Me and Dr. Who

It may not pay immediately, or at all, but if you want to publish your thoughts to a potentially huge international audience, you can do so here and now.

Blogs are one example, another is the ezine.

I am an 'expert author' on ezines.com (not to be mistaken for the subtly different 'ezine.com,' which you have to pay for.)



See- I even got a badge!

All you have to do is write an article on a subject about which you are passionate (or at least know something about,) and upload it.

Your first articles will take about a week to appear (after that you get upgraded to platinum, and it's a shorter process.) All work is edited to make sure that it adheres to their rules of publication.
The editors are very strict about the rules, which is a good thing, because it means that people are not disrespecting their readers, and children are not going to read things they shouldn't.

I once tested one of the rules, and was found guilty. I sent in an article based on a Blog I'd written about different writers' approaches. I'd mentioned that some writers start at the beginning and, with no plan, go where the novel takes them. My comment was that 'I couldn't write like that as long as I'd got a hole in my ****, or if you're American ***.'
The article took a little longer to go through the editorial process than others had, so I guessed that there may have been some debate about my asterisks (no pun intended.)

Eventually I got an email which said that I had contravened a rule by including a serious profanity in my article. I'm not sure whether they meant ****, or ***, so removed both, resubmitted, and it was immediately published.

Another rule regards self-publicity. A blog can be unashamedly self-publicising and narcissistic. I could publish pages of:

memememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememe...
and it would stay there. An ezine article has to be about a subject other than yourself.

You are, however, allowed to put in two 'self-serving' links to other sites.

At first I submitted articles purely about writing. These had links to my Blog and YouTube videos. I then decided to write an article about another interest of mine- house rabbits.

Now although I enjoy sharing knowledge (and it is a nice feeling for a writer to know that someone somewhere is reading his stuff, whatever it's about) the main reason for my web presence is to get my novel 'Tasting the Wind' out there.

But there is nothing more annoying than finding that an interesting article has links which are nothing to do with the subject, and are probably trying to sell you something.
So on my House Rabbit article I have put one link, which is to my MySpace page, where you can see pictures and videos of cuddly bunnies. Oh... and you can hear or read the prologue to my novel... but that just happens to be there...

Another thing that you are asked not to do with your ezine articles is reproduce your Blog, because if one of your links is your blog page then it's a little bit boring for your readers to be directed from your articles to identical content.
I have to admit to doing this at first, although I have tried now to add some variation, hence the House Rabbit article.

One Blog which I turned directly into an article was my 'DaVinci Code' parody, 'The DaDisney Code.' Interestingly, this got the most immediate hits and the greatest number of URL clicks- most of them checking, I imagine, if I was still roaming the street and, if so, was I in their neighbourhood.

The lesson, I think, is that referring to big names and well known reference points such as Dan Brown and the DaVinci code will draw more attention than 'Allan Mayer's ideas on writing.'
Which brings me to Dr. Who. The new series is currently approaching its climax on British Television. The show is so big that Dr.Who is ranking very highly as a top search on Google. So... my current ezine submission which, as I write this, is pending publication, is about Dr. Who.
I have added one link, which is my website. Which just happens to mention 'Tasting the Wind.'

Did I tell you that I'd written a novel...?




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Generating Web Traffic

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YouWhat?

It was a guy called David Hyner http://www.stretchdevelopment.com/ that came up with the suggestion that I record excerpts of 'Tasting the Wind' and upload them onto YouTube.

The idea was that I put several chapters on to the site, and that this would eventually generate sales. These could be hard copy (once I'd got some hard copies) or ebooks.

My first thought was that I hadn't got a camera and couldn't afford one. So I sat on the idea for a couple of weeks. Then it occurred to me that I did have a Skype set, which consisted of a webcam and microphone.

Until that point I didn't know if a skype set could record- but it can. And it was inexpensive: I had purchased mine at Argos for £20.

You can choose what you want to show on YouTube- a film of you reading, or something else. For two good reasons I chose something else.

Firstly, YouTube made me look like a fat, bearded slaphead. Which is strange, because in real life I actually look like Brad Pitt.

Secondly, the still which people have to click onto to see your video is taken at random from your submission, so you can guarantee that you will have been caught at the split second when your expression was that of a mentally deranged axe murderer.

So I opted for my videos to show a single screen, which is different versions of my book cover. As the book is not published yet I had to design my own (something you will have to do anyway if you publish through a Print on Demand site such as Lulu.com.)

Think what would represent your book. You can use your own artwork or photography, if you're that way inclined, or get pictures from Google images. You will need a photo imaging programme which allows you to cut, paste and merge images- as long as you are creative and avoid anything with a copyright.

I chose to have a grey victorian instituion as the backdrop for a bright red balloon, which has some symbolic significance in the novel.

Not appearing on the 'video' can also be an advantage in that it can improve your voice. As no one can see you you can act it out- pull faces, throw your arms around- whateverer it takes to get some drama and changes of tone into your reading. (If you have written your book using a word processor it is useful to read from the screen to free up your hands and to avoid rustling paper.)

All you have to do now is to get a YouTube account, which is free, and upload your video- or in this case talking book.

Simple as that. Well not quite...

It's no use having parts of your book sitting on YouTube if no one's going to look at it.

Next: generating web traffic.







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