Showing posts with label indie publishing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label indie publishing. Show all posts

Monday, January 5, 2015

Owning Your Words

Some of my readers are writers, some of them health and wellness seekers, and others are finance readers.
For the writers, I just wanted to mention, that it really does make a big difference where you decide to
"sow" your words. Just throwing your carefully crafted words anywhere and everywhere all over the internet ......just might not be the best strategy.

Yes, there are the typical ways that folks try to build up blog traffic, and one of those ways is by writing as many comments as possible on blogs that have similarly interested readers. The hope is that a reader will find your comment intriguing and therefore click on your blog link to seek out more of your brilliant words or just simply because they find you interesting as someone they want to get to know as a friend or mentor.

But I just wanted to mention, that if you are a real hard core "author" and each and every word that you write has been preplanned and crafted into an artisanal masterpiece, then you might want to be equally as discerning as to just where you plunk your hard work.

If you want to  really "own your words" then you might want to consider only the on line avenues which will allow you to do just that. Set up your very own personal author blog and don't share the writing ops with any one. You will be the sole creator/author/artist of your blog. It is your domain. You control it's contents, it's look , it's advertising and it's focus.

Another option is to set your heart to more Indie type of publishing using one of the various self publishing sites that are popular now such as Create Space, Kindle Direct Publishing, Smashwords or Lulu.
I have used all of those. Each has it's own unique vibe and efficiency..

I'm very conscious of what is under my control and what is under the control of others.
There are microblogging sites that I write for, and when I write for them, I am under no illusions and I realize that I am really selling them my work for micro-pennies on the dollar. I am not "Author Royalty" sitting on a stuffed leather chair at a glossy mahogany desk, permitted to spend months crafting just one sentence of genius. Simply put....I am a mini-content farm and  "My words" are bucks for them. It isn't personal....it's business. As long as my words earn them viewers, they will continue to seek out to buy my words.

Ok, get to the point Carla. I just want to say, that in your writing you are going to have to make choices. Many or most of these choices are going to have to do with control. Who will you allow to edit your words?
Who will be allowed to post your written work? Which sites will you grant permission to publish your work?

Marketing your written work is often not best done by the author him/herself. It takes an objective eye who understands the dynamics of marketing written material to know how and when and where to promote your work. They might have to tell you gently that your book covers really need help, and that your
work isn't compelling or trendy enough for mainstream media. Know your niche. Know what you like and what you are good at. Then pursue it full steam ahead, all the while knowing that ultimately it must be you and only you  who decides who gets your words and who will not be admitted into the "circle of trust" to take good care of your written babies.

May your work be blessed and prosper, even as you sow it like precious Non-GMO seed into the earth.

Peace and prosperity.

Carla


Wednesday, November 19, 2014

There's Never Been A Better Time to Be a Writer.....

It used to be an exclusive club....something for college professors in corduroy blazers with fashionable patches on the elbows....to be able to say that they are an "author".

But the inner self of Indie Artists of today won't stay for that obligatory purgatory any more. They simply must write, in any form and fashion they want to....and write they will.

It's not that suddenly it has become ultra lucrative to be a writer, more so than before, it's just that the
opportunity to be heard in a multitude of different platforms has exploded.

Yes, after reading Stephen Baker's book "The Numerati" I realize that many of the content farms of the net, are simply being used by bigger forces to gather data, precious consumer and personal data that will be shaped and molded into something that can be sold to a bank or an ISP or credit card company.

But after all the worries about Big Brother fade away, there still remains my joyful conclusion
that it's simply the very best time in humanity to be a writer. Write on!

Choose any platform and choose your focus.... blog with Wordpress or Blogger, make elaborate Facebooks pages for your field, and carve out a niche with your Twitter account. If you are really obsessive about it, you might even start writing socially for Hub Pages, Helium or Bubblews.

The world is your oyster folks. Be discerning. Be discriminating. Let your platform reflect a part of what you want to say. But please don't ever be silent again. The human race is awakening..... awakening to the power of their own words .....and I for one, couldn't be happier.

Write on, dear friends....write on.