REVISITING SOCIAL MEDIA
I made a post about this ages back, (found here) and thought that it was time to revisit the subject and give you all my thoughts and ideas about social media and how it can help you as a writer, an author, and as a person looking to grow your platform and reach. Because it's not just about making connections, but meeting the people who are going to become friends and help you along the way.
I talked about hashtags in a recent piece (found here) and they make up a lot of the advice when it comes to social media. But it's not just about growing numbers, because a lot of the time, that's where the focus is, but also gaining people in your corner. Not just as fans of your work, but as cheerleaders of you as a person and a writer. It's something that I've talked about before, that engagement is key, but it's taken me a long time to take my own advice and now I've gotten to the point where I actually feel like I'm doing it right.
So what advice do I give you, either as a newbie writer, or long-time author or anything in between? Glad you asked, strap in and let's go for a ride!
#1 - DON'T JUST BLAST INTO THE VOID.
Now I say this knowing that you're not going to get responses to every post and tweet, but sometimes it can be tempting to vent that frustration into the void and figure no one is going to answer you anyway. Don't do that either. But when it comes to making those first forays into the social media world, make sure there's things for people to respond to. A tweet that talks just about what's going on, with no question to answer, or advice to give, will, most likely, fall flat. People will read it, but they don't have anything to say to you telling them about your day. With Instagram, the usual thing is to include a question with your post so that people have a reason to comment. It doesn't always mean everyone will, but it's a start.
#2 - HASHTAGS ARE YOUR FRIENDS.
Now as with most things, there are different rules for different sites. On Instagram it's usual to have a lot of hashtags either in the post or in the comments. That's the way the algorithm works. Facebook and Twitter are usually better when you use them sparingly, as in you don't fill your whole tweet or post with them. And the same can be said for other sites as well. You also want to be using the right hashtags. What works on Instagram might not on Twitter and so on and so forth. A little research, and you can find the ones that are the best fit for both your post and the site itself. Know them, use them, and answer other people using the same ones, this is a great way to make friends.
#3 - IT TAKES TIME TO GROW
While it can be somewhat tempting to do a follow for a follow, unless you're someone writing in the same genre, or you actually talk to the person, then it's probably better avoided. All that does is clog up your timeline with things that either don't interest you, or you actively don't want there. It's much better to make sure that you're following the people who you actually want to talk to. When I first started out on Twitter, I followed everyone who followed me. I have people who would just have their facebook/tumblr feed on their page and nothing else. It was a nightmare because when I added people who I actually did want to read, my feed just went so fast that it was next to impossible to keep up. So I did a purge and since then I only add people I've actually got a connection with, or who I want to hear from.
#4 - PROMO IS OKAY IN SMALL DOSES
I've talked about this before, in writing pieces and on my Authortube channel, but don't be that person who spams everyone hourly, daily, with a blast of what's on sale and why you should buy it. Not only does it annoy people, but because the posts are usually exactly the same, it just feels false and misleading. Now, you get a good review, yes share it, interview, something new, then of course share it, but be careful with how much promo you do. This applies to both yourself, and anyone else who you might want to share with your followers. It's all dependant on who's online and such, but I find that posts that are spammy just get you muted or unfollowed, or people scroll past without even reading.
AND FINALLY, #5 - REPEATING YOURSELF IS OKAY
For the longest time, I would have things automatically cross-post. I do have some of that still, like my Instagram pictures go up as actual picture on Twitter through a site called IFFFT.com, and that's a great way to do it, because they're not the same thing over and over. But when it comes to retweeting, or reblogging something of your own, don't be afraid to repeat yourself. On top of that, when you want to cross-post, sometimes the interaction will be key to the fact that it's you actually doing the cross-posting and not a site doing it for you. It allows you to tailor the post to suit the site and also gives people a good idea that you're both present and active on your sites.
So there we have it, my top five tips for social media. A lot of my experience right now is with Twitter, Instagram and Youtube, simply because that's where I'm active a lot of the time. I do post on Tumblr, and I feel like that's a forgotten site from time to time which has a thriving writing community and also some really big name authors. It's one of those that you kinda find your corner and go from there. I've found a bit of my corner but not completely.
Lemme know any tips you have in the comments!
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WRITING LIFE & HASHTAGS
Last week's piece was a tad heavy and so I decided that this week, I would go for something a little loose and carefree, and that's writing life and all the hashtags of twitter, Instagram and the rest of social media. If you're part of any of those, you'll know that hashtags are a great way to direct the right people to your posts and start a conversation.
One of these that I find myself using a lot on Twitter is #WritingLife. It's basically one that I follow, since I use Tweetdeck which allows me to track hashtags in a different window and still keep up with my feed, along with the funny #WriterProblems and #WritingCommunity, as well as a couple of others that I won't mention. But one thing that always makes me smile is that the community there is so welcoming and so happy to help that it felt like something I should write about.
As you all know, I'm a spoonie, I try and keep myself going when I have bad days and I try to make sure that I follow the goals I set myself on my Authortube channel. Well, this past couple of months, one of the goals has been to post to Instagram and Twitter at least once a day. Part of this was because I have a bigger following on Twitter (and have just recently crossed over to 1K and above!) and part of it is that I feel like a lot more writers, young and old, and readers interact with Twitter because it doesn't have the same algorithm problem that Instragram and Facebook have where it's all about how popular your posts are before they get seen. On Twitter, you see it if you follow the person.
It's been a whole new learning experience and I'll admit to having picked up a lot of tips from Authortube, and from other Instagram big names. Such as making sure you're using the right hashtags, where you put them (in the post or in the comments) and all of that. It's always nice to learn new things, and how they'll help your reach. But one reason I didn't click with Twitter so much was because a lot of the people I was following were just tweeting out buy links and never really interacting. I'll admit that I made the same mistake in the beginning, and then kinda let it sit idle while my Facebook page and Instagram and Tumblr cross-posted and it's really only been in the last three years or so that I've started actively using it as a way to meet people.
And I have met so many nice people, from my CP, to other Authortube friends, to fellow indie authors, to people looking to connect with certain writers. It's a brilliant place to be and I really do feel that a lot of that is tied into the hashtags. And it blows my mind how simple, but yet ingenuous it is. From using one simple hashtag I have found people I now consider close friends. I have made connections with other authors and with other writers who are still on the beginning stages of their process. And it's just an amazing place to be. The idea that we all share one simple thing and yet we all know what it feels like to wake up with an idea, only to forget it in the morning. Or to not have enough time to write something down, make a note of it, and then come back to find that it doesn't work. I could go on and on, but my point is that it's a wide open space out there, and it's so welcoming and it's so friendly, and it's just a nice place to be.
So that's my piece for today, when it comes to meeting other writers, or sharing ideas, hashtags are an amazing thing for that. Come join us on Twitter or Instagram and make friends, you never know you might end up having a whole load of fun and really loving every moment. I know I do!
Lemme know your favourite social media and your favourite hashtag in the comments below!
Follow Joey here on her blog, or on Facebook or Tumblr to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books
CHOOSING YOUR PUBLICATION PATH
I've talked before about choosing whether to go indie or traditional (piece found here), but I felt like it was time for a more in-depth piece about that. I made the choice I did because of a number of factors that I'll go into briefly, but how do you know if that's he right path for you? I can really only talk more about the self-published/indie route because while I was almost traditionally published, it didn't last long and I never went through the whole process so I know more about being an indie author.
So, you've finished your project, you've gone through the revision process and you're now trying to decide whether you should go down the traditional route or whether you should start getting the money together to hire an editor, cover designer and all the rest. Each path has its own pros and cons, and people have gone over them to death, so I'm not going to go into that here. I am, however, gonna say that a lot of the time, it's a personal choice, and one only you can make for yourself.
If you go traditional, you will have a long path ahead of you. You'll be in the query trenches, then hopefully find an agent, then go on submission and then start the editing process and all of that before publication. If you go indie then you'll be on a similar path, only it might not take as long. I personally like the level of control, the higher royalty rate and the ability to completely decide how many books, and which ones, I'd be releasing at a time.
But how do you make that choice? How do you know whether you'll succeed at one over the other? The simple answer is: you don't. A lot of indie authors are rolling the dice and hoping they score high, but that can be, somewhat, still true for traditionally published authors. You don't know that your book is going to meet the market and launch a massive following. It's part of being creative, you are making something that is subjective in whether someone likes it or not.
Think about it, there are some paintings that most people will agree are gorgeous and ahead of their time - like Van Gogh's Starry Night. There are books like that too. But there are also pieces of art that split people, and there are books like that too. And there are some pieces of music, art, all of it, that the majority of people hate, and yes, books are like that too!
You are not guaranteed success in whichever path you choose. You will have to work hard, and you might manage to put in enough hard work that you have a lot of success, but that doesn't mean that some of that spark that decides whether your work is good, is going to be luck. I don't say that to piss on those who do work hard and do have a ton of success because of it. I'm not saying it because I'm bitter and trying to rain on their parade. I''m saying that no matter how hard you work, a part of success is luck. It's whether you hit the right market at the right time.
With something as subjective as fiction, you're going to have a hard road ahead of you no matter which route you choose. My advice is to think long and hard, do your research and make sure that you know what will be expected of you, but also remember that you might not have the millions in royalties and movie deals and the rest, because that only happens to a tiny, tiny percentage of authors. I don't say this to depress you, but to make you aware that it's hard being an author. You don't write a book and become a star. You work hard, you work the hours you can, and the majority of authors, both indie and traditional have another source of income, whether that's through a day job or through a spouse working. It's rare for an author to only have books to write.
You write a book because you're passionate about the idea, and that's amazing. You put in the hard work, and it is hard no matter what anyone tells you, and you finish it. And then the rest of the work starts. But what it comes down to, what I'm trying to say is, no one can choose your path for you. It has to be a choice you make with your facts and circumstances. And whichever path you choose, good luck, and remember to keep writing.
Follow Joey here on her blog, or on Facebook or Tumblr to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books
UNINSPIRED BLOG POSTS
It can be a headache for me trying to come up with blog posts every week. For a long time it was a case of writing them well in advance and posting them whenever I felt like it. Then for a period after I started to post every Monday it would be something I did on the Monday it was due, but that sometimes meant that I was working well into the night and still no closer to knowing what to say. And then I hit on the idea that along with my usual end of month stuff, I would write the coming months blog posts as well as the one for the first of the next month. It was a headache in the beginning but now I've gotten into a routine that when I'm running out of ideas, I look at my sticky note and start to brainstorm as well as going over what I've covered in the past six months or so.
Because a lot of what I post on a Monday is advice, I don't want to be doing too much along the same topics, but I've also made them my own too in that I will, around releases and such, have character pieces that I write and publish closer to that time of the year. I never usually have more than a couple of months worth planned because the ideas can be hard to find. It's a creative thing for me just as writing is that a lot of the time a topic will come to me and I'll have to write it down. Usually when I get low on ideas, I fall back on what's done well before. I have my mini series with Spoonie Writer, Trials Of A Crime Writer and Trials Of An Indie Author, and they're pretty easy to narrow down too because they have a specific readership and meaning on the blog.
You could say the same for the After Process. It's pretty easy to work out what belongs in the pieces that happen once you're published, but when it comes to the Creative Process, well, sometimes I'm just stumped and unsure about what to do. A lot of the time I'll sit down at the end of the month, once I've recorded my final vlog and are getting ready to wrap everything up and then it's about pulling teeth to bring out the blog posts. And I know I'm not the only one who feels like that, so why do I keep doing it?
Simply put, it's something I do well at. I get a lot of interaction, less so on the blog, but more so on the places that it's cross-posted to that tell me that my advice and snippets of wisdom are well received and wanted. My audience is telling me to continue. Same with the Friday posts where I promote other authors, it's something that gets a light shined on my blog, but also makes me feel like I'm sharing the wealth as it were. And those are all good things.
But today, when I sat down to write, I realised that I just didn't have a full calender for the coming month. I didn't know what to write about, what to advise on and given that I'm still coming back from burnout (piece found here) and have talked about taking a break to refill my creative well (piece found here) I thought I would be honest and talk about what happens when you're just not inspired to write an advice piece. The question can sometimes be simply answered by just not doing it any more. I've covered why I don't take that route, but it might be one open to you.
The other side of it is that I like my schedule the way it is. I have excelled at getting myself to make the most of my time, my energy and all the others things that are needed from me to stay both mentally and physically healthy, but also to keep writing which adds to the first two. Sometimes that means that I just don't have time to think up a specific piece of advice, and I guess what I'm trying to say in a roundabout way is: that's okay.
There is so much pressure both in the actual writing community and from ourselves to be pouring out this and that twenty-four/seven. And sometimes you just can't. Sometimes your brain is saying nope, your body is having a fit and you just can't produce what you normally would. And I don't feel like enough people say that, guess what? It happens to us all and it is okay. You are not weak. You are not a failure. This is not the end of you. You will get through this. And you will be okay.
So take a breath and just hold onto that. There's no shame in having an off week. I go through stages of having them weeks in a row. But also don't be afraid to ask for help, to reach out, there are people around you who care and they will listen, and if they don't, then reach out to someone who will. You gotta take care of you, and that's more than okay.
So that's my wisdom for the day. Now I'm gonna curl up with a good book and call it done!
Follow Joey here on her blog, or on Facebook or Tumblr to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books
FIGHTING BURNOUT
Over the past couple of months, I've been finding it harder and harder to keep the momentum going in regards to writing. I've never been someone who struggled that much with writer's block, or at least I haven't been for a good number of years. Once I got into the routine I use now, it became a thing of the past. I'm not saying that every word was easy, just that I rarely got to a point where I couldn't write. But in the past few months, with my health going down the drain and other factors draining my creative well, I've realised that I am, quite literally, fighting burnout.
It's something that happens to a lot of creative people, including writers, and it's something that can be fought, but it's also something that can not be avoided if you don't learn the signs, practice self-care, and sometimes, take a step back to allow yourself to heal. Because that's what you need to do, when you've reached that point of being burned out, there's no pushing through. All that happens then is you lose your love for the project and in some cases, make the burnout even worse.
So what have I done? How have I gotten through this period? Am I still going through it? The answer to the last is that yes I am, but I am also on the tail end of it. I know that I need to do better at practising self-care, and I need to do better about making my days off, actual days off. Not just days where I plan to do nothing and end up doing everything else instead. So how have I gotten through it? I'm gonna tell you so that hopefully you don't end up in the same position, but if you do, you know some ways to ease your mind back into the creative space without making the whole thing a hundred times worse.
#1 - EASE OFF
When I first started noticing issues, it was back in November. I was already pumped about starting NaNoWriMo, but I realised that with everything going n with my health, I knew it wasn't possible. I knew I had to cut back on work, and that meant not taking part in NaNo with the hope that things would improve going into the Christmas period. This felt like step one of a multi-step plan. Because while it worked for the short term, it didn't fix the issue because I was, as usual, back to normal in December.
#2 - FACE FACTS
It wasn't really until my sleep started to suffer in December and into January that I realised my plan of taking a month to get myself back together wasn't working all that well. I would find myself falling asleep early in the evenings, but being unable to stay asleep. It led to me being awake at odd hours, unable to get my usual amount of work done and then having to take long naps during the day. It meant that during the holiday period I was overtired, grouchy and not in the best place to be creative. It didn't help that I was having to keep working even though I felt like I was falling apart at the seams. There were outside factors that didn't help my stress levels and that of course just made me a giant ball of burnt out mess. So come January I realised I needed to do a few things and start to actually face facts and look after myself for the good of my writing career.
#3 - TAKE A BREAK
I've talked about this a little in my most recent Life Of Joey video. I got to the point where my health was suffering and I needed to take an actual break. I came down with an allergic reaction, that my doctors also wondered if it could be brought on by stress. I was ordered to take a break, and in doing that I realised that I needed some serious down time. I couldn't put it off any longer, and I couldn't risk getting sicker. There was also a period when I thought about not releasing all three books because of the massive amount of work involved. I knew that if I did go through with it, I needed to be doing a hell of a lot better. It was one of the reasons I got strict with myself about having at least one full day off every month that wasn't just Mepo.
#4 - TAKE TIME
And the next step was time. I took a serious chunk of time off in February, and did the same in March. I'm not sure to be honest where I will be back at the point I want to be by the time this blog post goes live, but I think it's important to focus on looking after yourself. If you need time to relax, to take a breather, to get away from creating and focus on healing your frayed nerves mentally as well as physically. There is no shame in needing to stop, and a friend of mine told me that resting was still time invested in your career. It's a way to make sure that you can keep going when you're back on the right track.
#5 - REFILL
Of course what comes alongside taking that time is refilling your creative well. For me that meant a whole lot of reading. I went through almost 40 books in January and February. I imagine it will be similar in March and April. It was a way for me to both rest my own creative side, but also still have fun enjoying other people's. It gave me a chance to reconnect with my stories and it also gave me a chance to just have some time off. Refilling takes as long as it takes. It could be weeks, could be longer, but the important thing is that you let it happen. Rushing through it, like I did initially, just ends up frustrating you and causing you more grief in the long run.
#6 - MONITOR
And finally, monitor yourself. Be honest with yourself. Are you ready to go back to work? It's okay if you're not, it takes as long as it takes and it's not something to skimp on. If you are, then be gentle with yourself. It may take some more time for you to get back up to where you were, and that's okay. If you're not, then allow yourself that time to refill and time to heal, it will come back and with it, you'll find yourself thankful for having taken the time to charge yourself back up and get back to writing.
If you've got any burnout tips, lemme know in the comments, and as always, good luck!
Follow Joey here on her blog, or on Facebook or Tumblr to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books
THE TRIALS OF A CRIME WRITER: BALANCING REALISM & FICTION
I've talked about this before in one of my tropes pieces (linked here) but I feel like it's something that needs to be covered more as a crime writer than just the plain ole indie author series I have. I think when it comes to writing crime, there's a lot of times when the barrier to realism is crossed and your ability to suspend disbelief vanishes. It's not necessarily bad writing, but sometimes things are just too "out there" to be considered plausible and real even in fiction.
With some genres, that's okay because we're talking about fantasy and worlds other than our own. In sci-fi there's a bigger limit again because it's either futuristic or enough is explained by tech that you can turn a blind eye to the things that don't ring true for you. But when it comes to crime, there's this feeling that things needs to make sense otherwise, it just doesn't feel believable and/or real enough to pass.
Now some of that is a case of the series 'jumping the shark', a phrase coined to basically mean that we're into the disbelief entirely and unable to go further without it verging on the ridiculous. I can name several YA series that this happened to, but I won't because I'm not that kind of blog, and these were also ones from my childhood and it seems silly to rake them over the coals. But what am I planning to talk about here? The balance between the two.
Because that's the important part of writing fiction, about finding that balance. And I feel that it especially applies to crime fiction and here's why. So many people who read crime, are doing so to escape, but also to follow the mystery. They're looking for a detective going out and about and seeing this or that happen, and they're coming along for the ride. They want to see the clues shown and see if they can beat the detective to the punch and find out who was the killer/other bad guy. It's about being along for the chase, and if the end result is something that makes the reader feel cheated, then it's doing something wrong.
So how do you balance between the two? It's not an easy feat. It's something that will take time, experience, and also research. I've already talked before about my feeling of there being too many serial killers in series. I've read a series that I ended up stopping because every new case was a new serial killer. I decided that one was okay, two was stretching it, but beyond that, with every new book in the series focused on a serial killer in the same geographical location? That's just beyond realism. It's into the absurd!
So what are some things you can look out for when writing that will let you know if you're crossing that line? Glad you asked, because I have a few tips to share with you!
#1 - CAN YOU SEE IT IN THE NEWS?
If it's something that you see frequently, like assault, or police searches for missing people, then it's probably something that can be turned into an idea. And you can take it and make it your own. You can add bits and pieces that aren't often on the news and come out with a really good story. And you can have it work for you. That's not to say that if it's rarely mentioned you should never use it as a plot point, of course there are crimes out there that are infrequent, but just don't build a whole series around it constantly happening, because that's gonna make people sit back and go: WTF?
#2 - DOES IT ADD AN AIR OF SUSPENSE?
The key to any good crime novel is the suspense that's built up in the mystery. If it's something like stealing someone's identity and using it as a way to get away with crimes, then it can be turned to add suspense. Not every suspenseful book has bodies dropping at an alarming rate. There are other ways to keep the reader glued to the page and allow for the story to play out. Utilise those and you'll find yourself with a good story on your hands.
#3 - DOES IT SKIRT THE EDGE OF REALISM?
As you all know, I recently released a sci-fi/crime novel. I had the idea for the crime aspects, but for it to work, I had to set it into the near future so that I could allow for tech advances and newer ways of fighting crime. If you've got an idea that would be unbelievable now, but wouldn't in the past or future, so long as you write it well, and skirt that edge but never cross over, it should be fine to write. Just remember to do your research and allow for feedback before you get to the publication route.
And finally, #4 - CHECK YOUR FACTS
This feels like something that shouldn't need to be said, but at the same time, it still happens. There are always going to be some facts that might impede your story, and for some of those, you can alter the time, place or even the rules of the world, but a lot of the time, you're going to need to rework your idea to make sure that it follows the facts. Otherwise you'll end up looking like an idiot who didn't do their research and no one wants that. So, be sure to not skip this step!
And those are my tips, if you have any others, or comments about your own history with realism in fiction, be sure to let me know in the comments! Good luck!
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