Complicating Things

Now that I've been at this blogging thing for a couple years, I thought it was time to introduce some new things into my life. It's taken me that long to get used to the mechanics of posting, scheduling, properly tagging, guest spots, etc, and I think I've gotten the basics down now. Time to up my game.

If you'll notice the column on the right now has a gadget for collecting followers. There's one follower so far. I've had the "Follow By E-mail" gadget for awhile, and I know many of you are signed up that way. But, unfortunately, my blogger account doesn't want to show me those figures, so I truly don't know how many followers I have. I can see the number of daily visitors and am pleased by those numbers, but I need more than one follower. Please, if you aren't already, click to follow me. Thank you.

Guest blogging is something I like to do. Give me a topic and I'm off. But some of the blogs I'd like to be on make posting so difficult for someone like me, who still needs help navigating my way through my own blog, that I've had to drop out. I'm not going to point any fingers, but I can say I'm disappointed, and think there's got to be an easier way. Life, and technology, is getting more complicated by the day.

One of my good friends, and a fellow author, has decided to navigate the self-publishing waters for her debut novel. I've been watching from the sidelines as she sorts through possible editors, cover artists, formatters, and the myriad of other details that go into the production side of publishing a book. I'm not saying I'll never follow in her footsteps, but right now, I know when to cry "Uncle!" I'd rather stick with what I'm comfortable with, and what I think are the most pressing issues for me at this stage in my career--building a backlist and developing a following. 

One thing that hasn't changed since the era of Jane Austen is the basic one--write a good book and promote the hell out of it for the next few years. Book Five in my Cotillion Ball Series will be out March 3, and I'm working away on Book Six--Rosemary's story. I've still got a ways to go on that one, as editing for those books about to release has taken precedence. Deadlines and guest posts have gotten in the way of what must remain my primary goal--writing a good book. Yes, a captivating cover and a good blurb may get you noticed, but if you don't have a good book once people turn the page, you won't get anyone coming back to buy your second book. Or your seventh.

Write On!