John Locke is following me!

John Locke is following me!

Yesterday I got a Twitter message that John Locke is following me! Imagine my excitement that the epub guru was following me, an epub novice. Heady stuff. My elation was short-lived, however, when I sent Mr. Locke a message and saw that he follows 22,000 people!

Twenty-two thousand. Think about it—how is it possible to follow that many tweeters (twitterers?) without sitting in front of your computer 24/7? A person would have no time for such mundane things as eating, sleeping, or recreational activities. Does Locke have a Portapotty next to his computer? An IV in his arm feeding him the necessary nutrients to maintain the energy to communicate with such a mass of fans? I wonder about that, don’t you?

Recently I read Locke’s book on epublishing. He put a lot of emphasis on building one’s following (fan base, I believe he called it) and on staying in touch with fans by personal email. Make friends, he advised.

I’ve been following his plan for three months now and have acquired about four people that I would call fans. I enjoy them and consider them friends. So, by John’s principles, if I continue at this pace, I’ll have enough fans to make my writing successful when I an a hundred and ten!

Interesting stuff, right?

After reading this blog, you might be curious if I still look up to Mr. Locke as the great one in epublishing. Do I? You betcha! Thanks to him and a handful of others like him, struggling newbies like myself have hope!

And it’s that hope that keeps us writing and dreaming of hitting it big on Amazon, just like the rest of the world wants to win the lottery.

Oh, one more thing—we writers would love to win the lottery, too!


John Locke - www.lethalbooks.com

Writers Laboring On Labor Day

Writers laboring on Labor Day

(I think I’m in Labor)

Labor Day. A day we take time to reflect on the work force in our Country and the magnificent journey it’s travelled since the industrial revolution. Have today’s workers made progress? Or are they on a slippery regression back to the brutal employment methods of the early 1900’s? And the question is assumes there will even is employment available for those seeking it.

Unfortunately, both are true. American workers have both progressed and fallen backward. As a writer desperately working at marketing my first eBook, I’ve become aware of the multitude of others doing the same thing. Are all of us actually gifted writers, or are we eagerly trying to escape being one of the masses punching a time clock every day, or worse, standing in line to obtain employment?

An avid reader myself, my reading habits tend to be rather narrow. I’m first and foremost a suspense reader. Equipped with my new Kindle, I couldn’t wait to start taking advantage of the myriad of books available to me with only a click and ninety-nine cents! I’m sorry to report that I’ve been very disappointed with the quality of what’s being offered.

Am I expecting too much for 99 cents? Interestingly these same books I’m turning down, have excellent cover art and intriguing synopses. (I’m currently struggling with my own cover.) Many have complimented me on it while my son, who is a graphic designer with a Fortune 500 company, says it sucks, it’s amateurish and is the reason why my books aren’t selling.

Here I am on Labor Day, agonizing over that quandary and others related to book marketing, Re: the cover. Anyone reading this blog, please glance at the cover art on the right and let me know—it rubbish or rubies??

So back to the books with great covers and blurbs but flimsy product. Are these books then written by those folks looking for an easy way to beat the employment rat race? I wonder. As for me, I like to think I’m not one of them because first, I’m retired. I’m not avoiding job-hunting. And secondly, money isn’t my goal in writing. My goal is to write books for other suspense readers like myself, books that are engaging and hopefully a little bit different. I’m with John Locke, I want to entertain my reader.

Maybe my labor pains will help me produce a great chapter for my next novel, a project I seem to be putting aside with great regularity. I’m thinking positive—I will give birth to a great chapter before this day is over!