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| Homepage of my GoDaddy Website, phylcampbell.com |
I never did figure out how to put parts of my databases drag and drop style onto a page. I tried using Wix, but it wanted my database to have a URL, or me to upload the entire database. And neither would let me import data that was already hyperlinked. Copying and pasting is not difficult, but when copying, pasting, and hyperlinking 200 items, it is time-consuming and tedious. But it got done. This is my favorite page -- the book reviews. I listed each title alphabetically, then made an alphabetical list by author -- each are hyperlinked to the associated reviews.
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| My Website Book Review Page |
Speaking of reviews, I still don't know whether all this time spent building my online presence is worth it. I have gotten a few new reviews on Amazon -- for which I am grateful. It's even better when I have NO IDEA who some of the reviews are from. While I hope my friends will like my stuff, I don't want my only reviews to be from friends who would lie to help me out. Believe it or not, there's a chance those people exist. I got my first two star review. I know the reviewer. He told me he didn't have time to read the book -- which could mean he didn't have time, and could mean that he couldn't get into it and was being polite (AKA: passive aggressive). I wish he'd have commented WHY he didn't like it -- whether it was personal preference or indie formatting or he didn't like it because there wasn't a fire-breathing dragon (note to self: include fire-breathing dragon in next book). I would feel awkward (and rude, in the wrong, etc) asking for more constructive feedback. I don't expect everyone to like my book(s). Heck, I expect less people to "get" my books than people who "get" me -- and that number is very small. But I can't fix something if I don't know what isn't working about it. One bad review out of 10 is about par for the course. And in a very real way, that two star review could be the kind of balancing agent an indie author needs so that other potential buyers know I am not asking my friends (or worse, paying people) for positive reviews.So that's my silver-lined cloud for the day.
| Silver Lining? |
I did start Hootsuite content management for Google +, my FB author page, and Twitter. I didn't want to auto-post so often that someone was getting an update every 10 minutes (and I have some of these people in my Twitter, though I've made a list that they aren't on, and that's helped), but I tend to post when I am awake and thinking about it, which is great for the people in India at 2 and 3 in the morning CST, but not so much the American audience I ought to try to reach. Post automation lets me create the posts when I'm awake and share them when everyone else is. As I shared here, this made a big difference in my Wikinut views and Twitter followers, but a 100% difference in Wikinut earnings is 0.001 to 0.01 a day -- not exactly raking in big bucks.
| Working for peanuts -- that $5 in the corner? Definitely not mine... |
Today my son has a friend over. Yesterday it was a different friend. We broke down and bought him an Xbox 360 so he and his friends could play Minecraft on a larger screen than their phones. Part of the money for the purchase came from our NOT having to pay the actor's fee for the play our son will be in next month. But like any new technology, we parents are trying to find the balance between letting our son play with his new toy and making sure he has some non-screen time. And I've just kicked him off to play while I'm updating my blog. Feels slightly hypocritical. So I'm going to save and close. Time to read another book. I've got one Princess Frog series title left, so I think I'll crack it.
Oh -- at night, my son and I are reading Chris D'Lacey's series. Conker died last night. I expected that, and for the most part was fine with it. But D'Lacey did such a good job with David's reaction that it was REALLY hard to read while tears fell down my face. Don't tell people, but I AM a big ol' softie!
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