My YEAR in Review

Happy New Year! Happy 2016. Many of you saw the new year arrive WAY before me, but this was the first time in a long time I stayed up until after midnight.

2015 was an odd year. I was talking to my friend yesterday saying how "I hope 2016 will be a better year because 2015 was a bit..." I stopped and my friend finished with "weird." That was the exact word I had to describe it and I was thankful to not be alone in my assessment. 2015 was weird.

I had LOTS of ups / positives!
- I wrote 297 THOUSAND words. = 2.86 novels!
- I published TWO novels, an audio book, and JOCK 1 was translated into Italian and Spanish!
- I met THE Cody Kennedy! In the flesh :)
- I went to several conventions and met MANY adoring fans, NEW friends, and authors I'd conversed with online but hadn't met in person yet.
- I wrote more consistently than EVER before in my career
- I outlined a writing plan with goals for the next 8 novels! EIGHT!!
- I came up with 3 more ideas for novels. (which means I have a plan for 11 more)
- I paid my mortgage every month!! (I am thankful to have a house to live in)
- A brand new baby came into the family! (Not mine. My niece)
- I think I became a little more confident in myself.
- my daughters are in 9th-, and 5th-grade and seem to be doing well in school. Some struggles, but good for the most part.
- We went on vacation! That hardly ever happens.

Then there were lots of downers.
- I had "issues" with my church again and was removed from teaching the Sunday school class.
- I had some... well, we'll call them "Family issues," which are still present with have affected me emotionally.
- Our dog died

The downer list may be short, but they were difficult things. And actually, two are still going strong and pushing to keep my self-esteem in the toilet.

I am looking toward 2016 as a year for change and hope. I need to think things will get better. I want the positives to overtake all darkness.

I am thankful for SO MANY friends I have online. "People" out there may look down on those types of friendships and ridicule them as insignificant and not real, but I say OH NO! Some of you are VERY real in my life. Especially the ones I've touched and hugged and cried with. More reasons I love conventions because we SEE each other! Online friends become 3 dimensional!

So thank you for being a part of my life. Thank you for encouraging me and supporting me through all my ups and downs! I truly appreciate you all.

LOVE AND HUGS for 2016!

My new year's resolution is to WRITE EVERY DAY, and make blog posts more consistently. :)

<3 Wade Kelly

Happy New Year!

Playing Catch-up

Hello all you lovely, PATIENT, people. I am thankful for that patience as I have not had anyone show up at my house and throttle me for new material, or remind me that I haven't blogged forever! I have no excuses you haven't already heard before a hundred times. We'll just chalk it up to being a terrible blogger and feeling as if I have nothing interesting to say.

What's Been Going On:

I went to San Diego for the GayRomLit conference. THAT WAS FUN! It was so nice to see so many people I love and also make new friends. Meeting people in person whom I have only known online is a thrill! I love to hug. Not that I HAVE to hug because there are people who are not as "touchy" as I am, and I'm okay with that. I just like people. I find this funny because I often say I "don't like people," but I suppose that has to do with the crappy things people do to each other. People backstab and judge. People cut others down. People complain and bitch. I am sure I've been in those categories, because hey--I'm a person! And while I might hate the things people do sometimes, I DO like to be around MY PEOPLE. I love so many of the fans I've met. I love so many of the other authors I've met. I love so many of the bloggers, and reviewers, and actors, and such I've met. So I can't just say I hate people. Not really. I have made some wonderful friends. Even friends who drive 9 hours to come visit me!!!! That's the kind of thing that makes a person feel pretty special!

I didn't see as much of San Diego as I would have liked, but I hope to go back again in the future! I also didn't get to meet Beth in person, so I HAVE to go back! I tried tagging all the people I talked to and had fun with in SD, but Facebook kept UN-tagging them as I typed. It was probably my internet. IDK. I also kept forgetting names until someone commented, and then I was like "OH YEAH! I forgot to mention that person!" I'm sorry of I didn't name you specifically. It wasn't intentional. So many wonderful people and so few brain cells.

Mailing List:

At the moment, I DO NOT HAVE a mailing letter, per se. What I have is a "Subscribe" section on my blog and this allows for blog posts to be delivered right to your inbox. (Normally the next day.) I subscribe to Matt & Brad's blog this way and I don't miss any posts. I don't always have time or internet to go online and read the post when Matt shares the link on Facebook, but I CAN open my mail and see the exact post in my inbox and read what one of the guys had to say. I think it is a handy feature. The down side is that I can not respond to the post/ email because it is not FROM Matt or Brad, but from FEEDBURNER. If I want to respond, I have to go TO their post and write a comment. (Not hard.) You all can do the same thing with MY BLOG! Just go to the right and find the spot that says "Follow by Email" and type in you e-mail address. I WILL eventually get a MAIL CHIMP newsletter mailing list, but until then, this is not a bad way to keep up with what is going on with me. If you would rather me get my tail moving on the Mail Chimp style newsletter, then please comment below and tell me! :)

Latest News:

I have contracted CHRIS PATTON to do the narration on the audiobook of Misplaced Affection. Things have just not worked out for the past year to get this AUDIO made, but I am very optimistic that it will happen by December! He is the voice behind the Adrien English series by Josh Lanyon, for those who don't know. He auditioned for my production last week and made me weep. He IS the voice of Flynn Brewer! In the past year while trying to get Misplaced Affection produced as an audiobook, I have met some really cool people. Everything is a learning experience and I hope (and see) that this has been a positive thing overall. Was it frustrating? YES! Do I think it was for the best? YES! And now I have the amazingly talented Chris Patton. I am grateful for the way things have turned out. I'll update you with the progress of this project and reveal the "cover" when we get closer to a release date. Thank you all for your patience! And if you like to cry and have your heart ripped out, Misplaced Affection will do that, and the AUDIO might just feel even more like it is all happening to you! IDK. Just guessing. For me audiobooks suck me in. I love them. I've listened to the AUDIO of JOCK 8 times because I love t, even though I wrote it. Jason Lovett does such a great job he has me laughing out loud often! My hope is that Chris Patton will deliver a killer performance that will make listeners crumble to their knees. :)

Planning Ahead:

I have a HUGE list of things to do and characters to write! The next 12 months will test me as an author and either kick-start a huge jump in my career or show me I am not cut out for this and I need to get a "day job." My hope is that THIS is my day job. My HOPE is that I can keep up the writing schedule that will help me be productive and successful. Part fo success is writing well, and part of it is understanding what sells. I don't want to give-in to popularity, and yet I have to understand as an author that some subjects are not going to have as many sales as others. --i.e. suicide is NOT a huge selling point! If ALL my books were like When Love is Not Enough then I cannot rightfully expect to make writing a career anytime soon. Am I glad I wrote it? You're damn right I'm glad. For those who have read it, I can not tell you how many e-mails of personal thank yous from fans/readers I've gotten explaining the significance and impact it had on them. For those people, I am glad I wrote it. I hope to always write meaningful things and write about gay culture and social issues that impact people on a personal level. Names Can Never Hurt Me has some really good concepts that readers have appreciated, yet that book too hasn't been very popular at all. Why? I don't know. Some books sell, some don't. I did say in the beginning that I see myself as a slow burn. My writing is fairly new to the scene and for the most part My Roommate's a Jock? Well, Crap! is holding my entire career together. Why? Because it's fun! People like fun. People like light. People like and escape that makes them feel good. As an author who wants to WRITE as a career and not a hobby, I need to keep this in mind as I move forward. Will I write more stories like When Love is Not Enough? You bet I will! The final installment of the Unconditional Love Series is in my writing queue. (I have one of those now!) Darian's story has been a long time coming, but it WILL get written! I promise. But then next few publications will be light and fun and cute. I need to build my audience!

Next Up:

The next novel to be published will be the second book in the JOCK series. No! Jocks Don't Date Guys is the sequel (if you will) to My Roommate's a Jock? Well, Crap! It is not about the same couple. JOCK 2 has a new couple of guys to fall in love with, but the older characters from book 1 do make an appearance! I don't have a publication date yet, but when I do I'll reveal the cover and attach a link for those who like to pre-order. I expect the galley proof soon and once I "okay" it, the link will go live on Dreamspinner's "coming soon" page about two weeks later. The pre-order link is about 4 weeks from the pub date. It should come out in December! Let's have a survey! Post to me below YOUR GUESS for the pub date. I'll keep guessing open until November 6th. Closest to the pub-date gets a free eCopy of JOCK 2. How's that? If two people guess the same date, then I'll give a copy to the first person who chose it. I realize this limits the amount of participants, but my blog doesn't get lots of traffic anyway and I'm only going to do this here for those who are loyal fans. :) I may do other contests in a blog tour, but I don't have any planned right now.

Blurb:

What is a sexy soccer stud supposed to do when “following family tradition” falls 180 degrees opposite his closeted ideal?

From birth, Chris Jackson has been schooled on how to land a cheerleader. After all, his father married one, and his father’s father before him. Heck, even his older brother married a stereotypical cheerleader the summer before Chris went off to college. For two years, Chris dodges invasive questions about relationships by blaming his lack of female companionship on grueling practices and heavy course loads. But his lack of interest in girls should’ve given his family a clue. It isn’t until Chris mentions meeting a boy that his father’s synapses short-circuit.

Alonzo Martin is anything but a buxom blond. From his black hair, combat boots, and trench coat to his nail polish and guyliner, the mysterious introvert isn’t easily persuaded to date. Alonzo’s insecurities keep Chris at arm’s length, but Alonzo’s painful past might meet its match in the charismatic jock’s winning smile and sense of humor.

When opposites attract, only cheerleaders and gummy bears can help overcome fear and family tradition.

PLUS, as an added bonus, I am giving away copies of a new short story I wrote for GRL (GayRomLit). JOCK 1.5 - Oh, Crap! This Jock's Getting Married. I wrote it for my fans and I wrote it FAST because I can never think of these things well in advance. I have it available online at ALL ROMANCE EBOOKS, or e-mail me for a copy, OR post a comment below and tell me what file type you'd like. Mobi (for Kindle), ePub (for Nook), or PDF. I ALSO LISTED it on Barnes & Noble AND iTunes, however the link hasn't shown up yet. Sorry.

On The Horizon:

As I said, I'm trying to make writing my career. With that in mind, I have a writing QUEUE for the first time in my life. I also have deadlines!!!!!! This is both exciting and scary! They say that busy people get things done, well I hope that is true. As I have particular stories to write because of deadlines, I also have new character yapping in my head. Great! Thank you, random characters, for making my life harder! (I say this with a note of sarcasm) I'm glad I have new characters yapping as I don't want that moment when they all dry up and go silent. A day of silence is more terrifying than one where I have too many things to write and too little hours in the day to write them.

What's coming up:

December 2015 - No! Jocks Don't Date Guys - from Dreamspinner Press
March / April 2016 - Banker's Hours - from Dreamspinner Press

In the writing queue:

Back Off! That's My Jock - JOCK 3 (I'm half way done)
His Boyfriend's a Jock? Oh, Phooey! - JOCK 4 (Next in line after JOCK 3 is submitted!)
Seducing His Secretary (a Dreamspun Desires novel I promised to Poppy.) 50k. It's like half a novel. Lol. 
My Lover Sucks! (Vampire horror comedy)
Love, Trust, and Learning to Live Again (book#3 of the Unconditional Love series.)
How I Became a Groupie (my rocker novel! I am finally going to write one!!!)
The Honorary Tooth Fayrie (The dental hygienist / dentist story) 
Only Skin Deep (book#2 of the Self Esteem series. Comes after Names Can Never Hurt Me)

And somewhere in there I am writing a novel with Jeff Adams!

Plus, the new characters who are yapping are a part of a new series I am planning to write about a group of artists at an all Jock school. (Sort-of) *wink, wink, Amelia Vaughn*

So yeah! I have my work cut out for me. If I'm not online I HOPE to tell you I am writing because I better darn well be writing! Too many stories and too little time!

So please, comment below or e-mail me. writerwadekelly@gmail.com

1) Tell me your guess for the pub date for JOCK 2 to enter to win a free copy. Contest runs Today - November 6, 2015.

2) Comment below for a free copy of JOCK 1.5! Written to gear you up for the release of JOCK 2. Email address and file type.

3) Comment about a "real" newsletter via Mail Chimp.

4) Tell me if you are as excited as I am about CHRIS PATTON!

And as always, refer to the "Wade Kelly Scale" of angst before reading one of my books. You need to prepare yourself!

As Jason says,
Hugs and Kittens!
~Wade

Feeling Behind

Oh wow, okay. There's been a lot going on I guess, in life, in my head, in my world. Last week was RT Booklovers convention and although the week started out difficult for me, I think it ended on a high note. I really appreciate my friends. There are so many of you that get me and have been encouraging. I even got a text Wednesday night that made me cry and reminded me yet again why I write. I always forget and doubt myself because of others who speak into my head that I'm doing it all wrong. Some say I shouldn't write gay romance, and definitely NOT with sexual content. Well, it is what it is. I chose to do it. And when I second guess and reconsider that choice, there always seems to be a shout out or a cry in my darkness that says, "NO! Keep writing, because you made a difference in my life."

I've always said I want to bring hope to a broken world. There is too much pain out there. I feel it all the time. I write it. And yes, I chose to write gay characters because I feel like their story is the one that needs to be told. Will that change? Probably. The world is changing. Right now, it is relevant to me and I want to help make a difference in the world. I have huge dreams and  think that some people in my life can't see the good I do. All they see is what they disagree with. It hurts. But I think I have to go through the hurt to understand something bigger than myself.

I said in the last post that I think I need to see a psychologist or a therapist of some kind. I do. I found the card of the person I saw 5 years ago. I want to go back. I need someone professional who can take my fears and pain and help explain it, maybe?? It's confusing. But I know I have very few people in my everyday personal life that help ground me. All you guys online, and some in my town, are wonderful, but it still feels very lonely at home where I feel alone in a gourd of people. I am going to get help. However, I am not going to let go of my dreams because they seem to large or unattainable. I want to accomplish great things, and I am sad that others in my life don't get that and would rather I give up on everything that means so much to me.

I've also been thinking about my writing schedule and all the stories I want to write. I think I have 4 in the works and another 5 in my head???? With the roll I had in the beginning of the year, I figure that I can produce 25,000 words a months. if you take that and project out over the year, then basically it comes down to 822 words a day. 822! Oh, heck! I can do that! Of course, that is based on consistency. I had a goal of 2 novels this year. I THINK I can make that 2 full novels from scratch and maybe 2 that are either rewrites or ones that were half done already. Keep your fingers crossed for me because I think I might be moving into a realm I've never been in before--one with deadlines and expectations. I want Dreamspinner to be proud of me. I want my readers to be happy. I want ME to feel like I've accomplished more. I want to push myself to greater things. I AM a published author, which was a dream, and now I need to push for more. I CAN publish more than one novel a year. I know I can!

So, at the RT convention, I had a great time. I talked to some wonderful authors that I rarely see and I was so glad to spend time with. I also saw some fans who mean the world to me. Kayla is such a wonderful gal :) And seeing Karen again all the way from France just made me feel so special. I also met Alissa, and Wendy, and Sarah, and some romance authors whom I hope to see again. And having breakfast with Alex, Kayla, Wendy and Sarah made me smile! I think it was a good experience. I am not planning on RT 2016. For one, it is in Las Vegas and I don't really want to go there. And two, I think I need to mix things up a bit and make sure I do other conferences like Liberty States, and maybe Outlanticon, or Bent Con, or Coastal Magic. I have to look into when that are and where they are and plan. It is a lot to take in.

I WILL be at Rainbow Con in Tampa again this year, but also I don't think I will do that same one in 2016. I need to visit other areas in 2016. GRL is in San Diego this year and I WILL be there, and I PLAN on being at GRL 2016 wherever it is. I think that is the one con I want to try to hit every year. I don't know, but for now that is how I feel.

I have had a bunch of crap in my life for so long. Part of it I guess I chose to have because I refuse to stop writing what is not popular and write something that everyone will approve of. Well, I am just me. I have passion and a gift (albeit small) and I want to make a difference in people lives. I think I am. You people out there tell me that all the time. The tester person on Wednesday told me that and it was RIGHT AFTER I got a text that hurt my feelings and made me feel so small. Thank you person (you know who you are.) I need you.

Being a RAINBOW in someone's cloud is hard. But somehow, when the skies are dark and the storms of life pour down, it only takes a tiny bit of sun to hit the right molecules in the atmosphere to make them shine in all their rainbow colored brilliance. Help me shine.

I'm not sure what else there is to say except that I KNOW I forgot a LOT of birthdays lately. I'm sorry if I missed yours. My internet isn;'t always working and I've been offline often this past week. And if I write everyday in order to produce more novels, then please forgive me if I miss posts and forget your birthdays  :(

Keep your fingers crossed for me as I take another step toward being better as an author and as a person.

XOXOOXO

Lack of CONSISTENCY

In the interest of BLOGGING on a more regular basis, I am going to try and utilize some of the things that were suggested by Poppy Dennison and others on my wonderful weekend with my Dreamspinner family. One thing that Poppy suggested was picking your personal favorite social media and doing it well. If it is Facebook, go for it. Blogger—do it! But the point was to be specific and consistent and vary content when posting. If I blog, then don’t blog on the same things that I have talked about everywhere else in exactly the same way.

Anyone who follows my blog knows I ramble. You also know I am NOT consistent. Part of that is not knowing what to post, or feeling like I’ll bore readers to death, but of late it is fear of being “watched”. I am a public figure in a sense because I am an author, but I haven’t feared readers following, stalking, or watching. If I am being an ass or a bitch, readers PLEASE call me out on it. I want to be known as a kind person, a loving person, and I strive NOT to add to drama or say anything untoward about follow authors and readers etc.

It is people in my REAL LIFE that disagree with what I write and do not understand my goals in writing and why I chose to write in the genre. Shouldering their ridicule is often very hard, and painful.

That being said, I don’t want to repeat myself and annoy you with details of my daily difficulties. Just know it is ongoing. This will not stop, the pressures just shift and change, but they do not go away. To make them disappear I would have to stop writing. That sounds drastic, and the nay-sayers in REAL LIFE would probably argue and say, “We never said that!” No, you want me to stop writing the stories I feel passionate about. I don’t know about every author, but writing something deep and meaningful doesn’t exactly flow if forced. My stories come to me in various ways, but they are not forced. I don’t sit down and type and push a story out because someone wants to story about a zombie mutant that took over Chicago and blew up Alaska before boarding a spaceship to Mars.

Um, MAYBE I could write that story, but I would have to feel it and find something significant about that zombie that pushed culture and had a social message that I thought others needed to hear. I write about culture, if you didn’t know. My stories are not just about two guys having sex, as some may think. I write about social issues and push boundaries in order to make people think. (It is in my bio!) Have I made you think? I hope so.

In the desire to post more often and be consistent, I thought of types of posts….

1.    Silent Sundays. We have Sundays With Sam-I-Am on 2 boys in Love, so go ahead and read about what Sam is up to. I might post a picture, or something short. My Sundays are generally busy so I don’t get online as much. I might even make it “Snake Sundays” because I love snakes. I’ll post some pictures of my pets or something. :)

2.    Monday Movies. What do you think about that? It’s simple enough, right? I talk about one movie a week and see how it goes. Remember I was born in the time of the dinosaurs; so many of the movies I know about are old. (HAHAHA) I rarely have time to see newer ones but we will see how this goes. Kage Alan likes to talk about movies, so maybe so can I :)

3.    Tuesday teasers. I will post a review or an excerpt from one of my books. I don’t have all that many so I will have to get creative with that. Most likely, it will become repetitive. We shall see.

4.    What's up? Wednesdays. I might start talking about the musical WICKED and call it "Wicked Wednesdays"and talk about how I really feel like most of the songs were written about me. Hahaha. After I get though Wicked, I will have to think of what else Wednesday bring you readers, hence "What's up?". Not sure. :p

5.    Throwback Thursday. I am going to go through and repost some older posts. I plan on commenting on some of the content. Like: “Oh, look here! I accomplished this!” etc. So I can get a feel of where have come from in the past 5.5 years as a published author. What was I thinking and feeling back then and how has it changed?

6.    Friend Fridays. It is going to be back on!!! I will set up a schedule and send it to authors who were previously interested. Not sure if THIS FRIDAY will happen, but I do have a post from new author Tyler Cook that I will post first and then we shall go from there. If you want to post and you didn't sign up on Facebook (because I still have that list) then comment below or message me.

7.    Saturday Songs. I love music. Maybe not as much as Eric Arvin, but I do listen to music all the time. I will share a song or video that I like and talk about it. (Even songs I don’t like and why.) Something different for me, and not real hard, plus it gets readers to feel more connected to the type of person I am. I bet you can't guess my 3 top best awesomest favorite bands! lol

I try to post twice a week and fail, so this is a lot of posting! I might miss some, but if I strive for something shorter every day then I might actually get some posts up! That would be good, right? For the most part, many of these posts should be easy enough for me.

Poppy said that only 20% of posts should be about book promo, and the rest should be about YOU. So, I am trying not to bore you about my books over and over and just talk about me. I know me. I can talk about me.

That is all for now. Love and Hugs.

Wade Kelly

xooxoxox

Spreadsheets!!! I love them.

Spreadsheets!!! I love them… hahaha. I am home! Long wait for my bags, but way better than Angel had with her delays. I'm going out to dinner in a minute, but I thought I would post what I wrote.

On the plane, I made a spreadsheet! HAHAHA. I thought it would help keep me on track with all the things I need to do. It seems many people limit their time on different social media, like 10 minutes or 30 minutes or something, and limiting it keeps them on track and focused. This translates into everything I do really. I need to be organized in everything! So I made the spreadsheet with all the social media things I do, but also things like laundry and cleaning because these need to be done everyday and when done everyday then they are fast!

One of my HUGEST goals this year is to purge my house of all the crap I have piling up everywhere because I never throw anything away. I am trending toward being a hoarder and that is not what I want to be. I want to purge! So, cleaning is on my checklist as a way of working toward that end-goal. I want a clean and organized house!

Poppy mentioned being consistent in social media and not cross posting. Fresh new content or a variation of another post, but it shouldn’t be the same or people gloss over and don’t read it. The author becomes white noise because everyone has seen it and therefore they stop reading. Just like if I only ever talk about the same things. This would get boring, right? So I am coming up with a plan and a blog post schedule to make it more interesting for all of you! I will post my weekly blog schedule later this week.

Oddly, I have written several blog posts on the plane back from Orlando! YAY

ONE VERY LARGE GOAL AND ONE I NEED TO KEEP IS WRITING EVERYDAY. My daily goal is 1500 words. I think it is doable if the story is flowing. Rick R Reed says he gets up at 4:30 in the morning and is done writing by 10 so he has all day for everything else. I intend on doing that as well. My dogs get me up at 4:30 anyway! I will get up and stay up and write while everyone else in the house is sleeping! I think it is also doable.

I don’t have much control over many other things in my life. Kids and dogs and cooking happen, but I AM ABLE to get my butt out of bed and write when people are sleeping. I am also able to take a nap on some days if getting up at 4:30 is hard on me that day. I can do it!

I want to bring my readers more stories and the only way to do that is to WRITE WRITE WRITE! Beth even does a hash tag of #writewadewrite when she comments on facebook. I have cheerleaders so I need to listen to them.

So, anyway, that is all for today.

I will think about my trip and post about Orlando, but really, I have already posted about the highlights. On TWITTER I will talk about marketing. Facebook has pictures so you can connect with me there. Pinterest will have pins of things I like. Visit me on all social media for a broader idea of what is going on with me.

Thanks for stopping by! As Jason says, Hugs and Kittens <3

Wade

Brain Explosion and Information Overload… but in a good way :)

I am currently at the Dreamspinner Author Conference in Orlando and I have to say it is Excellent. Not only is it wonderful to see friends I haven’t seen in a long time, it is also great to be in the presence of other people who make me feel normal. I have found often that only other authors really get me. Other authors have an author mind and the way I think and my creativity is often lost or unappreciated by others who just don’t get it. I don’t say this to be unkind to those out there who are not authors and still get me, but as information in general because “artistic” minds are different and when you find others whose thought processes are extremely similar, it helps to feel less of a freak.

Other authors have ideas that come in spurts.

Other authors need QUIET to write.

Other authors have ideas and dialogue come out of nowhere and they often can’t write it as fast as it comes out.

Other authors write by the seat of their pants, no outline or direction.

Other authors gather ideas from every little thing they pass by.

Other authors put bits of themselves in every character.

Other authors are constantly thinking about their characters and things to write when they are not physically in front of a computer able TO write.

And many more things along those lines.

So one thing I came away with this morning was CONSISTENCY. (I have none.) I set out with a goal of writing every day. I have failed. I had a great run of 21 days and I would like to get back to that. But I NEED to be consistent at all things. This means I NEED to stick to my schedule of blogging. Even if they are short posts or a picture of something I thought about that week, I need to consistently post. So if my goal is to blog twice a week, then I better do it!

It is also important to help promote other authors. Not only is it kind, but also it is beneficial to a genre that is supposed to be a family. READERS can out read ANY author’s ability to write. Some readers read a book a day or MORE. I cannot write a book a day; neither can anyone else I would venture to say. SO banning together for support of other’s careers is essential. It is not a competition. Marketing is a group project and talking about other authors helps everyone.

It is important to find the social media platforms I like, and use them well. I don’t like Tumblr so I shouldn’t spend all my time and energy on something that doesn’t seem to help me know anyone or get them to know me. My preferences are Facebook, Blogger, & Twitter. So, I better get more consistent in using them. Google Plus, I TRY to use but don’t understand. Pinterest is interesting too but I forget to post there too. Goodreads I need to figure out.

No cross-over content. It is important to have unique content in different social media so I don’t BORE people. (Although I think I bore them already!) Different posts on Twitter than Facebook is best.

20% of my posts should be book promo, leaving 80% to be about ME and MY interests. This allows readers to connect with me as a person. This is essential. I shouldn’t be that author who only ever posts about their books and ignores the reader comments and never engages anyone on Facebook unless it is to say “Read my book.” That is kind of rude anyway.

What else… Um, I need to have an icon that represents ME and use it on ALL media. It will not be my face. I would like to contact a graphics person and show them what I have in mind and go from there. If my signature color is ORANGE, then I should use orange on all my PLACES, like blogger and my website and face book etc. I need to be CONSISTENT!

Using hashtags and retweeting and using terms that get you notices and retweeted is important to keep your name in the public eye.

So… GOALS???? (I know I always set them and then fail. ONE thing I am consistent with.)

1.     Re-establish “Friend Fridays” and give out rules and expectations that I can consistently follow. Friend Fridays were good for exposure of other authors and I feel bad that I dropped the ball. I even found a couple newer authors that I wanted to help promote so keep a look out for me on this.

2.     BLOG twice a week, PLUS Friend Fridays. Make it about me, even if I think it’s dumb because I am selling myself and my brand and my mission statement. What is that? Well, my tag line is “Real characters, raw pain, and unconditional love.” Is that a mission statement? Does that get across my desire to inspire hope and spread love and peace? Let me know your thoughts.

3.     TWEET !!!! I need to tweet and use hashtags and make my voice be heard, even if it is a silly voice.

4.     Last I want to keep the news feeds and currents events and “news” of any sort CURRENT on Amazon, and Dreamspinner and MY website. All need to be linked and current.

How and went I will get to this? Not sure. I think I need to create a spreadsheet or check list to make sure I am on track over day until it becomes a habit. One this is for sure, I need to go to bed consistently and get up around 4/4:30 every day because THAT is the time when my house is quiet and I am most productive in writing. I am a morning person. Laundry and shopping and social media needs to come AFTER I produce words on paper! (Or computer.)

Poke me and hold me to this!

Wade

#dreamer