Starting Over: Part Three

This is the third blog on my journey through the social media maze. Along the way, I've had friends who've given me suggestions of things to do that would make this journey a little easier. I used the metaphor of riding a bicycle in part one of starting over, and how comforting it is to have training wheels. I have the same feeling with this ride, only now, my friends are the training wheels. They have kept me from falling off. There are friends like Donna Hogue, owner of On Second Thought Consignment, who helped me navigate facebook, and coachpeg who gave me advice on what to include in my script.

I'm starting to feel a little more self assured, but know I have a long way to go. My newest adventure has been twitter, and through twitter I've found blogs that have been helpful. One of those is Derek Haines' blog, which includes tips for writers.

It seems reasonable that most people have blogs because they want to market something. In the early days, that may not have been true, but today most are marketing something. One of Derek's suggestions was to make sure to write a professional bio. After reading that suggestion, I took another look at mine, and saw places I could improve.

Another suggestion was to be patient. That for me is probably the hardest. I guess I'm trying to learn, in just a few short weeks, what most writers have been learning over many years. I recently published a children's book, "Tired of My Bath," and know a part of the writing process has to be marketing. I feel like because the internet is so big, and I'm so little, I've been spinning my bicycle in the sand. Taking Derek's suggestion to heart, I thought of the story of the turtle and the hare. Slow and steady wins the race. If I burn myself out before the race even starts, then I'm no good to anyone.

There have been some rewards along the way that have been pretty cool and unexpected. Just in the last week, I've made connections with a singer-songwriter of country-music, Billy Sidwell. He has just released a CD, and can be found on facebook and twitter. I also made connections with a novelist, Jay Squires. He's working on a novel, "Death in the Dimension of Solstice," which should be out by the end of the year.

Twitter, facebook, and blogging all require time and hard work. In order to get to where I want to be, though, I have to get on this bicycle and ride. Along the way, if I can stop and help anyone, as others have helped me, just let me know. Maybe I can include you in the next blog.