After a week hiatus, Spunky is back! Time to unveil the changes.
As you can see, I've done some major housekeeping, too. Now that my focus in life has changed, it’s time for this blog to get with the program.
After eight years in the publishing industry, Spunky the author is taking a break. A really long one. Maybe permanent! I’ve decided my time would be better spent focusing on my skills, strengths, and knowledge.
What’s new, updated, or redesigned:
A new focus on publishing, promoting, and speaking tips. All posts will now focus on these areas. And this includes many new guest bloggers and authors! I have also organized my right sidebar to include links to articles within this blog and other websites. Please feel free to browse through any topics you missed!
You will also see a button above marked ‘Services.’ I am now offering several services (or links to these services) to writers and authors. Two are currently listed with three more to follow. (One of which I’ve offered on my Spunk on a Stick website for the past 18 months.) If you are a writer or author in need of any of these services, please contact me!
All awards and buttons have their own page now.
My new posting schedule will be 3 - 4 times a week.
The Weekend Sillies? That shall remain the same!! I don’t want anyone sending me hate mail or unfriending me because that person did not get his or her weekly LOL Cats fix!
I will also be online more! I have turned over my online writer’s club, The Writer’s Meow, to a new founder and admin, and streamlined some other sites to reduce the pull for my attention.
So browse through the site and let me know what you think!
Wednesday is Talli Rolland’s Blogsplash! Not that everyone in the blogging world doesn’t already know this…
Monday, November 29, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Closing Down
My time online has grown limited over the past six months and my focus is changing.
Ironically some of the bloggers I used to follow have also dropped by the wayside for whatever reason.
I'd tried to make some small adjustments here, but not enough. So time for some radical changes.
This blog is closing for one week. During that time I will redesign the sidebars and pages and prepare for the reopening. I will reschedule my posting to focus on some new areas. This should make my site more useful to others and more in tune with who I am now.
Promotions will still be a big part of this site. So will production. And speaking. But for now, Spunky the author is done.
So everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'll see you on the other side!
Ironically some of the bloggers I used to follow have also dropped by the wayside for whatever reason.
I'd tried to make some small adjustments here, but not enough. So time for some radical changes.
This blog is closing for one week. During that time I will redesign the sidebars and pages and prepare for the reopening. I will reschedule my posting to focus on some new areas. This should make my site more useful to others and more in tune with who I am now.
Promotions will still be a big part of this site. So will production. And speaking. But for now, Spunky the author is done.
So everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'll see you on the other side!
Friday, November 19, 2010
Developing Contacts to Promote Your Book - Part V
Final installment! I was one of the presenters for The Muse Online Writers Conference, which included a week-long forum workshop, Developing Contacts to Promote Your Book. Each day had a specific topic and the participants really got into building their contact lists.
For the first four installments - Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV
The whole point of these exercises is to get your brain working. You want to develop these lists while you are writing if at all possible! And as participants in the forum discovered, I’m a stickler for specifics. Generic answers (like ‘everyone’) don’t fly with me! If you are to effectively promote your book, you need specifics and details!
You can share some of your ideas below or copy & paste and work on your lists on your own time. But sharing a few ideas is fun, because it might help out someone else!
Establishing Other Contacts -
The plan is to make a list of all options and begin networking many months prior to the release of your book.
Reviewers
Make a list of potential book reviewers - top reviewers, magazines, newspapers, online reviewers and sites, book bloggers, etc. Don’t limit yourself to places that just review books, either. Remember to coordinate with your publisher’s efforts.
Media releases
Media release options - paid and free services, news media, AP offices, magazines and websites, businesses, etc.
Fairs, festivals, & shows
List all regional book festivals, specialty fairs & festivals, and trade shows.
Personal contacts
Develop a mailing list of all personal contacts - snail mail and email. Consider all personal and business contacts.
For the first four installments - Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV
The whole point of these exercises is to get your brain working. You want to develop these lists while you are writing if at all possible! And as participants in the forum discovered, I’m a stickler for specifics. Generic answers (like ‘everyone’) don’t fly with me! If you are to effectively promote your book, you need specifics and details!
You can share some of your ideas below or copy & paste and work on your lists on your own time. But sharing a few ideas is fun, because it might help out someone else!
Establishing Other Contacts -
The plan is to make a list of all options and begin networking many months prior to the release of your book.
Reviewers
Make a list of potential book reviewers - top reviewers, magazines, newspapers, online reviewers and sites, book bloggers, etc. Don’t limit yourself to places that just review books, either. Remember to coordinate with your publisher’s efforts.
Media releases
Media release options - paid and free services, news media, AP offices, magazines and websites, businesses, etc.
Fairs, festivals, & shows
List all regional book festivals, specialty fairs & festivals, and trade shows.
Personal contacts
Develop a mailing list of all personal contacts - snail mail and email. Consider all personal and business contacts.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Researching with Stephen Tremp
Today I welcome author Stephen Tremp!
Writers love to write. It is the research that some are not prepared to do.
Me, I really don’t struggle very much as I love what I do. I love performing due diligence in my research. Much of the two years I spent writing Breakthrough was devoted to researching the latest and greatest in the realm of theoretical physics. It is this love, the passion, that drives me to pen a story that is as accurate as possible. The physical settings, restaurants, and universities are all real and need to be described accurately as readers may be familiar with these places. So does the detective’s investigation and police procedures. Same with weapons. How many rounds does a Smith & Wesson model 1006 10 mm hold in a magazine (there could be more than one answer). Better get it right. Police officers and sheriff’s deputies are great resources.
Ultimately, when one performs research, they should want to add to an existing body of knowledge (BOK), that is, a set of concepts, terms and activities that make up a particular domain. Of course, no one will ever complete an existing BOK. They can only add something new to it while leaving suggestions for further research that they or someone else can perform.
Problem: Often writers cannot perform research simply because they are unable to. They do not have the proper resources. Solution: research the research of others (and give them credit).
Example: I’m an author who writes action Near Future Sci-Fi action. I have to have at least a basic working knowledge of physics. Problem: Sometimes we just don’t have access to the necessary resources to carry out adequate research. I don’t have a particle accelerator in my garage (which would be most helpful). Solution: I have to research the research of other people. I read a lot of books on physics and some of the greatest scientific minds, dead and alive. And I read peer reviewed articles, which is the subjecting of an author's scholarly work, research, or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field. So I use their research. And I remember to give them credit.
Here’s on exercise: make two lists. One of topics you would like to research and one people who have a deep understanding of such topics. Then, go to YouTube. Example: I type in a subject like CERN, Large Hadron Collider, theoretical physics. Or a person like Alan Guth (theoretical physicist and cosmologist at M.I.T). I also use Google Earth, yearly weather reports, and customer reviews. Honestly, there is so much information available at my fingertips, the biggest struggle I have is sorting through the wealth of information and eliminating data.
As fiction writers, there are a number of areas you should have a basic working knowledge, such as criminology and forensics. A great example of a blogger who performs her due dillegence in research is Clarissa Draper. Example: go to her Web site and in the SEARCH BOX type in Forensics or Poison, then scroll to the top of the blog. There you will find well researched and detailed posts (with sources) regarding guns, autopsies, how a corpses deteriorates under certain conditions, blood stains and patterns, rigormortis and time of death, and other relevant and very interesting topics.
In this day of real time information and people’s fascination with everything CSI, you will need to present your events in a manner that is accurate, insightful, and is also a great place to plant clues for later use in the story. Be sure you use reliable sources. Just because you see something explained on CSI doesn’t mean it’s necessarily accurate. You will need to be, as our hostess Diane claims, be scary organized.
Please join me Friday as I visit Karen Gowan at Coming Down From The Mountain as we wind down the final tour stop of my Virtual Blog Tour 2010! And discuss “Write Another Book, For Pete’s Sake!”.
Stephen Tremp is author of the action thriller Breakthrough . You can visit Stephen at Breakthrough Blogs where Breakthrough is available for purchase and download to all eReaders.
Writers love to write. It is the research that some are not prepared to do.
Ultimately, when one performs research, they should want to add to an existing body of knowledge (BOK), that is, a set of concepts, terms and activities that make up a particular domain. Of course, no one will ever complete an existing BOK. They can only add something new to it while leaving suggestions for further research that they or someone else can perform.
Problem: Often writers cannot perform research simply because they are unable to. They do not have the proper resources. Solution: research the research of others (and give them credit).
Example: I’m an author who writes action Near Future Sci-Fi action. I have to have at least a basic working knowledge of physics. Problem: Sometimes we just don’t have access to the necessary resources to carry out adequate research. I don’t have a particle accelerator in my garage (which would be most helpful). Solution: I have to research the research of other people. I read a lot of books on physics and some of the greatest scientific minds, dead and alive. And I read peer reviewed articles, which is the subjecting of an author's scholarly work, research, or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field. So I use their research. And I remember to give them credit.
Here’s on exercise: make two lists. One of topics you would like to research and one people who have a deep understanding of such topics. Then, go to YouTube. Example: I type in a subject like CERN, Large Hadron Collider, theoretical physics. Or a person like Alan Guth (theoretical physicist and cosmologist at M.I.T). I also use Google Earth, yearly weather reports, and customer reviews. Honestly, there is so much information available at my fingertips, the biggest struggle I have is sorting through the wealth of information and eliminating data.
As fiction writers, there are a number of areas you should have a basic working knowledge, such as criminology and forensics. A great example of a blogger who performs her due dillegence in research is Clarissa Draper. Example: go to her Web site and in the SEARCH BOX type in Forensics or Poison, then scroll to the top of the blog. There you will find well researched and detailed posts (with sources) regarding guns, autopsies, how a corpses deteriorates under certain conditions, blood stains and patterns, rigormortis and time of death, and other relevant and very interesting topics.
In this day of real time information and people’s fascination with everything CSI, you will need to present your events in a manner that is accurate, insightful, and is also a great place to plant clues for later use in the story. Be sure you use reliable sources. Just because you see something explained on CSI doesn’t mean it’s necessarily accurate. You will need to be, as our hostess Diane claims, be scary organized.
Please join me Friday as I visit Karen Gowan at Coming Down From The Mountain as we wind down the final tour stop of my Virtual Blog Tour 2010! And discuss “Write Another Book, For Pete’s Sake!”.
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