Done at PenguinCon, but alas I don't have the name of the artist!It’s the last week of 2011, a year that has, like most of them, had its good and bad moments. I remain hopeful about the future, and glad to be in this world, and I look forward to seeing what happens in 2012. I plan to fill it with writing, editing, and teaching. (And a certain amount of reading and playing video games and that sort of thing.)
Speaking of the productive part of those goals, I just sent off the last batch of feedback to someone on their NanoWriMo novel. I’ll remind folks that this is the last week to do so if you want to take advantage of my editing offer for NaNoWriMo novels mentioned here: http://www.kittywumpus.net/blog/2011/12/06/nanowrimo-what-now/
A couple of people have asked about my doing an edit of their stories for workshops like Clarion West or Clarion. I am willing to do a look over of the developmental edit type, where I suggest to you what needs to be amplified, eliminated, or otherwise changed, but I won’t do a sentence by sentence one, since you need to be getting in on your own merits, in my opinion.
Next week I’ll be announcing the next round of classes – stay tuned for some cool possibilities (in my opinion!)
Want access to a lively community of writers and readers, free writing classes, co-working sessions, special speakers, weekly writing games, random pictures and MORE for as little as $2? Check out Cat’s Patreon campaign.
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"(On the writing F&SF workshop) Wanted to crow and say thanks: the first story I wrote after taking your class was my very first sale. Coincidence? nah….thanks so much."
~K. Richardson
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Creating an Online Presence for Your Group: Some Basic Steps
Trying to set up an online presence for your group or organization? Here’s some basics to think about.
One: Include a blog on your website that has new content on a regular basis.
This first step is key to a better social media presence, because it influences your search engine rankings. Better search engine rankings draw more traffic to your site, as do good keywords, and if your blog features information about the group, it’s pretty much guaranteed to have the appropriate keywords.
Establish realistic criteria for “regular”: daily? weekly? biweekly? What can you actually expect to do?
Figure out how you will generate such content. Some suggestions:
Group member announcements, interviews, and guest posts.
Group events and news.
Posts drawing on other social media, such as announcements of new videos on the Youtube channel (see point 4) or Pinterest boards (see point 5).
Calls for volunteer positions and interviews with volunteers.
Yearly best-of lists or review columns.
This blog should drive the group’s presence on social networks. Posts should automatically propagate to other networks, thereby relieving the pressure for someone to be managing and posting to individual streams, such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as presenting a more unified and consistent approach.
Two: Keep your Facebook policy simple and free.
Social networks rise and fall, but currently Facebook’s attempts to monetize itself by making you pay for messages or pay extra to reach people is making it less useful to those of us who want the most bang for the buck. Simply put, recent changes make is so not everyone who’s liked your page or followed you is seeing your posts.
Basically all you need is a public Facebook fan page to which blog posts (generated in point 1) are automatically posted and which people can “like” in order to receive news of the organization via that social network. Here’s a sample of my writerly FB fan page and one I did for a recent book. (Feel free to “like” them!)
Three: Use Google+.
As Facebook’s popularity falls, Google+’s is rising, particularly internationally. There’s space to be innovative here. Set up an open community. Certainly blog posts should get propagated to here, but make the most of Google+ technology and encourage people to use Hangouts, share documents, etc.
Four: Use Youtube.
Users like more than just text, and video is one way to get more interest, if your group is one likely to generate videos of events, gatherings, speeches, etc. Each time a video is put up, there should be a blog post with a link and brief description, thereby generating blog content.
Six: Make it easy for your group members to connect.
Make social media information, such as Twitter or Facebook handles, available to users. Provide directories of alumni on the various networks. For example, someone joining Twitter might find a list of all group members currently on Twitter useful. Here’s my list of Codex members on Twitter.
Seven: Make it easy for your group members to create community.
Provide a way people can upload announcements to the blog for a moderator to check and post on a daily or weekly basis. Encourage people to reply to each other’s posts and pass them along on social networks by noticing and rewarding community efforts as well as by leading by example and being an active and responsive community member.
Eight: You don’t need forums or mailings.
Creating a log-in for a forum or subscribing to a newsletter is one way for people to reach you, but social media has the advantage of reaching out to new as well as established community members. It’s as easy — in some cases easier — for someone to check your group’s Facebook page as it is to log into a forum. Physical mailings are costly; e-mail lists need to be maintained.
Nine: Use the community.
Your members include people who are invested in the organization and are also social influencers. The organization should be making the most of this. Here’s some possible ways to do so.
Create social media posts that include calls to action, asking people to pass along information.
Generate guest posts for the blog from the community by calling for volunteers to write them.
Generate Youtube videos and Pinterest boards via the community by issuing calls to collect images or videos for a specific event or contest.
Ten: No matter what, have a succinct and coherent plan.
Figure out what the social media mission is (perhaps increase membership and establish brand). Establish (again, realistic is important) criteria for success in the various social media, such as number of website hits via Facebook each month, number of Twitter followers, etc. Check the success rate on at least yearly basis, perhaps better every six months or even three, given how fast social media can change.
Give things a unified feel. The background on the group’s Twitter page should be the same one used on Facebook or on the blog. Use the same font where possible.
Have someone who’s in charge of all this, rather than trying to do it by committee. Having someone oversee things makes sure that gaps don’t get missed.
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Prefer to opt for weekly interaction, advice, opportunities to ask questions, and access to the Chez Rambo Discord community and critique group? Check out Cat’s Patreon. Or sample her writing here.
To write science fiction, it's helpful to know something about its roots. A major joy of my new Kindle is finding free books. I figured other people might appreciate some of the finds (and might share some of their own – bonus!).
So here’s a slew of classic science fiction novels, available free online on Project Gutenberg. (Kindle users, it’s so so easy to mail files onto your Kindle, although it’s not free when you’re moving books on there, but costs a .15 per MB, with a book running 2-4 MB, depending.)
Flatland by Edwin Abbot. The story of life in two dimensions, written in 1884 by an English schoolmaster, it originally boasted “A Square” as author.
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. One of the great pulp writers, Burroughs’ work is well represented on Project Gutenberg, and provides a taste of old school sf at its best. including the Mars, Pellucidar, and Tarzan series.
R.U.R. by Karel Capek. This Czechoslovakian play first was staged in 1921. It deals with the rise of the robots, and their final rebellion against the humans.
Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Written by one of the early suffrage leaders, Gilman posits a society without men, and in the tradition of such utopian fiction, explains it at length.
Deathworld by Harry Harrison. The first of the Deathworld series, this deals with gambler Jason dinAlt and his visit to the deadliest planet in the universe.
Beyond Lies the Wub by Philip K. Dick. No one can be a science fiction fan without at least a little Philip K. Dick in their reading background (in my opinion). Prolific, full of wild imagination, and talented, he produced novels and short stories that are a major influence on the field. Others to read by Dick: Valis, Ubik), Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, and (always) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (which inspired the movie Bladerunner). I’m happy to see so many P.K. Dick novels available on the Kindle, but I miss Eye in the Sky and The Man in the High Castle.
Time Traders by Andre Norton. Norton brought countless readers to f&sf through her YA novels. Time Traders is the first of a series and follows sharp-jawed, keen-eyed Ross Murdock in his quest for lost alien technology.
Galaxy Primes by E.E. Smith. Another of the Golden Age writers, Smith does space opera like no one else. Here two men and two men are lost in space and must somehow chart their way back to their home planet, Earth.
Invisible Man by H.G. Wells. There’s a lot of Wells to pick from, but this is one of my favorites, and certainly has inspired plenty of other works, both books and movies. I’ll note that you should read Ralph Ellison’s version first – while not strictly sf, it’s surreal and enlightening and a great take on the idea.
And the tenth? I’m leaving it up to you to supply, dear readers – what would you suggest, what have you found online that delighted or amazed you?
(Coming tomorrow: story prompt!!)
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