2 Reasons to Link In

I finally joined LinkedIn about a year ago, after lots of invites.  I got one from someone I sort of communicated with anyway, and I wanted to see what it had to offer.  What I've learned is that it's like most other internet social sites out there: it clearly states not to just invite everybody, and it clearly states not to just accept everyone's invitation...and then people just do what they want anyway.  The reasons I've stayed with it:

1.  As a writer, you'll benefit just by having your works, websites and blogs mentioned on your profile page.  Then, whenever you comment on something that you really do want to comment on, your icon shows up, and if someone found your comment interesting or helpful, they can click on your icon, see your works and sites, and now you have another customer, or blog viewer.  You'll immediately see the difference between amateurs and pros.  Stick to the latter.  To that end,

2.  About 95% (and that's being nice) of the stuff that comes your way is unworthy of your time--but 5% isn't, and that's the nugget you swill for.  Every great now and then, someone will say something helpful about blog traffic, or an agent, or you'll make a business contact, etc.  When you find something interesting, you learn from it, you comment on it, and you're off.  I met an editor of an anthology this way, and was able to write and sell a piece to her.  That's what LinkedIn is really for--and you have to very quickly sift through the chaff to see something sparkle.  I get the weekly feeds from my groups--all 40 or 50 of them!!!--but it takes me no longer than an hour a week to go through them all, make the comments that I want, meet the people I want, etc.

The important thing is to not let yourself get carried away.  The most important thing about promoting yourself is to have something worth promoting.  That means, write.  Finish what you're writing.  Send it out.  The best marketing tool you've got is your work.  Make sure you've got enough of it.  Don't blog more than you write.

Wireless Stuff, H.P. and Losing My Mind

I feel like a little randomness is in order.  Lots of separate thoughts running around in here that need to come out, so here we go:

--I just bought a wireless keyboard and mouse because my mouse had just died, and buying both was only about six bucks more than buying the mouse.  Result: I'm lovin' this.  Smoother keys and mouse, and no wires!  I'm currently typing this on a wireless keyboard on my lap, my feet stretched out on my desk, and it's so comfortable!  No awkward angles with my wrist and fingers; much more relaxed...Maybe this is the breakthrough my writing needed to really take off.  Ya never know...

--I'm going to buy the five or six volumes of H.P. Lovecraft's letters.  The ones I have read were very interesting.  He had a lot to say about a lot of stuff, and there'd be no better window, maybe, into the mind of the weird than through this man.  I'll somehow have to deal with the rampant racism when I see it.

--My local used bookstore is consistently closing at 6 when the sign and website say it closes at 7 on Thursdays.  If you're gonna close early, change those.  I drove 2.6 miles out of my way for nothing.  (For my readers from out of state, I don't expect you to understand.)

--This keyboard seems to want me to use the downward arrow key rather than the return key.  Yes, master.

--Now it doesn't.  Weird.

--I've been so unfocused lately, that I'm reading Mary Karr's Lit, several nonfiction vampire books and other stuff for my novels, H.P. Lovecraft's short stories, and God knows what else, all at once.  This is a lot even for me.  I've got to get my head screwed on straight.

--Today I forgot to take my sinus meds and had to come back home to take them.  First time in all my years of taking them.

--Every blog I read that's written by a writer complains about the lack of writing that person does.  Mine is no exception.  I used to be driven and edgy and raw, and I'd write (with varying levels of quality) all the time.  Now I've gotten soft because of my career, home, etc.  I miss that verve and I want it back.  NOW.

A Wonderful Wallpaper of Words

Go to I'vebeenreadinglately.blogspot.com and camelbarnlibrary.blogspot.com to read very, very interesting posts from smart people and good writers.  I won't ruin them for you by summarizing or even explaining them.  Just go.  Fascinating stuff.

And two cheers for the web.  Often I rail against technology and how it's made many of us Stepford Thinkers, but, in all fairness, I have to admit that it is a wonderful wallpaper of words for those who either truly have something to say, or for those who cannot reach out to the world in any other way, for whatever physical, psychological or emotional reasons they have.  And it is a treasure trove for the curious.  I now want to spend an entire day blog-reading.  Just today I read about living in a small, old city on the Aegean, sitting on beautifully grassy fields and mountains with a good dog, building a library in an ancient abode amidst a civilization that dates back thousands of years.  (Spoiler!  Spoiler!  That's camelbarnlibrary.)

This in turn has made me a little more productive at work: I'm more proactive with my time there so I can write and read a lot more here.  Truth be told.  It is a minor revolution for those who like to read and think.

So kudos to the Internet, and to the two bloggers I mentioned, and to the thousands of other high-quality ones.  I hope to read them all.  (And I hope for all of them to read mine!)  You can find me and other blogs on blogcatalog.com.