A Creative Social Media Mix

There are Indie Authors out there who will swear up and down and left and right that Social Media - and Facebook in particular - is a major distracting factor for a new writer. There is always another post to put out there. More potential readers are out there! And there are always the fun videos of cats to share, right? But the novel still needs to get written at some point.

It depends on what stage in the new authors career that they are in to determine how much social media time is necessary. A new unpublished writer, who is working on their first novel will not need much Social Media time at all, if any. Sure, that writer could create an author page, enlist followers, and try to generate excitement for a (first novel, mind you) so everyone will also be taking a big grain of salt, if they listen at all.

The *earliest* point that an author should start on the Social Media bandwagon is after the release of the first novel. Why would you market before you have a product to sell?

And then, of course, comes the questions about using Social Media for Independent Authors. Where does the balance come? How much is too much? Or how little is too little?

Social Media time will grow and expand on its own, in congruent with your Author Career. A properly managed Facebook page can be a mirror of the author's career. It's a lot more than paid promotions to gather likes - it's also analyzing the posts to see how well the author connects with his or her audience.

How many likes are non-promoted posts receiving? How many comments and posts to page are there?

That is how one can tell whether an audience is engaged or not. An audience that is not engaged is most likely bought through Facebook likes, however, that's ok. Everyone needs to start somewhere, and once an author or brand has  the means to promote and get likes that way, I am all for it. Because more likes on a page says to a potential person who is browsing the page, that, if there are a lot of likes, there must be something good about it, right?

But diving deeper into the page, beyond the likes, to see the engagement, is where one can really tell if the author is successful or not. The first step is having current followers liking individual posts. Are they at least reading your posts? If they like it, they like what you are posting, and care to some degree. Analyze your posts that way.

Are they commenting? Great! Any comments, positive or negative, should be welcome. They are engaged!

But what about the writer? Can't managing Social Media be a full time job?

It sure can. I know people who have been hired at 40-hour per week jobs simply managing Social Media sites for a company. So where does the writer find the balance?

It's in #Writestorm. And I will tell you all about it in my next post. Enjoy your day, everyone.

A Blog Hop for All Seasons

I was given the distinct honor of being invited to this blog hop by author Valerie Douglas. 

Valerie has been a mentor for about a year now. I ran across her in the Indie Author Group- a group that I had initially joined a while back on a whim, but Valerie took notice of me. She had told me that I posted great questions in the group, and had some good comments, and a few months later, asked if I could be a moderator of the site.

Valerie is a prolific genre-crosser. Some of her novels, such as A Convocation of Kings have been best sellers, as well as my personal favorite, Shades .  She has proven to be a great friend and mentor, and I look forward to years of sharing inspiration and advice.

I'm author A.L. Mengel  and the author of this blog. Below is a brief biography, found online.

"A.L. Mengel is a Paranormal Fiction writer and blogger. His novels and stories have each been called a "complex examination of relationships" with strong anti-heros. His works address issues of alcoholism, intolerance, grieving and death, fear of the afterlife, and the journey for understanding, among others. His protagonists, some of which are angels and demons, are frequently found on a search for purpose or transformation, which are recurring themes in his stories.  

Mengel grew up reading Stephen King and Anne Rice, two of his favorite authors. He first found a love of writing upon taking a Creative Writing class in High School - but did not become a more serious writer until becoming an Arts and Entertainment Editor in Philadelphia, and later while taking another Creative Writing class where he was inspired to complete his first novel. More recently, he has connected and interacted with his readers via "The Writing Studio" where he shares his writing methods and inspiration. He enjoys time with his two dogs and two cats, and loves to write outdoors as much as possible."

 

 

 

The questions below are my answers, but I wanted you to be aware of who invited me to this honor! I am the author of Ashes -published by Parchman's Press -  which is A.L. Mengel's debut novel as well as the first of a series called "The Tales of Tartarus".

1) What am I working on?

2014 has shaped up to be a very busy year for the A.L. Mengel brand. The release date of October 28, 2014 for The Quest for Immortality has been officially announced. In addition, Parchman's Press will be making more of a foothold this year. There are also other works in progress which can be found on A.L.'s author page or at A.L.'s Website.

2) How does your work differ from others in the genre?

Ashes takes readers deep into the astral plane - otherwise known as the quantam realm - where spirits exist - and where other dimensions are found. In addition, the story has a powerful message of forgiveness. The novel addresses real-life issues as well.

3) Why do I write what I do? 

I write what I do because I write about what I like to read about. I grew up reading Anne Rice, Stephen King and Clive Barker. Their stories inspired me, and I found my own voice and my own style.

4) How does my writing process work? 

Although I wish to live in the mind of a writer 24/7, I am not quite at that stage yet. I still juggle "real-life" between writing sessions.  Still, I have a process on my writing days. I like to take care of any household chores in the morning so they can be off my mind. I typically like to go out for some creative stimulation (aka lunch and a beer) at mid day - and I always take my tablet with me in case I am inspired to write. Then, I return home in the afternoons and let it pour out. Or it doesn't pour out. Every day is not a 20 or 30 page day for a writer. I find myself "taking it all in" as often as I can.


Happy Writing!

Visit and interact with A.L. Mengel at:

www.facebook.com/authoralmengel

www.almengel.com

Being a Writer can be a lonely job

Every time I open the fridge, it stares back at me.

It's the label for the Gossett Champagne bottle; its golden foil, wrapped around the bottle that rises from the other beverage choices like a beacon. Like a beacon of hope.

That one day, soon, that foil will be removed from the bottle - and the cork will be popped. To celebrate a new novel, or a story, or even a good review. But those celebrations can be fleeting.

For being a writer can be a lonely job.

We writers sit by ourselves, all day long, day after day, basically living in our minds. We develop characters and dream of worlds that you will find interesting...just so you will turn the next page, or buy the next book or see the next film.

But the champagne bottle...that holds a special significance to a lonely writer. Because he or she knows, that when that cork does come off, friends will be there. They won't be alone. And it will be a celebration. It will be a celebration of a dream being realized.

So my bottle is still sitting there, standing command over an army of beverages on the top shelf of the fridge. But the bottle has told me that the time is coming soon...it's coming soon for the cork to be popped and the bubbly to be enjoyed.

So turn that next page. Buy that next book. See that next film. For if you do, more champagne will sit in fridges across the world, and more corks will pop, and more stories and characters will come to life from a lonely writer who had a moment to celebrate.

Wanting to feel like a kid again...

I remember The Lady of The Dunes.

She's a ghost who haunts the beaches of Cape May, New Jersey. It was in that city, filled with it's quaint Victorian style houses, the kind that towered three stories over the street, hugging the shady oak canopy, that I remembered. They commanded a distinct presence in Cape May - their shadows cast upon narrow city streets lined with cars, peppered with lazy tourists, and laid back locals. The stately homes served as a reminder to the Cape May of yesteryear.

When I was much younger, I stood on the beach collecting Cape May "diamonds". They were small, translucent rocks that shimmered like diamonds. As a curious child, I loved Cape May - the point at the end of the small peninsula jutting off southern New Jersey, where I could collect diamonds and polish them and pretend they were of actual value; where I could see the sun sink into the water at the end of the day; where I could eat pancakes stuffed with fruit in one of the quaint Victorian houses that was transformed into a restaurant.

Then, just up the road from picturesque Cape May, is a striking contrast. Glittering casinos dot the skyline of Atlantic City. They rise above the water and cast a striking reflection of boisterous activity against the calm serenity of the sea. It was there, in Atlantic City, that I was born. Not physically, but in a different sense. Some of my first jobs were in that city, working for several of the casinos there.

Now, I have seen the devastation that has befallen these two cities on the New Jersey coast. I watch with the rest of the country in horror, at the decimation of the Atlantic City boardwalk, the toxic floods, and the homes that were literally just washed away. It's the New Jersey shore - the place with Wildwood rides, the boardwalks, the fantastic pizza, the lemon shake ups, the traffic jams, the great pancakes and the sand, sun and fun.

But the Lady of the Dunes is another thing. She is known to walk the beaches of Cape May. Maybe she was off that night the storm hit, or maybe she had no control over the event. I just know one thing: Cape May, Atlantic City, and the rest of the Jersey shore will emerge much better. You see, sometimes we have to nearly lose something to realize how strongly we feel for it. Look at New Orleans in 2005. We almost lost that city.

This is the same thing. Who doesn't love the Jersey shore? They will come back. They will get better. And the Cape May, the rides, the casinos, and everything that makes Jersey "Jersey" will be back, and welcoming us once again with boxes upon boxes of delicious salt water taffy.

And then, when I stand in the future, on the beach in Cape May, collecting diamonds, feeling the cool sand between my toes, I will look to the west, to the crimson sun dipping into the water, and feel like a kid all over again.

The Balancing Act

We all need balance in our lives.

I know, from years of working the hotel business, that it's easy to get away from that. Now, as a writer, I face the same balancing act - the same challenges that I did as a young professional working in a thankless, sixty hour a week job that barley scraped the bills by. The challenges are just coming from a different direction now - and I have to manage them a different way.

Years ago, writers had a lot more hurdles to scale before seeing their beloved masterpiece in print. They had to toil over a manuscript, sometimes for years, print it out (or worse yet, type it page at a time), and send it off (snail mail, remember that?) and wait for six weeks to several months or more to get a form rejection letter in the mail. Then, the process would start all over again until a publisher decided to accept the story. And that could be years.

After a publisher accepts the story, another year or two could pass before seeing the book on the shelves. Rewrites, reformats, etc... all would happen during that time. A proof would be made of the book, which the author would need to approve, etc etc etc...it eats away at time.

The rewards, of course, of going with traditional publishing, can be tremendous. As those publishers invest a substantial amount of money in the promotion of the newly accepted novel, it can pretty much expect to be a best seller. Or at least a decent seller. A writer could say, if their novel is accepted by Doubleday, they have crossed a major hurdle as a novelist. Publishers like Doubleday rarely accept anything that doesn't have best-seller written all over it. Of course, they are missing out on many fantastic stories that could be best sellers by being so selective.

But today, we have the beauty of the internet, online print-on-demand publishers, and social networking. Authors now have avenues to get their books in print - actual, physical books - and out to the public while bypassing the traditional publishers. The years long process of the past is now a thing of the past. The joy that authors feel - when they see their masterpiece listed on Amazon, Barnes and Noble...or better yet...in their hands for the first time...is a feeling that all authors can now experience, thanks to online self-publishing.

So that presents the new challenge to today's authors - otherwise known as "the balancing act". Today, we have the beauty of Facebook, and Twitter, and YouTube and all the other social networks to market our writing, to scream from the mountaintops that we wrote a novel! Please, please, please read it! And in some cases, the online networking leads to publishing house where the streets are paved with milk and honey....the New York Big Boys. But again, it's a balancing act. Those same engines distract a writer from exactly what they have been trying to do in the first place: write more books.

So, the balancing act. Each of us new authors scale the edge of that cliff; we tiptoe across that balancing wire to find our "zen zone" where we go back and forth between researching, writing new material, editing, and marketing what we already have finished. But the rewards come, as self fulfillment for the author and some fresh, fantastic stories for the reader.

So those that don't buy self-published works, those that don't take them as seriously, must keep in mind the passion that has gone into these self-published novels. Skipping over them for a more well-known name, like the big publishers do, could mean missing a fantastic story....written by a new, fresh-faced author - with a new vision - that could very well become the Anne Rice, Stephen King or John Grisham of tomorrow.

Everyone has to start somewhere. Please support the start up authors. The self-published novels of today are the best-sellers of the future; the same books that are being passed over will fuel tomorrow's films. Please support new authors for the art of the future!

Photo Credit: Rudicil Photography

Wild Horses, and how they contribute to the "Process"

Okay, enough posts about death...for the time being at least!

I know that most people opt not to think about that inevitable part of our lives, but death has been on my mind lately from some dreams that I have had (including one about my own death). However, it's mostly book research. A lot of people like to read about death and the Quantam Realm, and someone needs know something about that topic if it's going to be written about!

You are probably wondering where the title "Wild Horses" fits into all of this. It actually has quite a bit to do with what I am about to tell you. Susan Boyle, the "Britain's Got Talent" newfound star is performing a cover of "Wild Horses" by the Rolling Stones on Pandora. Here is the song here:
Susan Boyle sings Wild Horses..

So this song was playing on Pandora, and I typically have music on while I write. I find that the creativity behind music also stimulates my creative mind. And for all of you writers out there, here is a little snapshot of my process.

  
A little bit about my writing process

 

Every author has a different process. Toni Morrison writes her novels out longhand on yellow legal paper before typing them; Anne Rice researches a novel for 1-2 years before sitting down to write a word. And I "plant seeds" before birthing a book of novel length.

When I conceive a story, I start it, and write a chapter. If I feel that I need to tell more of the story right then, I will write another chapter or two, or an entire "opening sequence". Then, I put it away. I give the infant piece a page on my website, to keep it fresh in my mind, and let it marinate and grow. Some time later, I pick it up and continue it - and it's usually bit by bit. I have several novels that I am working on, and I may write a page or two here, or a page or two there, as the events in the story are revealed to me, to keep the content fresh, alive, and not "seemingly forced".

When I am further along in the process, such as with Shiva/Rebirth, I will revisit it more often as I am feeling inspired to carry the plot along in the novel. And then there is the editing and revising stage, where The Quest for Immortality is currently. In this stage, I print out 150 or so pages of the manuscript, and create an outline. I do some light editing, but that's not the most important part of this process. The most important part now is outlining the story , building the plot (tension/conflict), and developing a resolution.

At that point, the "holes" are filled in, and the novel is completed. Which brings me to Ashes:


This photo is a very rough printout from 2007, when this novel was first drafted. As you can see, there are notes and corrections, but, of course, this novel is now far from where it was in 2007, and is nearing a publication date. Ashes is furthest along in the process.

And the process just continues for each novel I write; soon, other novels I am working on will be in the stages of final drafting and editing. The process simply repeats itself.

But what you need to do, if YOU want to be a writer, is find the process that works best for you. I do most of my best writing outside the house, in a noisy and busy environment, usually having a beer. Then I edit and revise at home with coffee. That may work for me, but every writer is different.

So it's up to you to find what works best for you. I know that I am still finding what works best for me. And we all learn from the process!

Conversations with the Dead

Conversations with the dead happen on a daily basis.

More often than not, there are minute little details in your life, that present themselves in front of you, that could really be considered communication from beyond the grave - if you take the time to see the signs for what they are. Yesterday, I wrote about my grandmother, who I hadn't thought about for a while. Today, she thanked me for it.

Earlier in the day, I had been out running errands. While on the way to Target, I happened to be driving by someone from Michigan (in the state of Florida) and, since I had spent a good part of my life in Michigan, I took a closer look.

Lo and behold, the license plate frame had the same exact intersection where my grandmother's apartment building was. I thought it was uncanny! I made a mental note to call my mother about it as soon as I had parked the car.

"Mom!" I said, a tinge of excitement in my voice. "You are never going to believe this!"

"What is it?" she asked.

"I was just driving behind a car from Michigan! And the license plate frame had 14th and John R on it! That was where Grandma's apartment building was!"

"You have a good memory," she said. "Yes it was."

I continued to speak to my mother about what I had seen. What was profound about the conversation was not that I was following someone from Michigan, or that they had bought their car at a dealer that was located at the very same intersection that my grandmother had lived at while she was alive, it was why I had seen it.

"She was on your mind yesterday, since you were writing about her," my mother explained. "That was her way of giving you a nod, of letting you know that she knew you were thinking of her."

And so it hit me.

I understood the reason, I realized that I did speak with my grandmother today, in the way that you "speak" with the departed -- in small signs, little details in your life...telepathically. A feeling.

And when you look back on a situation, you understand so much more clearly.

Yes, I had a conversation with the dead today. My dead grandmother. And I see more clearly now how we keep those we have lost close to our hearts.