Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Edie Melson”
Collectively speaking, I’ve seen a lot of improvement in how authors interact online. That said, there are still some common mistakes. These things are affecting your blog, making readers click away before they finish a post and even unsubscribe altogether. The funny thing is that most of them are minor and easily correctable. So take a look at the list, and see if you can improve your interactions with just a small change!
I’m so thankful for friends like Beth Vogt and Edie Melson who took the time to answer my “newbie writer” questions on craft/critique partners.
Here’s the first question for this segment.
(AAT) Now we’ve got this fast draft and we have a craft partner. We have an established relationship with a craft partner. When is a good time for someone to look at your work-in-progress?
(BKV) When I fast draft I usually like to set it aside for a couple of weeks. I’m usually worn out and it’s good to give distance for a couple of weeks. Then when I get together with my craft partner, I usually let them know what I’m looking for.
As far as I’m concerned there’s two ways to critique a book.
You can be looking for big picture edits. You just want to know; Is this scene working or are you feeling the emotions? Or you can be looking at fine-line edits, where you are really trying to polish a scene. You have to let your critique partner know what you are looking for. There have been times where I’ve gone into a critique group and said, “Your welcome to read this scene. I want you to know I’ve had a rough week, and I really don’t want feedback from you all.” I have been that honest with them, because I couldn’t even handle them telling me a word was misspelled. It was just that bad of a week. I think that in a really good critique group you can be that honest with them. They’ve gone ahead and read it and said, “Loved every word of it Beth.” They just left me alone for that week.
(EM) I like to be able to brainstorm before I start a book and get things laid out. I generally have an idea and it sparks my creativity to do that. When I’m in a midst of a first draft, its not a time I want craft partners chiming in. I have to have a big picture of the whole book before I start listening to other people’s suggestion, even good suggestions. I need to get my arms around it first. I do what Beth does and let it sit for a couple of weeks before I go back in. Yes, there have been times where I’ve said. “Look guys, if you can’t say something nice don’t anything at all.
(AAT) Do you think you should have two partners, one person to help brainstorm your plot and someone else to help with critiquing? What does your process look like?
Successful social media is something of an art form—with lots of gray areas. Building a successful online presence takes a good amount of flexibility and a little bit of experimentation. But even though I encourage people to find their sweet spots, there are a few things you want to avoid. Today I’d to weigh in on linking your social media accounts and other major blogging and social media no-nos.
No-no Number One
Do not link your blog with social media. What I mean by that is you don’t want your blog o send a notification of your newest blog post to Facebook or Twitter or any other social network. On the surface it seems that would be a great shortcut for those (almost all of us) who find ourselves in a constant time crush. But it’s not.
Here’s why:
You run the risk of spamming your friends and followers. Computers make mistakes, and especially if you have Facebook and Twitter linked, you can get repeat messages. This is unintentional spamming.
People today are smart, savvy and cynical. We can tell when something posted on social media is computer generated and we won’t bite. So you’re not getting any traffic this way.
Finally, you need to control the way your social media updates go out and how they’re worded. Different platforms may need slightly different wording. You also want the opportunity to add relevant hashtags and mentions.
Successful social media is something of an art form—with lots of gray areas. Building a successful online presence takes a good amount of flexibility and a little bit of experimentation. But even though I encourage people to find their sweet spots, there are a few things you want to avoid. Today I’d to weigh in on linking your social media accounts and other major blogging and social media no-nos.
No-no Number One
Do not link your blog with social media. What I mean by that is you don’t want your blog o send a notification of your newest blog post to Facebook or Twitter or any other social network. On the surface it seems that would be a great shortcut for those (almost all of us) who find ourselves in a constant time crush. But it’s not.
Here’s why:
by Edie Melson
Spam on the Internet is a big no-no. The definition has changed somewhat over the years and now includes social media posts as well as email. No average Internet user would ever dream of intentionally spamming, but without care we can be guilty of spamming.
Why is it called Spam?
There are a lot of theories about where the term SPAM originated, one school of thought is that it originated from the computer group lab at the University of Southern California. Those there applied that honorific because it has many of the same characteristics as the canned version we find in super markets.
Another accepted opinion is that it came from the Monty Python son, “Spam spam spam spam, spam spam spam spam, lovely spam, wonderful spam” since, Internet spam is often repetitious and worthless.
Regardless of where the name came from, we all try to avoid receiving it, and definitely want to avoid sending it.
5 Ways to Avoid Becoming a Spammer
1. Don’t Click on Suspicious Links. These can be found in email, as well as on social media and can infect you with a virus that sends spam to your contacts. If you get an email stating they’ve seen a funny video of you and including a link, do NOT click on the link.
