A Little Help From My Online Friends

I don't usually blog on Saturdays, but I'm just dropping in to say I'm over at Mason Canyon's blog today, talking about how a little help (okay, a lot of help) from my online friends got my novel in the top 25 on Kindle on the day of its release.

Drop by to have a read, if you have a chance.

Happy Saturday!

Feel the Love?

Web Splash Announcement! A small reminder that the Splash will take place one week from today. Due to some technical issues with Amazon that are making my head explode -- oh, there goes my ear -- the email with all the Splash information will hopefully be going out sometime on Friday.

Since yesterday's post, of course I've thought of a million more reasons why I love living in London. If you want to know about other cities, check out Ellen's post on Dublin and Helen's on Edinburgh.

So. On to today, and a somewhat controversial topic: using your blog to get feedback on your writing.

Of course there's nothing wrong with posting your writing for others to read -- pieces of work you're proud of, et cetera. But I'd argue if you're looking for genuine, critical feedback, your blog is probably not the best place to go.

Why? Well, first of all, it's a public forum -- people are always reticent to say what they really think in public, and unsure of the reception if they do. No one wants to looks like a crotchety miser who can't feel the love. We all want people to like our writing, but... do we really want our egos stoked with a false sense of security? When it comes to improving a passage, it's not really helpful.

Secondly, time. Most of us visit and comment on a lot of blogs, and thoughtful critiquing takes time. It's much easier to say something nice and move on than it is to give detailed feedback, especially if it's a long passage.

There are great blogs and bloggers out there who do offer valuable feedback: Clarissa Draper's chapter critique, for one. And there are always beta readers, writers' groups and plenty of forums to turn to for help.

What do you think? Are blogs a good place to get useful feedback on writing?

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends!

Ten for Tuesday: Of Blogs and Bloggery

Thanks to everyone for weighing in on the cover debate yesterday! It was interesting reading all the responses and seeing everyone's reactions to the two different covers.

Today's Ten for Tuesday will be something a little bit different. In the past two years, I've read a lot of blogs and slowly come to figure out what makes a blog 'work' for me, and how to grow your following. I'm no expert so please feel free to chime in with your own bloggery loves and hates; I'd love to hear them!

1. If you want to increase your followers, follow others! This may seem like a no-brainer, but I'm always surprised when people ask me how to get followers. Follow blogs, and usually people will follow you back. Which brings me to my next point: if someone follows you, follow them back (unless, of course, it's something you don't agree with on a philosophical basis). If you don't want to add the blog to your Google Reader (which happens automatically now if you follow with a Blogger account), sign in and follow using a Twitter account. I think it's just good blog etiquette.

2. Comment on other people's blogs, and return comments. I have two blogs: one that I started almost two years ago and this blog, which I started in March. On my other blog, I don't usually return comments and I don't comment on other blogs (I didn't really 'get' the importance of it at the time). After almost two years, that blog has 108 followers. When I started this blog, I made a decision to comment, to return all comments, and to proactively follow blogs. After four months, this blog has 340 followers! A massive difference!

3. Make your blog posts short and try to limit them to one subject. I have a Netbook and I hate scrolling through screens and screens of text. I understand posting extracts of work every now and then but if your blog posts are long all the time, I may resort to skimming. I also find myself more drawn to those posts that keep to one subject and pose a question I can answer in the comments. Make it easy for people to comment.

4. Use easy-to-read fonts on plain backgrounds. One of my blogs is white text on a black background and I got emails from readers complaining it was difficult to read. I must admit I hate struggling to read text when it's faded or covered in swirly designs. Also, be aware that if people read you in Google Reader, using a strange-coloured font (i.e., pink, yellow) will show up as pink or yellow in Google Reader, making it very difficult to read.

5. Have a 'Followers' gadget! I'm amazed that some people with Blogger blogs don't have this! I want to follow you! I could be wrong, but I think Wordpress lets you have this gadget now, too?

6. Put your 'Followers' gadget towards the top of your page. I don't want to scroll through loads of awards to find it.

7. Make your page easy and quick to load. If you have tons of videos and heavy photos sometimes it takes ages. I don't like waiting.

8. Turn off word verification! Argh! I know, I know, there are spammers out there, yes. But how many do you really get? And it is possible to moderate commments that are older than whatever date you choose, so you can eliminate the threat of spammers on your older posts. I detest word verification. If I'm returning 40-70 blog comments each night, it just takes SO much time to type in those silly silly words.

I have failed yet again to come up with ten, but I probably sound curmudgeonly enough without any more! I'd love to hear any other tips or pet peeves others may have!

Where are the Brits?

In my recent explorations through the blogosphere I've noticed one thing: the number of British writing blogs compared to North American ones is severely lacking.

I could be wrong, but I have tried to find British writers who blog -- writers who, like me, aspire to have their fiction published. And I've found some great ones, but for the most part the majority of blogs I've encountered have been from across the Pond.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course, but reading Karen Jones Gowen's post about demographics made me wonder if I should seek out more Brits (if you haven't read her post, hop over - it's great food for thought). After all, I am based in London, this is where I have the most influence with bookshops should I ever be so lucky, and even though it is a global marketplace and all that, it makes sense to target my own geographical location.

But it's been a tough task! Have aspiring British writers not fully hopped on board the blogging bus?

And if they have, then where the bl**dy hell are they?

**If anyone reading this is a writer, from the UK, with a blog, please leave a comment so I can follow you!**