Farewell to Google Plus

When I published my first novel, I read a lot of advice online about the best way to publicize it. Several people/sites said it was imperative for me to put myself out there on social media so that any potential reader could find out more about me and might be inspired to buy my novels.

As a result, I opened accounts with Facebook, Goodreads, Amazon Author Central, Blogger, iAuthor, Youtube, and Google+. I soon realized that each of these needed to be somewhat different since no one wants to read the same information over and over.

I decided that Blogger would have snippets of my fiction, in addition to actual updates and my thoughts on the world, while Facebook would be more about the novels and general space news.

iAuthor, Goodreads and Youtube are sites where I mostly posted items (names & information about the novels, videos about the novels) and then left them alone. Amazon Author Central was the place to post general information about me as an author, with a picture or two.

Then there was Google+. I wasn’t sure what to do with it at first. All of my blogs automatically show up there, but that seemed a little boring. I did some exploring and found out that a lot of people use Google+ for photos, especially collections of photos, so I decided to do the same. At first, I simply shared photos from others that I thought were noteworthy. After a while, though, I posted a few of my own photos. Eventually I posted a few collections. It was always a good place to find amazing photos of birds, wildlife, nature, beautiful things, etc. I liked how easy it was to explore and find others’ collections. And I had around 42 followers!

Now comes the news that Google+ will no longer be available for non-commercial users like me. This makes me sad. It was one place where I could post little items about something cool I’d seen in Wilderness Park or on the flowers out front or while I was traveling. I wasn’t really an author there; I was just one person among many wanting to share some photos.

There weren’t a lot of ads. If I followed someone, I saw ALL of their posts, not just some. If I wanted to explore, it was simple. If I wanted to share my photos with someone, that was simple, too. Google+ never seemed overbearing or difficult; it just seemed like a nice place to hang out once in a while.

I guess those of us hanging out together weren’t generating enough revenue. Also, Google apparently had a data breach and decided it wasn’t worth it to revise Google+ for added security. Whatever the reason, they’ve decided to end the Google+ product, except for business owners.

I’m not the only one who will miss Google+. I’ve read several posts there as people try to figure out where to move their photos and how to notify their followers (sometimes numbering in the tens of thousands). They’re scattering to the wind; I guess it’s a lot like when you leave high school or college in the “real world”: you realize you won’t be with that particular set of people anymore and won’t see some of them ever again.

I suppose it’s for the best. I’ve met a lot of good people since college. I’m sure I’ll find somewhere else to share and enjoy photos.

But I’ll miss this one. Goodbye, Google+.

Farewell

I just learned this past week that our local bookstore, Spellbound, will be going out of business. Once again, this town will not have a bookstore! A few years ago, I wouldn’t have thought it possible that a university town could exist without a bookstore, but I guess times are changing.

I know we’ve made great progress in technology, and I can’t imagine life without the Internet, but I sometimes ask myself if it’s all for the better. I want to wander among the bookshelves, letting a particular cover catch my eye. I want to flip through a few pages, or check out the back cover. I want to find something unexpected. I can’t do any of that on a website where you have to search by author or title. I don’t always know what I want!

I went into Spellbound to express my condolences. While I was there, I investigated the shelves, letting my eyes roam. I bought a book that I never would have expected beforehand, a book about eloquence. It was a good find, one I never would have made if I had to search for something specific. I’ll miss that feeling of discovery.

I realize that I could browse among the books in a library sale or at the recycling center, but that has a drawback: if I buy a book that way, my money is going to a good place, but not to the author. As you can imagine, I want to do what I can to support other writers.

I’ll miss Spellbound for other reasons, too. Brett and Marcy are two of the nicest people you’ll meet and they’ve been very supportive of me and other local authors. They held a book signing for several of us and they held a short story contest that got me out of my comfort zone last year, something I needed. They were always friendly and fun to talk to. I wish them the best and hope they’ll find some new endeavor that they’ll enjoy.

This also means I don’t have a local outlet for my novels right now. Some people don’t buy things online (amazing as that seems) and I liked to be able to tell them they could get one of my novels at Spellbound. Now the only outlet in town is the trunk of my car, which holds three copies of each novel. I don’t take credit cards or offer espresso, though.

I realize that we can’t stop progress. I realize that most people are perfectly happy shopping online because it can be quite convenient and lets them avoid the crowds. (I especially understand that at this time of year.)

But I’ll miss the personal service, the friendly face of the proprietor. I’ll miss the sense of surprise when I turn a corner to find something I never expected. I’ll miss the warm atmosphere.

I guess I’m old-fashioned.

      But I also think it’s possible that some things that are left behind shouldn’t be.

New Horizons

This is the week that New Horizons will fly by Pluto and we'll have the first close look at it in history. I think that's pretty exciting!

There have been images released already, but this week's images should be better and give scientists much more information about the dwarf planet. Who knows what they will learn?

Here's a site by the Planetary Society that gives more information about what will be happening this week, as well as links to other sites that will have news about the flyby: New Horizons Info

So what will it mean to us? For me, it's the equivalent of when you're taking a hike in the mountains and you see that the trail curves ahead of you. You might have been hiking for a while, you might have a vague idea of what's around that curve ... but you can't know for sure. How many of you would turn back with a shrug and say, "Oh, it can't be anything that new or exciting"? And how many of you would realize you can't lose: no matter what you see, even if it's not new, it should be worth a look?

I'm definitely in the latter camp. Maybe Pluto is a chunk of rock. Maybe there won't be any amazing features (like the so-called "face" on Mars). But it's still something we've never seen before! It's like when you visit an art gallery for the first time: some art you'll like, some you won't, but you'll enjoy exploring it because it's new. Maybe Pluto isn't a work of art, but I'm willing to take a look.

Speaking of new, I've added a new page to my blog. I am certainly not an authority on writing or publishing, but I've learned a few things along the way. Every once in a while, I try to share what I've learned, because other writers have done the same and helped me. So if you look to the right under Pages, you'll see the new one: Advice for Writers. If it helps only one writer, I'll be happy with that.

Thanks again for reading.

Browsing for Books

Today I had a fun experience that I hadn't enjoyed for a while: I went into a bookstore and browsed.

I've always loved to read, but I'm afraid I haven't done as much of it as I should have for the past several years, mostly because I've been spending a lot of time writing, editing and trying to get noticed. I still enjoy scanning a shelf, though, letting my eyes guide me to something interesting, so it was nice to have the opportunity again, thanks to my local bookstore, Spellbound. (And yes, I walked out of there with three books.)

Some people don't have a local bookstore, sadly, and this is becoming more common. So what should you do if this is the case? You can try a site like amazon.com, but you kind of have to know what you want there. Most of the time, book shopping isn't a matter of knowing what you want in advance.

Thanks to Facebook, I have found a website that can help. If you like to browse through books without exactly knowing what you want, this is the place: iAuthor
(It's based in the U.K. but has authors from the U.S. as well.)

The fun thing about this site is that you can search for books by either genre or theme. There is an amazing variety of themes, too: Fiction written in the first person singular, Books with a fiendishly clever twist, Female Protagonist, Funny Mysteries & Crime Fiction, etc. When you select a theme, you will see a whole page of book covers (and you can click on 'More" at the bottom). When you hover over a cover (wow, look at that fun phrase!), you can see a blurb on most of them. If you click on the cover, you can see all sorts of information about the book, the author, how to buy it, how many people liked the cover or the blurb, and how many people have recommended it. You can also learn more about the author.

I'm afraid I could get lost in there, but that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. Give it a try sometime.

In case you're interested, you can find my novels in the themes Character-Driven Sci-Fi, Science Fiction and Space. I'll probably add them to more themes when I can. It's another way I hope to get my novels discovered.

I hope you'll take a look. Who knows? You might find your next favorite book!