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Showing posts with label publishing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label publishing. Show all posts

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Why Blog?



When I first started my blog, I did it just to see what blogging was. I knew so little that I fumbled around just trying to figure out how to first format it, and then second, what to put in it.
Later, when I was ready to publish my first novel, I became mercenary in my intentions. I wanted to sell books.  The blog became about selling and getting my name out into the Internet universe.
Over the last three years I’ve become more serious in my intent. I’ve discovered that blogging is truly my journal. It isn’t just about selling or getting my name out there anymore, though both of those are still very important to me.
Instead, I’ve learned a few lessons, as we all do, along the way. Like, I want feedback. I want people to read my blog because they find it interesting and/or informative enough to follow “me.” I need to express my emotions and/or thoughts sometimes, to let them breathe outside of my self.  And yes, I want people to read my novels, to be curious as to where my ideas come from, or where they can find out more about a certain subject I’ve written about, perhaps the real life aspect of an issue. But most of all I’ve found I love blogging. I didn’t think I would so much, but I do.
Below is a link to an article on blogging that seemed to hit my nail right on the head.
Why are you a blogger?

Lisa Buie-Collard is an new member of the A to Z Team and is excited about all she's learning "behind the scenes." She posts on her blog which can be found through the link on lisabuiecollard.com


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Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Meet Author AJ Lauer: Author of Armageddon: Pick Your Plot

Please join me in welcoming today's guest, AJ Lauer, an A-Z participant and author. The book you're about to hear about is so unique I think we'll be burning of some fiber optic/cable/whispernet or other magical stuff that makes books go from Amazon to my beloved Kindle in about...oh there it is. I've interviewed AJ so you can get to know her a bit better.




A-Z Participant Profile: AJ Lauer, author of Armageddon: Pick Your Plot

Hi, AJ! Welcome to the Blogging from A-Z blog! Why don't you start by telling us about your blog?

Naturally Sweet started as a place to put my early-college angst. It was a way for me to keep in touch with friends from high school and my first boyfriend, a daily journal of writing snippets and figuring out how I fit into the college scene. Over the years it has become a bit more intentional. I use it now still to keep in touch with friends, but also to reflect on my profession and our adventures here in Colorado. And of course to share my writing efforts.


 How did you find Blogging from A-Z? 
Last February, I caught a horrible, awful cold. After about 2 days of whining and moaning and TV, I got bored and challenged a fellow writer friend to a duel. We spent the next four weeks duking it out creative-writing style in a shared Google doc. It was so much fun to push myself to write every single day. When we finished I knew I needed another challenge, and knew as soon as I saw it, that A-Z was the perfect next thing!

You've already signed up for this spring's challenge. What brought you back?
I had so much fun last year! I met several of my favorite blogging buddies, and truly enjoy the challenge of coming up with things to write about every day for a month. A-Z is also part of the reason that my co-author Dan approached me to write Armageddon. He is a talented graphic artist and does something super-cool every year for his birthday. Last year he decided to have an armageddon themed birthday party in honor of the Mayan calendar myth, so decided to make a Pick Your Plot book that explores apocalypses. He'd seen that I had been doing a lot of writing, so asked if I would like to co-author the project. Of course I said yes - how could I resist such an offer? So I'm back this year for the challenge of the writing, and also just to see what neat things come out of it.

Wait, a Pick Your Plot book?  Yup - kind-of like a Choose Your Own Adventure (TM) book. The endings range in topic from Ragnarok to nanobots to (of course) zombies. Since it's about apocalypses which are by nature somewhat unavoidable, you die in 33 of the 42 endings. The odds are definitely not in your favor, but each one is written to be entertaining. Our friends who attended Dan's party loved the book and immediately asked about 'real' publishing, so we decided to go for it. Feedback so far has been very positive - you should check it out! ;)

That sounds awesome! What are you writing about for A-Z this year? Well, last year I did the theme of "things I like" because it was general and easy to come up with topics. This year I've decided to write a scene or character description for each letter. It will be a bit more challenging, but should lead to some fun stuff. I'll start pre-scheduling posts in March, to make sure I've got enough time to do each one well.


Thanks for stopping by! We look forward to seeing what you write this spring. 
Thanks! I'm definitely looking forward to it

AJ's blog: Naturally Sweet 





Other places to find AJ: Facebook (public)Facebook (book fanpage)