Writers & Technology Part II

Speaking of technology and learning to work with a tool or two, those of you currently subscribed to this blog may not be for much longer as I've had difficulty with Feedburner for about a week now with no help or end to the situation in site. In fact, I don't know if you're even going to get this. I may switch to Feedblitz, but I'm not sure yet. Still checking that out.

If I end up having to close my account and start over, I do hope you'll bookmark and check back for new posts and resubscribe in the future. If you don't already, you can also visit my main site and sign up for my newsletter to stay posted on the blog and much more.I truly appreciate your readership and look forward to continuing to help you with your publishing journey.

Cheryl Pickett
http://www.publishinganswers.com

Writers and Technology

I am going to show my age here, and tell you that when I typed high school papers, I was doing so on a typewriter. I did have correction tape at least. I did that through most of college too, then near the end, a small computer lab with maybe 5 computers was available. At that point we could type our stuff in a word processing program, save to a disk the size of a big coaster (remember those?) and print it out to hand in.

No need to tell you that things have come a long way since then. Now the problem is not learning "the" new technology, it's picking which one to learn first and trying to learn it fast enough to keep up with the latest recommendation.

As a writer who wants to write, publish and sell, the choices are almost never ending now. There are programs to help you write, that will read your work back to you so you can edit, and multiple ways to produce a book. There are blogs, social network sites, and bookmark sites to help with publicity just to name a few. Where oh, where to begin?

My suggestion-pick one or two at a time that can help you with the level you're at now. For example, if you're writing and want help, find those tools. You can learn about publicity and networking later. Get to know those tools, if you like them, get to know how to use them well, then move on in your own time. You may not be on top of the latest and greatest at the first moment, but you will be on top of what matters to you, and that's what matters most.

Cheryl Pickett
http://www.publishinganswers.com/

Has the internet changed reading habits?

Found this interesting blog post today where the question was asked as to whether or not the Internet has changed people's reading habits http://www.jacketflap.com/megablog/index.asp?postid=201023

There are 67 responses so I haven't read them all, but of those I did read, I saw a trend saying people are reading fewer mags and newspapers, but not necessarily books. This is by no means an exhaustive survey, but another good tidbit to keep in mind as you make decisions about what to write as well as how to promote it.

Let's keep the conversation going here, what's your take on the subject?


Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

What If?

Lately, there's been a lot in the headlines about big, unexpected events-and not the good kind. 500 year flood levels, record numbers of tornadoes having no power for over a week, and of course, the sudden, unexpected passing of Tim Russert way too soon in the grand scheme of things.

While of course first effort goes to caring for the stranded, the homeless and the hurting, situations like this can also be viewed as a prompt to make sure our lives are in order for the "what ifs". As writers who make all or some of our living from our craft, it can be a time to make sure that part of our life is situated as well.

Here are just a few items to consider should you decide to take stock:

1. If you have an emergency and were not able to be in your home or office, what do you need to be able to continue to work? Where would you go to try to do so?

2. Do you have back-ups of your most important work and contact information and is it portable?

3. If you became physically incapacitated, could you continue to work, who could assist you?

4. If you became mentally incapacitated or passed away suddenly, does someone else know enough about your business to either keep it running or close it down?

Do they know passwords, where to find work in progress, how to figure out where your submissions are, business contacts, will sales/royalties continue?

5. Who would want to know about your situation and does someone else know how to contact them?


Wishing you an ordinary day,

Cheryl Pickett

It's My Birthday but You Get a Gift Too

Yesterday, I celebrated the big 40. While some people reach this milestone with a bit of dread or dislike, so far so good for me. It's a little strange now and then, but other than that all is well.

As part of my celebration, I decided I'd like to do something for the readers of both my blog and newsletter. So, from now until the end of June you can get a manuscript critique for .40 per page up to 100 pages. My normal rates start at a dollar per, so if you've been thinking about having another pair of eyes take a look at your work, now's the time.

Pop over to http://www.publishinganswers.com/services.php for more details about how the critique works, then just send me a note with the words "birthday special" in the subject line and we'll get going ASAP.

Have a great weekend and I look forward to hearing from you.

Cheryl Pickett

Who is Your Customer?

At first glance, the answer to the above question might appear obvious. Hopefully, you'd be able to tell me "men who are interested in fixing cars will buy and read my book", "or women who want to grow prize winning gardenias will buy and read my book". Those are good assessments, but you can go another step further and you may discover customers you didn't even know you had. Check out this excellent post by Susan Kendrick to find out how: http://bookcovercoaching.blogspot.com/2008/05/book-cover-coaching-does-your-book.html


Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Reality Check

Found this tidbit in the paper this weekend. I found it an interesting reality check especially for those writers and non-writers alike, who think it's easy becoming a million seller.

Matt Leingang of the AP recently reviewed a book by first time author Donald Ray Pollock. In that review he points out that the book had a first time printing of 27,000 copies. Doesn't sound like much if you're on your way to a million right? He also adds, and this is what caught my attention, that 27k figure is 5 times the number of a normal first run printing.

Just in case you're thinking these figures come from a small or indie press, not so fast. The publisher happens to be Doubleday, one of the big guys.

I think there's a fair amount to learn here. Big thing is to be grounded in reality, whether you are publishing for the first time or the tenth time. That way you can make a solid plan of action and you'll certainly decrease your chances of being disappointed.

Good Writing & God Bless,

Cheryl Pickett
http://publishinganswers.com