Brag About Yourself

Where do you find topics to write about? Both beginning bloggers and other types of nonfiction writers often ask this. Instead of my usual "everywhere, all around you" response, I'll detail exactly how this post came about: social media networking. A member of one of the groups I belong to in LinkedIn posted a link to the Psychology Today article as a discussion topic. I saw that item listed in an updates email that LI sends me regularly. I clicked, read the article and thought, "Whew. I'm doin' it right," as the LOL Cat People say. Just last night I'd been adding information to my Amazon Author Page biography section, bragging really. And in third person. Feels weird.

Sooner or later every kind of writer is required to provide a blurb or bio. For me, it's the most difficult writing of all. Worse than a synopsis. It's the same for pitching your services (yourself, really) to potential clients, or bragging about yourself in your website.

If this is difficult for you too, read How to brag about yourself without being seen as narcissistic | Psychology Today by Joshua D. Foster and Ilan Shrira. The secret, it seems, it to mention ONLY yourself, your accomplishments, and not compare them to others. I thought of the latest round of campaign ads in which one politician tries to run down the opposition. Makes me want to vote for the latter.

How about you? When you are dressed to impress, do you denigrate a competitor's accomplishments? Are you positive you write better than ...

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Twitter Mystery Solved, Maybe

Solved: the mystery of DEBBY BUCHANAN a.k.a. "DangerousDeb" a.k.a. "DeadlyDeb" a.k.a. DEBBY HALL of Las Vegas. It was a twisted trail that lead to unraveling and discovering the apparent identity of the person who invited me to join Twitter about a year ago. I'm still unsure of the degree of our connection (probably 6th Black Belt or some other tortured combination of metaphors).

When I first began with Twitter's then malfunky website, I suspected that the "Debby Buchanan" account was a bogus marketing ploy. Send a 'bot out to scout the 'net for mentions of Twitter with some key words like "help," "join" or "questions;" note the author; and pump out this bogus invite with the tantalizing tease that someone wants to follow you. Sounds like something Biz would come up with and Ev could certainly whip up the necessary program with both hands tied behind his back.

At this stage of investigation, I thought I had the perfect April Fool's Day blog post title: "Twitter Dirty Tricks Uncovered" or possibly "Debby Buchanan Exposed". One morning I caught a lucky break and typed the wrong handle into a functioning people search I finally found on Twitter. It displayed an account with a link to a website with a link to a LinkedIn identity that...well, eventually they all converged on a "Debby" with a different last name. Go figure.

See what I mean about leaving a trail through the Internet and not posting anything you would not want someone to discover some day? About practicing consistency within your online identities? I haven't found (by quick search) a link between the disparate last names. Maybe there isn't one, and my face will soon be real red.

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Emptying the Email Trash

Ways to waste your money, time and talent:  Some guy just emailed me to call him. That's all he said.  I have no idea who he is, and I am certainly not going to open his attached file or call him.

Last week someone said he had found my website through an image search for "California Spangled Cats." He wanted me to hire him to optimize my site for better image search returns, because mine was 22nd in the list. Like, I care? Anyway, it's "California Dreamcats," the first one I did for a class in site design, and I don't think it's on the web. Now, that's creepy.

Another persisted (until I blocked the address) in telling me that my writing site can't be found in foreign search engines.  Why should I be concerned when it is only for English-speaking people, or those who want to learn and search on English terms.

Other hilarious favorites are the vendors who tell me that they have redesigned my websites, and I can see the improvements by clicking on a link. They fail to notice that I design and optimize sites.  Often they fail to discover my name, too.

But the all-time best is the guy who sent me the same message three times in an 18-month period, offering free articles.  Now, I like to feature guest posts, and some of the free articles on this site are by other writers who I know.  But this guy signed his emails with three different female names and directed me to the same two websites where the articles appeared.  Only, he kept mixing up the signature names and the by-line names.  I'm not sure he knew who he was. A little research discovered his true gender and name.

I'm also a little sad because yesterday I turned down two book manuscript editing jobs. Ironically, one was too well-written. I told the author that most of the changes I might make, I thought amounted to quibbles.  The other manuscript looked like a brain dump with little punctuation or capitalization and no quotation marks.  I told the author that either it is a new form of a novel, or the manuscript needs to be rewritten, which is a very costly effort.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm being tested.

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Should Business Tweet?

Should businesses do SM, particularly Twitter?  The efficacy and PR value is difficult to doubt, and I'll give you a hot example in a moment. Remember, the principle here is that writing--any kind--is a business.

Earlier in the week I received an email message (is there any other kind now?) "inviting" me to list my business in a relatively new database used by PR and publicity people.  The very notion elicited a delicate frisson of fear--scared me pantsless. I took to Twitter:

Someone wants to list AWE in a new database for PR reps. Oh, no! My Cision listings bring in quite enough crap, thank you. 4:18 PM Feb 10th

Notice I mentioned a major media services company without an @ sign or a hashtag. In my haste to post, I did not consider repercussions. Within two minutes, the phone rang. As soon as the caller identified herself as a VP with Cision, I knew why she had called. We had a pleasant and productive conversation.

The focus here, however, is on the business' use of social media.  Obviously, Cision closely monitors mentions of its business name. I can think of several ways it receives nearly real-time notices.  It is able to respond quickly to perform damage control (in this instance) and help its customers. At least 10 of the top managers are active on Twitter.

Although I'm not a client, if I were, I'd be impressed with this company and probably delighted with its service. See the elephant dance!

Disclaimer:  If this post is viewed as a product or service endorsement please note than I do not use it, but Cision uses me, very gently and with grace.

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BookTour Utility

In the course of setting up my Author Page at Amazon , I discovered the Events function which links to a fabulous free service, BookTour: Where Authors and Audiences Meet. There authors can list their itineraries; readers can find out when a favorite author is appearing in any area, their own area, or discover what authors are appearing near their homes; and the listings will sync with any standard calendar application, too.  Did I say it's all *FREE*? The wonders of the Internet never cease to amaze me!

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More Blog Traffic

How can I attract visitors, new bloggers ask, right after they ask what to blog about. Techniques to promote a blog are legion: list it in all directories, register with major search engines, get a domain name, host it yourself, use keywords, put the URL in your signatures, and interact with other bloggers to name just a few.

Let's focus on the latter. We are drilling down here, so pay attention. Take notes. One way is to build relationships with other blogs and their writers including joining blog groups like MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog, both featured at A Writer's Edge. Exploit those services to their fullest. Visit other blogs and offer to write guest posts and invite those bloggers to do the same. Engage in #BlogChat on Twitter (Sunday at 6 p.m. PT). Most of all, comment on posts in other blogs.

I'm not going to leave that last suggestion just hanging because too many times new bloggers simply race about the web, leaving anonymous comments like "me too!!!" or "I agree" on any blog they encounter. Why is this WRONG? It violates the big three of commenting to build traffic:

1. Always use the same identification (name, image, brand, signature, blog URL). This practice builds interest and the consistency raises your visibility as well as reputation. People will know who you are and what your blog is about.

2. Be quick and clever. The most useful comment is one of the first on the latest post. Leaving comments early and often on blogs with the greatest numbers of readers and interactivity will drive more traffic your way than helping out a dozen other newbies get going. Still help your fellow newbies, but don't forget how to help yourself.

3. Add value to the post. The brief comments cited above are obviously only meant to attract attention (if not anonymous) or sometimes to fuel a flame war. Try to contribute additional information or provide your view of the posting or the subject. Once you have a backlog of posts on your own blog, you can occasionally refer to one of them, but only if it is relevant to the post that you are commenting on. Learn how to code links into comments.

Remember, these guidelines are for those who are serious about building traffic to a particular blog. I welcome "me too" comments from my "Dear Internets" as my dear Internet friend, Paige in Paradise calls her blog buddies. Even more, I welcome viewpoints that oppose what I have written or suggest a different way of looking at a topic.

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Best of Recent Retweets

Even better the second time around: @GLHancocks tweets and retweets, retweeted.

RT @DanGordon: I said it once, I'll say it again: Authenticity. Transparency. Passion. Patience. Perseverance. = Results. #blogchat 7:06 PM Dec 20th from TweetChat Retweeted by C J Jackman Zigante

RT @RKCharron: The word you choose reflects the tone you wish to convey and the image you wish to invoke.| Except in chats! typok #writechat 2:08 PM Dec 20th from TweetChat Retweeted by C J Jackman Zigante

New at AWE -- Santa arrived early for some bloggers! Today Amazon announced Amazon Associates for Blogger, a direc... http://bit.ly/4BrZHI 10:13 AM Dec 17th from twitterfeed Retweeted by Melinda Emerson

Checked out new Google search, found Listorious & a list for NewNewmedia by @PaulLev http://listorious.com/GLHancock/memberships 7:13 PM Dec 15th from Echofon Retweeted by Paul Levinson

Blogs feel very private to you, alone, hunched over your keyboard; but when you hit "Post" you're a naked, plucked chicken to all #writechat 1:24 PM Dec 6th from TweetChat Retweeted by kimberly gonzalez

I have a free article available on Copyright on the Writing Help page of my site: http://www.writers-edge.info/writing-help.htm #writechat 1:19 PM Dec 6th from TweetChat Retweeted by David Gerbino

@WritingSpirit Actually, writing articles is one of the ways recommended for fictionalists to get their names known-adjunct to book #writechat 12:29 PM Nov 29th from TweetChat in reply to WritingSpirit Retweeted by Writing Spirit

#blogpostfail: "If the man you are discretely having an affair with..." Right, only one affair at a time, girls! #copyediting #editing 8:25 PM Nov 25th from Echofon Retweeted by Jane Smith

RT @editorialdept Writers learn from what they're doing right as much as from criticism. Good editors cheer a writer on.#litchat 4:12 PM Nov 20th from Power Twitter Retweeted by pberinstein

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Discount and an Upgrade

Don't be shocked. I've upgraded the looks of the emailed version of A Writer's Edge to more closely resemble the blog pages. A Writer's Edge uses FeedBlitz to manage some email deliveries. I'm thinking of switching all email subscriptions to this service.

Now that I am using FeedBlitz at an "elite" level, I am happy to be able to offer readers a special, time-limited 10% Lifetime Discount on FeedBlitz services. All you need to do to secure a 10% lifetime discount is to sign up for FeedBlitz using this promotional code: Writer's (yeah, not my choice!) before 21 January, 2010 (US eastern time). Use it for sign-ups and to automatically send anything you want!

How it Works

1. Start an evaluation account before January 21, 2010 at http://www.feedblitz.com/f?NewAccount using the promotion code Writer's.
2. FeedBlitz automatically applies a lifetime discount.
   
   Small Print - Limitations and Restrictions
   

• The discount is available to new accounts only.
• The lifetime discount applies to all FeedBlitz paid services for that user, until and unless the user cancels their account, there is a payment default or the user later switches to a different FeedBlitz plan.
• The offer must be used before 21 January, 2010.
• Once this offer expires it will never be made again to the readers of A Writer's Edge.

If you don't receive this blog via email, and you'd like to, visit http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=349955 to sign up.

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Facebook & Twitter on Google

Privacy issues on the Internet. They're baaaak! Since Google announced the inclusion of real time returns from Twitter and Facebook on the first page of search results, the virtual world has been atwitter with arguments pro and con. Some of these in a #blogchat last night revolved around *if* you want material from parts of a FB account to show up. Another question that went unanswered in the crush was about how much of a Twitter profile Google is privy to.

I have news for these newbies: everything but your Twitter password is readily available to anyone, and obviously passwords can be hacked, too. Hence, Twitter account and website hijackings, and I suspect FB corruptions also exist. How can there be another generation already that needs to learn never put anything online that you don't want seen by everyone in the world?

One incensed participant tweeted back at me: "@GLHancock That's no different than someone breaking in your home and stealing pictures. Are u saying there's no privacy ANYWHERE? #blogchat" No, I'm just sayin' there's no such animal as "privacy online." Maybe I should say "security?" Especially with free programs! Poor grammar aside, I wonder how these kids have been raised? Don't they pay attention to news about this or that supposedly secure database being hacked and resulting identity theft?

Writers who use social media as part of their promotional and marketing plans need to understand there is no separation between a "personal" account and one for your business of writing, whether you're an author with books, a freelancer with services, short story or poetry writer, an essayist or a working journalist. I'd expect writers, more than most people, would understand how identity and writing are inextricably entwined. Internet demands for transparency are doubly intense for writers.

When a search engine scours the Internet for information about you, it does not distinguish among sources for material. No human peeks and says, "Uh, oh. Naughty pictures. I'd better not snatch those. It might hurt this person's reputation." Search engines do not always observe a "no index" command. Drop bits of your identity around the web and they will be assembled to display perhaps a less than flattering, if more accurate, view of you.

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Twitter Mistakes

Guy Kawasaki does it again with Twitter Cluelessness at OPEN Forum:

Generally, if you’re wondering if you’re about to do something clueless, just don’t do it. This is because people might not know that you’re clueless, but if you do these things, you’ll remove all doubt. However, the last rule, and the most important, is this: Don’t be afraid to break these rules. Like I said, there is no right and wrong on Twitter. There’s only what works for you and what doesn’t.

1. Don’t tell other people how to tweet.
2. Don’t tell the world that you unfollowed someone.
3. Don’t ask people why they unfollowed you
4. Don’t constantly tweet mundane updates and babble.
5. Don’t use a small picture for an avatar.
6. Don’t use an avatar that makes you look too hot.
7. Don’t go crazy with hashtags.
8. Don’t use ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.
9. Don’t use long links.
10. Don’t call yourself a “guru” or an “expert.”
11. Don’t send out automated “welcome” direct messages.

Read his great article for explanations of each item. I'd add another: Don't use any Twitter feature until you are certain what it does. I did and offended someone I've known for years. Of course, if you are only using Twitter to communicate with friends and family, none of the "rules" matter. As always, this post concerns writers who are trying to build businesses or careers.

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Twitter on the Couch

Apparently Klout - Twitter Analytics Content for Georganna Hancock (GLHancock) disagrees somewhat on recent top retweets:

RT @GLHancock Don't confuse rewriting with editing. Don't bother to edit until you've finished rewriting. Proofread very last. #writechat WritingSpirit 17129

RT @GLHancock: I suspect the most basic need to blog successfully is the ability to communicate clearly. Writing well=win. #blogchat hacool, JDEbberly, knmu 8303

What's the longest ~ RT @GLHancock: Keep the convo going by replying to comments on your blog posts. (SO TRUE!) #Blogchat CASUDI, JDEbberly 7670

RT @GLHancock: You can start with a blog and build the website around it. That's what I did #Blogchat JDEbberly 6468

RT @GLHancock: I have declared Twitter chats to be typo amnesty zones. #writechat #blogchat

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Social Media Use Climbs

Past performance may not guarantee future success, but for the last three years the growth of social media has continued to advance. Forrester Research, Inc. provides the data and an interactive tool with which you can analyze your customer/client/visitor base. Forrester gathers data on age, gender and

analyzed consumers' participation in social technologies around the world with a tool called the "Social Technographics Profile." The profile puts online people into overlapping groups based on their participation (at least once a month) in the behaviors shown in the ladder.

Social technology growth marches on in 2009, led by social network sites. In The Broad Reach of Social Technology, author Sean Corcoran says:

more than four in five US online adults use social media at least once a month, and half participate in social networks like Facebook. While young people continue to march toward almost universal adoption of social applications, the most rapid growth occurred among consumers 35 and older.

They also have dependable data on European and Asian countries except Japan, Metro China, and South Korea.

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Build Social Skills

Good social skills for business networking: Build Own Business & Your Team. I found this excellent article by Sue Clement from Ezine Articles while performing social network housekeeping tasks today. Clement's tips for business networking in real life could be translated roughly to the electronic world. She recommends:

Use the Magic Words, please and thank you
Make frequent eye contact
Repeat person's name
Support others
Repeat what they said

On most weekends I try to catch up with the influx of activity in my BlogCatalog and MyBlogLog accounts. My version of a good social skill is to acknowledge everyone who contacts my account or this blog in any way: visiting, as a fan or friend or joining the group or just leaving a message in either account. Please and thank you.

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Posting Announcements

Take a cue from advertising. Put enough correct information in your announcements for people to know what you're talking about, who it's for, when it is happening, how much it costs and where they can find it.

I just spent a frustrating five minutes trying to track down what looked like a chat on writing. The poster wrote two items about whatever it was. The first gave a day and time, but didn't list the time zone. The second referred to "yesterday" (always use a date) and provided a wildly invalid link to what was supposed to be a blog post about the event--whatever it was. She also gave a different time, still without reference to time zone. Here's a hint: on the Internet, not everyone lives on the east coast of the U.S. even if they're dogs.

And call a spade a spade. If the event involves streaming audio/video online, don't call it "radio." If it requires a long distance phone call, explain that your "webinar" will probably cost participants, even if no fee is involved. Don't call it "free" unless you're providing a toll-free number that works worldwide.

I like to think I have at least average intelligence, but I'll bet no one other than the originator of the announcement I read knows Who did What, When, Where and Why or How. Gee, now where have I heard that before?

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Twitter Writers Directories

More reasons to join Twitter: A Directory of Authors on Twitter. If you write, you'll want your name in this directory. To be added, a book author must supply three pieces of information: Twitter ID, name, and genre or category. Please see this post for more details on being added to the directory.

If you're looking for a writer for a certain project, you can review the directory by categories, some of which are linked directly to the grouping. It is divided into Nonfiction, Fiction, Children and Poetry.

Also of interest might be Highspot's Directory of Book Trade People on Twitter. Those categories includes:

Book Publishers - Company Accounts | Book Publishers - Individual Accounts | Literary Agents | Bookstores & Booksellers - United States | Bookstores & Booksellers - Canada | Bookstores & Booksellers - Europe & Australia | Bookstores & Booksellers - Online | Libraries | Book Industry Publications | Book Industry Groups & Associations | Book Festivals & Conferences | Book Prizes | Publishing Education Programs | Book Industry Suppliers & Tools | Author & Publisher Services | Book Publicity & Marketing Services | Book Printers & Paper Suppliers | Subsidy Publishers | Book Reviewers | Bloggers on Books & Publishing | Book Discussion 2.0

I see I'll be busy soon signing up in several areas. The lists appear to be frequently updated, but I cannot vouch for validity or comprehensiveness. Twitter users probably come and go like bloggers. Why is knowing someone's Twitter account important? I've found tweeting is the quickest way to make contact, both with individuals and companies. The listings can also lead you to websites and also provide contact through hidden email addresses.

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Writers Social Networking

Unless you're promiscuous, virtual networking is a confusing mine field. Being an "early adopter" of technology is easy: you jump in and if it doesn't work well enough, drop it. Not so easy with people, especially if all the nonverbal cues (facial expression, body language, voice) are missing.

I'm still working out my "linking policy" with LinkedIn, the online business networking service. A spate of "invitations" to join networks of people I don't know from Eve or Adam arrived, along with one from Meryl K. Evans, whom I recalled as an I.T. guru and now run into in writing groups.

I was still operating as a LAMB, rather than a LION (whose network is open to anyone). With people, I'm usually quite conservative and followed LinkedIn's advice. It seems to say, "Really know in life those you network with." I had pretty much limited mine to people I have worked with or for. Meryl pointed out that we know each other from Twitter chats, and that led her to invite me on LinkedIn.

It was time for more guidance, and I found How do you use your social networks? | Linkedin to Business. Viveka von Rosen's article describes a networking style closer to what I think I am trying for: strategic. I don't need to be a LION, yet my initial plan is too limiting, because I know I do want to connect with Meryl, and it is short-sighted of me to rebuff anyone like her who reaches out to me in this way. Also, it is the time to be turning around and holding out my hand to others.

Back to the original dilemma: why to follow whom in Twitter.

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Week of Contest Nominations

What a week this has been for A Writer's Edge! First, nominated to the 4th Annual Top 10 Blogs for Writers Contest -- more noms (votes) needed. Don't forget to include the URL: http://www.writers-edge.info/Blog.html and a reason--thanksabunch!

Now comes a message from Michelle at The BBAW Awards Committee of the Book Blogger Appreciation Week competition:

Dear Writer's Edge,

I am so thrilled to inform you that you have been nominated for a Book Blogger Appreciation Week Award in the category Best General Review Blog.

This year it takes place September 14-18. If you haven't heard about this contest, that may be because it is fairly new. The site explains:

Book Blogger Appreciation was started by Amy Riley of My Friend Amy in an effort to recognize the hard work and contribution of book bloggers to the promotion and preservation of a literate culture actively engaged in discussing books, authors, and a lifestyle of reading.

The first Book Blogger Appreciation was observed in the fall of 2008 and occurs every September. The week spotlights and celebrates the work of active book bloggers through guest posts, awards, giveaways, and community activities. Book Bloggers are encouraged to register their participation for inclusion in a database of book bloggers.

If anyone practices promotion and preservation of a literate culture actively engaged in discussing books, authors, and a lifestyle of reading that would be me with this blog, reviewing books, and wrangling the Tierrasanta Book Club in real life. Next step: hook it all up with a literacy program encouraging book reading by upcoming generations.

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Power Graphics for Writers

Flow charts meet social media at Applicant. Being a sucker for models, I appreciate some of this site's offerings, like the LinkedIn: The Ultimate Tool for Job Hunters and A Visual Guide to Twitter, a road map to using the Web 2.0 service for business.

Another fascinating graphic I found is a Amazon Acquisitions and Investments at CreativeBits.org showing a twisted path you could puzzle over forever. I'll bet you had no notion that Amazon owns, absorbed or controls so many other companies, did you?

Now, if we could mash up these three powerful information sources, we could probably chart our ways to fame and fortune by using Twitter to promote our services and our materials that are on Amazon for employment opportunities through LinkedIn. Something to think about.

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Manage Yourself Online

Let's say you're looking for work, a new job. You have a resume, LinkedIn Profile, Twitter account, maybe even a Facebook entry that you keep businesslike. Still, no bites. What could you be doing wrong? Plenty, according to Mashable [emphasis mine]:

Your LinkedIn profile needs to be absolutely flawless, since you’ll be judged harshly by recruiters who are analyzing you to see if you fit their corporate needs. That means no spelling or grammatical errors and it should be completely filled out, leaving no experience or details out. Think of your profile as an asset and as a portrait of you as a professional who someone would want to possibly hire for a newly available job.

And if you're trying to sell yourself as a writer or editor--buns beware! This is not the place for text-speak or Twitter talk. Twitter, however, provides opportunity to display your facility with succinct, tight writing that provides information or cogent commentary (not just a field of links to other people).

If you're going to incorporate social media or Web 2.0 to find a new job or freelance gigs, then use each service to its fullest extent, deeply and regularly. Common sense suggests you can't keep up with all of them, so limit your participation to the number you can manage in an amount of time you carefully control.

Finally, interlink the services you use, but take care to always keep in mind where your updates or "status" messages will appear. Don't load one message into a single service that blats out the same clipped quip to all your web 2.0 outlets. While consistency is a benefit, so is expressing a well-rounded grasp of your field.

You might want to use one channel to reveal a depth of expertise or specialization knowledge and another for displaying creativity. Some professionals even have multiple Twitter accounts for different purposes. Debbie Ohi, for example, uses one mostly for personal replies and another for passing along general information to her followers. Some have one for personal friends and another for advertising purposes.

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Golden Marmot Award

All I wrote was:

Hot naked editing–join those split infinitives! Slash those adverbs! Add those articles (everyone writes like tweets now!) #copy_editors

And it won


"Golden Marmot Award winners on Twitter are cheeky, wise, witty or profound (sometimes all at the same time), always in 140 characters or less," says sage Debbie Ohi, the original Inky Girl.

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Wired World Links

I think I'm getting tired of being wired! Last week Google alerted me to certain new listings with geofollow.com, webshotspro.com and SaysHer.com (how did they know I am female?) Because the GeoFollow came about right after I'd signed up at WeFollow (yet another useless Twitter app), I suspect some kind of linkage there.

Everybody and his dog is taking advantage of the Twitter API to mash up a little service he can monetize with advertising streams. Past visions of the Web becoming one big mart are being realized, though not on a pay per view scheme.

Sign up for someone's newsletter and right away you're being badgered to join a different website or service--or is it separate? Dig a little and you'll probably find it run by the same person/people. Put your words out on the 'net, and you'll find them minced up and part of someone else's soup, next to adverts that might embarrass.

I kept my commitment to join WebFace or BookSpace or whatever. I really did, and as I explored its features, advertising began to appear on my pages. Unexpected and disappointing. Then the site found and duplicated dozens of this blog's posts. Unnecessary. I could find no way to integrate Twitter (which I wanted). I couldn't remove the blog or the account information, and now can't delete the account. When I try to access it, I get a message that the account is "scheduled for deletion" sometime next month. In the meantime, people are "finding" it and pestering me to become their "friend." By pestering, I mean I can't access account settings to stop receiving its email and can't contact the would-be "friends" through the site, either. Sheesh!

Maybe I don't mind so much the autodiscoveries after all. Although I feel slightly violated when I first find a listing, those sites are usually simple and offer an easy deletion method. Most of the time I decide they are innocuous enough. I suspect this last social media experiment gone awry may linger in the cybersphere forever.

Lost in FaceSpace!

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Web 2.0 Experiment

My latest social networking experiment is quite easy to follow. MrTweet is a service for making and receiving Twitter recommendations: Georganna Hancock (GLHancock)'s Profile on Mr. Tweet. I've sent one MrTweet-generated request to followers (now 156 All Organic!):

Hi folks! Mind dropping me a recommendation at http://mrtweet.com/recommend?rec&user=GLHancock ? Much appreciated! #MrTweet

The only question I have is this: Why does Mr. Tweet's "5 Reasons to do so" page only list three reasons? Really only one:

1. Why do so? Because your recommendations has a real impact

Perhaps Mr. Tweet needs a content editor? At least a proofreader!

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Socializing for Success

“Success is not an automatic function of individual talent,” Malcolm Gladwell wrote in Outliers: The Story of Success. “It’s bound up in so many other broader circumstantial, environmental, historical, and cultural factors.” In other words, as I've said for years, it is blind, dumb, random luck, too. That aspect of the writing life, especially for a freelancer, may be the most frightening part. Success depends not only on your hard work, discipline and goal-setting, but also on circumstances, lifestyles and culture. The publishing industries (book, magazine, digital) are in turmoil, in a difficult state of transitions. Many prognosticate, but no one knows what the future holds for publishers, writers, and the final products.

To guarantee failure, insulate yourself against contemporary trends and innovations. Avoid social media and ignore what younger writers are up to. Pay no attention to predictions and new gadgets. Hide in your closet and plunk away on your Olivetti.

I admit I've dragged my heels about adopting some changes (other times I'm on the cutting edge, the often-irritated but enthusiastic beta tester). Every time I jump into something I resisted, however, I am sorry I waited so long. One goal this month is to accept Deb Sistrunk's invitation to join Facebook, now that I feel I have some control of my Twittering. (Is there a 12-Step group for Twitterdicts?) For Twitter, I have Lori Widmer to thank for luring me there and Steve Eisenberg for kicking me into the pool.

Later this month, I'll see Steve at a Meetup of the SDBloggers, mostly "kids", billed as a "Know Your Roots" event sponsored by Pathway Genomics (get it--roots-genomics?) That gathering is on the same evening the the SDPEN group of editors meet to rack up recipes for success, but before the SDWriters/Editors Guild meets to plan a 30th anniversary party. Oh, I almost forgot the other end of this writing cycle--I still need to read The Reader for my book club meeting this week!

The purpose of posting my social media business meeting calendar is to demonstrate a way of creating a cultural and environmental history, a lifestyle if you wish, to increase chances of stumbling into those circumstances in which hard work and discipline pay off by helping you succeed in reaching writing goals. So, come out of the closet and participate in the writing life around you.

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Social Profile Advice

To join a social site first you fill out a Profile. Before you see how the site works, how personal information is displayed, entering it is mandatory. It's scary, especially without a reassurance that you can change it later or delete the account at the worst. (I have a few empty profiles floating about in cyberspace, and one very frustrating important one I can't get changed, grr!)

Gloria Hess, writing in the Northwestern Alumni Association blog, offers tips for using a LinkedIn profile for job hunting. She says, "Professional networking sites work two ways: they make it easier to connect with new contacts and colleagues, and they increase your visibility to everyone online—including recruiters and hiring managers. With this in mind, you should polish your profile to ensure that your online image is the most professional and effective in promoting your 'brand.'"

You can read the details at Career Coach Offers Expert “LinkedIn” Profile Advice | Northwestern Alumni Association. Hess' suggestions include:

Have another set of eyes review it.
Be sure you are accurately representing yourself.
Double-check your spelling and grammar.
Make sure your branding is clear and targeted.
Be selective in what you choose to showcase and how you showcase it.

There's that word again, "branding". I hope I can coax Hess into contributing a piece on how to apply the "brand" concept to freelance work.

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Sites to Help Writers on Web 2.0

Visionary Blogging: Helping you use blogs and social media more intelligently -- a must read blog for anyone intent on using the Internet to promote careers, products, services.

SpringWidgets : Widgets, MySpace Profile Gadgets, Social Network Countdown Badges & RSS Feed Readers: You can create an RSS reader with multiple feeds; badges for your profile on social networks such as MySpace, Facebook, and Bebo; countdown application widgets and other cool gadgets for your blog -- services galore for the blogger and more!

Tweeple, We Hardly Knew You: users with a bio have 8 times the number of followers than those without a bio. Profiles with web links had 7.5 times the number of followers compared to those without links -- article on using social media for career promotion/book sales/contracts/contacts with suggestions for the bare minimum of what to include in Twitter (and other) profiles.

Effective Internet Presence guru Ted Demopoulos gives away an eBook of his wisdom on the subject: If you don't exist on the Web or the search engines can't find you, you basically don't exist! -- available soon from A Writer's Edge.

Excuse me, I need to build an AWE badge and write something a little more intelligent and effective for my Twitter profile @GLHancock

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Free Funny Twitter Backgrounds

My funny friend, Bonnie Boots, offers Free Funny Twitter backgrounds. We're both writers and editors and on Twitter (she and I). She's funny, I'm ... "quirky" someone once said. Online. This morning I was thinking about the kind of person/writer for whom Twitter might work best. It is hard to be funny, succinct, and make sense, all at the same time.

I realized this when I started following Bonnie's tweets and discovered they are mostly serious. I mean, they usually offer information, links to useful resources, and such. I'm not sure you can tweet jokes, unless you're using it for pseudo-private conversations. I've observed those kinds of exchanges, and I have only one thing to say: Get a chat room!

I suspect Twitter would not work well for the kinds of writers who don't join writers' groups, prefer to mull things over alone, and pretty much live in isolation. It's for hyperchatty people who want to share. Like me and Bonnie. If we ever meet in person, it will be a nonstop gabfest. She and I have a few other common interests. We both wrestle with websites and publish online. Her main output is The Internet Wizards Magazine where the copyright notice reads:

© 2009 Bonnie Boots All rights protected. All wrongs avenged.

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I am up to

my knees in tweeps! Not twerps nor cheeps. Tweeps is Twitter-talk for people who follow you. I love it. I feel so ... wanted! And true to trying to model what I teach, I respond to each new follower with a "thank you" DM (Twitter-talk for Direct Message). The service is a little glitchy, though, and messages sometimes wander into the hinterlands of cyberspace, never to be seen by the intended recipient. And the sender doesn't know, either!

Heads up! Only three days until Bloggers Unite to write about Hunger and Hope. There is still time to join and blog on Wednesday about ending world hunger--missions and messages of hope. This is not to be confused (as I did) with Blog Action Day, which takes place on October 15. I found a thread on Twitter about it. This reminds me, as a perk for participating last year, I received a copy of CAUSEWIRED, a fascinating chronicle of the rise of social networking for causes. It is so rich, that I am creeping through it slowly, trying to absorb every bit and byte before reviewing it.

And in between all this chatter and matter, I sandwiched an interview for Shawn Hessinger the Post Ranger who asked me about writing for the Web and especially blogging. See what I had to say at PostRanger.com and leave a comment there, please, so it looks like I have some cyberfriends other than my tweeps.

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Twitter Caught Me

First I was a member of the literati. Then the bloggerati. Quickly came Technorati. Now I am a Twitterati.

Twittering @GLHancock thanks to Steve Eisenberg @NORTHLIGHT who advised, "Just jump in!" I still have nothing say, but I'm saying it. As soon as I figure out how to get a script to function, you'll see every breath-taking utterance on the web page. The feed is http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/27937887.rss.

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Nice Networking Opportunities

I almost didn't attend the SD Bloggers Meetup last night at the Sophia Hotel in the heart of downtown San Diego. Why? Several reasons:

driving at night
possibility of rain
expensive to park
getting dressed up
too much input

So before deciding, I reviewed Carol Ross' Nine Biggest Mistakes When Networking. She had me at #1. "Networking is a continuous effort, in good times and bad."

I'd only been to one of these bimonthly meetups. So I dressed up and went; made super contacts; had a fabulous fun time, two and a half free drinks, and yummy noms; won a metal travel mug from Voice of San Diego; reconnected with people I'd met in February and met quite a few new ones (like the bunch from NBC, the WordPress Boot Camp guy from L.A., perky Peggy); thanked Steve Eisenberg for his recent LinkedIn connect and heeded his urging to "just jump in" to Twitter; and found a nice little place to hold an Absinthe Party (Currants in the Sophia Hotel stocks several brands). Whew! Oh, and all it cost me was a little gas and $5 for three hours of valet parking.

Note: I'm not really a social person. For those writers who say the same and just stay home hiding in the corner of the closet--force yourself to get out and about and mingle with your peers (and betters). You never know what opportunities are going to present themselves, and if you don't play in that traffic, good luck will never strike you, no matter how well-prepared you are.

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Who is Debby Buchanan?

She's the minx who thinks she can entice me to join Twitter. She gave the Web 2.0 service this blog's email address. The message subject reads: Debby Buchanan wants to keep up with you on Twitter. Oh, how provocative!

This is exactly how I was lured to LinkedIn a few months ago when 'lert reader Missy Frye sent a similar message from that business networking site. There I discovered groups with discussions for writers and editors. I searched all the ones I've joined, but no Debby Buchanan appears, not even in the alumni group where I asked for help with Twitter!

So, are you the lone Debby on LinkedIn with no connection to me that I know about? The mystery writer/editor? The one in Kansas? The one in New Jersey and Facebook? You're not in my enormous email address book, at least not by name. Oh, horrors, do you write one of the blogs in my "Reciprocity" list, and I've forgotten the person tied to the title?

Sheesh. It will be easier to just go join Twitter and probably then I'll find out who kicked me in my writing pants. I need to anyway, so I can follow the addictive #queryfails conversation in which agents publish lousy queries and tell why they suck. The queries, not the agents. Maybe I'll start an #editfails.

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Get Ready to Twitter

Twitter limits its twits to 140 characters. I'm ready. After nearly five years of blogging: devising succinct but SEO politically correct titles and often packing the most into the fewest words possible, sometimes composing on the fly, I can Twitter. Microblogging is posting on Twitter and similar ultra-short form Web 2.0 services.

In recent months with my post titles and snippets appearing in RSS feed-delivered apps on others' blogs and websites, I've become keenly conscious of the value of a well-designed hook. My decades-long appreciation for newspaper headline writers deepened into near-idolatry. We are not worthy!

This post is sparked by an article in today's newspaper [Ah, caught me! Yes, I sneaked over to Starbucks after all--canyoutell?] about stars hiring ghostwits. Twitter ghostwriters. That is exactly the idea I had during the visit in which I devised the 2 Rules for Starbucks. I was going to call it something like "Web 2.0 Persona Management".

But first I have to learn how to manage a Twitter account. Stay tuned and get ready to follow.

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World Water Day 2009

Your brain is bathed with water. Immersed. Fluid-filled. We write with our brains. Where would your brain be without an ample supply of water? A dried-up, shriveled walnut of concretized flesh. Arid. Devoid of thought, of words.




What a hideous picture. A world without words. A world without the pictures painted by words. Literature, information, intelligence and progress operate on the skids of water. Serve it. Save it. Spend it. Brave it. We have only a finite amount to enjoy, improve, and survive with.

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LinkedIn LIONs and Bahs!

Friends or "connections" on LinkedIn are more fraught with angst and danger than I ever imagined. Apparently there be LIONs lurking about. They are LinkedIn Open Networkers who will link to anyone. Reminds me of web link exchangers and equally without value.

I wrote about my near-escape from the folly of premature "unfriending". Activity on LinkedIn has progressed at a brisk pace since then. As I mentioned earlier this month, it really picked up when I joined a couple of groups and especially since participating in discussions.

The accelerating pace of requests for connections (becoming "friends") caused me to forget the management's admonitions to only link to people you really know. I accepted one from a person whose posts and profile I admired. A few days later came a querulous whine about being unable to see my connections when viewing my profile. He intimated I had a broken button and to let him know when it was fixed.

Broken button my skinny flat ass! I'd purposely set that feature to not reveal who is connected to me until I felt like it. Really, until I understood better what it is all about. I'm one who doesn't learn something until I try it out for myself, but then I try to play by the rules.

Others just barge in and set their own rules, apparently. That's what this guy is doing. He is there "to be seen" and to mine connections lists for people to link to his. I'm not quite sure why, but apparently there are those on LinkedIn who collect links like pockets accumulate lint.

It's a matter of selectivity and quality to me. Someone else might view this as snobbery and elitism, I guess. And I might do it differently if I were job hunting. I don't want to badger people to connect with me just because I want a big one (list) or think I can use them some day. And I certainly don't want someone else going through my connections and badgering me to introduce him so that he can continue burrowing through related social connections.

Speaking of related, I just noticed that I am only three links from the President. Yes! Seven of my connections are connected to his connections! Barach and me are like buddies! Quick, let me go join his group ... group ... groupie.

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VerveEarth for Writers

When Clayton Brown, CEO of VerveEarth contacted me about his new service for bloggers, which plots the content of the internet on an interactive map of the world, I asked him what's in it for writers?

VerveEarth is an entirely new way to surf the net. It shows spatial and geographic connections that a blog search engine could never reveal. He also told me:

VerveEarth provides a gateway to find bloggers around the world, and for writers to get noticed. On VerveEarth, a blogger in Fiji has just as much chance of getting noticed as a blogger in New York. The search interface we provide breaks down a lot of the barriers on the internet that make it tough for a lot of writers to get noticed. You can also find some really interesting and inspiring material as you cruise around the globe checking out blogs.

So there it is, straight from the mouth of the prez himself: get noticed and get inspired. Once the feeds from here were working again, VerveEarth allowed me to register. Looks like an interesting addition to the Web 2.0 world. See my widgetal thingie that I haven't yet figured out how to put into this blog (or any other place, for that matter).

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LinkedIn Update & Forewords

Self-promotional tool on LinkedIn: Groups' discussions, news, and job postings. More specifically, in reviewing a new contact's profile, I noted a group named Informed Ideas for Writers. I had to join to learn about it and found people using it to direct others to blog posts and articles as well as asking questions to which I could contribute bon mots of information. Tiny tidbits of assistance.

Perhaps I'll add a discussion point with a link to yesterday's post about the book on book reviewing. One of the most interesting parts of that, by the way, is the long foreword written by James Cox, founder and editor of Midwest Book Review, one of the largest such operations. It's also old and respected. Cox's cogent remarks then lead me to wonder about writing forewords. If you have this honor/task, here are a couple of resources for guidance:

How to Write a Foreword by Jesse Jayne Rutherford. It is a .PDF file that downloads, but you can read the same material in text for from a cache at Google.

Foreword March! How to Write a Fantastic Foreword by Ami Hendrickson on her lovely blog Muse Ink.

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Branding Writers

Over at The Big Money, Jill Prilluck answers a question, "Can, and should, book authors become brands?":

A cubbyholed author—and often the publisher and agent—can be left hanging out to dry with a brand that no one really wants.

What do you think? Would it help or hinder your career if you branded yourself and your work a la Stephen King? It's too late for me, and looking back at the wide range of writing that I've done, I don't see how it would have been advantageous. It seems no different from "type casting" for movie stars.

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Blog Bloat

Here it comes again, like when I forget to take lactase before drinking milk. BLOAT is overtaking the main page of this blog. Like Miss Marple's Nurse said in Murder by Death, "I can't help it. I'm old!"

The longer I blog, the farther the Archives list extends. There must be some alternative to omitting it entirely. Omitting it partially? (A very little joke on myself there. Avoid adverbs.)

I realized this problem, creeping up like the rising tide, as I pondered where to put the latest bling, the badge for the Blogger's Choice Award nomination. Don't worry, I'm not going to mention it every day. Would once a week be too much? Monthly? Should I check the stats daily? Am I obsessed? No, overjoyed!

Seriously, if I try to follow the advice I give others about a web page not forcing readers to scroll down more than two screens, I wouldn't be able to fit in all the Reciprocity listings, let alone everything else I want. Too much blog bling? How do you feel about blog pages that just go on and on?

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Fun with Books in San Diego

Last night the San Diego Public Library held the 43rd Annual Local Authors Exhibit. Yes, some of the authors were on exhibit, as well as the books they'd published in 2008. This was the first time I'd attended (having never published a book, I was never eligible) thanks to my friend, Betsy Chamberlin. Here she is, near her murder mystery, Death in the Shadow.

I connected with many authors I know, but I'd forgotten that one of my website clients, Ralph Cates' Black October also came out last year. That's us below.


Joseph Wambaugh's newest, Hollywood Crows: A Novel was on display, but I didn't spot our famous ex-cop author. Nor were my eyes sharp enough to read all the name tags to see if attendees included Ken Blanchard, Sylvia Browne, Lee Silber, Thomas Larsen, Ken Kuhlken, Chet Cunningham, or Robert Griswold, although a large turnout enjoyed the event, especially the scrumptious canapes. Warm crab spread on baguette and toasty brie with broccoli en croute were to die for! Kudos to the Friends of the Central Library for their hospitality and hard work.

Residents and visitors to San Diego will be able to view the collection of local authors' books on display in the main library downtown until February 28.

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All About Me, Me, Me

Ahem. Missy Frye, over at The Incurable Disease of Writing, honored yours truly with an interview earlier this week. She called it "A Conversation with Georganna Hancock" and gave me such a flattering introduction. *blush*

When I asked the gang who hang around the "Writers' Block Party" (Writer's Digest forum) to comment on Missy's blog post, these were some of the responses:

Jeff Yeager of The Ultimate Cheapskate, author of The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches (Random House), seen on NBC TODAY Show's Ultimate Cheapskate; host of "$aving Green" by Living Green on PLANET GREEN TV (a cable show on the Discovery channel, I think); and blogging at: TheDailyGreen.com, WiseBread.com, PlanetGreen.com, AARP's LifeTuner.com [ed note: all this info is in his signature!] wrote:

... Favorite line: "That I’ve written for a variety of types of publications was just dumb luck or standing in the intersection of opportunity and preparation." Congrats!

Melissa Carrigee of Finding the Write Moment and Melissa's Manic Musings, author of Adventures in Home Building: Written From a Woman's Point of View (http://www.authortree.com/melissacarrigee) said:

I loved the interview. I almost stood up and shouted "Amen" at the end. I would have scared my cats though so I didn't.

and finally, Lisa Abeyta, another freelancer, wrote:

Nice interview, Georganna. Is E! following you around yet? If not, I'm sure that's not far behind.

Thanks guys! Uh, what's "E!"? *peers around nervously*

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Unfriending in a Web 2.0 World

Woke up this morning with a wretched sore throat. Scooted off to Starbucks for a free "London Fog" latte (Earl Grey tea--good for sore throats). No help. Crap! I wanted to write about "unfriending" on Web 2.0. That is dropping or deleting a name in your contacts list. On the most social of the social sites, they're called "friends" even though they may have been automatically listed because they are friends of friends or recommended by the software, or for many reasons that have nothing to do with them really being your friend.

Web 2.0 is engendering controversy with this "friending" feature. First came articles with titles like "What is a 'Friend' Anyway?" Then came "What's with all the friends?" and more on "How Many Friends Do You Need?" Of course some people turned it into a competition while others tried to stay conservative and focus on the quality of the feature.

Internet communication itself has altered the meaning of friendship. A friend, unless a "pen pal" used to be someone you knew in person, even if you now live far apart and see each other seldom. Even if you only communicated through notes on Christmas cards, you were still friends because at one time you were in physical proximity and shared other activities in real life.

Web 2.0 "friends" are often no different from the little graphics under your name or photo. They might mean anything from "she's a hottie" to "never met" to just cute stars. The younger the participants, the sillier and more meaningless the friend system can be. So now comes the culmination of questioning "friends" with articles on 'unfriending'. Dear Abby, what will happen if I 'unfriend' someone in my Facebook account? "Unfriended is unwanted?" "Revenge of the Unfriends".

It can feel like you've lost control of your life, if not at least your online identity! The notion to drop someone from one of my contact lists passed through my mind recently. I was trying to use LinkedIn to locate contacts that might be useful to my editing business, but I was invited into the program by someone who wanted me to be their useful contact. In the 60s that was known as "upwardly mobile" social climbing. AND I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH THAT.

Eventually, and only to enhance the appearance of my connections list, I thought about dropping that first friend. I hadn't heard from her since I'd joined a few months ago. My hand hovered over the mouse to click her out of the fold. Please understand this was not a reflection on the value of the person. It was a business decision to affect the apparent quality of my profile. I still welcomed a friendship with her in real life, well, by email anyway, virtual life.

And speaking of email, just before I clicked her out, an email arrived from that very person, asking to interview me for her blog. Whew! Dodged another bullet. The image of a burning bridge flashed across my vision. Except, here I am, exposing my almost-folly that would have snatched a marketing opportunity from the jaws of success. See, I keep telling you that I am here to try to help you avoid the pitfalls on the road to writing success. They just keep on coming, too!

Isn't life funny? I just looked down to see that I made the whole trip to Starbucks with my pants unzipped.

*Blush*

I'm going back to bed.

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Message for the Day

Hi, Georganna, May this be your best birthday ever!

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Use LinkedIn for Writing Work

Remember the phrases "upwardly mobile" and "social climbing"? If you're old enough, you will. Keep them in mind as you read on.

Quite a few years ago, I took advice from someone I should have not. Eventually I discovered the person was less than stable and had multiple family problems. The advice? To join Google's Orkut social networking site rather than Linkedin. The notion was to network for business purposes, but Orkut turned into a sandbox for foreigners to practice English and play at Machiavellian principles.

Although I'm still trying to sort out how the various parts of Linkedin operate, I get the drift. (I'm still pondering the differences among contacts, connections, invitations, and introductions.) The way to work it for business is to not treat the service as a social network. Sounds simple, yes? No, we are conditioned to immediately enroll all our friends when we join such a group, simply duplicating our existing social network. Anyway, how many "friends" can one have?

With Linkedin, the phrase "upwardly mobile" might best be kept in mind. It's like getting useful back links for your website--you want ones from more prestigious sites, those with a PageRank at least one notch higher than yours. At Linkedin, go for the contacts/connections with people who can do you some good, crass as it may sound. Their contacts, to whom they can provide you with introductions, may be the perfect sources for new work for you. When you join the site, it offers a link to The LinkedIn Blog: Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn | Guy Kawasaki. Highly recommended. Read it first, before joining, if you can.

I haven't touched on the search processes at Linkedin, finding those initial best connections, mainly because I don't have a handle on them yet. One new discovery: Linkedin has higher levels of paid membership with even better features.

See the initial post about this adventure and one made a few days later.

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Writing for Good: Join Blog Action Day Chain

It is only two weeks until Blog Action Day on October 15. This year we're blogging about poverty. I doubt anyone will be in favor, but many, many in this world are familiar with it. Have you joined the Blog Action Day Chain at A Writer's Edge? You'll receive a link to your blog on the home page of A Writer's Edge, which Google visits frequently throughout each day. Raise your site's visibility in search rankings and participate in a good cause.

How to do it: Sign up at Blogactionday.org. Publish a post containing a link to http://www.writers-edge.info/2008/08/writing-for-blog-action-day.htm (the original call). Let me know in a comment or by email that you have joined. That's it! Instant fame, fortune, and good will.

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Writing Websites: Critical Listings

Last month when I wrote about how to have better websites for a book, yourself and your writing, I listed some of the components that enable attracting visitors, capturing their attention to keep them browsing, and causing them to return to your site. I promised to explore each of these components more in depth. This is the first follow up. Today we'll consider critical listings for your site.

Directories: Listing your website on The Open Directory (DMOZ.org) is neither simple nor automatic. Many people are unaware of its existence, but it is important to attempt to obtain a listing with it because many other directories (including Google's) feed from it. In fact, the only difference between Google's Directory and DMOZ is that Google allows the sites to be displayed by Page Rank order or alphabetically. One trick to getting a listing at DMOZ is to first study its structure and carefully choose which category you want you site listed in. You must submit your application ("suggest URL" link in the grey bar at the top of the page) while you're on the page of that desired category. Craft your description carefully, because this is not a place where changes are easily made, if at all. Do not try to list your website in more than one category!

The Yahoo! Directory is primarily commercial, and you can buy a listing. If your site is definitely noncommercial, you may "suggest a site" similar to the DMOZ process, although it currently kicks you back into the paid submission page, and the link about noncommercial submissions goes to the search help section. Not useful!

If you have a blog, multitudinous directories exist for them. See some of the ones A Writer's Edge is listed in for ideas. To find directories on your topic (e.g., book subject, type of writing, ones just for authors) search Google with the topic word and "directory" or "directories".

Search Engines: Google and Yahoo! control most of the web searches. MSN Live Search has a small part and others, tiny fractions. I think it is worth the effort to submit your site to the top two or three. Google and Yahoo! also have a sitemap service by which you can direct search engines to scrutinize the exact pages you want. I think these are also beneficial, especially if you have a large site with many web pages. They do require some degree of web expertise, although HTTP uploading helps.

The practices I've outlined above are part of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for a website and web pages. It's all about getting you, your site, your book, your writing in front of people's eyes. If you build it, they won't come unless someone or something tells them about it and where to find it.

This article is an extension of Better Websites for Writing.

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Beware When Writing Website Content

More and more writers recognize the need for a website if for nothing other than displaying a portfolio to which to direct agents and editors. See my Credits page, for instance, with the link to an example of a published magazine article. I could also scan many articles into .PDF files or .HTML pages and send interested parties the links to particular clips.

This is all well and good, including displaying a resume on your writing site. Unfortunately some people get caught up in the joys of blogging and mingle the professional site with the 'personal' blog. I understand at least one free blogging software even facilitates building a website, although I'm not certain it hosts such sites too. Any WordPress readers care to comment?

Beware, too, of using recognizable templates. Design your site to mirror the professional writer that you are or want to become. That means a clean layout and sharp content focused on your writing and career. Resist the lure to include stories and photos of your cute, talented children and pets or personal rants and enthusiasma. Think about whether or not every subject has anything to do with your writing.

Avoid cutesy animations and graphics or free hosting without a domain name for your site. Using a "free" host says you are an unprofessional penny-pincher, unwilling to invest in your career. This indictment does not apply to having a presence on one of the major free social networking services. They are advantageous to establishing credibility and identification as well as networking for clients or jobs. Just make certain the information you offer matches up at all sites that pop up when someone performs an Internet search on your name. You do Google yourself regularly, don't you?

Study websites you admire and where you do business. Notice the level of professionalism they display. Your writing career is also a business, and your site must be part of your platform as a professional writer. When you add content, ensure that it is related to your career, book, services or products. I would further include what some consider a separate 'personal' blog. It's separated from your professional website only in your imagination. It is all part of the package that represents you to potential clients or employers. They also use Google (and more). If you want a career in the media be very circumspect about how you use the media to present yourself.

DON'T MISS OUT! JOIN THE BLOG ACTION DAY CHAIN.

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Ping Yourself!!

Recently out of private beta testing, Ping.fm allows bloggers to update most social networks at once. This was one of the first bonus features I discovered from joining LinkedIn, thanks to the invitation from Missy Frye of The Incurable Disease of Writing. I think I met Missy through MyBlogLog...or was it on BlogCatalog? Thank goodness we aren't required to keep track of the tangled skein that nets us all together!

If you're one of those who preceded me into social bookmarking/social networking or who are deeply involved with multiple accounts, Ping.fm might be just the tool you need. What it does is literally ping (update) all your accounts with the various social services when you add a post. Not only that, as Ping explains, you can:

Use AIM, GTalk, iGoogle, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, WAP, iPhone/iPod Touch, SMS or E-mail and let Ping.fm relay your message to a multitude of social networking sites.

Awesome!

Just try keeping up with this one through their blog. Last Friday, they announced support for Multiply, YouAre, and Yammer and an addition of Diigo to their bookmarking service. Don't expect to see explanations, however, until you sign up with Ping.fm -- it's all very hush-hush for outsiders. Like me.

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Publicize Writing & Book Websites

What if you build it, and no one comes? No one you want, anyway. A previous post offered some good reasons for writers, especially authors, to have websites. You want to connect with fans and potential readers or employers; provide more information about your, your services, your book; and the site is a badge of professionalism and sincerity, dedication to a career in writing.

All those functions are fulfilled when you let people know about your website. They need to know the correct web address or URL, which is the domain name. That's why I put a lot of emphasis on choosing a short, memorable name. To get the people you want to visit your site, you have to give them that address, probably several times and in every way possible. Here are some methods to use:

• on book covers
• in signatures online
• after signatures to emails
• in every piece of publicity
• mentioned in every promotion
• on business cards, stationary
• in all advertising
• included on letters
• repeated during interviews
• revealed during signings
• announced to groups

Begin to think of your website address as a vital part of your professional identity. In your mind, associate it with your name (as a signature) and email address, so that you start including the web address, too, when filling out forms or providing your contact information. For example, if you do book signings and give away bookmarks, be sure the website address is on the marker -- and any other give-away items.

You can find many more articles on websites here on A Writer's Edge.

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Writing on Technorati Fans

I've been meaning to give a shout out to the 27 Fans at Technorati. Thanks for "fanning" A Writer's Edge. Please join in the Blog Action Day*Chain if you haven't already, by a visit to the post, follow the directions at the bottom, and get a link on the front page of A Writer's Edge!

• thePuck (Neal Jansons) The Puck Writes
• AricMitchell (Aric Mitchell)
  Special Edition Writing Tips
• circuitmouse (Mark Haile) Circuit Mouse
• endellion Fix Writer's Block
• housewifeatwork (Crissy Taruc) Housewife @ Work
• phodak (Phil Hodak)The Cure is Worse Than the Disease
• scaldwell (Susan E Caldwell)
• onejan84 (Todd Greene)A Place Called Fiction
• TheSatch (Brandon Satrom)Words of Redemption
• lakmar (Lakshmi Mareddy)
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