What did you blog about today?

[Droflet]

Yeah, me too. Great interview, you two.

 

[Juliana]

Thanks, guys. I'm really enjoying doing these Spotlights, looking for angles that aren't just straightforward author interviews. Nothing wrong with those, I love reading them, but there are already so many people doing them beautifully.

 

[Droflet]

Nah, forget about the competition, you're doing just fine. Keep it going. Really!

 

[Michael Coorlim]

Did a postmortem on my IntroComp entry and interactive fiction in general.

Also wrote a short post on how to play "normal" people in RPGs.

Finally, the latest podcast episode was about the Silver Age of Artificial Intelligence in the 1980s and 1990s with the rise of expert systems and Cyc.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I outlined all the promotion I've been doing in the last week to depress all you aspiring writers who hope to get your book out there, and get rich quick.

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6143549215014933898#allposts/postNum=0

 

[HareBrain]

I outlined all the promotion I've been doing in the last week to depress all you aspiring writers who hope to get your book out there, and get rich quick.

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6143549215014933898#allposts/postNum=0

Yeah, it was/is depressing, but very interesting. From what I've read/heard, it's this kind of blog post -- how I self-published -- that tends to attract the most attention, because there are so many aspiring writers out there.

@Juliana, I'd like to see a spotlight on cover art/design, if you can find a suitable interviewee.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Yeah, it was/is depressing, but very interesting. From what I've read/heard, it's this kind of blog post -- how I self-published -- that tends to attract the most attention, because there are so many aspiring writers out there.

@Juliana, I'd like to see a spotlight on cover art/design, if you can find a suitable interviewee.

Aty, maybe?

 

[Juliana]

@Juliana, I'd like to see a spotlight on cover art/design, if you can find a suitable interviewee.

Oh, I love that idea!! Thanks!
Off to catch up on everyone else's blogs.

Edit: I already have next month's spotlight lined up; Ralph K and Stephen P are my next victims... Cover art will slot nicely in after that, I think.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I couldn't read your blog post, Jo, because Google wanted me to start an account, something I was reluctant to do.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I couldn't read your blog post, Jo, because Google wanted me to start an account, something I was reluctant to do.

Does this one work, Teresa?

http://jozebwrites.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/a-week-in-life.html

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Yes! It does work. A good post. It's inspiring to see how much work you do. Depressing to think that so much is necessary.

 

[Droflet]

So, Jo, what do you do in your 'spare' time.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

And here is my latest post, part of the series with Jo, Thad, and Mouse, about self-publishing, traditional publishing, and doing a bit of both. http://teresaedgertoneditor.com/on-publishing-4-hybrid-publishing-and-the-backlist/

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Yes! It does work. A good post. It's inspiring to see how much work you do. Depressing to think that so much is necessary.

Is it, though? Frankly, compared to the work I do for other things it's not that much - this week was an exception, given I'd launched Inish - and most of it is on the ipad, often when having a cuppa tea. (Also, I do things very quickly so time-wise it might not be as much as it sounds. One way of the other, I do find enough spare time to enjoy my kids and family. Admittedly, housework isn't always at OCD levels of achievement.)

If it doesn't get anywhere, if I don't manage to carve out a little niche for myself and find I never sell any books, then it'll be depressing. For now, it's a gamble with time that might see me achieve something special. That's worth a bit of effort. I'm a Sagitarrian, we're the gambler of the zodiac, so that might be why I'm happy to roll the die....

And nice blog post, I'll pop it up later on mine.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Okay, tis up on mine. Also, before I go off and enjoy my family (who are actually up and dressed now) I tidied this one up. Writing effective torture. Nice bank holiday reading:

http://jozebwrites.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/you-know-you-write-really-good-torture.html

 

[Juliana]

Teresa and Jo, really great blog posts, both of you! Very interesting.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Is it, though? Frankly, compared to the work I do for other things it's not that much

I think it is, at the very least, daunting for writers who are not outgoing and who thought that publishing their book would buy them time to write, whereas in the short term, if they do want the book to succeed, it can mean the opposite and require them to spend the time doing exactly the kind of thing they hate (interact with the rest of the human race).

And yet it's inspiring (and informative) to see all the things a writer can do (and one writer is doing) without having to rely on a publisher to get the word out. There is also the heartening thought that most of these are things one can do without actually leaving the house and (shudder) meeting people face-to-face.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I think it is, at the very least, daunting for writers who are not outgoing and who thought that publishing their book would buy them time to write, whereas in the short term, if they do want the book to succeed, it can mean the opposite and require them to spend the time doing exactly the kind of thing they hate (interact with the rest of the human race).

And yet it's inspiring (and informative) to see all the things a writer can do (and one writer is doing) without having to rely on a publisher to get the word out. There is also the heartening thought that most of these are things one can do without actually leaving the house and (shudder) meeting people face-to-face.

Yes, a lot can get done from the pc.

I know I come across as all breezy and confident at this stuff but as you, and many of the Chronners, know, that's far from the case. I was shaking the night of my launch, half-sick. I am terrified of the con next month. But I'll do it. Because, sometimes, even if things are hard, we need to, or the wall always seems too high.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Because, sometimes, even if things are hard, we need to, or the wall always seems too high.

And that is absolutely true. I was the girl who was willing to take an F on an oral report rather than stand up in the front of the class and read out what I had written. The idea of speaking before a group horrified me. Now I've learned to be quite confident when I am part of a panel discussion at a convention, no matter how large the audience.

I can still get a little panicky before doing a reading, though, no matter how small the audience. But I've done many more panels than I have readings. It's about each of us learning the coping mechanisms that work for us, and that comes with practice.

And getting up our nerve to do the thing in the first place.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Speaking from experience, the smaller audiences are usually the most nerve-wracking. The really large ones, for me anyway, become an amorphous mass of people and you kind of forget they're individuals.