Twitter will automatically shorten any link you put into your tweet for you, but how do you know if anyone actually clicked on your link? Facebook will translate a link in your status update to make it clickable, but how can you track who actually clicks? Neither Twitter nor Facebook can tell you that. You can get a “read” receipt from an email you send, but… [Read More]
Have you ever disagreed with someone (friend, family member, stranger, bookseller) about a book? Have you ever hotly argued over the quality, or lack thereof, of one? No way! You couldn’t possibly love Freedom! What do you mean it’s a must-read? You say you couldn’t put it down? I loathed picking it up! It was awful! The characters aren’t likable, the ending sucked, and the… [Read More]
The best reference you can buy on the subject of publishing children’s books is the Writer’s Digest publication, 2012 Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market, edited by Chuck Sambuchino. For the best publishing tips, the first 175 pages are a gold mine. In the 2012 edition of CWIM (the acronym used for this desk reference for the past 20 years), Sambuchino added lots of new instructional… [Read More]
If you are an author, you ought to be in at least one good reading group or book club. Writers read good writing. You’ve heard that before. You know it’s true. And yet, you’re afraid reading a lot of good books right now might be just one more way to procrastinate the hard work of writing. At least you’re honest. But I want to urge… [Read More]
Happy 6th Birthday to Twitter. The social media platform based on messages of 140 characters is growing up and it’s time to take it seriously, authors. As a recovering academic who studied communications history, I’ve spent decades observing how new communication technologies come and go. Remember 8-track tapes? Beta-video? Reel-to-reel and cassette tapes? Anyone remember the TV show “Car 54 Where Are You?”? Twitter is… [Read More]