My instagram features household cats Raven and Taco plus downstairs restaurant cat Maggie. This is Taco.Still working frantically on the update for the Creating an Online Presence for Writers book, plus prepping for this weekend’s online class. One big change since the last version is Instagram‘s rocket upward in popularity. Here in 2016, it is the number two social media network in number of users, second only after Facebook.
It lets you post pictures, often with some sort of caption, and see what other people are posting. Unlike Facebook, it doesn’t play fast and loose with what you see, but gives you a stream composed of everyone you’re following.
Instagram features a number of filters as well as some basic editing tools that can be applied to uploaded photos. You can add extra filters with the 100 Cameras in 1 app or if you would like to edit the image extensively, try Pixlr-o-matic (http://pixlr.com/).
Random thrift store objects make great Instagram pictures.For me, the two major advantages to Instagram are that a) it’s accessible via my cell phone, which I have with me far more often than my computer, plus b ) it connects with several other social networks, so I can grab a picture at an event, post it to Instagram, and have it autopost in turn to Facebook and Twitter. Similarly, I use it in the kitchen or at restaurant to snap pictures of food.
What do I post overall? Here’s a breakdown of the last 100 Instagram photos on my stream. Only five categories (event, books, and writing process photos) might be considered promotional; you’ll note those pictures occur roughly one in five times; even there, none of them directly sell a book, just mention it, and many are focused on other people and/or their work.
things that amused or delighted me: 17
food I’ve cooked: 12
the cats: 10
miscellaneous travel photos: 7
miscellaneous household photos: 7
miscellaneous event photos: 6
books: 5
my writing process: 5
birds: 4
flowers: 3
photos from the cat calendar Aunt Nona gave us for Christmas with sundry amusing handwritten additions: 3
refrigerator poems: 3
restaurant food: 3
sunsets: 3
clouds: 2
dioramas constructed of household objects: 2
my shoes: 2
rainbows: 2
the foam on top of my latte, hashtagged #seattle: 2
saarrrrggghhhhhhl… I am working nights into sat… I don’t get out of the hospital until 1 pm…. Oh, woe is me, WHEN shall I receive the gentle wisdom of the cat.
Do you feel that you use other social media in more directly promotional way? Just wondering, since you note that much of your Instagram feed is not really about that.
I use other social media to promote my classes more, I think. Certainly Twitter. And I post links to new stuff, which Instagram isn’t really suited to.
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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Presenting #CritClub
I’m pleased to announce that the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers is once again expanding its offerings.
This answers a question that writers have expressed to me over and over again in workshops, on panels, in e-mail and one-on-one conversations, including several of the mentoring sessions I did last weekend at DragonCon:
How do I find a writing group of other fantasy and science fiction writers so I can trade critiques?
I’ve got an answer now that I feel 100% happy with: the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers #Critclub.
#CritClub is an online space where fantasy and science fiction writers of all levels can talk with each other and exchange story and novel critiques. Its Discord server provides chat rooms where members can trade critiques as well as discuss market news, tips, and trends, recent rejections, and supportive advice and feedback. Critiquing is totally optional and there is no pressure to participate! Join for the gossip and chatter if you feel so inclined.
Are you already a member on the Chez Rambo server? Like the Patreon supporters, your access is already there. Thanks for being part of the community!
Subscribe using one of the buttons below for $5 per month or $50 per year. After you subscribe, you will receive acknowledgement and an invitation to the Discord server within 24 hours.
Can’t afford it? I understand that these expenses add up. As with the classes, I’ve got plenty of free slots available, with the only criteria being that you think it would be useful to you as a writer but can’t afford it. I particularly encourage you to apply if you’re a writer of color, QUILTBAG, a person with disabilities, or are otherwise othered. We want you as part of the community. There is no obligation to participate in the critiquing portion.
How the Critclub Critique System Works
Members receive 3 credits when they sign up; everyone currently participating has 3 as well.
The cost of putting a story up for critique is:
1 credit for a story up to 7500
If the piece is longer, 1 additional credit for every 5000 words above that
You earn credits at the same rate. Credits are non-transferable.
Initially this will run on the honor system; if need be, we’ll add something more formal. Tips and formatting for critiquing are here, but as a rule of thumb, critiques should be at least 250 words (ish) and address developmental issues rather than line edits (unless the author requests otherwise).
Additional Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers Community Benefits
Each week, channel #thepanel will feature discussion centered on a specific topic, sometimes with guest moderators to lead discussion. September’s topics are: Week 1: Conventional Talk (Whether Conventions are worthwhile and how to make the most of them), Week 2: The Coaxing, Care, and Feeding of Story Ideas, Week 3: The Fine Art of Rejectomancy, or How to Use Rejections to Get Better, and Week 4: What’s the Slush Pile Like?
Channels include Rejectomancy for discussing submissions, Motivation, Market News and Book Club for discussing recent reading, among others.
I’m glad I’ve got enough students for the Editing 101 online class that starts tonight, but I’d love a couple more. Mention reading this when you mail me about the class and I’ll give you a special deal. 😉
So what do we do and who is the class aimed at?
The class is aimed both at writers who want to learn to edit their work better as well as editors who want to hone their skills and learn about it as a career path.
Here’s what the three two-hour sessions cover. They’re spaced two weeks apart.
Developmental edit. I describe my revision process and how people can adapt it to their own. We look at examples of developmental edits, work through a checklist of items to look for, and talk about developing your own theory and process of editing.
Line and copyediting. I look at things on the sentence and paragraph level and supply a number of examples as well as working through an in-class exercise. Again, I try to provide a checklist that you can take away and use in your writing and editing.
Editors. I talk about working as an editor, and what resources are available to people who are looking for such work, as well as where people looking for slush-reading positions can find them. I also discuss the writer-editor relationship in a way that should clarify it for both sides of the equation and provide tips on making that process work more smoothly. A class exercise is designed to help you figure out story order for collections, chapbooks, anthologies, and magazine issues.
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when is the lass on instagram? please
This weekend, Saturday morning, 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM PST, via Google Hangouts.
This weekend, Saturday morning, 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM PST, via Google Hangouts. http://www.kittywumpus.net/blog/?p=8208#comment-38121
saarrrrggghhhhhhl… I am working nights into sat… I don’t get out of the hospital until 1 pm…. Oh, woe is me, WHEN shall I receive the gentle wisdom of the cat.
I will teach it again! And I’m working on the on-demand version. 🙂
Cat Rambo
Danielle Myers Gembala liked this on Facebook.
I do still have room in that class.
You too can learn the power of a good cat video: https://www.instagram.com/p/9BsJovi4XU/?taken-by=specfic
Do you feel that you use other social media in more directly promotional way? Just wondering, since you note that much of your Instagram feed is not really about that.
I use other social media to promote my classes more, I think. Certainly Twitter. And I post links to new stuff, which Instagram isn’t really suited to.
Mike Pope liked this on Facebook.