My New Content Plan and What That Means for My Blog

On Friday, I mentioned that I finally, after almost a year, figured out my content strategy for this blog. Honestly, it wasn't a minute too soon.

I'd been feeling like I just lost steam after my disastrous year in 2014, and my blog got lost with it. Sure, there are some of you die-hards (thank you!) who kept showing up and saying hi, but I definitely noticed a dip in my traffic. And to be honest, I really don't blame those of you who fell away.

Why? Because while I occasionally happened to post something that I felt was worth reading, it was mostly a reactionary, almost spontaneous process. Some things hit, some things missed. And because I was constantly behind on literally everything, I never knew what I wanted to write about most of the time.

My YouTube channel, incidentally, suffered from the same thing. I enjoyed writing for both this blog and for my channel, but often, I'd be at a loss and spending way too much time on figuring out what I wanted to write about. As a result, I more often than not ended up skipping altogether. Because let's face it. While blogging is awesome, it can't (and won't) be my priority. It will always come second to my books and job.

But.

I'm not one to give up, and when I saw this book by Meera Kothand, it seemed like my blogging muse was telling me something.

The One Hour Content Plan is mostly aimed at bloggers who actually want to directly earn money from their blogging, as opposed to only partially augmenting my other earning activities. That said, I found this book invaluable simply because it put what I was trying to achieve into perspective.

And that perspective helped me realize why I had felt that my blogging last year was unfulfilling both to me and to the readers.

It basically came down to this:

I was aiming at the wrong people.

For example, I would share my YouTube posts here, and you guys would be completely unenthusiastic about it. And I didn't really get it, because the content on my channels was the exact same thing I had been writing about basically since I came to blogging in 2010.

But that's what I realized. Many of you guys have been with me since 2010 (THANK YOU!), but you, like me, are not the same people you were back then. We grew. We gained experience. We've learned lessons. We've become better at what we do.

And if I write something that's about "how to write a book," 90% of my audience here won't care, because 90% of you guys already wrote at least one book already.

So I could revamp my blog and change everything to recycle my audience and attract more new writers, but I happen to like you guys and I want you to stick around.

And so, I'm going to play to my strengths here in a way that you guys will hopefully find interesting. The best responses I get are to my goal-driven posts, posts about the industry, posts about making it as a person making a living at this writing/editing/publishing thing. The other good responses I get (and that I don't want to lose) are to my more personal posts, because I feel that blogging still is the best way for people to know me, and giving that up would basically be missing the point. And lastly, some of my most popular posts do have writing craft and technique advice, but not the basics. Instead, you guys enjoy posts that make you say, "Hmm. I haven't really thought about it this way." or, "Oh wow. I always forget this, thanks for the reminder."

Here's the thing, though, those kinds of posts are not the ones that are popular on my YouTube channel. So I'm going to split the two. My blog will be bringing you the content I think will be the most relevant to you guys, and my YouTube Channel will be aimed at readers and new writers looking for advice from an old veteran.

To sum up, this is what I have planned for this blog for at least the next year:

• Survival Tips and Craft Advice
• Advice on Goal Setting, Time Management, etc.
• Lessons and thoughts I have regarding writing, editing, the industry, etc.
• Advice and opinions on the business end of being a writer.
• And then, because I enjoy doing it and would like to do more of it, I would like to regularly share some more graphic-design-y things I've been doing. 

I really hope that you guys will be as excited by these changes as I am about making them. If you have any thoughts, comments, or blog topic suggestions, please do leave them in the comments section below! I will definitely take a look. 

So what would you like for me to write about? Yes, I do have a plan, but the plan is flexible, so I'm always game to address something if you want me to. 

Update and a shout-out for friends.

Hey everyone! I'm a bit quiet at the moment, mainly because wrangling the monster that is my social networking process into some semblance of order is taking A LOT of time.

So. What am I doing, you might ask?

Right now, I'm busy with sorting out my Twitter. The one most of you follow (@MishaMFB). To say the least, I have been awfully silent on there lately for one simple reason.

Ahem.

Buy my book.

Buy my book. 

Buy my book. 

BUY MY BOOK! 

BUY MY BOOK!   

BUY MY BOOOOOOOOOOOOKK!!!!!1!!!!!

Oh and while you're at it, click this link please.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for promotion. 

I'm just not all for promotion when it's spamming my Twitter feed so much that all the promotion take all of the "social" out of social networking. 

SO. 

If you have a twitter profile that you've automated. If you have a twitter profile where you're mainly posting links... 

Know that I love you to bits, but I don't love your twitter profile, so I'm just going to stop following it. 

Because honestly, all the clamoring for attention and links instead of real interaction is driving me nuts. So much so that until now, I've actively been avoiding my twitter. And worse still, I only posted links there myself because I didn't want to trawl through my feed looking for people to talk to. 

But no more. I'm trying to become the solution for myself by clearing out my feed.

It's taking long, though. I followed almost 3000 tweeps in my time on twitter and now I have to manually go through all of them to see who's only posting promos. 

So that's where I was (and where I will probably be over the next couple of weeks.) 

And then. 

I'm moving again. 

Yes, I know. Again. But the house I'm moving to will be super awesome and actually big enough for all of us. I can't wait. 

But it does mean that I have limited time in which to get everything done, and since my twitter feed sort out is part of a larger reorientation of my social networking time, I have to get that done first. 

Which means that I'll only really get around to full-steam blogging in July. The obvious exception being my bloghop post on Friday. 

If you missed my whole post on what's making me reorganize, you can find it here. 

I've entered the Wattys

Continuing my hunt for exposure, I've entered both The Heir's Choice and Endless into The Wattys, which is Wattpad's way of awarding good writing posted on the site. If a book wins, they put a bit more extra marketing effort into it, which is exactly the sort of thing I want at the moment. So if you're on Wattpad and you've been waiting for an excuse to read my books, please do check them out here. 

Before I go, I just want to give a shout-out to some awesome blogging friends of mine...

“There was a time when a girl’s wedding day was the happiest day of her life.”

In Falside, girls are a rare commodity; protected, controlled, and tracked by the administration. They spend their days idly waiting to be married off to the highest bidder.

When the marriage announcements include Tale’s lover, Freda, the women will do anything to stop the match from happening.

Their relationship is forbidden, and as members of the resistance, they’re already risking everything.


But as their attempts to stop the wedding fail, both women have to decide what they’re willing to sacrifice for love.

Amazon | iTunes | Nook | Kobo

BIO

Angeline Trevena is a British dystopian horror author. She was born and bred in a rural corner of Devon, but now lives among the breweries and canals of central England.

In 2003 she graduated from Edge Hill University, Lancashire, with a BA Hons degree in Drama and Writing. During this time she decided that her future lay in writing words rather than performing them.

Some years ago Angeline worked at an antique auction house and religiously checked every wardrobe that came in to see if Narnia was in the back of it. She's still not given up looking for it.

Purchase from Amazon (merchant sites will be updated on the author's site)

Maysa Mazari is alarmed by her mother’s talk about arranged marriage. As a hijab-wearing Pakistani-American, she wants to find love on her own. Her judgmental Muslim clique has protected her from racist taunts, although the leader is turning on her as Maysa strays from the group because of her attraction to Haydee.

Haydee Gomez is a former gang member and juvenile detention student. Now living with a clean-cut aunt, she wants to turn her life around, even though one person will never let her forget her roots—Rafe, her abusive pimp. Haydee attempts to pull away from a life of prostitution when she develops feelings for Maysa, although Rafe isn’t willing to give her up too easily.

Finding themselves in danger from Maysa’s friends and Haydee’s pimp, it’s apparent their love disturbs everyone around them as they fight to stay together.

Find Medeia – YA and MG Author

Blog   |   Twitter   |   Goodreads   |   Instagram   |   Amazon

That's it from me. How are you doing? 

Where I Am Today

Hey everyone!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend.

Just wanted to let you know where you can find me for the blog tour.

I'm visiting Alex, talking about writing humor.
Then at Christine's, I'm sharing info on how I blended fantasy and reality in Endless. 
And last, but not least, I'm sharing tips for what to do when the Internet is down on Tara's blog.

Have a great day!

Misha

Hello from the new year!

I can't believe it, but this is my first post for the year 2016. Which, in a sense means that this is really the first day of my new year too.

As such, I've decided to start rough drafting again. Good idea in theory. Except it turned out that the heat and lack of use of my fountain pen resulted in it totally clogging up. Which means I'm currently sitting with a jug of water next to my laptop, submersing the pen's tip to unclog it. It'll probably take a few more hours before I'll be able to use it again. But hey, at least in this heat (fourth day in a row where temperatures were higher than 40 degrees Celsius), the tip will dry quickly. 

In the meantime, I decided that it's time to update my blog a bit. I actually made the back-ground myself, and maybe I'm biased, but it's giving me the warm-and-fuzzies to look at. It just feels so clean and light and different. 

Then, I also decided I'm going to bring back two regular features on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 

On Tuesdays (possibly starting next week), I'll be sharing news snippets. This'll be everything from cool posts, to blogfests/hops, books being released etc. So if you have a piece of news you'd like for me to share, please mail me at mishagericke(AT)gmail(DOT)com with News in the subject line. This is especially important if you want to make sure your news is shared here, because with the amount of blogs I visit, I might not spot your particular piece of news on a given day. Also, you can let me know someone else's good news if you don't think I know about it yet.

On Thursdays I'd like to host other bloggers. You don't HAVE to have a book to sell. You can just advertise your blog this way if you want. (Also, please note that if you're trying to arrange a blog-tour you don't have to post on Thursdays. This is just a nice open day for everyone to use regardless of publishing status.) For more information or to book a guest post date (all Thursdays are currently open), please mail me at mishagericke(AT)gmail(DOT)com with Guest Post in the subject line. Please note that this offer is not open to copywriters looking to write samples. 

Other that, I'll basically be writing about writing and my experiences as a writer. (As always.)

To 2016! Charge!

Have you changed anything to your blog for the new year? Any news to share? Feel like signing up for a guest post? 

I'm bringing guest posts back.

You know something I've been missing lately?

Guest posts on my blog. And interviews.

Remember I used to do a ton of them once?

Yeah me too. It was awesome. And it was a great way for people to get to know each other.

I want to bring them back. On... Mondays.

Since this was a subject of some confusion before, I'll pre-empt you by doing some FAQs from last time:

What do I write about? 

Basically, I leave the subject open to you, lovely people. All it has to do is hold some sort of relevance to writers. About writing, editing, querying, self publishing, marketing or any sort advice you think people will find useful or interesting are usually easy and great fallback choices. 

Do I have to have something published in order to do a guest post on your blog?

No, in fact, I'd love it if we could feature writers in themselves on Mondays instead of their new books. Something nice and fresh, don't you think?

What if I do have something that I want to market? 

Of course, you're welcome to contact me and ask for a spot any other time of the week. Except the first Wednesday and the last Friday of each month. Those are reserved for IWSG my own big goals bloghop.

How do we do this? 

All you have to do is mail me at mishagericke(AT)gmail(DOT)com and ask for a Monday. I'll post available dates on the left side of this blog. I'll assign dates on a first come, first serve basis. 

Any other rules? 

Yep, just a few: 

1) Please keep the post under 500 words not counting your bio. If you don't, I'll send back and ask you to edit. 

2) Please keep in mind that we're a diverse and opinionated group. Being controversial is fine, but if you get personal in any way, your post won't see the light of day and you'll be barred from posting on this blog ever again. 

3) Yes, you're welcome to tell your friends.  

4) If you book a date, please ensure that I receive your post a week ahead of time. 

5) Please do tell your friends when you're posting here. I don't charge and I ask nothing, but it would be nice for me to see some new faces on my blog.
6) No, I don't do cover reveals. Especially not on Mondays.
7) Yes, I am willing to return the guest post favor if you want me to.
8) Images are welcome, but please no copyright infringements. I will ask. 

And that's pretty much it. I have every Monday except 14 July open, so do please start mailing me. 

My plan for 2014.

So. We're back into the New Year, and I'm hitting the ground running at some speed. At the moment I'm editing Birds vs Bastards while waiting for my editor to come back to me with my first editor's letter for War of Six Crowns: The Heir's Choice.

While I'm doing this, I'm also busy painting our guest house. Which means that I'm not getting a lot of free hours except when I'm sleeping. Still, I find edits mainly relaxing (she says, dodging rotten tomatoes from jealous people who hate editing), so I'm not complaining.

I'm hoping that once things start calming down, I can start drafting in down times while I wait for editor and crit partner feedback. Because yes. That will be the only way I'll achieve enough this year. I'll have to run concurrent projects, resting from one by working on another.

And once they start calming down, I want to kick this blog back into gear by visiting more frequently and getting as involved in this awesome community as I can.

I'm thinking about changing the Paying Forward Awards this year. I'll definitely keep on doing it, but I think it needs a bit of a change.

There will also be a competition sometime between January and March. Which will actually be about paying forward too. But more on that later.

Also, the Five Year Project (AKA Big Dreams) Bloghop is continuing this year. So if you have a crazy or madly important writing goal/dream and want to join in for some support and accountability, go here.

Lastly, I'm thinking about bringing news features back. But I'll DEFINITELY have to rethink how I'll do it.

Yeah... That's pretty much what's on my mind for my blog this year. Please feel free to make suggestions! After all, I'm trying to make my blog as awesome as possible for you to visit. :-)

Any plans for your blog?

Taking a short blogging break

So sorry about this, but I'm going to take a short break until Sunday. 

As some of you already know, Etopia offered me a publishing deal which I accepted. What I didn't mention (due to being unsure of the contract terms last week) is that the deal is that I split Doorways in two. 

So. Because this might mean a killer deadline at worst and at best a currently uncertain work schedule, I want to get the ball rolling as soon as possible. As a result, I have a considerable amount of work to do before the end of the week. 

I'll share the arrangements with regards to the Paying Forward Awards as soon as I've confirmed with the prize sponsors. 

Thank you all for your support and understanding! 

Lots of love, 

Mish

ANNOUNCING: My First Book's Plans for 2013

Aaaaah... smell the air. I love the scent of new days and new possibilities.

Soon, things will return to a bit more of a normalized schedule, but I expect work to pick up a bit. However, I will definitely be returning to my early to bed, early to rise schedule. I have some projects I want to finish early this year, so it's best for me to get some writing, blogging and networking done while everyone in my house is still sleeping.

Then, there is the new direction I want to go into with my blog. I think it will be awesome, but only if 1) YOU want it and  2) YOU can help me.

See... I think last year had some great moments on this blog where people stopped by to give and even ask advice. Which was so amazing for me. And it really got me thinking about what I want this blog to become.

As writing blogs go, this is a pretty big one and I'd like to think that it has added value to the readers who stopped by in the past. (THANK YOU!!!)

Now, I want to make it even bigger and better. I want to spend 2013 and the foreseeable future giving back to the amazing writing community. So what I have in mind is two-fold:

Awareness

I want to make people more aware of some awesome blogs out there that might or might not be off the beaten track. Also, I want to be made aware of those. Even if it's your own.

Also, whether I participate or not, I want to share any and all blogfests, competitions and or events happening. I'll be trying to get around as much as possible to find these events, BUT I am sadly not the Ninja Captain, so if you have something happening. Even if you think I should have found out already. PLEASE let me know.

Paying Forward

Once again, I am ready, willing and able to help with blog tours, interviews and guest posts. However, because of the fact that this is about us writing bloggers, content writers are STILL not welcome to submit.

Then there's something I'd really love to see coming off the ground, but that I'm terrified won't happen. I want to hold a monthly awards ceremony with a nomination and voting process. The awards, however, are the issue. I am going to give amazon vouchers every month (although the amounts may differ based on how much I have at the time), but will also be offering crits, blog analyses or anything within my skill-set that a writing blogger might find useful.

Here's the hard part: I want you guys to help me. I don't necessarily mean money. If you can donate time to help someone edit. Or help someone with a query letter and/or synopsis (cause heaven knows I CAN'T). Anything helpful or nice (and preferably open to all countries). From something small to something generous. Everything will be appreciated and best of all, it will brighten someone's day. I'm thinking that those of you who offer prizes (henceforth called the sponsors) will be listed among the most awesome of the most awesome on my blog.

Also, you will be welcome to take over for a day to plug your book, blog etc. to heart's content for a day (although I have found that it's usually better to disguise this in a helpful writing post). Heck, you can make a huge giveaway around your book.

I just think it will be amazing if this works, so I really hope you guys will find it helpful. And who knows, maybe there'll be a prize for the most generous blogger at the end of the year. The sky's the limit if we work together.

So... what do you say? Who's in? If you are, please contact me at mishagericke(AT)gmail(DOT)com with either AWARENESS or PAYING FORWARD as the subject. Comments are also welcome, but might be hard if I can't reach you by e-mail.

Have a WONDERFUL 2013!

Just some heads-ups (and to explain my sucky day)

Thanks so much for the encouragement and hugs I received on Friday.

I kind of spilled my heart on this subject today on TCoML, so I won't be writing much of a post here, except to say that the reason for my really shitty day and what I realized about it is in that post, if you want to go check it out.

Before you head over, though, I want to say thank you to everyone who expressed a willingess to help make next year awesome on this blog. I will definitely be putting out more details towards the start of the blogging season next year, since a lot of people who might love to take part will be away spending time with their families. But let me say, that if we get it right, this will be awesome for everyone who reads MFB.

See you tomorrow!

Ch-ch-changes!

As you may know by now, I'm busy going around and catching up on months' worth of return visits that I never got to do.

I can honestly say I'm loving this. It's just amazing to read what's going on with friends new and old.

In addition, it also got me thinking again about what I can do for next year to make things even better. I have a couple of original and not so original ideas kicking about, so as soon as I have them cemented in my head, I'll be sharing them in the new year.

One thing I will say, though, is that Guest Post Friday is at an end. BUT! I will be hosting regular guest posts and interviews. I'll just be doing things a liiiiittle differently to before.

Next year, I want to make the writing bloggosphere an even more awesome place, but I can't do it alone. Who's willing to help me? No help can be too big or too small and I'll NEVER let your help go unnoticed.

A little bit of housekeeping

So... I decided to change my blogs' looks.

It took me 12 darn hours to manage, because I had to change some html codes. Well... more specifically, I changed them, saved them and checked, but the blogs didn't change.

Yeah. Annoying as hell, because as far as I could discover, there was nothing to do but repeat the process again and again until it worked.

But yeah. I think it's worth it, don't you?

For one thing, the comments should be more visible.

OOOH! Speaking of comments. I've received more than a few messages with regards to the comments. Apparently some people just can't seem to comment on my blog. NO idea why. I do notice, though, that more than a few of them use wordpress.

So here's my question: Who would (for whatever reason) prefer if I cross-posted to my wordpress blog? The posts' content will be available. But maybe it would be more convenient for you? If it is, please send me a mail and let me know: mishagericke(AT)gmail(DOT)com.

On an unrelated note, I removed the lists of blogs I follow. For some reason, they were grossly out-of-date and for some reason they refused to accept wordpress blogs. I will gradually build them back up, though, in another format.

That's me for today.

What do you think about the new look? Any niggles you'd prefer me to fix while I'm at it? Think it's a good idea for me to cross-post?

A little bit of admin

When I woke up this morning, I got a lovely surprise! L. Diane Wolfe from Spunk on a Stick's Tips let me know that I've been chosen as one of the finalists for this:

Which really has me feeling so honored.

Anyway, as the banner/picture/poster/what-the-heck-do-you-call-these-things-again? states, the winner will be chosen by voting. So if you think I'm a better Supportive Blogger Extraordinaire than the absolute giants of extraodinariness (didn't get confirmation of who they are, but I'm pretty sure I know) I'm up against, please head over and vote. And if I'm not in your eyes, please go vote anyway, because those other guys are pretty dang awesome.

And then I need a bit of help. I had a cancellation for next week's Guest Post Friday, so could someone please step up to the plate and help out? You'll have more than a week to get the post to me and this month's theme is super easy: Challenged. So... what do you think?

Have you been wanting to sign up but worried that you don't have anything to say? Have you wanted to sign up and didn't because you forgot? (Happened to me countless times.) If so, just drop me a line and we'll get talking. My e-mail address is mishagericke(AT)gmail(DOT)com.

Thanks again for being absolutely awesome!

Back, but not quite on track

Aaaaaah sometimes just a short break can make things better. I heard back from the doctor and I have a clean bill of health, except for certain hormones. But they're not the ones that were making me tired.

Still... I'm just glad that it's not something serious.

But yeah... in retrospect I think that it was lethargy that came from recovering after a stressful few weeks before.

You know that feeling as you prep for something really important and set all tiredness, emotions etc. aside until later only to have them all come back and thump you on the head once you're done?

Yeah. That feeling.

Credit


I had it.

Now I'm feeling a lot better, but I've decided to make a more active effort at getting control over my stress, because I don't think that this emotional roller coaster ride is healthy for me. And all things considered, I'd rather not be medicated. And at the rate I was going, I might as well have asked for a prescription.

So... yeah. It's a bit of a tricky situation, because this lethargy has been creeping up on me ever since I started working.  As a result, the level of activity that have taken me months to build up just isn't there any more. I have to build it up from scratch again.

But rather that than not getting anything done because I'm too tired/lethargic to.

So... although I will be back to regular posting, I might only be back to visiting other blogs later this week, since I'm just going to HAVE to sit down, take the billions of puzzle pieces that are my life at present and fit them all into my week. If I don't, I might be insane by Thursday.

What's your approach to getting everything done?

About the silence...

Hi all, just want to let you know that I'm still alive. Just very very exhausted. So much so that I went to the doctor yesterday to do some blood tests to find out why.

Because of this, I'm going to take a break for the rest of the week in an attempt to save some energy, since I need it to work.

GPF will continue, though. See you on Monday!

Love you all.

Misha

Where have all the query writers gone?

I need some help, please. After tomorrow, I have no guests for my GPF features until the 29th.

I don't like that at all. Do you?

I didn't think you would, because you're awesome.

But you know what would make you even more awesome? Volunteering or getting someone to volunteer to write one post about Querying and Submission. It doesn't have to be a how to. I'm just as curious to find out more about your experiences out there in the battle field. What DO you do with your rejection letters?

Or has traditional publishing and indie press publishing gone extinct since I checked the last time?

Please please please!

I'll even throw in a crit or beta read to the volunteers, should they need them...

EDIT: All June Spots have been filled. Thanks so much, everyone! If you wanted to volunteer, though, there are still a lot of open spaces for these months:

July: Inspired
August: Challenged
September: Self Publishing and Marketing
October: Scares
November: Keeping track

Please read here for more information and contact me if you're interested.

Interview, anyone?

So I've been thinking that I love getting to know you ladies and gents better, but that there isn't really that much of an opportunity to do it.

After doing two interviews recently, I thought that I might open it up to all of you.

Would you be interested in letting me interview you?

If you are, please contact me at mishagericke(AT)gmail(DOT)com.

A to Z Challenge: Will do the real post early tomorrow

Hi... yes, I know that this isn't something to do with the A to Zs of edits and revisions, but for some reason, I'm not able to string together the thoughts required to write the post I want.

So rather than doing something useless, I'm letting you know that the real post will be on world building, and that it will be online tomorrow morning, in approximately 8 - 10 hours. So don't miss it. ;-)

Welcome to April 2012!

In a few hours, the A to Z Challenge will start. Whooo hooo!!!

Welcome to all my new blogging buddies. To the old ones, welcome back.

Last year, I cruised through the challenge, hitting over a thousand blogs and finishing every single post on time.

This year, I went bonkers and entered a second blog as well. WHILE I have a countdown timer to the completion of my edits.

Yeah... every ticking second pokes at my heart.

But I digress.

Since I am so incredibly creative, I'm doing the A-Z of edits and revisions this year. Yep... I'm going to list every single thing I've learnt while editing and revising my first book. In alphabetical order.

Yep... this girl has some major ambitions...

Sadly, this will mean that I won't be visiting back blog commentors until May, since I really really won't have time. But I will follow back as close to immediately as I can.

If I'm scarce on your blog, please think of me and know that I'm missing you.

See you on the other side! X

Preparing for the crazy.

I might have mentioned this before, but I entered both my blogs into the A to Z Challenge. Because of that, I decided to take the next few days off to allow me to catch up on some blogs I still need to visit before I get impossibly far behind.

Friday will still be GPF, so feel free to stop by for that. I'll probably still post once or twice this week, but I might not, since all craziness will be break out in Mishaland. So until Sunday, I bid you farewell.

X

I didn't forget to post...

Hi all. I haven't forgotten to post today. But the huge amounts of singing that I've been doing recently has been leaving me drained. So, because I'll have three more of these singing marathons in the next week, I think I might take a few days off from blogging.

Whether or not I come back to post for the rest of the week, GPF will continue.

Love,

Misha