cj Sez: June
22, 2009
That was the date I clicked
“publish” on my first Lyrical Pens post. Fourteen-years ago. Wow.
 |
| As if |
You can click on the date to read my amateur
effort, not that I now consider myself a pro by any stretch of the imagination.
My first (and only) encouraging commenter for that post was Joyce Scarbrough ( https://www.facebook.com/joycescarbroughbooks/
) … Thank you, Joyce.
Lyrical Pens was created as a marketing tool for
three, unpublished, writing/critique-group buddies (Mahala Church, Tracy
Hurley, and me) who wanted to “get our names out there.” Mahala and Tracy had
just co-founded the Mobile Writers’ Guild, and I had joined them as a charter
member and Secretary…or maybe that was Treasurer (faulty memory). Go-getter
Tracy worked through the technical part of building the perfect website. Sadly,
Tracy died in 2010—way too young—and
Mahala and I carried on. Today, where once there were three bloggers, there is
now one. Mahala retired from the site in 2016.
After fourteen years, I think I have enough blogging
experience to offer two observations for new bloggers:
That is to say, identify your goal for the blog and write your posts
with that in mind.
Do you want to share tidbits of personal data as a
way to grow your relationship with fans and readers? Do you want to share
professional writing info to appeal to fellow authors? Maybe it’s a combination
of both, which is where Lyrical Pens sits, although it does lean more toward
the professional writing information.
Did you notice I wrote “author Facebook page?” I
have two FB pages, one for personal notes and one for author stuff. The cover
page is different for each site. Your personal social media followers aren’t
there for sales pitches. They want to share conversations with the person
behind the writerly persona. Keep the advertising low-key on your personal, and
possibly private, site. A new book notice or a sale reminder is fine, but heavy
slugs of “Buy My Book” advertising in every post just might drive away some of
your new Friends. Some of your old friends, too.
§§
My life-time motto/goal is to “learn something new every
day,” and the learning continues. Today’s new something is the word “hypertufa.”
I knew what it was, but I didn’t know the correct word for it. How cool is that!
§§
That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keep
on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for a happy and
safe summer…with lots of time for reading!
cj
My books
are available on Amazon or through your favorite eTailer and bookstore. Got a
library card? You can read the ebooks free from Hoopla.
Little note: The
Haunted Book Shop has a few signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER,
contact: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us If she happens to be out, I also have a small
stash. Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in her
own right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you any book(s) by
any author of your choice.
➜ Follow me on . . .
➜ Amazon: Amazon Central Author Page
➜ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor
➜ BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson
➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6
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