Sunday, March 20, 2011

Stepping Up My Game

Mom finished Glass Houses yesterday. No yelling or screaming was involved. We had a nice conversation after she'd read about half the book and again after she finished. All in all she handled the story better than I expected. To say I'm relieved would be a huge understatement.

She said she enjoyed the book. Parts were hard for her to take. Some I anticipated, a few shouldn't have surprised me but did. I was especially impressed with Mom's nearly always successful effort to be upbeat and positive about the book even with her many concerns. Now she's afraid something in the book will be the reason I get passed up for some big political appointment.

In more book news, last night I attended my first meeting of the local writer's group. The other participants--three with a fourth joining toward the end--are obviously far more knowledgeable than I about both writing and the writing profession. They're very nice and made me feel like part of the group right away.

Even though I didn't submit anything for discussion, we talked about my book and the challenges of breaking into the memoir market. I learned more about getting published in ten minutes than I knew before the meeting. The feedback was so good I'm now looking forward to them reading and discussing Glass Houses at future meetings.

One message I got loud and clear is that success comes down to marketing and self-promotion. I need to get my name out there. It's time to step up my game.

Sharing links to this blog on Facebook has been fun. However, it hasn't helped me to attract new readers. I ain't saying it's your job or anything, but sharing links to my better posts with your friends would sure be helpful!

You may recall I'm picky about who I will and will not friend on Facebook. Remember the big unfriending? To accept all friend requests now would just add insult to injury.

Now I'm on Twitter--it was really the only option. You can follow me @CrotchetyMan. Thanks to some crotchety wannabe, my nom de plum wasn't available. I don't care. I'm still...

The Crotchety Old Man

No comments:

 
Follow CrotchetyMan on Twitter