Sunday, June 15, 2014

Tell Us What You Want...What You Really, Really Want.

Aloha, Novel Spaces readers! Happy Father’s Day to those of who you’ve undertaken the challenge of being a daddy. If you’re like me, your kids are bringing you poached eggs, Belgian waffles and orange juice on a tray as you read the Sunday paper from the comfort of your bed, your favorite recliner, or maybe that hammock in the back yard.

(Well, all of that’s going on in my head, anyway.)

There likely are at least some of you who may not be aware that every June or so, the core groups of Novel Spaces bloggers take a moment and see what’s what with everyone, how individual schedules are working out, who might want to take a break or if anyone has suggestions for adding a new member to the team. Something else we do is toss around ideas for bringing new things to the blog, for our own amusement as well as attempting to make sure that the time you spend here continues to be worthwhile and perhaps even entertaining on occasion.

With that in mind, we’re lining up a couple of new recurring features for the blog. For example, every month we’ll have at least one post that covers a different aspect of writing or publishing, and each of the core group will offer their own insights, great memories, war stories, cautionary tales, and so on.
This leads me to one of our other ideas: Engaging YOU, the reader, more.

Can we talk? What do you want to read about? What advice are you seeking? What haven’t we covered that could stand a bit more attention? Maybe we should institute a recurring feature to promote your work, or just give you a place to introduce yourself and tell us what you’re writing. We’re looking for suggestions from you, which we can turn into new topics for what we hope will generate spirited discussion. Heck, maybe you want to write a piece for the blog yourself, and it’s just that none of us have been smart enough to ask you until now. Well, consider yourselves asked! This is your blog, too, and we want to hear from you.

(Apologies for the horrific rhyme just then. It happened before I could stop it.)

Feel free to make your suggestions right here in the comments or, if you’re shy, you can write to Liane or Kevin via the blog’s Contact Page. Or, just e-Mail me at daytonward@att.net.

No idea is too crazy, and even if it is, one of us is more than happy to guide you back to the light in the unlikely event you unleash the crazy.

We're saddling Kevin with that job, actually.

So, with that in mind, what would you like to see here? Talk to us. We’re listening!

4 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

A good question. I've generally been quite satisfied with what I've read here. One thing I appreciate is information on the selling side of writing. Networking, using social media, promoting work, signings, etc.

Liane Spicer said...

Charles, I was thinking the same thing. I enjoy all the perspectives presented on the blog, but I pay particular attention to info on the marketing/promo side of things. I mightn't put it into practice, but I pay attention.

Jewel Amethyst said...

I like the personal stories that offer insights into writers' lives, but tips on publishing and promotions as well as writing styles are very useful. I would like to see more topics that may not directly related to writing per se, but writing lessons can be cleaned from them.

Anonymous said...

I usually happen across at least one good example of how not to market yourself and your work via social media.

Once I stop shaking my head, I usually remember to jot a note to myself that such antics make for good blog fodder. In fact, I just "unfollowed" someone on Twitter the other night, because they'd gone off the deep end pimping their new fantasy offering. He was posting new tweets at the rate of 3 or so per minute, to the point that my feed was clogged with nothing but his posts.

Long story short? Don't do that. It annoys people.

Okay, I can probably elaborate in a future column. :)