Author: admin

A new study came out citing the ills and popularity of social media.

I am truly swimming against the tide.

If I may take a moment to feel sorry myself, advertising is less effective than it used to be across the board. Several industries are less successful, especially entertainment industries. The new Superman movie made half as much money as the last Avengers movie. And it’s not because it is half as good. So I’m not alone. That’s nice.

I tried radio advertising. That didn’t really work. Way to expensive. Though it feel good to support NPR. I tried web advertising, that was pretty cheap but it generated exactly zero clips. I copies of the Bread Will Rise to a hundred or so people. Then a year later I mailed those people cards announcing the publication of Conversations Over Green Tea and Iced Hot Chocolate. That led to three sales. On the one hand I was bummed, but with a slightly different perspective I should be thrilled at a 3% response rate to relatively cheap ad campaign.

So now it’s about scale. Let’s scale up that 3%.

If I may sing my own praises for a second, to balance the pity. I’m not bad in a book store. Every time I’ve sat in a book store for an hour, I’ve sold more than a book an hour. That’s not bad. I should do that more.

I think the important thing is to just keep going.

And I’ve reached the road block of Social Media. I’ve been here before. I’ve just forgotten.

Conventional wisdom is the best most effective way to find the imaginary readers I’ve identified is on social media. Bookstagram and Booktok were repeatedly mentioned –mostly by posts on platforms owned by Meta and Bytedance.

First, deep down in my soul, I don’t believe it. I don’t believe reclusive old people can build an audience through social media. At least not through advertising. I don’t have social media, but I watch my scroll past targeted ads with aplom. I’ve never seen her discover and follow a stranger. Her social media is full of a very people she knows –close family and close, close friends –and celebrities she finds funny.

Second, I’m not sure how much my audience is on social media. A few of my handful of readers have reached out with encouraging notes. These are friends who already had my contact information. And they are not active social media users. Especially not the hip, cool social media.

Finally, and this can’t be overstated, Social Media is terrible for you, and me. It’s terrible for your brain. It’s terrible for you self esteem. And it is super terrible for the country. Facebook, twitter, insta, may not be great for me and my audience, but they are great for fringe groups who want to amplify messages designed to enrage people. I’d rather never sell another book than give Meta any attention, much less money.

Now, is it possible that I am self sabotaging claiming strong principals. Yes. Very possible.

Have I begrudgingly authorized business partners to repost bits of this blog on various social media platforms. Yes. Very hypocritical.

Did I leave a very unpopular character in the Bread Will Rise against the advice of everyone because it was the right thing for the story and the character, even if it wasn’t right for sales. Yes. I did that too.

Is this blog so unpopular (at least for the moment) that even my business partner has yet to notice this recent flurry of action. It is.

I am going to write an update tomorrow. I am.

Screaming into the storm is what I do.

Wrote.

Worked Out.

Made Dinner.

It was a good day. I did not do any additional marketing. But tomorrow is a new day. Today is a wash, today is a teaching day. Maybe I can sneak in some research. Or spend my time crafting my message. That should be distracting enough for me to ignore the fact that I do not yet have anyone to send that message to.

You shouldn’t end a sentence with a preposition.

Okay, I’ve identified my ideal audience. I did not like the exercise. Next I have to locate them, craft a message for them, and then get that message too them.

Doesn’t sound so hard.

Also sounds like something I would normally procrastinate.

We’ll see what happens this week.

A new week means new goals.

It is time to be proactive, gear up, and do some things I don’t like doing.

The first thing I have to do is identify, well, you.

Who are you? At the moment you’re imaginary. But that’s okay. I have a great imagination. So who are my readers?

My readers are adults. Much of my work is about grown ups, struggling with grown up things. And the part that is more whimsical –ghost shark –tends to be hyper sexual. Let’s be specific and say 35-50.

My readers are probably educated. And damn that makes me feel like a snob. But business is business. The pleasures from my work come from the juxtaposition of the ordinary with extraordinary. I fear that main stream audiences, if you will me a kinder turn of phrase, is uninterested in the ordinary. They would be bored and frustrated by those set pieces; possible to the point of putting down the book.

As a result of this education, my readers tend to be white collar professionals or stay at home parents who used to be professionals. Or retired professionals. Lawyers, accountants, teachers, programmers, engineers. But the professionals who are looking for something a little less exciting than a John Grisham thriller or a John Le Carre spy novel. Yeah, so my audience are the people who don’t like some the most successful and popular adult books of all time. Go me.

So if that don’t popular stuff, what do they like? What do they read and watch and listen to? I think my audience likes comedy. They are a cynical bunch, and they need media to lighten them up. I would suspect people who like Marc Maron would like my books. I think my audience consumes too much news because they care about the world and they feel like their only option is to stay informed. My audience probably listens to pod casts, the ones that grow in the liberal ecosystem. So not Joe Rogan, the most successful podcaster going at the moment. Once again, go me. My audience eschews reality television (unless baking is involved) in favor of the PBS app. It’s not that don’t like light, happy things –they just don’t like vapid things. I honestly had no idea I could be so snobby. But my audience has probably watched Poirot. They like the witty banter and the predictable plot structure, especially after a long day. My audience likes smart science fiction, The Expanse, OG Star Trek, and The Matrix. My audience has a dry sense of humor; they like Ab Fab, comedy panel shows, and witty British people. My audience likes Lord of the Rings, Dracula, and most of Tom Wolf. I could go on, but I’m afraid I would be listing things I like.

I’m told the big two big questions are: What does my reader struggle with? How do my books help them with their struggles.

That’s easy. My audience is older they are worried about aging, their own mortality, the fate of the country, and the level of environmental disaster that we are going to leave for our children do deal with. My audience feels powerless with the far right is in charge of everything and nervous then the left is in charge. The second bit is equal parts that the left will screw up their turn in power or not go far enough out of fear of political reprisal.

My books initiate my readers into a kind of ritual. My stories are machines that make empathy and comfort. They reassure and provide a bit of optimism in a bleak world.

My stories all have happy endings.

Good Shabbas.

Spent the morning cleaning windows and running errands. Not the holiest of activities. But very satisfying. Watching movies later. Got some seventy year old westerns. I find it weird to watch a film where all the people in it are dead. I do this often. I like old movies. But it’s still weird.

My mind is fairly empty today. Wrote really well yesterday. Hit some fun story beats. And I’ve been in this writing pattern long enough that my mind automatically rests on Saturdays. I have running list of production going to back to 2006. I can tell you that I never write on Saturdays. Very rarely on Sundays, but never on Saturdays. Cleaning windows is a good empty mind activity. The cool water, the smell of vinegar. No heavy thoughts or problems to work out. Just sunshine and sparkling glass. It’s been a good day so far.

I feel like I’m being boring.

I feel like I’m being boring probably because I am boring.

I lead a very routine, rather milktoast, life. And I like that way.

I spend a lot of energy making sure my Characters are not boring. Brix is not boring. Brix is awesome. But I am not Brix. I have very little in common with Brix. Brix is tough, and strong, and committed in a way that I am not. But more than that Brix is active; she’s a doer. Ambitious. Driven.

I like being home. And I like visiting Brix for a while everyday I can.

All my interesting goes into my stories. There is very little interesting left over to put into this exercise. I suppose that is what needs to change.

It bothers me that on day two, I switched from words to numerals –Day 2 instead of Day Two. Then I switched back on Day Three. I thought about going with Day 4 and claiming that even days would be numbers and odd days would be words. But naa.

I generally try not to compound mistakes. The problem is I make so many mistakes.

I spoke with my IT guru last night. We should be getting updates on the book progress this weekend, so that’s good. Also I intend to be a bad jew and keep this going on Shabbat. God won’t mind. I’m sure he’s worried about other things. Or maybe he’s not.

Consistency and Persistence are the virtues of the week. We’re going to them going.

I can’t find the path to edit the books in progress section of this website.

I may not be very smart. I will contact my IT help desk today. But it’s quite frustrating.

Almost a frustrating as not being able to write today. Don’t think I’m going to be able to find the time. Lots of adulting to do today. I hate worrying about money. And I worry about money a lot. Much of what I have to do today is futz with money.

On the plus side, I got to be a good Dad yesterday and a good Son. Both generations needed me for different things, and it was great to be of service.

Woke up

Wrote

Worked Out

Yesterday was a good day. Today I will be in the classroom siphoning the optimism off of my students. And imparting knowledge to young minds. Later I’ll be having dinner with my wife and walk around the block as the sun goes down. Tonight, while watching British Television, I intend to update all the bar graphs at the top of this webpage.