If you’re one of the many Boomer women who writes or plans to start writing, I’d like to share several very helpful sites:
- HelpAReporter.com
Let’s say you’d like some publicity/recognition for your expertise, book, or want to collect anecdotes, date, or opinions for a project. Take a look at HARO (Help A Reporter Out) at helpareporter.com. This site is free, easy, and allows you to either contribute your thoughts to those looking for info, or ask others for info. I’ve used it both ways. Warning: you get requests delivered to your inbox three times a day – about 35 or so each time – it becomes addictive reading them! - Spacky.com
Ever wonder what people put into search engines and how it can help you further your exposure, or help you figure out what people want to know? Take me, for example. I write about retirement issues, and using the site spacky.com, I can put in the word “retirement” and see that on average, 3.35 million people a month search Google using the word “retirement.” That’s a huge number, and I know there is a huge interest in the topic (but “retirement” is obviously a very broad word). The great thing about Spacky is that it also shows how often related phrases are searched. For example, about 135,000 a month search for “retirement community,” so I know that is a hot area of interest. As another example, let’s say you love to write about Boomer music. Is there an audience? If you put in “Boomer music” on Spacky, you’ll see there are about 1,000 searches a month for this phrase, and about 246,000 for the word “Boomer.” A fascinating and useful site! - Ezinearticles.com
Want to write articles that may get you more recognition? Try a site such as ezinearticles.com. It’s free. I have eleven published articles, and some authors have many, many more than that. Articles are read on the site, are often picked up by e-zine publishers, and can improve traffic to your websites. They do have fairly strict (I say this as a compliment) author guidelines, so be sure to read all the guidelines carefully, or your article will be sent back for editing. (I’m saying this from experience!)
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How I would handle it. FIrst, I would get into therapy; that could go a long way to helping you and your difficulties.
Second (boundaries are necessary in life)..when your kids call for advice, I would FIRST ask them what their thoughts are an
I totally agree. My campanion or shall I say "boyfriend, lol go dancing at least 3 times a week. Dancing makes us feel young and it's great excercise.
Go for it ! Get out there and do something you love !
Use the internet. Here is a site I found.
http://www.bnbfinder.com/positionsAvailable.php
Most B&B are seasonal and offer housing, so you will get a chance to see if you like it. Wi
The pain certainly didn't feel good to me. Understanding why we are the way we are is a good thing. When I was 12 I got food poisioning..Ecoli..my Dad had planned a fishing trip for months..my Mom told him I was too sick to go..he said she has ruined
We ask for help and sometimes it is under our noses , i will follow your info, Thank you so much I will let you know how it turns out.
Thanks for your info I will check it out and get back with you….I would like to talk later.
Thanks for the info.
Thank you for the information. I will check it out and then give you feedback.
I think this will be helpful information for me…I have several books in my head waiting to be written and was wondering what sites might be helpful in getting me started…thank you for the information…and in sharing your experiences!
Thanks, Jan. Any of these sites actually get you paying gigs rather than just exposure?
Also, (and please forgive me if you’ve written about this), what’s your opinion of self-publishing vs. taking the time/effort to find a publisher? I’m just about to wrap up a collection of family recipes and anecdotal stories about their “inventors” I was desperately trying to have ready for the holiday shopping season.
Have been in contact with Amazon’s Booksurge Publishing, but overheard a “don’t do it” remark re: the self-publishing route, mainly due to distribution limitations.
Would really appreciate your thoughts.
Thanks!
Terri Smiley
isha333@aol.com
Hi Terri,
Good question about the exposure and what it really gets you. I monitor my book sales numbers on Amazon, so I can see if the exposure affects the sale of my book – of course, that translates to royalties, so in that respect, yes, there is a definite correlation. I do a lot of self-promotion for speaking, and having exposure in magazines/newspapers – for example, some of my thoughts about saving money are on page 58 of the latest US News and World Report – certainly add credibility to those considering me for paid speaking opportunities. So, I think it’s definitely worthwhile.
As far as your other question about self publishing vs traditonal publisher, I went the traditional route (Rodale is my publisher), and the distribution issue is one worth considering. That being said, I know that others have self-published and done very well. Personally, I wanted the credibility of having a publisher – kind of a third-party endorsement. But, there are others who would disagree with me.
Hope that helps, and good luck to you!
Jan
I edited a book for a friend who went the way of Amazon Booksurge, and went thru the tiresome task of proofing galleys that weren’t that well done. He found it frustrating in that the editing service he paid for in advance on Booksurge just wasn’t worth the extra fees. As for the book sales, he has been satisfied in that it was a topic specific to one small geographical area, and he managed to sell about 4,000 books over 18 months. Of course he had to do self promotion in that area, appear on radio talk shows, do a guest author appearance at the ONE bookstore at his own travel expense, write his own P.S.A.s for the local paper which led to an article in that paper.
I hope you’ll share your decision in a future post and follow up with your successes and how you attained them. I have a similar project in the works–had thought I’d just put it on disk and give it to family, but maybe…. Did you read the Maya Angelou cookbook of similar format? She included autobiographical stories provoked by memories of the recipes. Wonderful!
Best wishes on your venture!
Thanks Jan, for this information…..what great tips! I recently started a Creative Writing course to try and re-find my creative thinking and so far, so good. I’ve always loved to write and would like to find a way to share articles with different sources. I’m looking into some travel writing articles right now, which seems very interesting to me. I will be on the lookout for any articles you have on this topic.
Thanks again,
Mary
Those suggestions were exactly what I was looking for, so thank you for sharing them! As a fledgling writer (at 55), I relish the help.
Great resources. Thanks for sharing. I am retiring this month and the best is yet to come!
Thank you so much for your post Jan. I had never heard of HARO or SPACKY. (ezine,yes) I’ll check them out. Can’t have enough info running around in our fevered little brain can we? Be Well! Alex http://www.AlexandraBrooks.com
This is great information and just at teh right time, as I set out to write a book about a lady that we could all use as a role model. I have researched her story for ten years now, built an exhibition and have worked on two documentaires about her life. Therefore I have generated enough valid proof of the story that I am actually going to be paid to write her story in the hope that it will draw the attention of a film producer. I am off to check out your work…. thank you!
Best of luck to you!! Let us know how it goes.