Jan 16, 2017 |
Building an Author Platform: How Much Information is Safe to Share Online?
by Edie Melson @EdieMelson
Edie Melson- Building an Author Platform: How Much Information is Safe to Share Online?
As writers we know the importance of developing an online presence, but is there such a thing as too much information out there?
Absolutely!
The result of too much information online can range from the irritating to the dangerous. But it is possible to be smart and still have an online presence that will garner you the right kind of reader notice.
So how much is too much to stay safe online? Anything that lets your online presence collide with your physical presence without you managing the connections.
Here are some tips to help you stay out of trouble:
- Have boundaries firmly established in your own mind—BEFORE something happens. That way, when someone get too familiar, you’ll be ready to do more than just feel vaguely uncomfortable. So often I talk to writers who have a cyber-stalker and they’re not even certain whether they should be concerned or not.
- Trust your instincts. I cannot emphasize this one strongly enough. If someone makes you uncomfortable, act on your feelings.
- Don’t friend/follow/or otherwise engage someone who isn’t willing to post a picture and/or give out reasonable information.
- Don’t use any social media networks and/or settings where you check in at places. There is no good reason for someone to know where you are generally. If you’re at a conference or a big event, you can let people know you’re there if you choose, but don’t leave your safety to a computer program.
- Turn OFF your location settings for all your digital devices—phone, digital camera, ereader and tablet. Otherwise, any picture you take with those devices could have an imbedded code that gives the latitude and longitude of where the picture was taken. This is especially true if you post pictures of children (your own or even grandkids). Don’t make it easy for a predator to map out your location.
What should you do when something makes you uncomfortable?
The biggest thing is do NOT be tempted to be polite when you’re worried. This is similar to following your instincts in that we often push down our uncomfortable feelings for the sake of being polite. If someone is tweeting to you, sending you repeated Facebook messages, or contacting you in any way that makes you uncomfortable, don’t ignore your feelings.
- First, if it’s someone you know, confront the person making you uncomfortable and request they respect your boundaries. If it’s a spammer, do NOT engage. Just move straight to blocking them.
- If they don’t adhere to your guidelines, immediately block them from the social media networks where they are contacting you.
- Finally, report them to the social media network(s) where the infraction occurred.
This isn’t something you should fool around with, but it’s also something you shouldn’t be worried about. Taking these steps will keep you safe and give you the boundaries you need to stay safe online.
What steps do you take to stay safe? Have you ever felt uncomfortable by a contact? If so what did you do?
CLICK TO TWEET: Frankly, My Dear: Building an Author Platform: How Much Information is Safe to Share Online?
Edie Melson
Edie Melson—author, blogger, and speaker is a prolific writer with years of experience in the publishing industry. Her best-selling ebook has been expanded and re-released as Connections: Social Media and Networking Techniques for Writers. Her popular industry blog, The Write Conversation, reaches thousands of writers each month.
In addition, she’s the Director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, the Social Media director for Southern Writers Magazine, Social Media Mentor for My Book Therapy and the Senior Editor at Novel Rocket.
You can also connect with Edie through Twitter and Facebook.
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
Jan 15, 2017 |
Frankly, On Faith: Spiritual Groanings
by Molly Jo Realy @RealMojo68
Frankly, On Faith.
You know those days. Those oxymoronic, Lord-keep-my-mouth-shut days when what you want to say comes out all wrong? Or worse, when what you don’t (or shouldn’t) say, comes out of your mouth anyway?
What about that disconnect between your brain and your tongue when there’s little translation going on, and it’s just one big, hot mess and you sound like Frankenstein trying to sing?
Ain’t gonna lie. I kinda hate those days.
Those days that sap the language right out of you, leaving you with a foggy head and bewildered thoughts.
And you want me to pray through this? I can’t even . . .
Thankfully, God knows what we need. I mean, He always does, right?
But did you know He has an interpreter to help make sense of our nonsense?
“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.” Romans 8:26, NLT
The Holy Spirit takes our crazy, our chaos, and straightens it into a direct line of communication between us and God. The Spirit is our go-between, our translator who speaks both languages and gets the point across.
The next time you don’t know what to say or how to say it, or want to know where to start, ask the Holy Spirit to breathe in you. He’ll take your messages straight to God. And bring God right back to you.
CLICK TO TWEET: Frankly, On Faith: The Holy Spirit straightens the line of communication between us and God.
With some sweet tea for your beautiful voice and headphones for listening,
~Molly Jo
Frankly, On Faith: Spiritual Groanings
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
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Jan 11, 2017 |
SOAR
by Molly Jo Realy @RealMojo68
SOAR
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
Jan 10, 2017 |
Turning a Bad Review into Good Marketing
by Molly Jo Realy @RealMojo68
Frankly, My Dear . . . : Turning a Bad Review into Good Marketing
Have you experienced a bad review? I say experienced because that’s really what it is, isn’t it? You don’t just read it and move on. Not if it’s about your book. Am I right? A while back, I had such an experience, and was able to use it as a Cinderella moment. Grab yourself a glass of tea while I tell you a story.
First, the set up.
Last summer, I set up one of my Kindle books for a two-day free giveaway. Good marketing, I thought. It would get The Unemployment Cookbook, and my name, into a few more households, and hopefully lead to some better sales down the road.
And then, the conflict.
The plan was working, as more four- and five-star reviews were left on the page. That is, until, well, let’s just say someone forgot to put some honey in their tea that morning. Not only was this particular review negative, it was personally directed at me. By someone who didn’t know me. This troll bashed my recipes, my cookbook, and me without one hint of compassion or understanding.
I tried to let it go. But it kept gnawing at me like a tic on a dog. I wasn’t brave enough to comment on the review and tell the troll how wrong he/she was. How he/she had obviously not read the intro or understood why I wrote the Cookbook to begin with. Nor had he/she bothered to look at my notes for each recipe which allow for the cook to fix it to fit their own family, wallet and taste. No, I didn’t say any of that. I just stewed. (See what I did there?)
And then the resolution.
A few days later, I made a small comment on Facebook. I wasn’t looking for affirmations or kudos. I just wanted to share how words, especially unearned harsh ones, can be a speed bump on our happy road.
After a matter of minutes, my Swarm came to my rescue, unbidden and unbeknownst to me. Hours later when I checked my social media stats, I had emails and Tweets and comments and shares. Good review after good review poured in, contradicting the bad one. Comments and rebuffs countered his/her position. The more the reviews came in, the more I thanked the readers on the Facebook post stream, which boosted visibility of the original post, which created more reviews in my defense.
The happy ending.
At the end of the day, that one bad review led to over ten good reviews, and The Unemployment Cookbook was listed in the Amazon Top 100 Paid Reference Books. Not only that, but because I had waited until the giveaway was over to post anything, the new attention garnered a few unexpected sales.
The takeaway.
You can’t stop people from being, well, people. There’s bound to be one bad apple in the barrel now and then. What you can do is be real. Thank your Swarm for the good reviews, and share with them the bad. Then watch them buzz to back you up. It’s a sweet thing to have a community.
CLICK TO TWEET: Frankly, My Dear . . . : Turning a Bad Review into Good Marketing
With some sweet tea and a spoonful of honey,
~ Happy writing.
Molly Jo
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
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Jan 8, 2017 |
Frankly, on Faith: God Is Always
by Molly Jo Realy @RealMojo68
Frankly, On Faith.
There are a lot of uncertains in the world. A lot of maybe’s, a lot of I-don’t-knows. A lot of wishes, and dreams, and breath-holding.
A lot of negatives, too. Did y’all know you need to be hugged at least seven times a day to stay healthy? And each hug should last at least five seconds long?
One sincere smile counteracts five negative glances.
So think about it: Less than one minute of your entire day is all it takes for your body to register joy, acceptance, and strength.
Less than sixty seconds.
And that’s with everybody hugging you. If you’re the hugger ~ just one out of seven ~ your time commitment is even less.
So why is so hard to think God needs so much more of our time just to show up in our lives? In the time it’s taken you to read this far, He’s already working on whatever it is you need Him to work on.
How do you like them apples?
Here’s an exercise for you this week: Consider the affirmations of God. Not what you want Him to be. Not what others tell you He could do. But what the Bible says, and what He has proven (or is proving) to you.
Make a list. Write it out. Tell it to yourself. Post notes in your day planner, on your mirror, in your car. Remind yourself of who He is.
New and unsteady in your faith? Not sure you can trust Him? Ask Him to show you.
Beat down, exhausted, tired, worn out, and giving up on personal miracles? Tell Him about it. He already knows anyway. The cool thing with God is, He’ll never turn His back on you. Never.
I know. Sometimes it feels like it. But honestly. He won’t.
For me, God is always
- Faithful. He sticks around even when I try to push Him away.
- Unwavering. His promises don’t change just because my emotions do.
- Caring. He clothes the fields and the animals; of course He’ll clothe me, too.
- Here. He promises over and over to never leave nor forsake me. And He hasn’t.
CLICK TO TWEET: Frankly, On Faith: How is God always for you?
With a little sweet tea and a lot of heavenly honey,
~Molly Jo
Frankly, On Faith: God Is Always
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
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