I know you think you understand what I said but what you dont understand is that what I said is not what I meant
I know well the desire to have approval, the boost we get from a genuine compliment.
I also know that asking others for feedback when what we really want is a pat on the head is fraught with peril, asking for trouble, bending over and begging to be kicked.
Some general thoughts and specific comments on feedback:
Continue reading “Feedback Fraught with Fear, False Findings, Fruitlessness”
Somewhere along the way, it crashed.
More precisely, I crashed.
On November 11th of 2011 I released 6 books simultaneously. (11/11/11, get it?) In the previous 6 months I’d written (or compiled) 4 books and co-authored 2 more, all books about business philosophy and process.
I switched to fiction. Finally followed up my first Irish adventure novel with a second, then started another series, and a third.
It was like driving a Lamborghini steamroller.
Then, I got some professional advice.
Do you have all the following in place so your fans are connected with you and sharing your posts with their friends?
Let your fans know that supportive things like reviews at Amazon, comments at the blog, enthusiastic shares on social media and even personal emails help make you enthusiastic about continuing to write.
Author Bio:
Sue L Canfield has been working with social media since 2005. She blogs regularly about how to use social media and consults on best social media practices at Chief Virtual Officer. She specializes in helping authors create and maintain their online presence. She currently manages a team of four social media account managers and over a dozen social media clients.
Ignore them.
When they leave a comment on the blog, read it, maybe, but don’t respond.
If they ask a question on social media or by email, ignore it.
Don’t offer new information, say, by posting to your blog or updating your website.
Instead, disappear for weeks at a time.
If you want to compete in the business of being an author in 2016 you had better be approachable and responsive.
Or someone who is will take your readers.
And their money.
There’s an old story about a chap who goes on vacation and leaves his dull-witted brother to care for the household.
After a week, he calls home and asks how his cat is faring.
“Cat’s dead,” his brother blurts.
“What? It’s what? That’s no way to tell someone their beloved pet died! Ya gotta work up to it.”
His brother, eager to learn, asks how one might do that.
Continue reading “When is it Appropriate to Offer Unsolicited Criticism of Someone’s Art?”
Update on my Story Cartel launch. My goal is to share every detail I can so you can see what would work for you.
Last Monday we sent out a special edition of the newsletter, and posted the same content here at the blog. We had launched the download at Story Cartel on Friday so we’d have the page’s URL for the post and newsletter.
By Monday morning, 9 Story Cartel members had already downloaded the book. This was before the newsletter and post went live.
The day of our launch, 9 more people downloaded the book; 6 of them newsletter subscribers. (One of the earlier downloaders is also a fan who follows everything I do closely, but I’m still pleased they discovered my launch on their own.)
According to Story Cartel’s data for average downloads per review, the 18 downloads shouldn’t result in any reviews. Continue reading “The Story (Cartel) Continues”
I should turn that into a song, eh?
Comes up sometimes in discussion boards: write for yourself and find artistic fulfillment, or write for your audience and sell books?
Here’s what comes up in the research of Chip and Dan Heath, experts in the brain science of decision-making: avoid either/or thinking when making decisions. Consider more than two opposing options.
Today, consider taking a page from CompSci (that’s computer science for the 99.9% of you who’ve managed to elude its evil grasp.)
But first, let’s make soup. Continue reading “Who Are You Writing For? (It Isn’t Really Either/Or)”
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Water wears away stone by constancy, not power, not volume.
Marketing with a long vision will serve you better than looking for short-term sales.
Every day, do one thing to market yourself as an author, or to learn more about successful marketing. Here are 20 ideas to get you started: Continue reading “Do One Thing”
Traffic is down here at Someday Box. We aren’t surprised, Best Beloved and I. The reposts from Finding Why and Business Heretics. Excerpts. Links to hither and yon.
Being the needy angsty type, my first impulse is to ask how I can make you love me more. The Dylan poster on my wall says it doesn’t matter who loves you as long as you love you.
Most of you show up on Friday, after the newsletter goes out. The in-between posts get less love, maybe because they’re not fresh. Maybe because the titles aren’t compelling. Maybe because they’re about someone else instead of me, and you’re all slavering and lusting for more me, less them.
Maybe I should have my head examined.
Truth is, there are consequences to change.
Continue reading “Truth or Consequences: It’s Not Just a Town in New Mexico Any More”
Thinking your fan base is “everyone” is the wrong kind of arrogance.
Knowing that some people won’t get you, but that your fans will be even more delighted to be insiders because of it . . . I guess that’s not arrogance, is it?