I started this blog as a way to promote myself as an author. I’ve never hidden that fact. Entertaining Stories has turned into so much more for me. I’d blog now even if I wasn’t writing.
My posts are littered with plenty of slice of life stories too. I don’t like the idea of shouting, “Buy My Books!” every day. Let’s face it, it’s 2015. If someone has cover art in his sidebar, I think everyone gets it by now.
Writing is a big part of me. Sharing our interests is what blogging is all about. Many of my posts are about writing. That’s when I had the epiphany. Is this the routine for other writers?
1.) Write about the books you’ve already published. Heaven forbid someone new comes along and misses the point.
2.) Write about the book you have coming soon. How else are you going to get noticed among the 5000+ books released the same day?
3.) Write about your work in progress. This lets everyone know you still have fuel in the tank.
4.) Repeat the same process over and over again.
I’m not quite that predictable, but this has happened. It will probably keep happening. I will try to pepper the routine with other interesting stuff for my own sanity and yours.
Right now, I have to wake up Tituba the sourdough starter. Maybe I’ll take Old What’s Her Face to a movie or something. Then I’ll have some fresh blog fodder. Oh, I tried some of the homemade sauerkraut tonight and it’s maturing nicely.
Entertaining Stories 
I’m feeling like me and Tituba are old friends now. She introduced us. 🙂
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That’s awesome! I’ll make friends any way I can. She’s soaking in water right now to soften up the flakes. Then I have to feed her in a couple of hours.
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I think it might depend on how often the author blogs. I’ve touch on a bunch of topics even though I try to stay within writing. Yet I have seen several blogs that only talk about the author’s published and soon to be published works. Wonder if it works for them.
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If I had to guess, I’d say probably not. We relate to people, not necessarilly our hobby or job. Those interests bring us together at first, but I don’t think they keep a relationship together. Just my 2¢.
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Makes sense. Though I have two questions:
Where in the world did you find the cent symbol on the keyboard?
Is it still 2 cents or do we count for inflation these days?
🙂
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I actually threw a blog tantrum about the ¢ symbol last year. I spent about nine hours trying to figure it out. On my iPad, I have to hold down the $ sign. Then some alternate symbols come up. You have to slide your finger to the ¢. If you lift your finger, it won’t work.
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So it’s an iPad/smart phone thing. Dang it.
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I stumbled upon a code when I was researching. I don’t remember what it was, but it was like alt with a string of numbers. I’m sure it’s a quick Google. Maybe then you could set it to one of your unused F keys.
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Good idea. I always hit those by accident and have to figure out what happened.
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Tituba the sourdough starter cracks me up! (AND I will email more once I am completely done but at page 210, I must tell you that Will O’ The Wisp is incredibly good. Just the right amount of suspense and daring!)
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I loved WOW page 210, I can’t remember what’s happening there. Have you gotten to the big surprise enemy yet. I knew it was coming but was still blown away.
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Just got finished with the hickory nut outing, so I am thinking no. And damn you. Now I am going to have to stay up tonight and finish the rest of it!
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I read it in 2 days. I was up until 2 or 3 in the morning reading, I couldn’t put it down.
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Now ladies, play nice.
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She is faster. I accept that she is a superior reader and beat me fair and square. 😉
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That makes me so happy. I’m really glad you’re enjoying it. I managed 3 chapters on your other blog during my lunch break today. I intend to read the whole thing.
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Oh, nifty! Thank you! Though I am somewhat embarassed by that after reading your books. Page 224. Closing in on the finish line! (Provided the kids stay in their own beds tonight.)
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Good luck with the kids. We can talk about it in private later. Don’t be embarrased at all. I’m enjoying the historical aspects of your tale very much.
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I’m must be lost Tituba?
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I don’t think we had met when I was posting about it last year. I keep a sourdough starter that I’ve had for 25 – 30 years. I call her Tituba. She’s magic with a little flour, water, and salt.
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Wow that’s some old starter, but I bet it makes tasty bread.
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She does, but I still have to do my part right to sweet talk her.
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I think men need to sweet talk every female object they have near. 😀
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My most successful starter was flour, nonfat dry milk powder, and water.
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Warning, this reply could turn into a spelling test.
That starter should work very well. Part of the starter is a lactobacillus. It protects the yeast from mold. The powdered milk should give that half a good start. Hmm, that might be an interesting blog post.
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It rose beautifully, gave a rich taste to biscuits and flapjacks, and didn’t turn to bathtub hooch as fast as plain flour and water did.
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You have kept a sourdough starter going FOR 25 YEARS???
Well that’s love and comitment for you!
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Yup. I froze it for months at a time. In the last few years I’ve turned to drying and refrigerating it instead. It becomes my winter thing to bake bread and such. You have to be old to have a 30 year old starter.
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I think thats quite amazing! I never knew you could do that. I’d expect it to go off and mouldy. You should write a blog about it… it might even be a world record!!!
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I did several last year. I didn’t have a ton of followers then. One was about waking her up, followed by several baking posts, ending with putting her back to sleep.
I believe there are quite a few older starters around. The Alaskans are prone to have some that are over a hundred years old.
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Wow! Really? I’ll have to go back and check out those posts… they sound fun!
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Here’s one: https://coldhandboyack.wordpress.com/2014/01/05/tituba-rising/
The new and improved WordPress makes searching harder. I’ll find the other bookend of this sequence and send it too.
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Thanks!
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Here is the other one: https://coldhandboyack.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/goodnight-tituba/
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In a word yes. If you look back at my writing week posts this is what they consist of, whichbis why I condensed it to one post a week. It’s exactly this reason I started Bean On An Adventure too. It was my way of getting bacj to why I started blogging in the first place, all those years ago when I decided to share my gardening endeavours with the world. I’ll get back to the writing blog in the summer but for now I’m really enjoying blogging and writing for writings sake 🙂
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So nice to see you here again. I vow to mix things up with other topics. They say admitting something is the first step to change. I’m glad I spotted a pattern before it became a habit.
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I find that you have a nice mix on your blog. It doesn’t feel at all like wash, rinse, repeat to me. You always hold my interest– something that’s not easy to do. But I’ll be looking forward to see what else you have in store for us!
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Aww shucks. I’ll try to keep up the good work.
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Abrasive marketing? Dunno. My gut feeling at the outset for Wyrmflight was that I did want to promote my books but talking only about me was going to get old. I decided to focus on dragons, instead, figuring anyone who likes dragons would more than likely be interested in my books, too. I chose better than I realized, as dragons are such a broad topic I can always find some new angle. At least, so far.
More important than anyone’s actual blog content is interacting with others in a positive way. Commenting (as long as it has to do with the topic) builds bridges. Even more important, I believe, is to encourage writers who might be showing their work for the very first time, and to lift up authors who reveal they are discouraged or struggling in their “real lives.”
Yes, we all understand an author’s blog is intended to build audience and attract readers. But if you want to sell books? You want positive reviews? Be a friend first.
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Great comment, and said so well too. Thrilled to have you weigh in.
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Titchiba is back? YAY! I’ve been waiting for this moment! I think you’ve got a winning combination, Craig. I read a TON of authors’ blogs and many never mention their books, while others focus ONLY on their books to the point that it feels like a daily commercial. Your balance is excellent, especially with the writing cabin snippets peppered throughout, which showcase your writing style and creativity.
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I’m glad you like it. I really try not to be a used car dealer here, but without some promotion, I’m asking for failure.
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Of course. You’ve GOT to promote yourself. 🙂
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