Thursday, March 14, 2013

Hello? Anyone there?

I have finally reestablished myself as the busy person in the saying "if you need something done, ask a busy person to do it." Wow, currently I am enrolled in several online courses, working a full-time job, writing a book, and working on presentations for Social Media Management. Next week, the company I work for is holding a three day conference, which I am excited about, but which means a much busier week than normal.

For my day job, I have been studying what social media outlets we need to be focused on for our specific type of business. While there are go-to social media networks that everyone assumes they should be using, they might be putting forth a lot of effort while not actually reaching their target audience.

Content is good, but conversation leading to sales is better. I scrolled through my Twitter feed today looking for someone who had actually posted something that 1) was not promotion and 2) I was able to respond to personally. It took a while and several visits before a post popped up. That is sad.

If I were looking for books to read, I would be in luck. If I were looking for advice about the writing process, and needed it right away, I might not be so fortunate. Granted, I follow a lot of self-published authors, but they seem to be so wrapped up in promotion that I have a hard time seeing who they really are.

So my questions for the evening are these:
1) As business owners (yes, I consider self-published authors to be business owners), do you know who your target audience is?

2) Are you able to "speak" with them via your social media posts, or are you just pushing content to an empty room?

3) In which social media markets are you particularly successful?

Please feel free to answer in the comment section, so I know I'm not talking to an empty room. :)

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Whew! I'm back!

Wow, I can't believe I haven't had time to post since September! It has been a whirlwind 6 months, but I am happy to report that I have finally settled into my new life as wife and stepmom with a 2+hour commute three days a week. Surprisingly, this has given me MORE time to "write" - or dictate - since I really can't type and drive. I've been working on the Feistres story during the commute, and the time just flies, even if I am a bit hoarse from all of the talking. Getting my first royalty check from Amazon for my short story was a nice boost too.

So here's the plan. I am available to start editing again. I am also writing, and have a few shorter stories aside from the Feistres story line that I will be working on. Also, The Fear Below, my short story that is published on Amazon will be available for free tomorrow and Tuesday, March 4th and 5th. Here's the link to The Fear Below

**Correction: the short story will be free on Tuesday, March 5th and Wednesday, March 6th.**