Jan 31, 2012

Getting people to like your page

January 31, 2012 By 2 Comments

Invite people to join your page

As an unpublished author, we don’t have the profile that published authors have, at least, not yet.

It can be tempting to focus on the number of people and get discouraged when it’s not huge. One thing to remember here is that quality is better than quantity.

The first thing to do when you create your page is to invite people who are already your friends. Choose carefully the people you want to join your page. Not everyone will be interested in your writing journey, so choose wisely when sending invitations. You can also post a status update inviting your friends to join your new page. [Read more...]

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Jan 30, 2012

What’s in a name?

January 30, 2012 By 7 Comments

What’s my name?

I have been trying to work out what to call myself when I get published. This may be a small problem in the grand scheme of things, but, as an author, it’s important.

My married name is Khalinsky, my maiden name is Gijsbers. Both are European and they are hard to spell if you don’t know how they are spelt. My Mum has a page of mis-spellings of Gijsbers, all are genuine!!

When I first got married and was sending my manuscript to publishers, I would use “Khalinsky-Gijsbers”. Now, that was a mouthful. [Read more...]

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Jan 28, 2012

Kids and literacy

January 28, 2012 By 3 Comments

Get kids reading

I just found out that yesterday was Family Literacy Day in the US (I don’t know if it was the same in Australia). Literacy is a big issue in Australia too…

I am incredibly lucky. Both my boys love to read. They have just turned 8 and 10, and are reading the Harry Potter books. They both have a huge pile of books they received for their birthdays and for Christmas, including the Macquarie Dictionary Mr Z, age 8, asked for. Both boys are advanced in their reading, and Mr Z would choose long, challenging words for his weekly spelling words. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized, Writing ·
Jan 25, 2012

WoW – Agent Chin-Wag

January 25, 2012 By 11 Comments

Eavesdropping from stairs

It’s Write on Wednesday again. For this weeks prompt, click here.

My kids inspired this story, with friends of my parents coming over & sharing stories. They were commenting on the stories that were being told!

“They’re talking about us!” Two little girls sat on the stairs, hands clamped over their mouths, eavesdropping on the dinner party below and trying not to giggle. They had been put to bed what seemed like hours ago. The smells of dinner, the clinking of glasses and the bursts of laughter from downstairs had driven them to their current perch, on the stairs, hidden behind the pot plant and the shadowy hallway. [Read more...]

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Jan 24, 2012

What should I share on my Facebook page?

January 24, 2012 By 4 Comments

Sharing on your Facebook page

Following on from last weeks post about why I have a Facebook page, I thought I’d continue with some ideas of what to share on your Facebook page.

As an unpublished author, we don’t have the author events or book snippets that published authors have to share, or the sales pitches for our books.  So, what do we share?

It’s quite simple, share your journey. People respond to other people’s stories, so share that. This could include updates on how your writing is going, requests for help with ideas or suggestions for names of characters, writing tips, books and authors that inspire you, and anything else relating to your journey.

With my page, I also have a feed from my blogs. On my Melissa Writes page, I have a feed from all my writing blogs, but on my other pages its just a feed from the blog relevant to the page.

Sharing my journey and asking for help with my ideas will also generate an ownership of my stories, so they want to buy the books. Recently I was writing a story for 12×12 in 12 and posted here and on my page asking for ideas on a number of things. Some people reading and commenting on these posts started getting excited about my story and want to read it!

So, with your Facebook page, share your story and ask for help from your followers. If they are following your page, they want to know your story and support you in your journey.

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