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IWSG

#IWSG Jan. 2024- Do you follow readers on BookBub?

Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click here to learn more or sign up.

Optional Monthly Question: Do you follow back your readers on BookBub or do you only follow back other authors?

I honestly never gave this matter any thought. I feel like to do follow back people who follow me, but I know I’m following more authors than are following me. I think most of the people who follow me do so because they like my book reviews, not necessarily because they enjoy the books I’ve put out.

Oh, and I’m trying something new this year. I’m sharing the IWSG monthly question as a YouTube short. Anyone else interested?

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I’m so excited to announce that a passion project I’ve been working on is finally complete and ready for publication. I haven’t decided if I want to do a limited distribution to friends and family or do a standard release where it is open to the world. At the end of the day, I wanted to get this book done before my fur baby crossed over the rainbow bridge and I’ve done it.

Even if I don’t do a full release, it might be fun to at least do a blog hop or blitz where other people could share their pet stories. What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

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Now, on to the personal updates.

I’ve actually set some goals for 2024 and I’m excited about the possibilities.

 

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I’m not so excited about the future of this blog. My hosting service seems to be getting worse every day and I really don’t want to start over with a brand new blog, especially since I’ve put so much money into this one. I have no idea what the future holds for me on this platform.

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Are you on BookBub?
Want to follow each other?
Want to be part of a pet story hop?
It may take some time, but I promise, I will eventually stop by your blog.
My response time has gotten slower but I’m still making my rounds.

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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts:
Joylene Nowell Butler,
Olga Godim,
Diedre Knight, and
Natalie Aguirre!

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Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share more inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #27).

Did you know you can join my community for FREE over at Patreon to receive a monthly update on the creative projects I’m working on? I tell you the truth, it’s better than a newsletter!

Thank you for making it this far down the virtual page. Kudos to you! I’d love to know what you thought of this post in the comments below. Stay safe and be blessed.

Categories
IWSG

#IWSG May 2021: Are your followers friendly or scary?

Feliz de Cinco de Mayo! If you like Facebook Live, you should check out the video I posted yesterday talking about the underappreciated day.
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Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click the image to learn more or sign up.

Optional Monthly Question: Has any of your readers ever responded to your writing in a way that you didn’t expect? If so, did it surprise you?

Yes. First of all, having anyone respond to my writing at all is always a shocking experience. Whether it’s a 1-star or 5-star review, it blows my mind that someone would take moments of their life to publicly comment on something I’ve written.

Secondly, I’ve received some interesting emails from people who’ve liked and disliked my work. Again, I’m astounded by the effort it took for them to either fill out the contact form on my Contact page or find my email address just to send me a message. One of my favorites was, a bit scary and, from a person demanding I hurry up and write the sequel to one of my stories.

Lastly, up until recently, I have cherished every comment I’ve ever gotten on my blog, even when they weren’t always positive, because again I appreciated the time taken to connect and communicate. Recently, however, I receive a comment on my blog that felt very much like an attack and a passing of judgment against me and my entire race. I do not cherish that comment, and yet, I will not remove it. I will leave it there as a reminder. A reminder that when you ask for comments, you must face the fact that not all of them will be cherished.

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IWSG BOOK CLUB ON GOODREADS

Well, I finished both books for the may discussion and am dreading having to come up with something to say about The High Mountains of Portugal (I just didn’t like it.). Deep Point of view was great. Probably gonna read more of her books.

Our March/April/May reads are…
The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel is our fiction selection that offers a great use and example of description.

Deep Point of View (Busy Writer’s Guides Book 9) by Marcy Kennedy is our writing craft book with a focus on deep POV.

Discussion Day for both books will be May 26, 2021!

Please consider JOINing US for our next discussions.

 

So, I relaunched my newsletter, making is an homage to my love of reading. I think the first one went well. We’ll see how this months goes.

Now, on to the personal updates.

There were some really great entries in the WEP challenge in April and wish everyone the best with the continued challenges for 2021. I will be stepping away from the challenge for a while, maybe forever, not sure at the moment. It has been a wonderful supportive environment to develop and hone skills and I encourage struggling writers to seek it out. I will miss the community and enriching variety. I’ve learned so much but must now move on to learn elsewhere.

I’m sure there’s more I have to share, but my mind is a buzz with many things. I’d like to leave you all on a silly note by sharing a video from my YouTube channel, should anyone be interested in checking it out.

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Has a reader response ever shocked you?
Any thoughts on the IWSG Book Club books?
Any other interesting bookish or geekish news to share?
It may take some time, but I promise, I will eventually stop by your blog.

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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts:
Erika Beebe,
PJ Colando,
Tonja Drecker,
Sadira Stone, and
Cathrina Constantine!

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Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share more inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #36).

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords #blacklivesmatter