My love affair with books began long before I could read. Sitting silent, spellbound listening to her enchanting voice I believed every word true, the characters real. Saturday Morning Storytime at the town library was magical. I rushed to the quiet mat, found my seat on the front row and stared transfixed at the beautiful volunteer.
My favorite fairytale then, and now at sixteen holds a special place in my heart, Cinderella. Most girls love Prince Charming because he rides in to save the day on his trusty steed. Or their favorite part is where Cinderella outshines her ugly step sisters at the ball. Not me.
I guess if it were easy, Pulitzer Prize winning books would line every shelf at Barns and Noble. Yesterday I wasted an another day tweaking stuff. From updating profiles on about a dozen social sites, fixing a few snags on my blog, and running security updates on my laptop about the only writing I accomplished was updating passwords. There were no hot bodice ripping or bloody murder scenes to be had, nope all techno geek stuff.
Geesh…
But here’s the thing, when you get errors, electronic housekeeping is a must. If you want someone, anyone, to read your blog or book you must be visible. Part of all this cleaning is to Google a few sites, including yours. See what pops. Find out where your rank. Don’t become discouraged, become informed.
When was the last time you posted something to Reddit.com, researched delicious.com, checked out trends on Yahoo.com, set up a Google alert or ran or checked your SEO (search engine optimization) or SERP (search engine results page) ranking?
I know all this takes time away from writing that break-out novel but is necessary. So take a day or get someone to do all this for you and make sure all your hard work pays off.
If you write just to see your thoughts in print, to read to your pet… never mind.
After posting this, I’m gonna write a paragraph. A fiction paragraph.
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Well, I’m gonna try.
This afternoon I’m heading over to The Prompt and use her word Cinderella Prompt #59
Link closes 3/26/2015 11:59 PM North America – Eastern Standard Time
That brand new, super fast laptop with all the bells and whistles doesn’t a writer make. Although the salesman swore your book would almost write itself. But you do find it easier to waste time as you are sucked into more and more social media websites. Those dancing cats are funny.
A room to work?
You work like a dog clean out that tiny room the one with the ugly chair and lamp, a years worth of old magazines, tax files and unpacked boxes. Yeah, that room. Now that the old desk shines like new and is free of dust and clutter writing should be a breeze.
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A small printer sits on the edge, filled with paper at the ready. On the right is a mug from your husband. Writer at work. His idea of being supportive.
A muddled brain…
Late last night your eyes refused to close, your brain refused to quiet and sleep was nowhere to be found. You had enough story ideas for several breakout best-selling novels. Not to mention all the blog posts you could write. Now, as you sit in your new ergonomic chair, your mind goes blank. As blank as the white unlined paper stacked in the printer on your left.
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The only thoughts filling your mind now are nagging doubts.
I love to get something free and although Kindle Unlimited is $9.99 monthly the number of books borrowed makes the membership a bargain.
I’ve read a lot of wonderful books by Indie and established writers. Of course, also a few not so wonderful but I’m not going to go there. When I download one not to my taste, I just return the book after a few pages. No harm no foul.
Kindle Unlimited is beneficial to readers and writers. Molly Greene, author and blogger gives a great break down on Kindle Unlimited payouts. Although she contends it’s not a lot of dough, I’m impressed and glad to know I’m contributing to the success of writers when I read for free. You can read her blog post here.
I also wanted to share some great reads I’ve found through Kindle Unlimited.
Jean's Writing 