Melissa Maygrove

I've been on hiatus for quite some time, and I'm feeling the bite. Social media is a beast that dies if you don't feed it. The same goes for author fame and book royalties. Nearly three years ago, I transferred hospitals and went from part-time to full-time. Then a little over a year ago, a radical change in my personal life thrust me into the role of single mother to three teens. I've managed, but it has all but extinguished my writing career. It also lowered my search engine status and the number of visitors to my blog when I do post. And my book royalties have taken a big hit. I realize not publishing a novel in almost four years has been a significant factor, but the lack of blogging and tweeting hasn't helped. My spirit is also lagging. I love writing, and I miss it terribly. Worst of all, I feel like I've let my readers down. I have all these ideas for stories but no time to research and write them. I know that will eventually change, but will my...

In this modern, cyber-infused world, we writers are bombarded with constant distractions that keep us from our most fundamental task... writing. (Now that I have a smart phone, I suffer this all the more. >.<) I mean, c'mon. We're expected to build, grow, and maintain a social media platform, then find the peace and quiet necessary to write thousands of expertly crafted and painstakingly polished words. It's kind of ironic when you really think about it. Connect! Now unplug! :P I recently heard about a couple of apps that are designed to help modern humans eliminate the distractions, or at least control them enough to find a balance .

We writers are constantly juggling our writing time with family, friends, chores, jobs, and social media. We often struggle to keep up with our blogging friends and give up writing time just to make all the visits and leave the expected comments.  I mean, you have to make 'em to get 'em, right? True. But now that I'm published, I have a very different perspective, and it has made me take a hard look at how my social media time is spent. I may lose some blogging friends over it, but I'm changing my behavior to fit my new priorities. This decision hasn't been easy. I enjoy visiting my writing buddies and chatting with you guys on social media. It's fun! 

Modern authors need to feel confident about more than just writing. Marketing and social media participation is a must, and we need to be conscious of our online persona. For my IWSG post this month, I decided to address social media venues and habits, with an emphasis on things to do and things to avoid. I hope you’ll find something helpful. I’ll start off with Twitter .

First, I'd like to announce the winners of last week's giveaway. The winners of the 5-page critiques are : First crit: Natasha Hanova of ' Writes By Moonlight ' Second crit: Hope Roberson of ' Writing With Hope ' And the third crit--two crits actually (because I'm feeling generous = P)--go to... Sara H. & Joel P. , two of the OYANer students who are studying writing using the One Year Adventure Novel curriculum. Sara & Joel are home-schooled students, both in 11th grade. The winner of the $15 Amazon gift card is : Jamie DeMoville Adams Woot!!! Here's proof Rafflecopter chose -- not me: = ) To everyone who participated - Thank you! And to C.B. Wentworth - Thanks for the award and the kind mention. ; ) Visitors - if you haven't started following CB's blog, you should. I also wanted to throw this in... For a super-interesting post on indie publishing by Susan Kaye Quinn, click here . ### Now for today...

For some really great articles, like 'The Seven Deadly Sins of Prologues' and 'Don't Eat the Butt' parts 1, 2 & 3, check out Kristen Lamb's blog . You won't be sorry. Kristen Lamb is the author of the best-selling books We Are Not Alone—The Writer’s Guide to Social Media and Are You There, Blog? It’s Me, Writer and is represented by Russel Galen of Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary, Inc. in NYC.