How To Drive Yourself Crazy

You start out having a contracted book that you are supposed to be writing and having so many different difficulties, intrusions, interruptions, distractions and delusions that you are proceeding at a snail’s pace, seemingly no matter what you do.

Combine with a previous book repackaged and on the market again, and generating  feelings of responsibility in the author for doing something to let the world know.

Add an invitation to join a website that will provide much information and help on how to market your books in a world that is rapidly becoming a continuous, never-ending, deluge of advertising.

Accept the invitation because… um… well, it sounds good, and maybe I’ll learn something.

Attend the first seminar. Take ten pages of notes and end up with TONS of things to do to have a profitable web presence.

[Yes, yes, I know — I’ve said in the past that I’m relying on God to promote my books and what in the world am I doing falling for this? Well… what can I say? I’m weak. Frail. Easily led astray. Rethinking that stand. Maybe it was good for then, but this is now and perhaps I could do some of that now. Not a lot. But some… Maybe this would be a form of stepping out in new ways of using my gift of encouragement.]

Here are some of those things you can do to build your “platform”:

Integrate your website with your blog. Redo both blog and website so that it’s more professional looking, maybe hire someone to do that, which means shop around for various web designers. Or figure out how to do it all yourself.

Write more blog posts. Write better blog posts. Answer every comment.

Go to other blogs and read them. Comment there. Answer any responses to the comment you left. Maybe quote from someone else’s blog and then write about how you disagree. Maybe they’ll link to you and rebut. Then you can rebut the rebuttal and get into an argument. That’s great for getting links to your blog and the attention of the world, which likes controversy and argument.

Learn what Google Analytics is.  Get on Google+.

Learn to write better titles/headlines. Study other headlines. Keep a headline file. Spend as much time writing your headline/title as you do writing your post.

Take a bunch of photographs to use on the blog, because They say that you must have images on your blog. Guest blog as much as possible. Get in as many discussions as possible.

Learn how to start a Facebook Author page and then do that. Find out what a Landing Page is. Maybe set one up.

Interact daily with those who come to your Facebook Author Page.

Make an author page for Amazon.

Learn how to optimize your website/blog and do that .

Get on Twitter. Learn how to write good tweets…  And don’t forget to come up with your own daily blog posts…

Oh yeah. And get that contracted book written. The sooner the better. (That would be The Other Side of the Sky…)

And thus we get to crazy. Too much to do even aside from all that. And with that I am over the top. Which of all those things should I do? For how long? When? How can I balance that with working on the book and the work I have to do around the house?  Where’s the peace in all this? Not there. Maybe I’m just weak… Well, yes. I am weak. But His power is manifest in my weakness, so that’s a good thing.

He’ll do what needs doing. I just have to turn it over to Him and let Him.

And so I’ve taken a little trip without even leaving home these last few weeks. I’ve learned a few things.

Like “A Tomato, A Coin and A Die” is a really bad title. (I should have called it “Two Techniques That Helped Me Get Past Writer’s Block”. Actually I might go back and retitle it just to see what will happen.)

I’ve learned that there are a lot of blogs out there that are highly “successful” (in that they have hundreds of thousands of visitors) in telling other people how they can be successful on their own blogs. Which seems mildly ironic, even a bit disingenuous.

I’ve been praying for direction in all this from the start. And I am pretty sure that I have come full circle on this crazy ride yet again, and am getting off at the platform now, ready to go back home and just focus on writing Sky.

Because the thing it’s all shown me — once again —  is that, yes, indeed,  all that other stuff takes up not only time but mental space.  At least for me. I tend to want to focus deeply on things when they engage me, and when I try to do all that stuff, well, the focus gets fragmented and I get farther away from the world of Sky than ever.

I won’t say I won’t do any of that, but for now I do know that the focus has to be on my WIP.

7 thoughts on “How To Drive Yourself Crazy

  1. Kyle

    Some of those things may improve statistic. Possibly. But as for numbers, look what happened to David after he numbered the army of Israel.
    As for renaming the blog title – there are 500 different technique blogs out there. This is the only blog with the catchy, what is that about, title of a coin a die and a tomato.
    The reason I found your website which led to your blog was because I was looking for more after finishing everything I could find on Amazon.
    All those things the world devises to steal your time.

    Reply
    1. karenhancock

      Great point about David numbering Israel’s army! Yeah!

      And you at least had the response I was hoping for about the tomato title — that it might seem weird and pique reader’s interest. It didn’t get as many readers as other posts, though, which might have been timing, or the title. So I changed it to the other and will see what that does.

      Thanks, Kyle.

      Reply
  2. KC Frantzen

    Amen, sister!
    We must pick/choose what we can do, especially with spiritual growth and family obligations in the mix, not to mention the mundane such as, oh… I dunno… baths, laundry…
    😉

    Way to go, Kyle, offering encouragement!!
    Your last line sums it up.

    As for me – I don’t blog… I’m giving FB until first quarter next year to see how it goes with launch of book 2. Hired a web guy year before last…

    It’s impossible to do it all though we are TOLD we must. As Kyle says, that’s the time-stealer and frankly, it’s a lie. We’ve never been able to do it all. It’s arrogant to think otherwise.

    Reply
    1. karenhancock

      Yes, KC… those mundane things like baths! Hahaha. (Funny because it’s, uh, kinda true.) 😳

      And then there are the episodes where you’re bending over to put the dog food dish down and it slips out of your hand and dog kibble goes skittering in all directions across the floor. The one I just mopped. So it’s clean at least and dog food’s expensive so… pick it up piece by piece. 🙂

      As for trying to do what we’re told… I’ve got a rant about that. Coming up. And you’re right about thinking we can.

      Reply
  3. Rebecca LuElla Miller

    If you want to experiment, why not use the “sure fire” title on a new post with similar content to the one with the creative title and see if there’s a difference. Or even repost the first one with the new, “do it this way to attract a million readers” title. 😉

    All the connecting on line can get exhausting, but I think it’s also exciting. Just last week I had an exchange on another blog (not my own) with an atheist. How many times before the Internet did I have such interactions? Uh, never. I had no way of knowing that I LIKED talking with atheists.

    But it can be easy to get off target. I think it’s important to ask, What has God called me to? Sometimes that’s not always easy to answer, depending on our circumstances.

    May God give you clarity, Karen.

    Becky

    (Do you know any young people who might be willing to do some Website/Facebook work for you as an unpaid intern?)

    Reply
    1. karenhancock

      That’s a good idea, Becky and I may try it. Come to think of it, I just did with this post. “How To..” titles are supposed to be a surefire draw. Although I have to say, the article’s examples did not include my version — which admittedly is not serious… I doubt very many people need help driving themselves crazy!

      Oddly, according to the stats, it is pulling in readers at a more rapid rate than usual. Who knows? Maybe it does work. I think I really might keep track of how the “tried and true” formats work and see if they do produce some sort of jump, even tied to my quirky blog.

      Reply
  4. buttrflygrl14

    Many blessings to Karen! Working out our salvation (not that we get any credit 🙂 Glory be to El’Elyon!) In “public” is a place our enemy attacks the most! Be strong! And of good courage, drawing strength from His presence and promises! I hold you in prayer…as I am certain many do! These undergird you in His power! Keep your eyes on Him and know the battle belongs to the Lord! He has recruited the BEST to surround you…carry His flag forth in courage!
    Grace and peace in Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah

    Reply

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