About Facebook

      

       If I were to be honest, I would tell you that although I appreciate blogger, e-mail and Linkedin, that I really don't enjoy Facebook much.  Because my new book "Portsoy Woods" has been released, I committed with the publisher to spending six hours a week on social media in its promotion. Only in Facebook can you arrive, be spammed with hundreds of people you don't know wishing to friend you. I accepted them, because this is how you make connections and sell books. Within minutes, two men claimed to love me (based on my book cover picture), one Middle Eastern man wanted me to deposit money in his account, and one man became angry because "I wasn't spending enough time with him online".  Only on facebook can you lose rating by not responding to your "new friends" quickly enough.  Yesterday, I was signed up to a pornographic group there without my permission.  With twenty minutes twice a day spent there, this is just a chance I will have to take. I don't know if this is translating into books purchased or not. A lot of the people who contact me don't seem to read or respond in English very well. It might be that the book would be too much of an effort for them to read in the first place. I don't really understand how spending time on what seems to be a dating site is going to help my book sales. But then, that's just me. Your own mileage could vary.

           If you are genuinely interested in the book, "Portsoy Woods", these are links which would enable you to read about it or purchase it. I would actually converse with someone who wanted to talk about that !

http://booklocker.com/books/8874.html

www.portsoywoods.blogspot.com

 https://www.facebook.com/Janebecomesanauthor/







 

The Launching of a Sibling Blog

          

       You might think it strange that someone who already has four blogs has started yet another.  Doesn't she have enough to do, especially since she is nearing a deadline for yet another writing project, a paid one no less ?   The fact is that each of my blogs has a different purpose and each taps into a different place.  I don't eat in the living room, or sleep in the bathroom, so in the same vein, each blog is a different room of sorts where we address different ideas, thoughts, and sometimes feelings.  Rational Preparedness is a blog that was created as a consequence of my podcasted radio program where I talk about issues of preparedness. Listeners wanted a place where they could refer to the names of products and their contact information for things I'd mentioned in the preceding podcast. When time constraints made it impossible for me to continue the program, listeners asked that I, at least, continue the blog.  The blog continued, and shortly after, I wrote a book called Rational Preparedness; A Primer to Preparedness.  The Rational Preparedness blog then became an arm of the promotion of that book and in addition, a place where I could elaborate on and extend some of the ideas I had introduced in the book.

                 What I Learned from Daniel, was actually my first blog.  I started it a few weeks after my twelve and a half year old son's sudden death. It was a way of journaling, staying sane, and perhaps sharing the process of our recovery with those who'd also known  losses and might even be helped by my musings. I had no way of knowing where it might lead. This blog continues, but also became a book entitled    What I Learned from Daniel.  Whereas the blog is primarily about my life and the life of my family and remaining children following Daniel's departure, the book is squarely about Daniel's life while he was here on Earth.

                 Jane Becomes an Author is a light hearted and honest assessment of how difficult the life of a new author is, especially in a period of time in history where book publishing has radically changed in the digital age. I usually enjoy the writing portion of the tasks. I do not enjoy some of the promotion, the begging for reviews from famous people, and the rewrites of passages which might have seemed to me to be the best paragraphs in the book. These are my thoughts on the process of becoming a professional writer.

                Life After the Rescues is an informational blog concerning our farm and the animals of many varieties who came to us as rescues. It shares ideas about animal management and also our thoughts when their lives finally come to an end. Our lives have most likely been enriched by the animals even more than they have appreciated being here with us.

               I plan to continue all of these blogs as appropriate.  Sometimes a thought, an issue or a problem doesn't fit well in any of these other blog homes.  Then, there might be a comment, a complaint or a yarn here.  Thanks for coming.