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Sandeep Joshi
NEW DELHI: Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh, aimed at increasing India's engagement with major diamond-producing African nations, has chalked out a comprehensive plan to ensure direct imports of rough diamonds from Africa instead of Europe.
Starting this initiative, Mr. Ramesh will be leaving for a six-day long visit to Namibia and Angola, two major rough diamond producers, on March 26, while the second leg of the programme will follow soon where the world's two largest diamond producing nations — Botswana and South Africa — will be covered.
Explaining the importance of the visit, Mr. Ramesh told The Hindu that "I started this initiative largely because the diamonds-cutting and polishing trade is employment-intensive and provides livelihoods to over 10-lakh families in our country. The growth of India's diamond industry depends on how we build our relationships with major exporters of diamond." He will be accompanied by senior officials of the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) and trading giants like the State Trading Corporation of India and MMTC.
India is the world's largest importer of rough diamond and exporter of cut and polished diamonds with over 90 per cent market share. India's estimated imports of rough diamonds this fiscal would be around $10 billion, while exports of cut and polished diamonds are likely to cross $14-billion mark.
At present, rough diamonds are procured by India through a variety of sources, with the bulk of them coming through Antwerp in Belgium. But now the Minister wants to establish systems for direct imports of rough diamonds from Africa. Angola produces about 10 per cent of the world's rough diamonds, while Namibia accounts for about 6 per cent of production.
Angola and Namibia are the world's fifth and sixth largest producers of diamonds, respectively, after Botswana (25 per cent), Russia (22 per cent), Canada (12 per cent) and South Africa (12 per cent).
Great opportunity
According to Mr. Ramesh: "In future India will find it difficult to source rough diamonds unless it demonstrates to African nations that it will collaborate actively in helping them move up the value-chain and assist in value-addition in these producing countries itself. The Africanisation of the diamonds processing industry is not a threat to India but a great opportunity which we must proactively embrace," he explained.
Mr. Ramesh pointed out that it is in India's long-term interest to establish direct relationships with supplier countries, cutting out all the middlemen.
Though India had embarked on exploration of diamonds, it would take at least a decade before commercial deposits in States like Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were proven and established. The diamond cutting and polishing industry would continue to be entirely dependent on imports of rough diamonds for a long time to come, he explained.
"Partnerships in diamonds must be embedded in the framework of broader economic and technological cooperation. That is why the diamond delegation has representatives of other public sector companies like the power-equipment manufacturer BHEL and ONGC-Videsh," Mr. Ramesh added.
The Minister also said rough diamonds are not the only area where India must change its approach to Africa. India's cashew processing industry, another employment-intensive industry, depends crucially on imports of over five-lakh tonnes of raw cashews from Africa with India's own domestic production itself being roughly of that amount, he added.


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subset: commoncrawl


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This Inn is exceptionally clean, the staff is superior, the 'free' breakfast is very tasty
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I parked my motorcycle in the parking lot while I went to Turkey for a couple of weeks.
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Fisher-Price - Mocha Butterfly Bouncer
Gifting note: This item ships in the manufacturer's original packaging. If intended as a gift, the packaging may reveal the contents.
About this item
Watch your baby play and bounce in comfort in the Fisher-Price Mocha Butterfly Bouncer. The Mocha Butterfly fabric features a brown background with pink accents. The comfy head huggie cradles and provides support to your little one as she enjoys the soothing bouncing motion. Three butterfly toys on the toy bar include rings to tug on. When baby tugs on the center ring, music plays. The butterfly toy bar easily removes for access to your infant. The bouncer comes with non skid feet that ensures that it doesn't accidently slip over on smooth surfaces. The seat pad of the bouncer is washable allowing easy maintenance. A three point restraint provides added protection for your baby while she enjoys.
Fisher-Price Mocha Butterfly Bouncer:
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all of these questions about young players on the defense add up to the hope that we have bodies to move around and flexibility if one or more of them don't develop as hoped. kind of hoping we're seeing the beginning of the end of the decimated defense.
i would find this more credible if it was about Tom Crean


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Police arrested June A. Branch, 21, on Monday on charges of first degree sexual assault while armed and robbery while armed.14 Comments
Police using Facebook, Youtube in investigations
Police across the nation are using social media tools like Facebook in their investigations more.
Christopher Nolan, Warner Bros. grapple with Colorado shooting
"I don't know if James Holmes cared deeply about Batman," film critic Roger Ebert wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times. "I suspect he cared deeply about seeing himself on the news."8 Comments
Navy Lt. Commander, wife, accused of abusing son
Matthew and Amy Sweeney both stand charged with child abuse after police say they repeatedly abused their 8-year-old adopted son. He was found by a neighbor with bruises all over his body earlier this week.73 Comments
Walking While Female: D.C. woman's sexual assault blog post goes viral
Published online by Collective Action For Safe Spaces, Liz Gorman's "Walking While Female" details her incident, as well as the sexual harassment women deal with on a daily basis.26 Comments
Triangle man allegedly stabs wife to death, then reports it as suicide
A Triangle, Va. man has been arrested for allegedly stabbing his wife to death, then reporting her death as a suicide to police.14 Comments
Two men stabbed during fight in Forestville
Prince George's County Police are looking for two suspects accused of stabbing two men after a confrontation in Forestville.22 Comments
Oxon Hill man found slain inside vehicle in Charles County
The victim, identified Michael Eugene Milstead, Jr., of Oxon Hill, was found in the vehicle in near Piney Church Road and St. Linus Drive in Waldorf.Comment
Man shot near candlelight vigil in Landover Hills
Police have new clues in the search for a gunman who shot a man near a candlelight vigil in Landover Hills Friday night.14 Comments
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Man arrested for May slaying of hospital tech
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Charles County authorities look for suspect in April 18 homicide
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48HOURS 1-3 May 2015
1-3 May 2015
Registration Closes: 27 April 2015
- 9th Mar Early-bird Registration
- 30th Mar Full Registration Open
- 1st May Shoot Begins
- 3rd May Hand-in
- 5th May City Heats Start
- Early Jun City Finals
- 4th Jul Grand Final
10 Steps to Enter
- Assemble your Team
- Read the First Timers Survival Guide & the Rules
- Register & Pay
- Practice your Camera, Editor, and File output work-flow
- Keep up to date with News
- Check out City Info
- Attend the Launch to receive your genre & V
- Make a short in less than 48 hours
- Complete the Online Wrap-Up
- Hand in your short at the Finish Line and you're done!
48Hours Scoreboard
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REGISTRATIONS OPEN UNTIL 27th APRIL
Posted by Ant on 30 March 2015 at 09:51 | Comments | View Post
Registrations Close on April 27th.Get your team together and enter now to avoid a last minute panic. School Teams get a 2-for-1 deal and enter two teams for the price of one.
DISCOUNT ENTRY ENDS at 10am
Posted by Ant on 27 March 2015 at 09:28 | Comments | View Post
Early-Birds who Register before 10am Monday get $40 off the regular price. We want you to be organised early this year. If you are a School you can get the 2-for-1 discount voucher as well and register your 2nd team before the shoot weekend.
Posted by Ant on 25 March 2015 at 16:17 | Comments | View Post
Rialto Channel 48HOURS is stoked to let you know we've opened a WEBSTORE
You can also CUSTOMISE the T-Shirts and put your TEAM NAME across the back. We think your entire team rocking a t-shirt for the shoot weekend would be wicked!
All are available in multiple colours and are from AS Colour and printed in NZ so you can trust they are good quality.
Wear your gorilla with pride!
Tag tweets with #48hoursnzTweets about "from:48hoursnz OR to:48hoursnz OR 48hoursnz OR #48hoursnz OR #v48hoursnz"
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Kristen Lamb's Blog
Posts Tagged social media for writers
Three NEVERS of Social Media for Writers
Posted by Author Kristen Lamb in Social Media Platform on February 11, 2015
These three professional blunders can hang on like the smell of dead fish and stink up our author career, so avoid them at all cost. I understand that many of you who follow this blog are new, so if you've made one of these mistakes, you're learning. We all oops (especially in the beginning), so don't sweat it. Yet, I see these three behaviors far more often than I'd like.
You've been warned ;).
NEVER Be Nasty in a Blog Comment
I am fully aware that my blog can't make everyone happy. I work my tail off to entertain and enlighten but I know I can't be all things to all people. If I'm not your cup of tea? Just click the unsubscribe button at the bottom of the e-mail WordPress sends you or e-mail me and I will happily assist you leaving (and cry later *sniffles*).
There is no need for this:
The irony was 1) I didn't even write this particular post. It was a guest post and an excellent one at that 2) It wasn't negative at all. It just wasn't coated in glitter and fluff. Professionals don't have a lot of time and shouldn't need to be handled with kid gloves and 3) Was it really necessary? I's written over 600 posts at the time, and one wasn't her cup of tea? So we just carpet bomb?
I once wrote a humor post about my many failed attempts to join the military. It was a humor post. It was posted for Memorial Day and to honor those willing to sacrifice for the very freedom this person liberally uses…
Oh, and a warning. Trolls will bait you with the, "You will censor my right to free speech" to get you to approve a nasty comment. But they forget we actually don't have universal 1st Amendment Rights or we'd be able to yell "FIRE!" in a movie theater or stand and scream profanities and threats in the middle of an Applebee's without being arrested. Don't fall for it. Your TRASH function is there for reason.
Also, blogs count as a benevolent dictatorship.
And my personal favorite?
See, the thing is, if you want to tell a blogger she has the brain of a retarded chimp, that she's a loser-poseur fake, don't do it in the blog comments (or at all, for that matter). AGAIN, the comment is there forever, complete with the commenter's name and face.
Oh, and it's spelled "expertise" by the way ;) .
Most of the time, when I get nasty comments like these I just send them to the trash. They aren't heathy for the comment community and everyone has a bad day, which is why I didn't include the gravatars or names of these nice people. But, remember, not all bloggers will be nice.
I have the right to be wrong and y'all have the right to un-sunbcribe, never buy one of my books and tell all your friends that oatmeal is smarter than I am. I get that I can't please everyone, but there is a way to disagree and remain polite, respectful and professional. There's no need for ad hominem attacks.
If someone writes a blog you don't like? Fine. But keep in mind that this person worked hard and for free to offer you something of value. All they ask in return is for some common human decency.
People have long memories regarding those who are needlessly cruel. And sure, a blogger might be a new, unpublished nobody. Doesn't mean he or she'll remain that way. We never know who we might need one day, and burning bridges is a bad long-term plan.
If you do goof and hurt a blogger, just e-mail them and apologize or apologize in the comments. A lot of bloggers (I'd like to believe) are reasonable. Own the mistake and ask for gratis.
Never Be Nasty on Twitter
Twitter is a wonderful tool, namely because it can help us go viral. Yet, that's precisely why we must handle it with care. It can go VIRAL. A random woman on Twitter tweeted a nasty remark about rapper Ice-T's wife and millions of fans pounced.
This woman had to delete her account and practically go into witness protection. I am certain she didn't think it was a big deal at the time, but it shows that tweets should be handled with care.
Sure, we can delete tweets, but often by the time we realize we need to delete one…it's already too late. Twitter goes quickly, so it can get out of hand quickly.
Never Write Bad Book Reviews
This doesn't apply to book bloggers and book reviewers. That's your job and we love that you give us guidance on what to read. But, as authors? I believe in what Candace Havens calls Writer Karma.
If I can't give a book a great review? I just don't review it. Again, publishing is a small world and we all need each other. The world is already out to throw us under a bus. We need each other to keep from turning into cutters.
***And yes, I KNOW "experts" tell writers to blog book reviews, but that's a BIG, HUGE, MASSIVE no-no in my book. First because writing reviews is a HUGE time-suck. Average of twelve hours to read a book then time to craft a review. Even if you posted once a week, that is 36-40 HOURS per month we could have spent on the novel. Second, book reviews will never go viral, EVER. And thirdly? Reviewing books muddies and undermines the author brand.
If a writer really bungled and you just cannot remain quiet? Send him or her an e-mail outlining the problems and maybe suggestions how to do better with the next book. This way correction is private and we aren't publicly and permanently humiliating a peer.
Some writers might not respond well, but I know I've gotten e-mails that actually were really helpful. Readers who spotted typos or formatting errors that could be corrected. The idiot stuff? I just ignore, but I do appreciate that it was handled privately.
If you goofed on this and now feel badly, remove the review. In the future, focus on reviewing what you love.
Our BRAND is AUTHOR, not "book reviewer." My opinion is we can't do both.
Book reviewers have to be forthright to be taken seriously. This means some books will get shredded. This can undermine how our fellow writers feel about working with us as authors.
"Hey, I publicly shredded your first novel with a two-star but thoughtful review. I have a new book coming out. Can I guest post on your blog?"
"SURE! Just as soon as you send me a lock of your hair to complete that voodoo doll I crafted in your likeness."
I have a post that delves deeper into this conflict of interests HERE. Remember, we can be Siskel & Ebert or Steven Spielberg. Tough trick to be both.
We Are Human
I'd love to tell you I've never made a mistake, that I am the shining example to all, but I've had bad days too. I've screwed up and had to apologize. Just own it and say you're sorry.
We all need grace, let's just try not to make a habit of needing it too often. We're wise to remember there's a human on the other side of that screen. The digital world is wonderful, but it takes work (and sometimes holding our
tongue fingertips) to keep it a positive experience.
Have you ever had someone shred you publicly on your blog? On social media? How did you handle it? Did you cry? I used to. Have toughened up. Do you delete the comment or leave it up so everyone will know they're a jerk and steer clear? When you see comments on a blog that are rude and in bad taste, what do you do? Do you make note of the name? Defend the blogger?
I love hearing from you!
To prove it and show my love, for the month of FEBRUARY, everyone who leaves a comment I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly. I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less).
For those who need help building a platform and keeping it SIMPLE, pick up a copy of my latest social media/branding book Rise of the Machines—Human Authors in a Digital World on AMAZON, iBooks, or Nook.
acting professionally on-line, branding, can authors write book reviews, Kristen Lamb, platforms for authors, professional courtesy, Social media for authors, social media for writers, W.A.N.A., We Are Not alone, writers giving book reviews
Writing, The Glamorous Life & Finding Balance in the Madness of Branding
Posted by Author Kristen Lamb in Success, The Writer's Life on January 26, 2015
I will confess, being a writer is THE best job in the world. But, I'd be lying if I didn't ALSO admit it can feel like we've been strapped to Hell's Tilt-A-Whirl. As writers of the Digital Age we have a much higher chance at success than any writer in history, but we also have more work than any writer in history.
And, to make matters worse, spouses, bills, kiddos with snotty noses, dust bunnies and car troubles don't go away the day we decide to become professional writers.
In fact, Spawn used more toilet paper than a crew of high school football players rolling the house of a rival team's quarterback. And he flooded the bathroom. And I still have to clean the mess, but the liquor stores aren't open yet.
So yeah, that is the glamourous job of an author.
RDD Can Make Us Nuts
RDD is what I like to call Reality Deficit Disorder. Like the flu, this disease seems to explode January of every year, normally brought on by New Year's Resolutions.
We vow to be 18% body fat, debt-free, have an immaculate house, build a perfect social platform with a bazillion fans, and win the Pulitzer…all by March. We seem to collectively go crazy and forget that we can only do so much.
Many writers experience RDD when it comes to social media. We sign up for Facebook, and build an author page, and link to LinkedIn, and pin on Pinterest until our pinners are dull from wear. We weep over Instagram and mortify our teenagers by trying to tackle Tumblr.
Vowing to do everything, eventually we do nothing. We become paralyzed in the face of all we've committed to do.
Time to Get Real
Thus, the first step to preventing being overwhelmed is to be realistic in our goals and expectations. If we've already blown that, the trick to pulling ourselves out of the tail-spin is to sit down, rework our priorities, and commit to being more realistic.
Goals are written on paper not stone.
Successful people don't just make a list of goals ONCE. The list of goals is always a living document in need of modification, reordering, or even being scrapped altogether.
Persistence is a wonderful trait. Persistence is noble. But persistence can look a lot like stupid.
If our GOAL is to summit Mt. Everest and we are trudging up Mt. Shasta? Helloooo? Helps to be on the correct MOUNTAIN.
For instance, my life DRASTICALLY changed when I decided to unschool Spawn. Instead of having six hours a day, five days a week where it was QUIET because he was in preschool? I have him here ALL DAY, EVERY DAY.
Thus, I've had to rework my routine and sharpen my focus. In between lessons, I let him play X-Box. BUT, it is not uncommon for me to be writing and have to stop and yell:
"Conserve your ammo! Single-fire or burst fire! Those aren't Hollywood guns! They actually run out of ammo and spraying like a ganbanger creates too much muzzle-walk…."
Okay, where was I? *stares at computer"
Time to Face the Music
I tend to be a person of my word…to a fault. If I promise to do something I will half-kill myself to get it done if need be. But sometimes this is just plain DUMB. I've learned that most people will understand if we have to back out of something we've promised to do, but we MUST be honest with them and vow to make it right.
Look, Sally. I know I promised to blog every day for a year to raise money for all the starving children in Africa, but I am out of my depth. I overestimated what I can do given the demands of my schedule. I apologize. I was so caught up in wanting to help you, I didn't think. Please forgive me. Is there anything I can do that might be a smaller job? Can I help you find other bloggers to fill my spot who do have time to blog every day for all the starving children in Africa?
Many times people will be forgiving (probably because they've oopsed a time or two themselves). If we just face the problem and offer to be a solution, more often than not, other people will be reasonable.
Whey they aren't reasonable is when we just don't show up, disappear or dump a mess in their laps without any offer of help to remedy the problem.
And, as a warning. Don't do this stuff too often. Professionals always need to take time to think before they agree to doing things. I still struggle with this and I REALLY goofed a few times during those months with Shingles, so as I have one finger pointed at you guys, I have three pointing back at me.
Likely, this will be a lesson we continually learn and relearn throughout all our lives (especially Helpful Hannah personalities like mine :D). But we DO have to be careful or others won't want to work with us because we are, essentially, flakes.
No one expects us to be perfect, but they do expect us to be honest and kind. We can do that. Yes, it is scary. It's tough facing when we've erred, but making mistakes is just part of the game and how we learn.
We will learn more from our mistakes/failures than we ever will our successes.
Time to Face the True Causes of Our Angst
Making too many commitments and then (mistakenly) believing we can't change is one of the major causes of feeling overwhelmed. It's okay to be flexible.
Fortune Cookie Moment: The stiff oak breaks in the strong wind, but the reed that bends endures.
Remember, the commitment you made to yourself, that list of goals? It can be redone. The commitments to others? Those can be changed too, IF we are brave enough to admit we goofed, or maybe life just CHANGED (Hey, I didn't PLAN on being in an ER three times from Shingles) and then we must be courageous enough to make things right.
Go around the leaf.
~Pixar's "A Bug's Life"
Have you made a list of goals that is nothing short of ridiculous? How did you come to your senses? Did you feel guilty having to rework your list? Do you struggle with being over committed? Do you struggle telling people "no"?
I love hearing from you!
To prove it and show my love, for the month of JANUARY, everyone who leaves a comment I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly. I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less).
For those who need help building a platform and keeping it SIMPLE, pick up a copy of my latest social media/branding book Rise of the Machines—Human Authors in a Digital World on AMAZON, iBooks, or Nook.
Balancing life and work as an author, Business for authors, goal-setting, Kristen Lamb, publishing, RDD, Reality Deficit Disorder, Rise of the Machines--Human Authors in a Digital World Kristen Lamb, Social media for authors, social media for writers, successful publishing tips, W.A.N.A.
Why Writers Should Use Twitter (and HOW to USE It Effectively)
Posted by Author Kristen Lamb in Social Media Platform, Uncategorized on January 14, 2015
For the last couple posts, we've been talking about how to use Twitter effectively. Too many writers are like Stormtroopers—lots of
shots fired tweets that hit NOTHING.
I can admit, when I got on Twitter (when it was invented) I didn't get it. I would—KID YOU NOT—freak out when people I didn't know followed me. WHAT? Are you, like, a stalker? Yes, I was missing the ENTIRE point of Twitter. Hey, we all start somewhere.
Do you have to do Twitter? No. No one will take you to writer jail because you didn't. Is it wise to use Twitter? ABSOLUTELY.
I strongly recommend Twitter for two main reasons. First, couple Twitter with a good/consistent blog and this is your best formula to go viral. Secondly, Twitter helps us find READERS (and helps readers find US).
Going Viral
We will rarely go viral from Facebook because the nature of Facebook is more intimate and the platform moves much slower. People are less likely to discover us/our work from Facebook than they are Twitter.
In fact, I would imagine that many of you who subscribe to this blog, likely found me via Twitter. And since my tweets are written in a way to attract only the brightest and best-looking and talented…. :D. Y'all get the point.
This is why I want authors to blog and to blog off their author WEB SITE. Someone sees a tweet for a post that looks interesting and click and enjoy the post and guess what is in the sidebar for sale? BOOKS.
***Or, in my case the footer of each post since I did all the dumb stuff so y'all don't have to.
This is a non-invasive way to cultivate readers and sell books. We have a post. We serve. We entertain. We aren't doing the:
Hi, I'm a writer. BUY MY BOOK! BUY MY BOOK! BUY MY BOOK! I can't feed my family unless you BUY MY BOOK!
Show don't sell. Our blog gives potential readers a glimpse of who we are. They sample our writing voice and see we are professionals since we post more than every harvest moon. We have taken time to engage without asking for money. Twitter is the road sign guiding people to the rest stop of their choosing.
Enough people like a certain rest stop? That is when we go viral.
Going viral is AWESOME. Trust me, when you see THIS on the bottom of a post? GREAT FEELING.
And yes, there are a lot of shares on Facebook, but many folks discovered the posts on Twitter then chose to share with their more intimate community on Facebook.
My post Brave New Bullying and Amazon Attacks has 328 comments and still climbing. And I say this VERY humbly because all I do is my job. But, it is not uncommon for this blog to have triple-digit comments. Twitter is a BIG reason for that. And I've been blessed to go viral many times and not always for writing or social media posts. I blog about everything.
I STILL have people arguing over What Went Wrong With the Star Wars Prequels even though I posted it years ago. FABULOUS comments. Very well-thought out. Some thousands of words long.
Cultivating Readers
There is one bone-headed statement that makes my head hurt. And I have heard it from all levels of writers from noobs to NTYBSAs. In fact, one BIG author once said, "I don't like Twitter. Only writers are on Twitter."
*head desk*
I replied, "There are over 280 MILLION active Twitter users. They're all writers. Really?"
What I then pointed out was that this author tweeted writing quotes, talked about writing, blogged about writing. It was the All-Writing-All-the-Time Channel. If my goal is to catch a lion, but I bait the traps with peanut butter, who is the fool for griping about catching mice?
Many of us are writers because we were interested in SO many things, writing was the only way we could do them all. When I was a kid, I wanted to be an archaeologist-medical examiner-ballerina-oceanographer-ninja-Navy SEAL. I'd imagine most of you had similar career plans at age 7.
We became writers because we have an insatiable love for so many things. And we have unique eyes and an imagination to bring those worlds to life. We breathe life into variations of 26 letters in various combinations to create entirely NEW worlds and characters SO real they make a bigger impact on lives than a lot of living, breathing humans.
Yes, we have a God complex.
Thus, when using Twitter, I DO recommend #MyWANA, #amwriting, etc. We NEED a group of professional peers. But never mistake your colleagues for your audience. Too many writers are all talking to each other, selling the same people who already have more books than they could finish in a lifetime. We are worn out.
Twitter Access
In my book, Rise of the Machines—Human Authors in a Digital World I go into far more detail, but here's the highlight reel. What do you write? Who is the most likely person (who is NOT an avid reader who will read anything) to read your book?
If I write military thrillers, might be a good idea to follow the military hashtags—#USMC, #Army, #Navy, #USAF. Make friends, talk to people. Maybe even ask for advice. Admit you're a writer and you want to nail the details. Humans are a super-helpful bunch.
If I write about vampires? #TrueBlood #vampires #supernatural might be good places to pop in and take a look.
Christian authors? #Jesus #Christian #lifechurch, etc.
Write about cowboys? #rodeo #horses
Suspense, mystery, crime? #DowntownAbbey #DiscoveryID #SwampMurders #JoeKenda #AR15
Sci-Fi? Try #starwars #startrek #physics, #geek, #DrWho, #Nova
Use a little imagination. I find it funny that writers have the capacity to dream up parallel universes, new forms of magic, unknown technology and yet, when we get on social media? #writers, #books #readers is how creative we get.
But this is why it vexes me when people just write off Twitter as useless. Twitter is probably THE MOST effective way to find our potential readers, talk to them, and eventually cultivate a relationship that will hopefully spread to that person's network.
Twitter DOES have the capacity to help us go viral, but it is still an investment daily of US. I have a little over 13,600 followers. Other authors SMOKE me on number of followers. But I would rather have 5,000 VESTED followers then 30,000 people who could care less what I have to say.
I've tweeted almost 27,000 tweets. Granted, I've been a member of Twitter for seven years. Not a SINGLE tweet of mine is from an automated system. All ME. Small chats every day add up. Just hop on, talk a little, share a link, talk to people, then back to work.
Buying Twitter Followers
This dovetails into my next point. In the beginning (say, back around 2008-2012), I feel outsiders cared more about the number of followers than they do now. "WOW, she has 40,000 followers. She must be IMPORTANT." But, over time, our audience has wised up.
Sure, feel free to buy followers. But, in my mind, that's like hiring a prostitute to offer us a long-term committed relationship. Purchased followers aren't vested. They don't care. They make the numbers look good and maybe stroke our ego, but our goal should be to create relationships that might translate into book sales.
Not ALL Sales are Direct
When we take time to be human and talk to people without an agenda, they appreciate it. It's also good for our souls since most of us feel icky simply talking to people so they will BUY something. Never underestimate the word-of-mouth power of someone who may never buy your book.
I have all KINDS of people I talk to who aren't authors. BUT they have friends or family who are. Whose books do you think they recommend?
In the end, using Twitter wisely is a fantastic investment that doesn't take a lot of time. A handful of tweets a day over time grows deep roots that eventually yields fruits.
I LOVE hearing from you!
To prove it and show my love, for the month of JANUARY, everyone who leaves a comment I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly. I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less).
For those who need help building a platform and keeping it SIMPLE, pick up a copy of my latest social media/branding book Rise of the Machines—Human Authors in a Digital World on AMAZON, iBooks, or Nook.
Kristen Lamb, Rise of the Machines Human Authors in a Digital World, social media for writers, Twitter, twitter for author social media platform, twitter to find readers, using Twitter to go viral, WANA, We Are Not alone, writers using Twitter
The Art of Business & The Business of Art—Breaking Rules to Reveal Our Audience
Posted by Author Kristen Lamb in Publishing on January 5, 2015
There are a lot of fabulous blogs and books on business, especially for writers. How to promote, do a tour, switch an algorithm, etc. But, I tend to be a broad strokes kind of gal. I dig simple. Simple works. Simple doesn't have an expiration date.
ART is a Business & Business is an ART
When companies forget they are servants and act in a way that makes consumers serve them? That's when they get into trouble. Businesses are in business to…make money. NO. Businesses should be in the business to serve people.
Artists are in the business of "making and selling art." NO. They should be in the business of serving the audience. It is a TWO-WAY dialogue driven by core needs.
This is where many writers need to breathe into a paper bag because they break out in hives at the mention of "business." But, if we want to create anything that people want to PAY MONEY for? We are a business.
Be the Consumer
The power of empathy is particularly crucial. Humans are actually very simple. Most of our decisions are driven by the primal brain. We like to feel good about a purchase. We often can't articulate WHY we made a decision because it is the non-verbal part of our brains at the steering wheel when we choose.
Also, the product is all about US.
Friday, when we talked about breaking rules in writing, there was a lot of mention about writers simply breaking rules to break them. Yet, I would challenge every artist (or business) to step back and feel. Think about the customer FIRST and ego second. Money LAST.
Case in Point
I never set out to be the social media expert for writers. Yet, as early as 2003, I knew social media would completely alter the publishing paradigm. Anyone who bought an MP3 and had an ounce of imagination could see the domino effect ahead.
Tower Records–>Kodak–> Big Six Publishing
I was very grateful for the computer and marketing people who attended conferences to teach social media, but I had a couple of problems.
First of all, I knew writers would eventually HAVE to have a brand and social media platform or be dead in the water. The problem was that these computer people didn't know how to talk to creative people who had trouble opening their e-mail. At the time, many writers (and editors and agents) refused to even USE e-mail.
Thus the presentations actually scared people because they didn't empower them.
Writers mentally checked out because the computer people made "branding" and "platform-building" too time-consuming and complicated.
The marketing people did the same thing (and, in my mind, many of their tactics were from a 20th century playbook). Their approach didn't fit into a world where everyone was instantly connected and the flow of information was dynamic and light-speed.
I.e. Having a Facebook Fan Page for EVERY BOOK. Really? O_o When the heck would we have time to WRITE?
Additionally, one thing I noticed (being a salesperson for many years) is these experts failed to consider their audience. They were talking code, algorithms, apps and technology to a group of people who averaged (at the time) over 50. Writing, when I started, was something people often did when they retired or the kids were out of the house.
Their CUSTOMER was my mother who was afraid she'd delete the Internet, yet they failed to connect with "her" in a meaningful way.
As far as the marketing and PR people? There was far too much high-pressure sales involved in their methods. Yet, NO WRITER in the room was thinking, "Hey, I am just going to write about dragons until my dream job in high-pressure SALES comes along."
I don't want to be presumptuous, but I noticed many of these early experts had "affordable packages" available. In my mind, they were scaring the audience into feeling powerless in order to sell them something.
That ticked me off.
Ticked me off enough to write my first book, We Are Not Alone–The Writer's Guide to Social Media. I made it a point to think from the perspective of my customer. MY mission statement was to serve my customer, not the other way around.
I knew writers often were not able to write full-time. Many of us have spouses, kids, a day job, older family members we care for. We needed an approach that was simple and that didn't have to be outsourced. Many new writers don't have a lot of money. They couldn't plunk down $10,000 for a PR guru.
Also, social media and the Internet shifts faster than any of us can keep up. Amazon is constantly changing and if our focus is on juking those changes, we will be like my cat who can never quite catch the red dot. That was WHY I wrote my latest book Rise of the Machines–Human Authors in a Digital World. ONE book. One manual.
Thus, when we talk about breaking rules in business or in art, it MUST be to better serve our audience/customers. It must be SIMPLE and it MUST BE TIMELESS.
When we are being clever simply to be clever? Good luck.
I've read authors who were being artistic and decided they didn't need quotation marks or tags. Yet, I ask: How does this help the reader consume the story with page-turning passion?
I could be super clever right now and write a novel in text speak, but who (now) wants the brain cramp of rdng 4 OMG hrs w/ppl txtng & LOL as u DYH or STHU?
Um, but it is my ART *sniffs and rearranges beret*
Why Should We Break Rules?
All rule-breaking (in my POV) must be to better serve the consumer not the creator. Though I am not particularly fond of Hemingway's writing, he was a journalist. Fiction, at the time, was BLOATED.
Yet, people in Hemingway's time finally had photographs, film and newspapers. They KNEW what a whale looked like, so why insult them with a 100 pages describing one?
I imagine this overwriting drove a journalist nutso, and it took a journalist to whittle fiction down to the bones and bare form story.
See, when Melville write Moby Dick he was serving the audience/consumer of his time. He didn't make the assumption his potential readers were all world-travelers and had seen what he'd seen. Thus, all those details were important for HIS readers.
But, as technology and the world changed, that massive amount of description and exposition were no longer necessary and actually got in the way of the story. It insulted the reader's intelligence. I feel this was probably a driving force behind Hemingway field-stripping prose.
Did everyone LOVE Hemingway? No. There are people like me who like more description. BUT, there was obviously an audience who appreciated that an author finally wasn't wasting their time using every fancy adjective, adverb and metaphor they could stuff into a paragraph.
Breaking Rules Begins with a NEED and a Vacuum
When I started writing about social media it was because no one was saying the things I needed to hear. I needed something simple, timeless and effective. WANA methods worked in 2008 and they still work today because they are simple and functional.
Instead of trying to alter the authors' personality and make them rely on all their weaknesses, I created a method that harnessed the writers' personality and allowed them to play to their strengths.
This is why artists can be particularly good at business once the fear-factor is peeled away. We have great powers of empathy. Remember, in the last post, I said our goal is to write the book people don't yet know they want.
Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi wrote a FABULOUS series of craft books because there were none like the ones they as authors needed. They, themselves wanted simple and effective tools deepen characters, yet none were available…so these gals stepped in and WROTE them. I HIGHLY recommend just getting them all. The Emotion Thesaurus, The Positive trait Thesaurus and The Negative Trait Thesaurus.
If you are SERIOUS about writing a great book this year, just go use that gift card you got for Christmas and get these books, today.
Moving on…
Giving Consumers What They Don't Know They Want
Henry Ford once said if he'd have asked customers what they wanted, they'd have requested a faster horse.
When social media became a game-changer, my potential customers wanted the Internet to implode. They wanted things to remain the same, even though the paradigm of the time was highly unfavorable to writers. As of 2006, writers had a 93% failure rate. Yet writers (like all humans) feared change.
Here's the thing, anyone literate can write. This means anyone literate could write a book, right? But what is different about us as artists? The world relies on our eyes. We see what others can't.
I saw that brick-and-mortar was crumbling and that social media would eventually empower authors. Though many writers kicked and screamed and begged for the Web to eat itself in a digital black hole, I knew in my heart that was BAD (and wouldn't happen anyway). Time would prove what I believed. I merely had to stick to my guns no matter how many hateful comments I got on my blogs.
In my heart, I knew I was serving my audience.
Business & Art
Hemingway reinvented writing because he didn't like all the fluff. He wrote the book he wanted to read and took a risk others would read his books and like them, too. Instead of doing what everyone else was doing, he did something different.
When we break rules, instead of "being different" we should "differentiate." We need to follow our passion and look for the vacuum yet to be filled.
I've done business consulting and one of the first things I advise is for the company to pull the annual reports of their top five competitors. Annual reports are dreadfully boring but highly valuable.
What are these companies bragging about to their share-holders? Well, their strengths, duh. Is that where a new business/entrepreneur will find their niche? NO. And, btw, it is the DUMBEST place to try and compete.
The trick is to look at the reports and see where their competitors are struggling. What they are promising to improve (or even fail to mention but should be there)? Find that gap and there is your business plan (book idea).
Breaking Rules in Creating
If we are simply writing retreads of everything already available, we aren't differentiating.
Oh, but my vampires glitter, they don't SPARKLE.
Nooooo, that is being different, not differentiation.
Anne Rice is almost solely responsible for CREATING the vampire craze because she dared to write a book from the vampire's perspective and stuck to her guns even when criticized.
Charlaine Harris asked a "What if?" with her Southern Vampire Mysteries.
What if vampires have always been around but hidden because they had to feed on human blood? What if that blood could be synthesized and vampires could "come out of the coffin"? What would the world be like with predator and prey trying to coexist? Could they?
POOF! Formula for best-selling books and the highly popular HBO series True Blood.
T. Jefferson Parker broke the rules in his thrillers when he mixed first person and third person and he chose to write the ANTAGONIST'S perspective in first-person.
But, he didn't do this to be clever.
When T. Jefferson Parker writes from the perspective of a car thief or a gun-runner in first-person, we (the reader) are more intimate with them. We understand their whys and become emotionally vested. This increases tension because we find ourselves often rooting for the bad guy even when we know we probably shouldn't.
This literary device is unique. It stretches our empathy and our minds.
***Note, this is why understanding rules helps us effectively break rules.
J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter from inspiration, but she stuck to it despite rejection because, in spite of what she was being told, she believed a YA male protagonist would be popular. So did Jonathan Maberry in his Rot & Ruin series.
These authors not only soul-searched for the book they wanted to read but wasn't there, but they looked to what books weren't being written.
We can criticize 50 Shades of Grey all we want, but E.L. James wrote the books she wanted to read and the ones no one else was offering.
All these authors created the books readers didn't yet know they wanted to read. They all broke rules, whether it was asking a new question, playing with POV, offering up a teenage boy protagonist when most readers are female, or even whips, chains and handcuffs.
This is to say, READ. Books are not so cost-prohibitive that we are really "competition" for each other. It's why teamwork works so well in our world. People generally will buy/read more than one book.
When we read the genres we love (that we are writing in), look at the strengths, but take time to ponder what you might be able to do differently. What could you possibly combine that normally doesn't go together? What audience has no voice?
Get in the head of your audience and look for what you have in common. What is the need your book can fill? Write what scares you, because it probably scares your readers too.
Maybe it is a sexy 53 year-old spy, a vestige of the Cold War relegated to being invisible because of age….but she is fit and sexy and KICKS @$$.
Maybe the protagonist struggles with her weight or an eating disorder. Perhaps your male protagonist struggles with how to be strong in a world where strong males get a lot of pushback. Or maybe he has a learning disability but that turns out to be why he is the perfect hero.
Perhaps it is an underrepresented ethnic group or writing from the perspective of those most overlooked. Sure, we have dozens of Navy SEAL books because SEALS are "hot", but what about the brand new Airman in Supply who uncovers a vast conspiracy but no one will listen?
Your audience wants to see a part of themselves in your work. How can you do this better?
Just getting the brain-gears moving :D .
We will continue to explore ways that art and business merge, how to be creative and how to better serve our customer (reader). Some ways to create an edge in this highly competitive world. Just remember that success is about simplicity and service. Stick to those? And that's a great foundation.
I LOVE hearing from you!
To prove it and show my love, for the month of JANUARY, everyone who leaves a comment I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly. I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less).
Winner for DECEMBER is Chris Phillips. Please send your 20 pages (5000 words) in a WORD DOCUMENT to kris teen at wan a intl dot com. Or you can send a query letter or five page synopsis (1250 words) in a WORD document. Congratulations!
For those who need help building a platform and keeping it SIMPLE, pick up a copy of my latest social media/branding book Rise of the Machines—Human Authors in a Digital World on AMAZON, iBooks, or Nook.
Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, cultivating readers, entrepreneurs and creativity, how to break writing rules, how to sell more books, social media for writers, The Emotion Thesaurus, WANA, We Are Not alone, what readers want, writing as a business
WHY Are We Writers? Understanding the Why Behind the Buy
Posted by Author Kristen Lamb in Social Media Platform on December 1, 2014
Now that NaNoWrMo is finished, congratulations to those who WON. I only made it to a little over 34,000 words *sad face*, but I did it with Shingles so I am grading myself on a curve :P . As a writer, being delusional is totally acceptable. I'm actually not too far from finishing the novel, so I'm happy I tried.
For those who might be tempted to go back and edit? I recommend stepping AWAY. Work on something different or the odds of you seeing the problems aren't too great.
Which is why we are shifting gears here on the blog and we're going to talk about branding and social media. Oh, the cries of despair! Hey, I am here. No worries *hands paper bag*.
Here's the thing. Nobody has to do social media. I won't force you. The only writers who need to create a brand and do social media are writers who want to sell books.
Simple :D .
A New Perspective
I think it was in roughly 2004 when I was fiddling around on Friendster and Gather that I saw the potential ahead. For generations, novelists had a DISMAL success rate. Why?
Unlike NF authors of the time, we had NO practical way to build a platform before the books were released. We also had a nightmare of a time keeping fan fires burning between books because NYC was tooled (and mostly still is) to produce about a book a year.
That was fine back in the 90s. We weren't a society who could walk around shopping on our phones. We weren't addicted to apps and gaga over downloadable content. By 2007, purchasing had changed and we needed to respect that to remain relevant.
Social media and the Internet fundamentally altered our culture. It's a cake that can't be unbaked. This means it's our responsibility to change as well.
The Golden Circle
I've actually used Apple as an example since my first book years ago, because they're a perfect illustration of what we're talking about. One of the many reasons that Apple Inc. surpassed others in multiple industries is they understood the difference between innovation and novelty.
Innovation is long-lasting. Novelty is short-term. Rather than beginning at the outside of the circle, the WHAT, Apple began with the WHY.
Sure, a Mac had a great processor and was immune to most viruses and megabyte, tera-byte, whatever-byte….but look how COOL I look at Starbucks with my white laptop. I support innovation, creativity. I challenge the status quo…and I LOOK COOL.
Rather than relying on gimmicks and short-term novelty, Apple created a culture. A culture that was loyal and didn't need a bunch of free stuff and was willing to cough up retail price.
Most of us remember the earlier days of cell phones. This one TAKES PICTURES. Oooh, this one is FLAT. The cell phones got so small it was simply ludicrous. Why? Because novelty is pretty easy to copy and maybe even "improve" upon." Novelty is fleeting and rarely cements relationships.
One of the reasons Apple demolished the music industry was Apple appreciated the changes in the consumer climate. Tower Records was still scope-locked on creating and selling LPs. The problem was that music originally was something enjoyed at home…until the Walkman, then later portable CD players, MP3s, etc.
Music became portable.
Consumers wanted to be able to go anywhere and enjoy their favorite songs, thus Apple spring-boarded off other technologies like the MP3 and made music personal. "A thousand songs in your pocket." Personal, intimate, and simple. Apple invented the song industry. At first it was with the iPod, but then Apple merged music with our PHONES
Instead of blasting us with features we didn't understand, Apple focused on WHY, not WHAT. Why carry an iPod and a cell phone when ONE is better than two?
What Does This Have to Do With Social Media?
One of the reasons I got into the whole social media business, was that it was clear that the consumer environment was fundamentally shifting. Yet too many companies were relying on tactics that either wouldn't work, or wouldn't work long-term. Any gains were (and still are) short-term.
Worse, the old methods are stressful for both the seller and the buyer.
To this DAY, I have to talk writers off a ledge when I mention social media.
My background is in sales, and I've witnessed this phenomenon time and again. Sure, lower the price. You'll never be able to raise it. Give away free stuff, promotional stuff, t-shirts, free thumb-drives, pens, on and on and eventually? People are addicted to how much stuff they can get for nothing. There is zero loyalty.
This means one marketing tactic (algorithm) will work great…for a while. Then everyone starts using the same approach and it fizzles. This leaves the seller (author) with a panic attack and a migraine and less time to write more books.
Not only can the quasi-science of 90s-style marketing fail to cultivate loyalty, it can create something worse. Apathy. Beyond apathy, outdated marketing can poison a brand.
These tactics can create resentment, even hatred.
Just get 12 tweets in your feed about a free book and tell me you don't see red.
Over the many years I have been doing social media, I have seen the same guerrilla tactics retooled and Bond-Oed. Marketing companies selling Facebook followers, Twitter followers, advertising, e-mail lists, promising reviews, etc. etc. And make no mistake, I'm not saying this stuff might not work. I've seen it work. Eh, kind of.
But what is the effect of years of making short-term decisions?
Which is WHY W.A.N.A. (We Are Not Alone) Began with WHY
Why do people buy books? Why do regular people believe they don't like reading? Why does traditional marketing not sell more books (and never has)? Why is spam SO ineffective?
Why do so many writers give up? Fail to finish? Why are they overwhelmed?
Once I began with the WHY, I could move to the WHAT and then the HOW.
And I am going to tread carefully here, because W.A.N.A.'s success has never been about me. Without YOU, it's just me talking to myself (which I already do far more than is healthy :D ). But I saw so many writers running from the single greatest tool for success (a strong platform) out of fear, and this defined my WHY.
YOU are not alone.
I don't build platforms or tweet for people or build fan pages. I don't blog for people and have no services to sell that will find followers or score reviews. Never have. Never will. Yes, writers of The Digital Age need a strong brand/platform, but no one ever said you had to do it by yourself.
So today we are going to start with something SIMPLE.
WHY are you writing? What is your WHY? If it is to make money? Find another job or change the WHY. People are very sensitive these days and can smell manipulation a mile away…and it gives them digital HIVES.
So if our only goal on social media to hawk a book? Formula to fail.
We will start with my WHYs to make it clearer. This is VERY redacted for the sake of time. But our WHY is our foundation and it's worthy of considering and even articulating. It's our mission statement.
WHY do I write social media books and blog?
Because when I started as a writer I was VERY alone. I struggled because of poor or even totally false information. I had no system of emotional support to be there during countless rejections. I HATED being alone and never wanted others to feel abandoned and hopeless.
I also saw the "current" way of doing social media (roughly 2008) was short-term. I sought to INNOVATE the notion of how we did social media and REINVENT the idea of a brand. It was less about exposure and all about community and relationships. We'd learn to be deeper, not cheaper.
I blog because I love the community, serving, and if you guys don't want to buy my book? Most of the information you need is free and in my archives, because my WHY is SERVICE.
***Though the book is a lot faster and I am not AT ALL opposed to you buying one :) .
WHY do I write fiction?
I love to tell stories and entertain. I like to escape, to enjoy another world, and want to use my gift with words to do the same for others. Take them on an adventure. Maybe I can even help them learn a little about themselves along the way.
So let's talk about YOU. Why do YOU want to be a writer? Why did you choose vampires instead of werewolves? Why erotica? Romance over thrillers? Mystery over YA? Why children's books? And why does this matter to your readers? Why should it? ;)
It's there. We all have to dig deep for the good stuff and I would LOVE to hear your whys. You guys always inspire me, so DANCE CUTE LITTLE MONKE—-, um share your thoughts :D .
I LOVE hearing from you!
To prove it and show my love, for the month of DECEMBER, everyone who leaves a comment I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly. I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less).
For those who need help building a platform and keeping it SIMPLE, pick up a copy of my latest social media/branding book Rise of the Machines—Human Authors in a Digital World on AMAZON, iBooks, or Nook.
Apple, Creating loyal readers, how to attract readers, how to sell more books, Kristen Lamb, marketing for writers, Rise of the Machines, Rise of the Machines Human Authors in a Digital World, social media for writers, WANA, We Are Not alone
7 Essentials Every Author Needs to Know About Twitter
Posted by Author Kristen Lamb in Social Media Platform on November 25, 2014
I'm still delusional that I might finish NaNoWriMo. I can write 16,000 more words in five days, right? Sigh. I've been away from the blog because I'm in the trenches with the fellow Nanos. Also I really needed to take a bit of a break. To help me with my pseudo-sabbatical? The AMAZING Social Media Maven Marcy Kennedy is here to help you learn how to use Twitter effectively.
Using Twitter effectively is important. Twitter is a tool, but we can look like a tool or act like a tool if we rush in not knowing what we are DOING.
Great news is I have done all the dumb stuff so you don't have to. Marcy might have, but I can't speak for her (and she is kind of a Hermione) so she probably was smart enough to learn from MY dumb stuff…..
Take it away, Marcy!
Twitter often gets a bad reputation from people who don't understand it or don't know how to use it to its full potential to build an author platform. If we're misusing it or not using it to its full potential, not only will it not help us, but we also won't be having any fun. And social media should be fun!
So today I want to walk through the seven essentials every author needs to know about Twitter. When used correctly, Twitter can be one of the best tools for increasing traffic to our blogs and gaining new readers for our books.
Essential #1 – Which Tools Work the Best for You
When we are new to Twitter, we might not realize we have options for tweeting other than using the twitter.com website. Hint: You don't want to actually use Twitter.com to tweet. It only gives you one column and very few options. We need something more effective to manage our tweeting.
There are two basic choices—TweetDeck and Hootsuite. (There are others, but these two are the best.) You'll hear from people who love one or the other, so the important thing is to choose the one you like the most.
Essential #2 – How to Use Hashtags
Using hashtags allows people we're not already connected with to see our tweets (and vice versa). Effectively using hashtags is one of the quickest ways to build relationships with new people on Twitter…if we use them well.
Since I don't want this post to be as long as a novel, I'll direct you to a post I did for Kristen earlier called "Twitter Basics–The Proper Care and Feeding of Hashtags."
Essential #3 – How to Use Lists
One of the most common complaints I hear about Twitter is that the amount of tweets is overwhelming. There's a simple solution—Twitter lists. A Twitter list can be added to a column in TweetDeck or a stream in Hootsuite so that we're able to watch only the tweets made by the people on that list.
Once you know how to use them, they become a powerful tool not only for making Twitter more enjoyable, but also for building a viable author platform. Twitter lists can help:
- Make connections with agents, editors, or book reviewers
- Build relationships with other writers in your genre
- Keep track of subject matter experts; connect with writers who live in your area
- Reciprocate for people who regularly retweet your tweets
- Stay in touch with fans who contact you about your book or say something good about your writing.
Essential #4 – What to Tweet
We're writers, so the temptation is to be the "all writing, all the time" channel. Tweeting about writing some of the time is fine because it helps us connect with other writers, but it won't help us connect with readers.
Connecting with readers is about joining in conversations and tweeting links to material that your potential future readers might be interested in. If you're writing science fiction, tweet about new scientific inventions, for example.
If you're writing romance, your audience might be interested in posts about love and relationships, about the latest fashions, or about exotic locations. If you're writing thrillers, you could find true crime posts and interesting tidbits from the news to share.
Essential #5 – Avoid Connecting Facebook and Twitter
We won't have success on any social media site unless we're there, actively participating and building relationships. That means that connecting any two sites so that what we post on one automatically shows up on the other is a bad idea.
But connecting Facebook and Twitter so that your tweets carry over is also a terrible idea because what people look for from the two sites is different. You might think you're saving yourself time, but you're risking coming across as a spam bot instead.
Essential #6 – What Can Get Us Sent to Twitter Jail?
When it comes to Twitter, there are three big no-nos that can land us in Twitter Jail. Consider these the equivalent of speeding, driving down the wrong side of the road, and driving under the influence.
- Follower to Following Ratios
People hit the magic number of 2,000 people they're following and suddenly Twitter won't allow them to follow anyone new. This happens when we don't have enough people following you compared to the number of people we're following.
If this happens, you're going to have to go and clear out some of the people who aren't following you back using a tool like justunfollow.com. If your ratio is so far off that you've been thrown in Twitter jail, you're not going to get out just by begging a few more people to follow you.
- Tweeting Too Often
I'm still shocked that people have this happen given that the technical limit is 1,000 tweets per day. However, this is also broken down into hourly limits. So if you think of it that way, you're limited to approximately 83 tweets per hour. That might sound like a ridiculously high number you'd never hit, but if you're taking part in some kind of Twitter party (e.g., a launch party for a book), you may actually find you hit this limit.
With the growing popularity of those types of events, as well as themed chats, you need to be especially careful about this limit if you're the administrator of the event.
- Spammy Behavior
Most of you are probably already aware of the major spam behaviors to avoid. Kristen has done an amazing job of educating writers about what counts as spam, but in case any of you are new to Twitter or don't read Kristen's blog quite as dedicatedly as I do, I really think these are essential to know.
Spam = If you post duplicate content over multiple accounts or multiple duplicate updates on one account.
So let's say you created an account both for yourself and for your book and you post the same updates to both. That technically violates Twitter's spam policy. If you post the same updates over and over again on a single account, it's also spam and Twitter will suspend your account for this kind of behavior.
Spam = If your updates consist mainly of links, and not personal updates.
This is another reason why the conversation aspect of Twitter is so important. This is a social media site founded with the intent of both sharing information and providing people will a quick, easy way to voice their opinions and chat with others. Be aware that if you're only posting links, you're technically in violation of Twitter's user policies.
Essential #10 – How to Connect Your Website to Twitter
Our home base on the Internet should never be a social media network. We should have a website (and ideally blog on our website as well) because that is a solid foundation to build upon.
Part of what we want to do is create a circle between our blog and our social media networks. We share material on social media, which draws people back to our blog, and they enjoy the content, so they return to social media and share it with the people they're connected with. And the cycle continues and grows.
You'd be surprised how many people chop a hole in this cycle because they don't enable sharing buttons on their blog or website. Make sure you have a button that people can click to tweet your blog post right from your website.
Want More Help with Twitter for Authors?
Please check out my book Twitter for Authors: A Busy Writer's Guide (available in ebook and print forms). Building a thriving social media platform doesn't have to steal all your precious writing time or cut into your time with your family. Twitter for Authors is about building a successful Twitter platform that's sustainable for busy people.
In Twitter for Authors, you'll learn…
• essential Twitter terminology,
• how to set up your account,
• the differences between TweetDeck and Hootsuite,
• techniques for staying safe on Twitter,
• how to build columns and lists and use them to find readers,
• the value of link shorteners and hashtags,
• what to tweet about,
• the most common mistakes writers make on Twitter,
• how to run a successful Twitter event,
• how to manage your social media time,
• and much more!
Twitter for Authors contains helpful advice for both Twitter newbies and long-time Twitter users who want to take their platform to the next level.
how to build an author platform with Twitter, how to use hashtags, how to use Twitter, Kristen Lamb, Marcy Kennedy, Marcy Kennedy social media for authors, Marcy Kennedy Twitter expert, social media for writers, WANA, what are hashtags
Want to Successfully Publish? First, Are You a "Real" Writer?
Posted by Author Kristen Lamb in Writing Tips on September 15, 2014
For many writers (me included), we don't start off with the confidence to yell to the world, "I'm going to be a professional author!" Heck, I wrote a 178,000 word "novel" and still didn't believe I was a writer. Later, I had over a year and a half of consistent blogging under my belt, multiple short stories, and newbie novels that had been at least good enough to win prestigious contests and yet….
I was not a "real writer."
Schrödinger Writer? If you put a writer in an office at a keyboard, is the writer alive or dead (real or fake) until the book is published?
We've Come a LONG Way, Baby
The literary landscape has shifted dramatically. More avenues of publishing have opened and become appealing, thus this silly question of, "Are we a real writer?" holds far less power. Believe it or not, when I began blogging, I dedicated countless posts to answering this very question. In retrospect, I did it for me as much as for others.
I've always asserted that we are what we do. What is our primary career focus (beyond a necessary day job)? The second we sit at a keyboard and write, we are writers. Yet, as my first "novel" glaringly illustrates, we might not yet be a "good writer."
To read it, you MUST first recite the sacred words! Klatu! Verata! N…. N-Noun? Nunchuk? Nutmeg? Definitely an "N' word.
Changing Times
What's fascinating for me was how much this opinion of being a "real writer" varied from 2008 to as late as 2013. I'd post and assert, "If you write, you're a writer." This then would spawn a flurry of Kristen Lamb is an Idiot-Hack blogs asserting that we didn't deserve the title until 1) we had an agent 2) had a contract 3) were traditionally published.
Or whatever.
I see this debate far less, or maybe I've just learned to ignore it and my naysayers are smart enough to no longer hyperlink to me.
***By the way, being called an idiot is usually a good sign we're doing something right. When we challenge the status quo, most won't throw us a parade. We're doing what they don't have the guts to try.
Maybe we fail. I've failed A LOT and am very proud of that. Why?
If we aren't failing we aren't doing anything interesting.
Thank the Mushroom-Eaters
Change is frightening, but thanks to the mushroom-eaters there are more ways to get our books to readers than ever before in human history. Writers have more freedom, more flexibility than ever. They're also being PAID.
Mushroom eaters? Yes. Come on. Haven't you ever seen someone eat a raw oyster and you wondered, "Who was the first?" I guarantee you it was a group of cavemen, and someone lost a bet. Who ate the first sea cucumber? Or determined that snails actually were quite tasty with some butter and garlic? Live squid? Are you serious?
Back to the mushrooms. There are 100,000 known species of mushrooms, and only 2000 of these are edible. In fact, many mushrooms are toxic, even deadly. How do we know which ones to eat? Risk. Someone, somewhere took a chance.
Mushroom-eaters are the ones brave enough to try a bite. Innovators are the ones who eat the poisonous mushroom and die, whereas early adopters are the ones who watch and learn. But, we must appreciate that someone had to be willing to take the first bite.
Perhaps we won't die. Maybe, instead, we can take a bite, throw up and hallucinate and actually live to tell others…yeah, don't eat the orange ones with the spots.
It's great to be an early adopter, and there is nothing wrong with that. But, if there are no innovators (mushroom-eaters), then there is no one taking risks that pave the way for the early and late adopters to follow suit.
I was a mushroom-eater when it came to social media for authors. I did plenty of passing out and seeing spots, but continued to press no matter how often I was told social media was a fad. I was deeply convinced we were seeing a fundamental shift in human communication and society, one not seen since the invention of the Gutenberg Press.
***Great. Freaking Gutenberg. Now EVERYONE can be published *rolls eyes*.
Time redeemed me, though I had just as much chance of resembling the person who thought THIS was a great idea…
Fortunately it all worked out *sigh of relief*. Now those agents who slayed me in comments won't sign an author who doesn't have a viable social media brand (no matter how good the book). Writers who believed social media was the Digital Pet Rock had good reason to believe that. Not everyone is an innovator/early adopter and there's nothing wrong with that.
Even I waited for the third version if the X-Box 360 so they could work out the bugs.
How Are YOU a Mushroom-Eater?
This notion of whether or not we are "real" writers is intertwined with being a mushroom-eater. First, the decision to write and publish a book ALONE is mushroom-eating behavior. My father had a genius IQ (was FAR smarter than me), yet died working minimum wage at a bike shop. He'd always longed to be a writer, but that was "foolishness." It wasn't a real job.
Friends and family often offer the strongest resistance, partly because they love us and mean well. Don't you want to learn medical billing? The pay is GREAT!
Writing professionally IS a tough job. We are entrepreneurs (authorpreneurs) and the failure rate is high. But no risk=no reward. Failing to at least try and give it all we have only leads to unanswered questions. Expect others will be jealous we had the guts to do what they could not.
Why is This SO IMPORTANT?
All businesses should begin with a mission statement of what precisely that business IS and what it specifically offers. Goals, objectives, education, planning, execution will ALL be flawed if not first defined.
I've done a lot of business consulting over the years. Show me a failing business and I'll show you a business with an identity crisis. They've failed to do that first critical step of claiming what they ARE, defining what they DO, and understanding and communicating why their good/service is RELEVANT and better than the competition.
Fail to plan and plan to fail.
Writers who want to actually sell books are a small business. Yes, it's scary. Yes, it's tough. But nothing worth having is easy. You guys can do this! Some of you are doing this. Doesn't mean we don't have moments of doubt. I do. All the time. But I no longer waste emotional energy wondering if I am a "real" writer and neither should any of you.
Write. That will answer the question ;) .
What are your thoughts? Are you new and struggling with a writer-identity-crisis? Are you getting pushback from those close? Animosity from peers? For those who've been doing this a while, do you have days you wonder if you have what it takes? Are you reinventing a genre? Writing something outside the norm, but it scares you?
I love hearing from you!
To prove it and show my love, for the month of SEPTEMBER, everyone who leaves a comment I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly. I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less).
For those who need help building a platform and keeping it SIMPLE, pick up a copy of my latest social media/branding book Rise of the Machines—Human Authors in a Digital World on AMAZON, iBooks, or Nook.
author business, authorpreneurs, becoming a successful author, digital age publishing, early adopters and innovators, Kristen Lamb, publishing, social media for writers, W.A.N.A., when are you a real writer, writing as a business
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Posts tagged "golf"
Scottish Politician Boycotts Golf Tournament Because Club Doesn't Admit Women
Last week, Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland, announced that he will be sending a junior minister to the British Open, a prestigious golf tournament, instead of attending it himself. He's an avid golfer and is not forgoing the event out of disinterest. Rather on a matter of principle: the club hosting the event doe…
Mary Odell
July 5, 2013
Kickass Woman Of The Day: 5-Year-Old Golf Prodigy Bella Dovhey
Don't let her blonde curls and dimpled smile fool you: five-year-old Bella Dovhey means business. Although quite young, golf prodigy Dovhey is really getting into the swing of things, a potential professional golfing career just a chip, pitch or putt away. Bella's father, Micheal Dovhey of Oviedo, Florida, is amazed by his daughter's golfing capabilities. "I…
Daley Quinn
June 26, 2013
Condi Rice Invited To Join All-Male Augusta National Golf Club
Breaking news! The He-Man Woman Hater's Club has finally realized girls do not have cooties. Okay, I am being glib. But it's friggin' 2012, Augusta National Golf Club — it took you long enough to admit your first-ever female members, i.e. stop discriminating against over 50 perent of the population. Women have always been allowed to…
Jessica Wakeman
August 20, 2012
Unlikely Style Inspiration: Golfers
A few months ago I got the sudden urge to learn how to play golf, so I signed up for a community education course and we had our first class this past Saturday. Besides all the weird golf terms (frog hair?!), the most surprising thing I learned was that golf style is pretty…
Winona Dimeo-Ediger
May 19, 2012
Men's College Golf Team Shows Off Their Nine Irons, Gets Suspended
The men's golf team at Bethany College in West Virginia is in hot water after a nude "unofficial team photo" was posted on Facebook. Technically they are not naked because their golf clubs cover their junk in the pic, but that minor detail did not impress the school's athletic director. He suspended these budding…
Jessica Wakeman
August 27, 2011
Trans Athlete Fights For The Right To Compete
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is in a bit of a bind right now—thanks to a set of policies which some believe discriminate against transgender athletes. Golfer Lana Lawless is suing the LPGA for its "female at birth" policy, which requires that all competitors must have been born biological females. Lawless, who was bor…
Julie Gerstein
October 15, 2010
5 Things To Know About "Cigar Guy"
Last weekend, an image appeared in the Daily Mail of Tiger Woods taking a golf shot in a tournament. Nestled among the crowd in the background is a guy wearing a red toupee and a fake moustache, with a cigar hanging out of his mouth and a goofy grin on his face. Instantly, the…
Kate Torgovnick/Kate-Book.com
October 11, 2010
LPGA Golfer Erica Blasberg's Death Ruled A Suicide
In May of this year, I wrote about promising, young LPGA golfer Erica Blasberg, who was found dead in her home in Henderson, Nevada, the day she was supposed to leave for a tournament in Alabama. The circumstances surrounding her death were a mystery, but now it has officially been ruled a suicide by…
Amelia McDonell-Parry
August 25, 2010
What Happened To LPGA Golfer Erica Blasberg?
LPGA golfer Erica Blaberg was found dead in her home in Henderson, Nevada on Sunday afternoon, the day she was supposed to leave for a tournament in Alabama. While no cause of death has been determined, her parents don't think the 25-year-old would ever take her own life and the police have not said…
Amelia McDonell-Parry
May 11, 2010
Today's Lady News: Golf Gal Wins Sexual Discrimination Lawsuit
A Massachusetts judge has ruled in favor of golfer Elaine Joyce, in a sexual discrimination lawsuit she filed against the town of Dennis, MA. In 2007, Joyce was banned from playing in a men's tournament at the town's municipal Dennis Pines Golf Course despite the fact she has a single-digit handicap. Last week, a judge…
Jessica Wakeman
April 5, 2010
Will Hooters Host A Bikini Contest During Tiger Woods' Masters Game?
TMZ.com reports that Hooters in Augusta, Georgia, will hold a bikini contest with golf-themed events during Tiger Woods' return to golf at the Masters Tournament next week. The boobs-and-hot-wings chain will allegedly host games like a putting competition and a long-drive contest to, uh, celebrate golf alongside their, um, celebration of the…
Jessica Wakeman
March 31, 2010
Get Your Shot With A Tiger Woods Mistress!
Today in sexist marketing -- some dude is selling golf balls featuring the faces of Tiger Woods' mistresses, so now, you too can "play a round" with them. The perfect gift for the inane douchebag in your life. [$53.90, Tail Of The Tiger]…
Amelia McDonell-Parry
January 30, 2010
Mind Of Man: What The Tiger Woods Sex Scandal Is Really About
So, Tiger Woods cheated on his wife. For those of you who don't know, Tiger Woods is a professional golfer worth a billion dollars. He is involved in a sex scandal, much like your average politician, rock star, or preacher. I have no opinion on the topic. Except that Tiger Woods has the…
John DeVore
December 9, 2009
The Dirty Secret Behind Justin Timberlake's Golf Book
Ugh, I am actually a fan of Justin Timberlake so it broke my heart to hear that NYC lit agent David Vigliano is shopping around Timberlake's golf memoir proposal. Maybe it's just the die hard golfer in me, since I loved him being a singer, dancer, fashion designer and even enviro-friendly golf course owner, but…
Deborah Findling
July 9, 2009
Five Things To Know About Golfer Cheyenne Woods, Besides The Obvious
Sure, Cheyenne Woods is the niece of Tiger Woods, but there's more to the Wake Forest golfer than that. The 18-year-old, who will turn 19 this month, made her LPGA debut last week but missed the cut by four shots. She's currently ranked 93rd in the country by Golfweek.
Annika Harris
July 2, 2009
The Daily Squeeze: Victoria Beckham's Relative, Cleaning Up The Streets, And A Movie Deal
Posh Spice is related to a comrade of Karl Marx. [Reuters]…
Catherine Strawn
August 5, 2008
The Daily Hotness: Tiger Woods
In a sudden death match against underdog Rocco Mediate, Tiger Woods pulled out his third U.S. Open win yesterday. Sports expert-types are calling it his best performance, which we kind of agree with, because honestly? Since when do we care about golf? We were on the edge of our seats! It doesn't hurt…
Amelia McDonell-Parry
June 17, 2008
Quick Pic: Justin Timberlake Preps For A Hole-In-One
The avid golfer is welcome on our putting green. [Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge, San Diego, CA, 6/5/08]…
The Frisky
June 6, 2008
Golf Is Good
Get thee to a golf course. A new study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports says that the death rate for golfers is 40 percent lower than for other people of the same sex, age, and socioeconomic statues. This corresponds to a 5-year increase in life expectancy, and golfers with…
Catherine Strawn
May 30, 2008
The Daily Squeeze: Successfully Quit Smoking, See Elijah Wood Covered In Spaghetti, And More
Women who attempted to quit smoking before hitting the ovulation part of their cycle were more likely to smoke again than those trying to quit at other times. [BBC]…
Catherine Strawn
April 21, 2008
Simply Irresistible
All »
The 20 Hottest Sex Scenes From "Game Of Thrones"
When you play the game of thrones, you either win or you die. But you get to f*ck a lot first. So . . . it's kinda worth it. The show is known for its gratuitous amounts of nudity and raunchy sex, so what better way to celebrate the impending Game of Thrones Spring premiere…
Tres Sugar
March 29, 2015
The 10 Definitive Cult Films You Absolutely Must See
What makes a movie a "cult classic"? Film history is littered with hundreds of films that never made it big, but developed small, passionate followings that allowed them to build up a reputation over time. Sometimes a good film is poorly marketed by a studio more concerned with their bottom line; other times genuinely bad…
Ask Men
March 28, 2015
Dave Grohl Helps Out A Dying Fan
A big Foo Fighters fan with terminal cancer will get to scratch off one item from his wish list: meeting Dave Grohl and the band. The band was flying home from Australia when a flight attendant told Grohl about the wish of her friend, Australian Ken Powell, 56, who has late-stage melanoma, report…
March 28, 2015
Amanda Knox's Murder Conviction Has Been Overturned
Foxy Knoxy is off the hook.
Claire Hannum
March 27, 2015
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