more creative. Maybe you can essentially dictate while driving, and send the documentary product of voice recognition to yourself. But keep in mind—voice recognition often requires a lot of massaging. The tech is great but imperfect.
So, look around you. In particular, people watching can be extraordinarily inspiring. Why do people make the fashion choices they do, or wear their hair a certain way? And why do they take their kids to a restaurant, say—maybe you can do something with that. Or, why do they use smaller words, or speak a different language when it’s just them?
There are countless ways to consider the human condition, and they can mainly come from observation. Find your person to watch. And then think of a character who could be like that. Or, come up with a scenario to throw that person into. For example, what happens when the guy running a food truck has to go to war?
Exercise and Mental Energy
Now, this won’t work for fitness classes. But if you’re busy riding a stationary bike or chugging along on a treadmill, or walking in the woods, again, you’ve got your phone, yes? Working with your phone also means taking photos if need be.
This is another occasion to watch people.
First Thing in the Morning
This is something I will often do. I get up, do my ablutions and exercise. Then, I hit the laptop and write for a while. How much? Probably somewhere between 85 and 385 words on average. Then I turn off the home laptop, turn on the work laptop, and go downstairs to get breakfast. By the time I am back upstairs I’m in work mode.
During November of 2021, 2022, and 2023, I was getting up 30 minutes early. Not much, but it was something. Since you need to write at least 1,667 words per day on average to hit 50k by the 30th, it was helpful to have 200 – 250 or so words banged out already. 250 words is just under 15% of the absolute bare minimum. Not bad for something like 15 – 35 minutes.
It is highly likely that I will continue with this sort of a November schedule, as it’s a proven winner.
Right Before Bed
Don’t use your phone for this, as you’ll diminish the quality of your sleep. So, get a small pad of paper and a pen and scribble. Ideas, sentences, titles, character names, whatever. And keep that pad and pen next to your bed, for the next slot.
Middle of the Night Mental Energy
Have you ever had this happen to you, where you’re sleeping away and you wake up at maybe 3 AM with some sort of amazing idea? Or that dream had some narrative you feel you can harness.
Write that stuff down. In particular, this may help with insomnia. You won’t be laying there, trying to keep from forgetting something or other.
However, I do want to point out that sometimes your amazing middle of the night revelation is something like:
The Cold War on Toast
Well, they can’t all be gems.
Distribute Your Time and Mental Energy the Best Way Possible
This is reality, folks. You cannot be 100% on, all the time. Your body naturally cycles through peaks and troughs.
Know yourself. If you’re a morning person (I mainly am), then getting up early is for you. But if you do better at tea time, then take a work break if you can for 30 minutes, and do your thing. And then make up the time, of course.
And if you are truly terrible at some of the writing tasks, then there’s no shame in outsourcing them and paying someone to do them for you. As in—editing, marketing, and packaging. You may be able to hire someone to write your query for you or at least to help you polish yours.
And ghost writing has a long and semi-noble tradition. But where’s the fun in that?
Some Last Bits of My Own Mental Energy, Beamed Straight from My Brain to Yours
Insert weird sci-fi sound effect here.
This entire post is essentially about setting your priorities, when you get right down to it. Decide what you value in your life. And if that’s spending time with your child to the exclusion of a lot of other things, then hey, that’s fab. You do you. But also recognize that this means it’ll take longer for you to write and get to whatever you feel is your own personal finish line.
After all, you can always put your slice of pie in the freezer, to have another day.
Your writing mental energy is finite. Use it wisely.
How can demystifying Facebook help you, the independent writer? Is it passé? Can you even sell on it? Hint: it is not just for Candy Crush anymore.
And it has not been for a very, very long time.
Demystifying Facebook for Independent Writers
Like other small business persons (for that is what an indie author is, right?), you have two separate lives on any social network. One is as an individual. You have friends, you have opinions. You might play games or write about politics.
Or you might post memes or videos. You have fun, you express support or sympathy. And, to be perfectly honest about it, you give and receive attention.
Your other life is as a writer. A writer who might need help marketing. Maybe a writer who might to bounce ideas off other authors. A writer who might need some help with a plot, or at least a sympathetic ear. You might want to talk to others who have been where you are.
Plus you might want to connect with people who can help you improve your craft. Those are beta readers, cover artists, and editors. They might be writers you admire, or even publishing houses which interest you.
And, let’s face it. You may be there to sell your stuff.
Demystifying Facebook and Socializing
As a writer, there is no reason for you to stop socializing online. On Facebook in particular, hanging out with other writers is a great idea.
But Why?
Because writing is, by definition, a solitary pursuit. Even collaborators and co-authors do not trade the article for the noun for the verb for the adjective for another noun, or sentence for sentence or paragraph for paragraph. Instead, collaborators will generally write their own portion of a work and then give it to their partner, as the partner does the same.
They beta read for each other and combine the pieces, whether those are chapters or sections or the like. The details may differ, but it’s pretty inefficient to hang out together for the actual writing process (although they may get together to discuss plot).
Hangouts for Indie Writers
For independent writers, you have a few places on Facebook where you can hang out. Here are a few faves.
• Queer Sci-Fi and other specialty genre groups – do some research, as these can have varying activity levels. † Services trading groups – your mileage will vary. Some are more active than others. And some might be more spammy than others. • Advertising groups – these tend to be bottom-feeding. If they are just a bunch of ads, and no one is liking or replying to the ads, then you know how effective they are.
Have I missed any groups? Add them in the Comments section!
Of course there is a lot more to demystifying Facebook. I will get to it soon. Stay tuned!
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.
Why do you want one over another? Why does it matter?
Groups, as you might expect, allow for more discussion. However, everyone is on a more or less equal footing in terms of presenting content. And if that is what you want, then of course that is perfectly fine.
However, if you are looking to essentially market your own wares, then a group is not going to help you very much. Instead, your own messages will be lost in the shuffle of everyone else’s content and messaging. As the administrator, though, you can eliminate any discussions you do not wish to see.
This can get tedious, plus you lose the entire discussions.
With a page, you are the site owner/administrator. You create the content, which others react to, which can include commenting, and those comments can include links. If you want those comments and links gone, you can eliminate them. But this is an activity which is bound to become tedious. But at least the generalized discussions would remain.
Creating a Facebook Page for You, an Independent Writer
Like other small business persons (for that is what an indie author is, right?), you have two separate lives on any social network. One is as an individual. You have friends, you have opinions. You might play games or write about politics.
Or you might post memes or videos. You have fun, you express support or sympathy. And, let’s face it, you give and receive attention.
Your other life is as a writer. A writer who might need help with marketing. Maybe a writer who might want to bounce ideas off other authors. A writer who might need some help with a plot, or at least a sympathetic ear. You might want to talk to others who have been where you are.
Plus, you might want to connect with people who can help you improve your craft. Those are beta readers, cover artists, and editors. They might be writers you admire or even publishing houses which interest you.
And, let’s face it. You may be there to sell your stuff. In fact, you probably should be.
Creating a Facebook Page: Go For a Particular Look and Feel
We have all noticed branding for our favorite commercial ventures, whether it is the shade of green for Starbucks and its products, or the use of a mascot/spokes-character like Flo from Progressive Insurance. Or it could be the backward ‘R’ in the Toys ‘R’ Us store signage. For your Facebook page, your website, your Twitter stream, and your background image, it pays to brand these items.
Branding can be subtle, such as a color scheme, or more sophisticated, with the creation of a special logo for your page.
And yes, even if you’re not much of a visual artist, you can still engage in branding. Color and word choice can be your best friends.
How to Create a Facebook Page
Facebook is constantly changing the means of performing tasks, as it is continuously A/B testing (e. g. it tests which layout or color scheme, etc. gets you to click more). Currently, the way to make a page is, click on Pages on the left side of your feed and then click on Create a Page.
Then select the page type. Select Artist, Band, or Public Figure, and pick either Author or Writer. Add your name and then click Get Started.
Seriously, it’s that simple.
Now go make an author page!
Does This Method Ever Change?
Yes. Constantly. Check at the source, always!
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.
Libraries are the unsung heroes of the American (and other countries’) educational system. They are where people look for jobs, listen to lectures, or teach themselves all sorts of things.
They are also a marvelous home for your newly-published book.
Connections
First of all, you probably can’t just write to or visit every library in creation. While writing is something of a numbers game, it won’t do you much good to just launch your book at all the libraries out there. You need to have a plan.
The best and easiest plan is to go with a library where you have some sort of a connection. Did you grow up in Cleveland, go to college in Dallas, and are now settled in St. Louis? Then try your local library from when you were growing up. Don’t try every single Ohio or even Cleveland library. The same is true of Dallas, plus you may want to try your alma mater. For St. Louis, do yourself a favor and get a library card before you even start. They want to know you, at least a little bit. So go and let them at least know that much about you.
The Approach
I’m going to give you three approaches.
With the Book
Take your book with you, in a purse or tote bag or backpack. Ask to speak to whoever is in charge of acquisitions. Go to them, book in hand, and explain how you are related to the library. E. g. “I grew up down the street, on Parkland Road.” or “I just got a card three months ago.”
Now explain what you’re doing. “I’m a first-time author. This is my book. It’s about ____.”
At minimum, tell them the genre. I find it’s helpful to tell them either where it’s shelved elsewhere (is it science fiction or fantasy, for example). Also tell them whether the work has any triggers or heavy sex or violence scenes. Mention if it is LGBT-friendly. This isn’t just a courtesy to help keep small children from taking out works with explicit sex scenes. It also helps the library decide how they are going to display the work and what they are going to say if anyone asks them about it.
Then give them the book. Yes, just hand it over. Make sure it’s a perfect new copy. Do not give them a signed copy. Why not? Because those can potentially be stolen. In addition, the library has to think ahead. Your book will probably end up in their book sale, and maybe even in less than a year. A pristine copy is easier for them to sell.
Without the Book
No book? No problem! Come over with a business card instead. Again, ask to speak with whoever is in charge of acquisitions. Explain who you are and what your book is about. Hand over your business card. And if you’ve got the ISBN handy, then write it on the back. But also get their address of where you can send the work. Don’t make them ask for it. You have to do all the legwork here.
On the Phone
This one is similar to when you go in but don’t have a copy of the book with you. Again, ask to speak to whoever is in charge of acquisitions, and explain about your work. Make it clear the book is free to them. Then ask for their shipping address, and whose name should it be addressed to. And the best part about this approach (or if you need to mail the book for any reason) is, you can just have Amazon ship it to them and send it as a gift.
What do You Want in Return From Libraries?
Pictures. Yes, really! Tell them you will do this if they take pictures of your book on their shelves and send the images to you. Explain you are going to use them in your marketing campaign. And then do so, making sure to thank them profusely and link back to any libraries which help you out.
Libraries: Takeaways
You just sold another book! Never mind that it was to yourself. You still sold one, and that counts for Amazon’s rankings system. Plus your book now is in a position to be seen by others. And the librarian knows your title. Finally, I have personally found talking to librarians to be easy. Because you’re not really selling. Instead, you’re giving them a donation. Libraries want authors to succeed.
How was third quarter 2021 for writing? So, I spent third quarter 2021 writing short stories and working on planning NaNoWriMo. Work continued to be mega-busy, but I learned voice recognition on Word. It’s helped me tremendously with speed.
Third Quarter 2021 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. Some of these short stories work well together, so they have chapters and the like.
Then on Wattpad I posted on the WattNaNo profile and the Star Trek Fans 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 – 38 reads, 9 comments • How to NaNoWriMo – 23,785 reads, 323 comments † My Favorite Things (like kibble) – 974 reads, 133 comments • Revved Up – 59,368 reads, 530 comments † Side By Side – 17 reads, 1 comments • Social Media Guide for Wattpad – 14,856 reads, 591 comments † The Canadian Caper – 496 reads, 37 comments • The Dish – 250 reads, 24 comments † There is a Road – 189 reads, 28 comments • WattNaNo’s Top Picks 2018 – 1,913 reads, 45 comments † WattNaNo’s Top Picks 2019 – 1,700 reads, 10 comments • What Now? – 2,553 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 (link no longer works, alas!).
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.
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 – society goes to hell in a hand basket when the metals of the periodic table start to disappear. Can a ragtag group in Boston figure out what’s going on before it’s too late?
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 November 2021!
Prep Work
So, currently, my intention, for this year’s NaNoWriMo, is that I am writing the third novel in the Time Addicts/Obolonks universe. But I need to iron out the plot! So a lot of this year has been spent on that. I am calling this one Time Addicts – Everything is Up for Grabs.
Third Quarter 2021 Queries and Submissions
So, here’s how that’s been going during third quarter 2021.
In Progress
As of third quarter 2021, 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.
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
But I am doubtful about all of these. I just don’t have the time or energy to devote to regular querying, and I don’t expect that to change any time soon.
All Other Statuses
So be sure to see the Stats section for some details on any query statuses for third quarter 2021 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 were:
• 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%
2021 Stats
So, in 2021 my querying stats are: 5 submissions of 5 stories (so all of these carry over from 2020).
It can be pretty discouraging and hard to go on when nothing new comes up which is positive.
Third Quarter 2021 Productivity Killers
So, my productivity killers are work, what else? See, I got a raise and more responsibility. And I’m supposed to be getting another person under me soon. As may be expected, that made it harder to get fiction writing accomplished.
I am working on a ton of things. Since that is also writing, it can sometimes burn me out. There’s been a ton of stress but I am making an effort to at least write something every night. Because third quarter 2021 will not be the end of that!
It’s About Time to Start Demystifying Twitter, er, X
What can Twitter (I refuse to call it X) do for you, the independent writer? Let’s look at demystifying Twitter in all its glory.
Demystifying Twitter: What’s the Big Deal About 140 280 Characters?
Twitter/X is essentially a microblogging service. You broadcast your thoughts to the ether. Some of those thoughts, to be sure, are more interesting than others.
Many of us know someone who tweets (I still call them tweets. Don’t you?) about everything in their lives. Spare me. Spare us all. Pull-eaze!
It’s dull, it’s dumb, and you want to throttle them half the time. Their cheesecake is not fascinating. Their slow bus to downtown is not riveting. You don’t much care why they didn’t buy a particular pair of sneakers.
We may also know someone who’s a lot more fascinating. I’m not talking about celebrities, who have other sources for their cachet. Instead, I am talking about people who just seem to be more interesting, or at least their tweets are. Or at least they are funny or relevant.
Guess which one you want to be like?
Two Lives
On much of social media, when you are an independent author, you lead two lives. There is your personal life where you have friends and family, but there is also your professional or semi-professional life.
Even if you never sell (or never want to) a syllable of your work, if you want to improve, you are at least in the realm of semi-professional.
Demystifying Twitter With Two Accounts?
That might not be such a bad idea. One for yourself, for your political opinions, your questions about the universe, your tweets to customer service when something goes wrong …
The other? For writing. This can be for talking about what you’re doing, and even teasing it a bit. For reporting your NaNoWriMo progress, if you like, to your cheering section. Or any similar newer challenge you’re doing.
Post your first line. Or post the page where you just typed The End. Share your triumphs and your frustrations. Ask for a little (brief) advice, even!
Also, for the hashtags #amwriting and #amediting, too.
Demystifying Twitter: A Little More About Hashtags
Engagement is the name of the game on a microblogging social media platform like X. This means actually responding to others. And it means expecting some pushback on occasion.
Because believe it or not, your hot takes aren’t always right.
And that means your stream will be more fun, more inspiring, and more of what you want. Pretty cool, huh?
There is more, of course. I’ll get to it soon. So stay tuned!
Want More About Twitter AKA X?
If my experiences with X resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about Twitter/X.
While it’s now got a new name, and has changed considerably, a lot of these tips will still work. And they will often work with other social media platforms as well.
Welcome to The Power of Social Media (Neurotic Writers’ Edition)
We neurotic writers welcome you. And now we will go run along and hide, if you will kindly excuse us.
Chicken Scratch
Neurotic Writers. So, I know aspiring writers. Lots and lots of them, actually.
You probably do, too. There are lots of people with a manuscript out there … somewhere. Perhaps it is just in a hard drive. Or maybe it has been uploaded to a fiction site. Or perhaps it has gotten a little exposure by having a chapter or a tantalizing fragment tossed onto a forums site.
It might take the form of a blog (Gee, I wonder if I am doing that …?). There are some that are typed (Remember that?). Others are only in long hand. And still others are locked away in brain form only.
Attention Monsters, All
Whatever form it has taken, there is one thing I have learned about aspiring writers. And this includes fan fiction writers, by the way. But do not dis ’em. They care about what they do, too! This may also be true of established writers as well.
Although I am not even so sure where “established” starts happening.
If it starts when you have gotten a check for writing, then count me in the established camp. If not, well, then it might be that I am still waiting for my established writer card. But I digress. What have I learned about aspiring writers?
It is more that we are all attention monsters.
We all crave attention. But it is more than just “Look at me! Look at me!” Instead, it is more like, “Please oh please oh please read my stuff and leave detailed feedback so I know you really read it and never, ever forget to tell me how kick-bun awesome I am!”
Er, yeah.
Now, pretty much everyone on the planet adores hugs and positive attention and love and happiness. For aspiring writers, though, it is all poured onto a page.
The soul is naked, for all to poke at.
Erm, that was not meant to evoke an NC-17 image. Shame on you for thinking so. And now that is all you can think of, am I right?
It is scary and it is daunting. And it is exhilarating when you get even a scrap of positive feedback.
Enter Social Media
For aspiring writers with a backbone and a somewhat thicker skin, social media can be a way to get some of that craved feedback.
But how?
The first and probably most obvious method is to have a Twitter stream dedicated to your writing. I doubt that most people want to read about writer’s block, so you need to have something going on.
Perhaps you could write about inspirations, or earlier works, or how things fit together in your universe.
Hence I am also talking about a blog. You can blog about writing. The creative process can be fascinating for people who are into it. Maybe you would like to review your own work, and comment on what you have learned, and how you have grown as an author.
Put both of these together, and you have a pretty dynamic combination. You write, you blog about it and then you tweet or skeet about your blog posts and your writing.
Plus writing begets writing. Even blog writing (which is a rather different animal from book writing) can help keep writer’s block at bay. It helps to exercise these muscles fairly regularly.
Is There Another Option for Us Neurotic Writers?
Post on social sites. Hence for fan fiction, there are sites like Fanfiction.net. And for purely original stories, they have a sister site, Fiction Press. Or you could try Wattpad. In addition, plenty of more specialized fiction and fan fiction sites exist. Google is your friend!
But be aware of scams; they do exist. Furthermore, putting your work out there does not guarantee that you retain full rights to it. And this is despite the laws in your own country. In addition, understand there is a lot of plagiarism and downright theft out there.
And that does not even get into issues with AI.
So remain as cautious as with any other information you put online.
I honestly cannot stress that last one enough.
Understand, too, that if you neurotic writers are going to submit to a traditional publisher, they often do not want you to have posted your story elsewhere beforehand. Because this has to do with the full rights to your product.
Hence you might want to put out your smaller or less important works, and save your really big one, if you are ever planning to submit to a traditional publishing house.
Competitions
Yet another option is competitions. Here are some. Because the inspiration from this blog post came from learning that a friend had a story in an old (now offline) competition. The competition ran as a pure social media experiment.
Hence, while good storytelling and story-crafting matter, so does publicity.
Like with any other social media site, “likes”, comments and popularity all play a role. For my friend, and for others trying to make it, putting the link onto Facebook or X or Bluesky or the like is essential to getting the word out.
Even this blog post is helpful. At least, I like to think that it is. FYI, and just for the record, this post is my own idea and she did not request or suggest it.
Let’s Head on Over to the Reader End of Things
The community of aspiring writers is, truly, a community. And that means give and take. But what kind of give and take? The kind that goes along with reviews and comments.
Because for those who are trying to write for a living, commenting and reviewing should be a part of that. Readily and cheerfully provide constructive criticism, if desired. Writers depend on your kind honesty!
Aspiring neurotic writers write for exposure. And often they get exposure from fellow aspirants. What better way to forge a sense of community than to read one another’s works, and comment thereon?
The Upshot of It All for Neurotic Writers Just Like Me (and Maybe Even You?)
For those of us neurotic writers who put it out there every day, who bare ourselves and our souls with prose or poetry, fiction or nonfiction, fan or wholly original, short story or multi-novel series, we all have a major issue in common – we want recognition.
We do not even necessarily want to be famous, but we want to be the one at the fireside who spins a yarn as others sit, enraptured. And with social media, we hope, there just might be some people listening.
Set this site as a preferred source
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.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
You must be logged in to post a comment.