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emaginings: Social Media, the Brain and Creativity

September 16, 2013 by in category The Romance Journey by Linda Mclaughlin tagged as , , , , ,

Yesterday’s meeting was informative and lots of fun. I missed Melissa Cutler’s morning workshop on “Making Grammar \work for your Voice” to attend PAW, but heard good things about it afterwards. 

Afternoon speaker Catherine Bybee joined us in PAW for a spirited discussion of publishing and social media. One thing she said struck me as problematic, for me. She said we should share about our lives at Facebook as a way to engage readers. But my life is so boring. Debra Holland told me later that was my choice, and she’s right. I prefer drama in my books, not my house, so living a quiet life is just fine with me. But it doesn’t make for fun anecdotes on Facebook & Twitter, like the ones I see about people’s kids and pets. So it’s my challenge to find a way to be interesting on social media. 
I’ll get the chance soon.I’ve joined a group of ten indie authors to publish a boxed set of our works and we’re going to do a launch party at Facebook. So I can report on that next month. 
In the meantime, I have signed up for Susan and Harry Squires online workshop on “Talking Back to Your Brain”. Now, I have zero time for a class, but this sounds like a good opportunity to get my head straight about some things.Plus I know the class will be great because I’ve taken classes from Susan and Harry before. But keeping up will be another challenge. I do hope it will help me to focus better. As you can see from this post, I’m feeling just a little scattered.
Speaking of the brain, I read a fascinating article recently at the Buffer blog on Why We’re More Creative When We’re Tired and 9 Other Surprising Facts About How Our Brains Work by Belle Beth Cooper. Several of these facts are useful to writers, including the fact that no one can really multitask. Our brains aren’t doing two things at once. Rather, the brain is jumping from one task to another at the fastest possible speed. Not the most efficient way to work. 
I had begun to figure that out for myself, but the internet makes multitasking so appealing. I can open multiple tabs in my browser and jump from one to the other. I start with my email, then, oh, here’s an interesting blog post, and there’s something good to tweet, so I open Twitter, or more likely Buffer, and pretty soon I’ve got seven tabs open to different websites. Yikes. I do close the internet before I start writing. I may be dumb but I’m not that dumb. I do make plenty of mistakes, though.
Which brings up another surprising fact. People who make mistakes are better liked. Maybe that’s why everyone is so fascinated when an icon falls. Hah, she wasn’t so perfect, after all.
Naps help us remember better and meditation can rewire the brain for less anxiety and more creativity. I plan to take more naps, as best I can since I’m a night owl who has enough trouble sleeping at night, much less during the day. And meditation needs to be squeezed in more frequently. If only there were a way to add more time to the day. Oh, wait, there’s something in there about a way to trick our brains into thinking time is going more slowly. That’s a little too much for me to process, but this is a very interesting article.
For those of you not familiar with Buffer, it’s an online and smart phone/table app that helps you to schedule social media postings throughout the day. I can access it from my computer or the iPad. It’s like TweetDeck and HootSuite in that regard, but Buffer doesn’t try to manage you account. Just helps you buffer, i.e., schedule postings throughout the day. It’s very simple to use and the Twitter analytics are helpful. The basic level is free, but someday I may “Go Awesome” and upgrade to the $10 a month plan. They also have an awesome blog with lots of informative and helpful articles.
(Note: No one at Buffer is paying me for this endorsement. I’m just seriously impressed by this app. FWIW, I have not tried TweetDeck or HootSuite, so cannot make a fair comparison.)
Do you use a program to manage your social media platforms? What do you recommend?
Linda
My social media contacts:
Twitter: @LyndiLamont https://twitter.com/LyndiLamont
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emaginings: Random Musings @LyndiLamont

August 26, 2013 by in category The Romance Journey by Linda Mclaughlin tagged as , , , , , ,

This has been the month from I-don’t-know-where. I missed my regular blog date of the 16th, due to not having any wi-fi. Long story that culminated with having to return our 7-week-old iPad 4 and pick up a new one. Thankfully, the new one works fine (so far) but it threw me completely off schedule.

The rights to a bunch of my short stories reverted this summer and I’m struggling to get them revised and reissued, not anywhere as quickly as I’d like while also writing new material. I feel like a juggler with two many balls in the air.

I’m also continuing my forays into various social networking sites. I joined Facebook this year, finally, thanks to Debra Holland. So now I have a personal profile and two pages, one for Linda and one for Lyndi. Facebook has been more fun than I anticipated, for the most part, and not as absorbing as I feared.OCC member, Lex Valentine of Winterheart Design, created two really pretty page covers for me. She’s so talented. Lex also created the cover for my upcoming re-release, Marooned, currently on sale at Smashwords, but coming soon to Amazon & other retailers. She said hopefully.

Apparently, I’ve also managed to accidentally activate a Google+ account for Lyndi, by clicking on something in my gmail account that I didn’t intend to click. I feel like such an idiot some time. Maybe I’ll have that one somewhat figured out by next month’s blog. Pretty sure I am going to delete my Pinterest account since I never use it and can’t afford to spare the broadband such a graphics intense site requires.

Still using Buffer app to schedule tweets and now Facebook shares and liking it more and more. You can now custom schedule a message to go out a day or more in advance, which really helps with planning. Using their analytics also clued me in to the fact that adding the hashtag #Author to a tweet really ups the potential for viewing from my app. 790 followers to several thousand possibilities. Potentially useful information.

Feel free to share any useful social media tips in the comments section. I can use all the help I can get!

Linda/Lyndi

Linda McLaughlin / Lyndi Lamont
Websites: http://www.lindamclaughlin.com
http://www.lyndilamont.com
Blogs:
Flights of Fancy
Lyndi’s Love Notes
Facebook
Twitter

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emaginings: Buffer for Writers

July 17, 2013 by in category The Romance Journey by Linda Mclaughlin tagged as , , , , , , , ,

While most everyone else was getting ready for this week’s RWA Conference in Atlanta, I went to camp instead. Well, MFRW (Marketing For Romance Writers) online Summer Camp.

If you’re not familiar with MFRW, I recommend checking it out. We have a dynamic group of writers led by the amazing Kayelle Allen, and ably assisted by Paloma Beck, Karen Cote, Kristyn Phipps, OCC’s own Monica Stoner, and a host of other generous volunteers. I’ve learned a lot from reading the MFRW Digests that come into my inbox.

At camp, I focused mostly on the social media classes, since I’ve been taking baby steps into that arena for over a year now. One of the classes was Buffer for the Hard-Pressed Writer, taught by Kristyn Phipps. I’ve had a Twitter account for over a year now, but hadn’t gone so far as to sign up for HootSuite or TweetDeck to manage my tweets, though there were times when I wished I had a way to space them out more. So I figured why not give Buffer a try, esp. since it’s also available as a smart phone app. It seemed like a good solution: a simple app that lets a user schedule tweets and FaceBook shares for release at specified times of the day.

You can sign in using your Twitter or Facebook account, then add a Buffer email and password. You have to authorize Buffer to access your Twitter, FB, Linked In or App.net account.

Buffer also has a section called Analytics that shows you the number of times someone Retweets, Favorites, Mentions, or Clicks your message and the Potential number of users that could be reached.

The Buffer staff is good at answering question via Twitter and the app will also email you to let you know when your buffer is empty. I haven’t had much time to play with it yet, but expect it will be quite useful.

Have you ever tried Buffer, and if so, what was your impression? Or do you use a different program to schedule your social media?

To those who are traveling to Atlanta, be safe and have a wonderful conference!

Linda McLaughlin / Lyndi Lamont
Websites: http://www.lindamclaughlin.com
http://www.lyndilamont.com
Blogs:
Flights of Fancy
Lyndi’s Love Notes
Facebook
Twitter

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emaginings: Social Networking Baby Steps

July 16, 2012 by in category Archives tagged as , , , , , , ,

I’ve been avoiding much of the social network sites for a while now, mainly concerned about being so overwhelmed by it all that I won’t get any writing done. But this year, I’ve been taking baby steps to get involved. I have joined Shelfari, Twitter and now Goodreads, though I am still resisting Facebook.

Now seemed like a good time to join, with RWA Nationals coming up next week and featuring workshops like:

  • 360 Degrees of Promotion: Integrating Social Media, Mailing Lists and Websites
  • Hook a Reader in 140 Characters: How to Promote Using Social Media
  • How to Get the Most Out of Goodreads

What I’ve learned so far:

Twitter intimidates me. It’s such a simple idea, but with so many people tweeting all over the world, how do you not get lost in the shuffle? This one is going to take some time and patience, and it will not come before my writing time. It can’t. I can’t let it.

I’m more comfortable with the reader sites, Shelfari and Goodreads and wish I’d joined them sooner. Do you need to join both? No, many people pick one and stick with it. Goodreads is most popular, I believe.

As a consumer, what I like about Shelfari is that it’s owned by Amazon and you can sign in using your Amazon account username and password, which is why I used my real name instead of my pseudonym. Amazon ownership also means it’s very easy to fill up your bookshelf in a matter of minutes with the books you’ve bought from them. I’ve apparently been an Amazon customer since 1997, so I had a full bookshelf in record time. At Goodreads, I will have to add the books one at a time.

As an author, I like the fact that items added to the Shelfari pages, like character descriptions, will also appear on the Amazon pages of your book. I’ve done a little of that already, but there is a lot more to do. I have yet to set up my Author Page at Goodreads, but I will get to that. Then I can make a better comparison between the two sites.

In the meantime, I will be following the #occrwa12 feed on Twitter during the conference. (I’m taking my iPad so I can check anywhere.) I’ve joined the OCC/RWA Virtual Reading Lounge at Goodreads set up by Deanna Cameron, and plan to check out the OCC members pages.

Any tips for effective use of any of these sites would be appreciated. Use the comment section below or tweet me @LyndiLamont. Leave a comment and I will follow/friend you at any of these sites.

Linda McLaughlin / Lyndi Lamont

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/LyndiLamont
Shelfari: http://www.shelfari.com/lindamclaughlin
Twitter: @LyndiLamont

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Marketing “Quick Response”: QR Codes, The New Sexy…

November 18, 2011 by in category Archives tagged as , , , ,

by Jenny Hansen

Are you capitalizing on the sexy little bit of free Techie gadgetry that’s currently all the rage? I’m talking about QR Codes, those little black squares you’re seeing on your television, in magazines and on the mail coming into your house.

I know, I know…QR just doesn’t sound sexy and, unless you’re more the nerdy type, “code” probably doesn’t either. But QR Codes are getting me hot these days. Seriously.

QR Codes are one of the EASIEST marketing tricks you’re not taking advantage of, especially if you’re a self-published author or a small business person.

Click here for the other 8 no-to-low cost social media tips we talked about last month and sit back to bask in the warmth of a new piece of technology fun that doesn’t cost a thing!

What is a QR Code?

QR stands for Quick Response and was created by the automotive industry to help track vehicles during the manufacturing process. How is this sexy, Jenny? you might be thinking…

Well, I’ll tell you. A QR Code is a barcode that stores a web address of your choosing. As an example, if you scan the one above, you’ll go to a cool place on OCC’s website that you might not visit very often. There are free apps available in both the Android and the iPhone that let you scan a QR code to quickly go to a website.

Note: To scan the code, you’ll need an app like QR Scanner [iTunes link] for the iPhone and iPod touch, or ShopSavvy for Android devices.

Uses for QR Codes…just think about this, folks:

  • QR Codes are being used at grocery stores to give you recipes and nutritional information for products you’re buying in the store.
  • To give you coupons, both in-store and on the internet.
  • On business cards, signs and brochures. A simple little barcode allows you to give the info you need to on the card or sign and, with a single click, also help the person to visit the webpage of your choice.
  • On clothing labels (Macy’s and other retailers are already using this) to tell you about that item and others you may like in the store.
  • On anything with packaging, to push people to a website, Facebook or review page.
Why couldn’t my self-published and indie author friends use this on the front or back covers of their books, or hidden as Easter eggs in the pages? Ex: Click here to get a free short story, or to submit a review, or to sign up for my monthly newsletter. The possibilities are ENDLESS.

Are you juiced up yet? Cause I am.

Can I get a QR Code of my very own?

But of course! There are tons of free spots to generate a QR code. Bit.ly and Social Oomph are the two I use the most often.

To use Bit.ly:

  • Visit bit.ly, write or paste in a URL address, click “Shorten,” and add .qr to the end of the generated bit.ly link (like so: http://bit.ly/tm90xj.qr).
  • Copy the modified link into a new browser window to view the QR code.
  • Once you see the code on your screen, you can print it out, send to your friends via e-mail, post on your blog, etc.
To use Social Oomph:
  • You need to sign up for a free account, whereas for Bit.ly, you could sign in with Twitter (but it still asks for your email address).
  • Once you’re signed in, l00k at the left navigation bar – “Shorten URL” is the fourth choice from the top.
  • Click the Shorten URL shortcut and type or paste the address in to the “Long URL” box and click the Shorten button.
  • There’s a box that says QR Code – copy the link out of there and follow all the same steps as above in the Bit.ly example.
From Wikipedia: Users with a camera phone equipped with the correct reader application can scan the image of the QR code to display text, contact information, connect to a wireless network, or open a web page in the telephone’s browser. This act of linking from physical world objects is termed hardlinking or object hyperlinking. Click here for more details than you probably want on how to work QR Codes. 🙂

UPDATE: In the last few weeks since I wrote this post, viruses have targeted QR Codes here and there. That doesn’t mean they aren’t safe but, just like email, watch where you click. More details here on how to avoid viruses.

Does this give you any new marketing ideas for your books, businesses or advertising? Are you already using QR Codes? What has your experience been?

Happy Writing!
Jenny

Jenny Hansen fills her nights with humor: writing memoir, women’s fiction, chick lit, short stories (and chasing after the newly walking Baby Girl). By day, she provides training and social media marketing for an accounting firm. After 15 years as a stand-up corporate software trainer, she’s digging this “sit down and write” thing.

In addition to being a founding member at Writers In The Storm, Jenny can also be found on Twitter and Facebook or over at her solo blog, More Cowbell.

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