To Blog or not to blog...

Actually, I am going to blog more. I think for now, though, I'm going to focus on making it a part of my old but updated website. I've been working on it for most of the day. Please take a look at it and tell me what you think. The sidebar on this new format does not seem to be an option. I think it will be a good thing, but I'm still learning how to use it.

I wonder if I should chance the name of the site from "Middle of the Forest" to something more generically mythological.

I have this wonderful gadget on Joseph Campbell on my igoogle home page, but it doesn't look like I can put it on that sidebar. I also found a widget for a Hero's Journey map, but I'm still trying to figure out how to put it there as well.

It's just a new beginning, and as I said, I want to make the blog a major focus and start using it more often.

Ann

Do it!

I think a blog about Audie Murphy with photos and memorabilia would attract quite a following.

I agree with Shelagh.

I agree with all of you.

I think a niche blog is a great idea. They myth idea is good.

I am having such a good time with my blog, and have had almost 200 viewers. I'm trying to keep it up here also, but sometimes my posts turn into blogs

Ann, do it.

Carol

Today, Aggie added a post on the VAJ blog about building a platform and making your blog visible:

http://visualartsjunction.com

Btw, the title is Who Likes to Get Naked?

Based on that post, I would not hire her as my marketing strategist. It was incoherent.

It's a great article, Shelagh - just what I need right now. Everyone should check it out.

Ann

LC,

Where is your smiling face? I miss it.

Ann

Ann ...I'm grading lots of papers right now. My face looks like this.

She starts off directing the piece to authors


Now that I have your attention, I’m going to focus today’s posts on AUTHOR PLATFORMS–the reason why every writer should spend the time designing a bragging article about who he/she is and what they write.

But at the end, she’s speaking to everyone but.

(whether we’re talking about you as a self-publisher, an agent, an editor, or the publisher)

Then, this tired old chestnut.

In a bookstore or on the selling page of a site, your book sits among thousands of other books. Your blog/website hovers in cyberspace, naked, and among millions of others.

“Thousands of books in a bookstore” is chanted by those who haven’t figured out that a book doesn’t compete against every book in the store, it competes against books in the same genre. (Recall DK posted that very thing after a convo with a B/N manager -every shelf draws a niche market). And blogs compete against other blogs that offer what a reader is looking for.

Basically she’s saying, “blog to promote yourself and then promote your blog.” Well, blogs that are nothing but self-serving ads are not read. They’re spam. You have to offer value to attract a readership. Then of course you have to promote it so people know it’s there. What a revelation.

Solution: You need to put some clothes on. And I mean dress up really good. You need to stop hiding from all the viewers and come forth. Building an impressive author platform is the solution.

Now she’s lurching to platform. Platform is credentials, and it’s associated with non-fiction writers. Novelists don’t need “platforms,” they need a really good book.

I could go on, but why bother.

A new tagline for my website title (The Middle of the Forest - An Exploration of Myth)

I just recently came across this quote:

"Mythology is composed by poets out of their insights and
realizations. Mythologies are not invented; they are found."
Joseph Campbell

It helps to fill the excess space on the title bar of the new template, and it expresses an important element of the site's philosophy.

What do you think?

Ann
http://www.annjoiner.com/

Our grandson is going for an internship at an accounting firm in Chicago next semester, and since my husband majored in economics and is interested in such things (and giving our grandson encouragement) he has been reading the following blog each day. He sent me this one as it not only has a great message but I think the writing is impeccable, comparing Smokey the Bear who told the writer at eight years old "only you can prevent forest fires" to messages in accounting class that only he could prevent fraud is one that gets a bigger message across to a young student.

I think the idea of a specialized blog, like Ann's about myths, is excellent.

My husband says this blog comes from a larger site someone has designated as the best economics blogs out there.

http://retheauditors.com/2009/10/26/only-you-can-prevent-white-collar-crime-a-guest-post/

I think it is not selling our particular books, but the ideas we have that have led to our books, getting people interested in these ideas and wanting to read more.

Carol

Hi Carol, thanks for the post! As the author of that smokey the bear article, I think it's great that the message about fraud & white collar crime are reaching a wider audience. Francine McKenna & her blog have been a huge influence on my education & career-path, so it was great to actually get to contribute to her blog (which I read all the time, because it's just that awesome).

And I'm studying finance & accounting in Chicago, too... what school is your grandson in?

Troy

Hi Troy,

Welcome to the forum! We don't get too many good-looking guys dropping in for a chat. You will be spoiled rotten here!

Troy,

My grandson is a senior in accounting at the University of Wisconsin and will be entering graduate school there next year. He has an internship with Ernst and Young in Chicago beginning in January 2010.

I'll let him know I heard from you and perhaps you can get in touch via email. Send me a private message if that would work.

He's excited about going to Chicago and has always been interested in accounting.

I really liked your article.

Carol Troestler