The Ides of March Cometh

In a few days March 15 is going to show up on the calendar, so why should we beware of that date? For one, it was a darned unlucky day for Caesar. If only he'd listened to that soothsayer, but no. When the guy tried to warn him, Caesar said, "He is a dreamer; let us leave him." As we know, this was not a good idea.

When you get some well-intended warnings, I say pay attention. And that brings me to this rather odd segue. 

I was reading a magazine, and came across an article titled Clean Up Your Digital Trail. I almost flipped the page, but stopped when I read this: "You've probably accumulated a lengthy list of online accounts for everything from e-mail and social media sites to online search activities, purchasing history, and blogging platforms. Even if you stopped using the accounts ages ago, your digital footprints are still sitting there, a potential treasure trove of information for identity thieves."




When I'm writing, I do a lot of online searches. And I've been known to buy a few things from that big box store in the sky, like books. Also I shake in my buskins when I read "identity thieves," so I had to read on. I wanted to know the full extent of my digital vulnerability, and I wanted to know how to lessen it.

Here are some tips the article served up on sweeping those footprints away:

• Delete or deactivate shopping & social network accounts you no longer use. Go to account settings, option to deactivate, remove or close. 

• Use incognito mode when you search from now on. Duck Duck Go is one incognito browser that I use.

• Get a VPN (Virtual Private Network) It creates a secure connection between your devices and the scary internet world. 

• Deactivate old email accounts

• Check your privacy settings on frequently visited websites, especial social media sites.

• If you're in the EU, use the right to be forgotten option.

• Don’t click on nutty surveys. These are called "clickbait," as the article said, you give up a lot more than you get in return. 

While this is a nice to-do list, you might also bone up on your phishing detection skills. Here's a QUIZ from Google that you can take to see how savvy you are. It's interesting and only takes a few minutes. I learned a lot.

I hope this bit of spring cleaning wards off the evil identity thieves (shudder). After all, writers have enough to be insecure about. There are probably more things a writer can do to protect himself, so if you have some suggestions let us know in the comments. 

Oh, and BTW, the Ides of March really is a good day. We might even have the first full moon of March. People used to celebrate when that happened. We should reinstate that tradition. 

Five Reasons To Promote Your Book

Many writers detest promoting their books, but it’s a necessary evil if we want readers. Too many of us indies publish our books, promote them for a few weeks, leave them to flounder and then fade into obscurity. If you’re going to be writing for the long haul, there are at least five excellent reasons to promote your books.

It’s great for visibility. This is obvious and, clearly, the number one reason to share information about your work. People are busy and there are oodles of things vying for their attention. If you don’t put your book in a position to be seen, it’s a sure bet that after release day visibility will taper off and soon the rankings will blow up to a huge number.

2.   You never know who you’ll reach or who’s watching. It’s a good idea to have several graphics for your books that you can rotate on advertising platforms and social media. I’ve found many readers simply by posting my graphics in various places, on some kind of schedule.

3.    It provides a mind shift. Most of us are writing and promoting at the same time. The intervals we use to showcase our work puts our brain in another gear and gives us time for fresh inspiration to take root until we sit again to write. If you like playing with graphics, that’s another way to change your mental channel to another station for a while.

4.    It keeps your eye on the prize. Including promotion as part of your day helps you stay disciplined. It’s also a great reminder that your aim is to sell more stories. All of us would like to find our tribe of readers, and regular promotion helps us to gain traction one reader at a time.

5.    Promoting helps expand your knowledge. Indies have to know a little bit about a lot of stuff. I now know what promotional material works for me and what doesn’t. I know what time of day I can catch my audience,  I’ve found out where my ads do better, and I continue to read books that talk about the why and how of promoting and marketing.

What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned about promoting? What works best for you? Do you know you can swap/share promotional material with other authors to get the word out about your book/s? What can you do differently to promote your book/s?

5 Important Skills for the Indie Writer

At some point in time, every writer has to decide whether writing will remain a hobby or become a business. For the business-minded indie writer, there is always the task of figuring out what to outsource and what to continue doing. For those with knowhow and are diehard do-it-yourselfers, some things are must-dos and some, not so much.

·         If you're a graphic artist by trade, creating your own covers will make life a lot easier and negate the expense of paying someone else to do this for you. If creating graphics is not an area in which you shine, leave it to the professionals.

·         The ability to make banners and promotional material for your books for online use (think Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) is another handy skill in the indie's arsenal. Promo pics are fun to make and you can switch these up to prevent them from getting stale. 

·         Formatting is a good skill to have. I’ve read various books on this subject, including the free Kindle and Smashwords formatting guides and now do this for my books, which prevents me from having to pay to make changes. If this is beyond you though, don't waste time trying to figure it out. Pay for the service and avoid a headache.

·         Converting files to various formats might not be helpful to every writer, but it's an advantage when it comes time for a final read through of each book. There are free downloadable programmes such as Calibre or online versions, like Zamzar that convert word files to Mobi, which can be loaded on a Kindle for that last read before you ship your baby off to the editor.

·         Learning how to navigate social media is important. While it is not the place for a hard sell, many writers are successful in reaching readers on various social media platforms. Don't be afraid, dive in and learn as you go.

While time is always in short supply, I like having the option of knowing that I can do some things in a crunch. If I can't, there's the option of paying for these services. If you're on a restricted budget, it may suit you to learn as much as you can about the tasks that are required again and again in the publishing process.

So, have you added to your skill set lately? If not, do you plan to learn to do any of the things discussed?