R&M Fab Book Reviews
Showing posts with label Assignment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Assignment. Show all posts
Friday, June 14, 2013
YouTube: Finding fun videos on writing!
Videos on Writing: FUN! (And educational!)
For class this week, we were given the assignment of
finding videos on YouTube that focused on writing or writers. I hit the gold
mine, let me tell you!
While I already knew about UtopYaCon, I had never heard
of another conference called WriteOnCon. This conference has educational videos
(that I’m guessing were presented at the conference) all over YouTube. Easy
access!
There are many, many
different types of videos on there. There are some from writers
on...well...writing. Then there are others that focus on the publishing aspect
of writing. There were dozens on there! More than I could actually watch in one
sitting. (P.S.~ I’ll be watching more sporadically now that I know they’re
there)
So, let’s begin with the first one that I came across.
It’s entitled Romance in YA by Lisa
Schroeder.
This video was so much fun! This successful author
gives sage advice on all things YA Romance. While the advice she gives should
be common knowledge, there are many times that it’s not. Hey, we’re all human.
We will all make mistakes during our journey through the writing world. Since
my first book was a Young Adult Romance, I was thrilled when I came across this
video.
I learned a lot
just from her advice. Plus, there are cupcakes. Yes, those sweet, delicious
treats that are so irresistible...sorry, started drooling. She gives great
advice, which I will post here, just in case you don’t want to watch the video.
C= Connection
of some kind
U= Unattractive
is okay!
P= Perfect
is not okay!
C= Their interests complement
each other
A= They admire
desirable traits in the other.
K= Keep
it believable & real
E= Encompass
a wide range of emotions
She goes into more details as she produces each of
these lessons, so if it sounds like something that might interest you, by all
means, please watch the video. Personally, I found it very enjoyable. And
informative. And...it made me want a cupcake...
Okay, I was only supposed to pick one video, but I wanted to put another one up as well. This one is
by Beth Revis, a NYT Bestselling author.
This is the one that really touched me. It’s about failure... and the
lack thereof when it comes to writing. Watch it. Learn it. Embrace it.
If you are having your doubts about writing, are worried
about never making it “big,” or are just scared to death of putting yourself
out there, this is the video for you. It’s a pick-me-up and will give you that
boost that you need to keep going. I hope you enjoy!
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Elizabeth Kirke, author of the More than Magic series
Elizabeth
Kirke, author of More than Magic:
Semester Aboard and Snow Bound.
Her
page on Facebook can be found here: More than Magic on Facebook
While
still being a fairly new author (her first book was released almost a year
ago), Elizabeth Kirke has gained immense popularity with her More than Magic series. Her Facebook
page is maintained by her personally, which is refreshing. This allows her to engage her readers and “Likers”
on a daily basis.
The
above post is very recent (posted today) and shows just how interested this
author is in engaging her readers and followers. She is openly letting people know that she
loves to chat with people and is interested in hearing their thoughts and
opinions. This is something that is an
emerging trend with Indie authors. While
a lot of them have Admins for their pages, they are still engaged in
conversation with people while they’re online.
From personal experience, I can tell you that this author is very personable. This was one of the reasons that I have
followed her page so closely since reading her first book.
(I apologize if the images are small. I have yet to figure out how to adjust their size without flowing over the sides of the blog)
As
far as consistency goes, she updates her page on a regular basis. Whether it’s a post about her books or just a
fun picture, she’s present and accounted for on a daily basis. This is yet
another endearing quality to her page.
When a page has no activity, people tend to forget about its existence
and move on. This is, unfortunately, due
to the times. In order to keep your
readers engaged and interacting, you have to be willing to update on a regular
basis. This author does that, and then
some.
This
author also makes a point of making sure that her readers are kept up-to-date
with what is happening in the More than
Magic world. There are contests
posted, competitions that her books/characters are involved in, and polls that
readers can vote on concerning her series and upcoming books. These posts are straight forward in nature
and give her readers all of the information that they would need to stay
informed.
In
my opinion, I have found that this Facebook page has accomplished exactly what
the author intended it to do. It is
informative, fun, engaging, and personable.
The consistency of updates keeps the readers coming back, and possibly
bookmarking her page.
While
this assignment was meant to focus on an author’s Facebook page alone, I felt
the need to include other information as well.
Her blog, which is shared numerous times on her page, is also updated
frequently. This allows the author to
expand her reach in both forums. Blogs
and Facebook pages are integral parts of utilizing social media and this author
has succeeded in accomplishing her marketing goals.
I
think the only thing that could be improved on would be the inclusion of the
author’s bio on the page. The Facebook
page is titled after her book series, which could limit the author’s reach if
she was to expand outside of this particular series. Creating a second page would be an option,
but her reach would not be as large as it would be with one, single page.
(Please keep in mind that this is part of an assignment for school. I do not make it a habit to critique the Facebook pages of other authors. If you have any questions about this post, please don't hesitate to email me at ruthikight@gmail.com. Thank you!)
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