Make Yourself Known

Sharing your information

https://docs.google.com  Sure most people won’t think about this, but if you have a group of trusted peeps you want to offer them your book to read, but do not want to send an actual file, you can use the lovely Google docs to share.

http://twitter.com/ Lots of people on here, and many that send out multiple helpful links.  Take with a grain of salt and refer HERE to my twitter post.

http://tips-for-new-bloggers.blogspot.com/ Yes it has not been updated in a while, yet it has great hints and tips for code.  It saved my arse when I could not remember.

http://www.sixsunday.com/  Check out the FAX and About section before or after you click on the list of participants.  An idea by a writer with three other participants went into for a quick sample of their work.  Each Sunday head here after 9am and you will find a list of participants and links to their six (I’ll be listed under Laura the Jane if I have a post that week).

Twitter

Recently I jumped into the Twitter universe as @laurathejane and I have enjoyed it.  Yes the more people I follow the more tweets scroll across the screen but I like following and being followed.  Plus there are fantastic real people on Twitter with sense of humors and bad days.  The # hashtags are fun for me too.  For reference in my search as I wrote this, I found two interesting websites from Twitter’s help on hashtags and the 3^rd was a Google result:  http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/susanorlean/2010/06/hash.html  New Yorker Hash story that seems to explain it well (love the Freudian twist – that’s soo me)

http://hashtags.org/  Yeah type in any hashtag and it gives you the usage, though not the meaning.  Search #FF and you will see the Friday spike

http://tagdef.com/ you got it – Hashtag Definitions. 

#amwriting #amediting:  Common ones that I use - fun to do a search and see what ppl say around those hashtags.

#askagent:  I've been witness twice to agents I follow that have opened up to #askagent and I have jumped for joy.  Question I asked if it would hurt me if I publish a YA book, and then try to publish an Erotic Romance.  Was great to follow the #askagent chat that night and found another writer with the exact question.  The response for those that wonder, was that no, it should not hurt, just that some agents don't support both genres.  Before you wonder, I'll have a different pen name if I am that lucky to be published in (any) two different genres ;)

#writer:  I will do a search off this occasionally.  It can offer some creative ideas or general funny nonsense. 

#agent:  See the #writer description, and take the tweets with a grain of salt since there are real estate agents, sports agents, etc.

#WW:  I’ve seen this one primarily on Wednesdays and the descriptions I find could mean ‘Writer Wednesdays’ ‘Writers Worth’.  Both seem to mean the same thing by listing a few names of writer types to follow. 

#FF:  Follow Friday.  It is like the #WW, but think of it more as just people you would suggest are worthy to follow (aka non-bots)

#writingtips #writetip:  Yeah it is self-explanatory on these two.  Take this with everything else on the internet – grain of salt and half-full glass.  Most tend to be links to honest blogs or it could be a site to promote their mad editing skills for only $1,000 your manuscript is ‘almost guaranteed’ to get an agent.  I do see more good than bad from it so far.

#sixsunday:  Honestly, this is a big reason why I wanted to blog.  Sure everyone wants their books read, but not very ready to just send my book or post it for anyone to read that shows interest.  I want to be cautious, though there are times I read what came out of my twisted mind and I want to share.  Here goes… http://www.sixsunday.com and you can see a list of participants with a link to their 6.  Go to the FAQ section for more details.  Also linked on their About section is a great explanation at http://sfrcontests.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-is-six-sentence-sunday.html

#queries:  Sometimes you can see helpful tips, other times it’s a comfort to know you are not alone in your quest for ink and paper.  Sometimes you get information on database queries so don’t freak if it does not make sense.

As I run across in my tweeting any additional writer type hashtags, I’ll update the post here.  I think the most important thing is show respect since at any point people can block you.  All the same, you can block anyone you want as well.  Feel free to leave a comment with any other # you feel worthy or if I missed the definition of the above.  #iamonlyhuman