If you follow my twitter stream @cjlyonswriter (and you do, don’t you?) you probably saw my tweets about the Tools of Change conference live-streaming their inaugural Author [R]evolution Day.
For free! Seriously, awesome, amazing thing to do, kudos TOC!
The speakers were engaging, well-informed, and obviously excited about the possibilities of this new author-centric era of publishing.
They elucidated WHAT authors need to know clearly.
(Hint: if you’ve been following this blog or any other industry blog for awhile, it will be nothing you don’t already know. Basically it boils down to: start with why, have a clear vision, and build strategic partnerships—told ya, you’ve already heard it here and elsewhere)
What frustrated me was what was missing in this day aimed at helping authors take control of their success: HOW to achieve all this.
For instance, I was excited about the session on meta-data because it’s something that stymies my indy efforts as well as my NYC publishers (me because I don’t have access to their tools and need to learn how to do it myself and them because…well, I have no idea why they don’t use those tools they spend so much money on…)
What did we learn in the session: that we need metadata…not how to do it, not where to find resources to help you include it, not even what resources exist that an individual author could access.
We only got the what, not the how…ironic since the conference is called TOOLS of Change, not what you need to change.
I commented on Porter Anderson’s post on Jane Friedman’s blog about this and another commenter said she thought it was because we’re all just starting out with this…no we aren’t. Some of us have been doing this for years and NYC publishers for centuries. So the fact that we still can’t agree on best practices for either group is especially frustrating.
So, I thought why not tackle some of those Hows right here?
Below in the comments (please do not send it via email, click through to the blog HERE to leave your comment) fill in the blank on this question: How do I _____?
I’ll try my best to answer them—or find someone who can. And of course, if you know the answer to someone else’s “How do I” then feel free to post your comment in reply.
There’s no reason why we should be stymied by lack of information—it’s out there, let’s find it and share it in our own Author Revolution!
Have fun with it,
CJ
You are the perfect embodiment, CJ, of what Seth Godin wrote of today: “open, generous, and connected.” THANKS for soliciting from us what we need (esp. when we don’t know what we don’t know). Am curious to see what questions you receive.
Thanks, Melanie! That is a very kind thing to say and very much appreciated!
CJ
I agree! Seth’s post today inspires us all to cooperate for the sake of our art and and business, which are becoming one and the same for most writers now.
Obviously, the presenters are probably in the business of providing services, and they don’t want to tell you how to do things yourself because then you won’t need them! And furthermore, most authors don’t have the interest or the gumption to learn a lot of tech stuff, even if it’s crucial to success.
You, CJ, are the Queen of Gumption. Nobody just stops practicing medicine to write novels without systemic gumption.
So, having a professional education myself, how do I know when it’s time to have the gumption to invest more time in my own writing than ghost writing for my clients? There’s my question.
Hey, you asked for it!
Thanks, Mia! And I think your question definitely needs to be tackled in a post–thanks for having the “gumption” to ask it!
CJ
As a real newbie at figuring out this whole thing, and not afraid to sound stupid, I don’t really know what metadata is for us, and how it’s to be used. I know that’s not a question – I guess mine would be ‘Where do you start?”
Excellent point, Nancy! I’ve already covered a lot of the first steps in earlier posts (check under the Resources tab) but will work on updating those…hmmm…maybe an entire new series or free e-course…
Great suggestion!
CJ
I don’t even kinow what meta data is . . . and I need it???
LOL! We use metadata every day, you just might not have heard of the term…it’s the info that connects you with a book or author. Title, author name, ISBN, genre…anything that would lead search engines and readers to your book.
More coming up!
CJ