Social Media and the Urban Author

Most likely if you are reading this blog, you have some type of social media account. Social media is an excellent way to communicate to the masses, quickly, easily and inexpensively. It has been an absolute blessing to the urban author... most of the time.

More and more often, I am seeing some downright ign'ant  ish <---no typo* on FB, Twitter, IG, and other social media outlets. The most surprising thing is I have witnessed grown men participating in this foolery. I probably sound a little sexist, but I am from the old-school where men don't participate in bitchassness. I see that is another quality lost via modern technology but that is another post. 

I must admit, I do get amused... Okay - I am freakin' entertained some days by the ignorance and nonsense and have even messaged a friend so they can be entertained for free and laugh with me while watching the fuckery unfold. Years ago, I may have even participated in the madness.

I've seen some people take the position of, Well this is me, if someone doesn't like it, they don't have to buy my work. And if that is how they feel, than that is their prerogative. However, if your goal is to be a full time (insert your title your networking on social media under) and be respected by everyone (not just your social media clique) then we need to do better expressing ourselves. 

I have stopped following many, many people after seeing insensitive remarks that were even to stupid of a statement for even me to tolerate. They may have a great novel out there but I'll never know it. There are a few where I've seen their books on the free giveaway days on Kindle and still wouldn't download it. I refuse to support any people with obvious intolerance to others  regarding race, religion or the sexual preference of others, even if their view is the same as mine, but intolerant to others. I think unless the service you are providing is geared strictly to the pro/anti view of one of these subjects, your opinion is really here nor there to others. Why would you risk losing potential sales with narrow minded opinions or views? That specific person you are referencing could possibly be the key to your success or financially helpful to you. Unless your opposition of what ever it is your disrespecting, is so strong, that you wouldn't accept financial gain from such a person, you are really just showing your narrow mindedness and doing your self possible financial harm.     

The English language has the largest number of words, more than any other language. I am almost positive, you can find better ways to express your self, so that you are making your point clearly, without coming off as ignorant or disrespectful.

I am not writing this blog because I am judging, I am writing this blog post from personal experience! When I started my editing service over seven years ago, I too was one of the entertainers and stupidly, entertained, for free, my peers with angry rants, judgmental tirades and personal attacks which had nothing to do with my business. I am a very passionate person and unfortunately, it doesn't take a whole lot to get me going. I am writing this to hopefully enlighten some of my peers on how I have grown, in hopes some of you will to.

I am always seeing how people complain the urban literary industry is not taken seriously. How can it be when the ignorance is rampant? If you'd like to be considered a professional, respected as a professional and recognized as a professional, you have to be professional!

I can honestly tell you that this behavior may get you a lot more comments or likes, retweets, and all that good stuff but I assure you it does not get you any respect. At least not from the people who could possibly enhance your career. If you are happy with your place in the industry, or feel like your work is so phenomenal, you don't have to respect anyone, then by all means, carry on. However, giving respect to get respect is not just a saying. I have had countless conversations with leaders in the urban industry about this and everyone of them draws the same conclusion and has the same opinion, it does none of us any good. The most good that comes from social media fuckery is getting some entertainment for free. 

If your still feel as though you can say and act however you want and you could care less what anyone thinks, think of it this way, most of you reading this blog are authors. Most of you are in the business of selling your work. Well, when you're putting on social media shows, you're entertaining for free. If your friends, fans, followers want to be entertained, make them pay for it by buying your book. Don't complain about the lack of comradeship among authors if you are not one of the comrades. 

I am not implying you must like everyone of your industry peers. I have a few myself I don't care for in the least. However, I stay in my place and respect my lane. I refuse to contribute to the negativity myself and so many others in the industry complain about and so should you. 

My blog, my opinion.

   

Need Some Editing Before Editing?

<<<< ------ Need a copy? Amazon has them available now for just $2.99!

In Need of Editing before Editing! 

AUTHORS- WTH???

Just sharing a brief excerpt of an email to me from one of our 21st Street fabulous editors...

"There are a LOT of problems with this manuscript. I am almost done fixing up the grammar and such, but stylistically, with the plot errors and the way the story is laid out, it's going to need some major overhauling on the author's end.... " 

and 

"There was literally almost no sentence punctuation throughout the whole manuscript, few paragraph distinctions made, no quotation marks anywhere to indicate dialogue, and no chapter headings at all...."

and

"....there are major issues that need to be addressed before this goes to print. I don't want to make any of major changes myself because I don't know what the author intends (especially as far as chapter headings and such) and I don't want to put my voice in this author's story...."

This is not the first time I have got an email such as this, nor will it be the last. For the first time recently, I had to TURN DOWN a PAYING customer because the manuscript was so poor- we would have had to re-write almost every single sentence and that is not what we do. 

The editors we have are TERRIFIC- however, it is up to you as authors to research and learn how to write a book if you are serious (and paying for editing indicates to me that this is something you are taking seriously.) 

Research via reading, the library, the internet if FREE. Utilize these free outlets and at least try to develop your writing. We are an EDITING SERVICE, not miracle workers. Research what an editors ACTUAL job description is. Our editors go ABOVE and beyond their job description for 7 out of 10 scripts without complaining (and I GREATLY appreciate them and their dedication and hard work.) 

We will do are very best to polish and assist you in putting out a great story. The better you give us to work with, the better the end result can be. We can also refer you to some great developmental editors if need be. When it gets to the point that there aren't even periods or question marks at the end of a sentence- that's a little ridiculous. If you're in need of an editing service, please check out our site for more information. www.21StreetUrbanEditing.com. I am also always available for questions via email at Niccole@21StreetUrbanEditing.com. 

Come on writers. Respect your chosen craft.

Self Publishing & Professionalism… The two CAN co-exist!

Everyone is saying it. “The market is over saturated with NON-professional self-publishing authors and it gives us all a bad name.” 

Whether that is true or not is for debate but I’d like to share some things I think can help the novice author.

It is important to use social networking for promoting. Whether it elicits even one sale is not as important as the exposure and familiarity you can create regarding your name, brand, title, etc. These are all ways you are going to get that recognition. Of course you want to be yourself; no one wants to be fake or phony. However, there is a time and place for everything and your ‘Author John Doe’ page is not the place for intimidation, disrespect, political or religious views (unless this is what your books are about), etc.  I’m not saying you don’t want your character to shine through. I am saying be mindful that other professionals in your industry may also be viewing these posts. You might say, “I don’t care what anyone thinks of me…” and that may possibly be the way you feel which is fine. But when you are not respected in your industry amongst your peers, it will only hurt you.  All of my blogs are just my opinions unless I state something as a fact and in my opinion; this is just not a good look. I know I personally will not bother reading anyone’s work that has been offensive on social networking and I may be missing out on some great stories but I don’t feel like it is a loss because they are many other great stories out there by people with pleasant positive attitudes who I am honored to support.

Respect those before you. I’ve heard it say several times how this established author or that established author thinks they are all that or they are stuck up and so on and so forth. That may be your opinion and that may actually be the case as well. Here comes my ‘however’… However, you have got to respect their hustle and when you have been in the business and the industry for as long as they have, people may be saying that about you as well. Unfortunately, this is not an easy industry to be successful in and it may harden a few people at times but the hustle, grind and hard work they have put in still deserves respect. You ain’t gotta like ‘em, but you should respect them. (And when you’re in the game as long as they are, see if your attitude isn’t a little different.)

Be leery of who you associate yourself with in the industry.  Don’t make someone show you who they are directly. If they show your neighbor, take heed. Anyone can be anyone they want to be on the internet.  Just because I holler out this or that authors name all the time doesn’t mean that author likes or respects me so don’t be misled by these people who holler every name in the industry on their tweets and FB posts like they are best friends.  Actually ask that person whose name they are hollering about them. You might have a whole different outlook after that. I see it all the time where someone is name-dropping another person’s name just to lend themselves some credibility. Don’t fall for it. Do your research.

Now for my favorite part of the process. Editing, proofreading and typesetting are all soo important to put out a professional product. Of course, I suggest 21^st Street Urban Editing & Publishing (www.21StreetUrbanEditing.com ) *shameless plug* however even if you don’t use us, you have to use someone so here are a few things you need to do when searching out your editor.

The first thing you will want to do is figure out exactly what you are looking for in an editor. Once you do that, you need to contact them and get specific prices and details of the service they are providing. You will also want to check references by not only contacting the references they provide, but also view the work as well. Also ask around, this industry is very small and even people who haven’t directly used the service, may know someone who has. Make sure there is some type of formal training. Just because you can spot a typo in a book, doesn’t make you an editor. It is an extremely difficult, most of the time thankless job that takes a special person to do successfully. Research is very important and should be something you are doing to all of your service providers throughout your publishing endeavor.

You should also ask for a sample edit. I think pretty much any editor will provide you with a short sample edit so that you can get a feel for the process as well as their editing style. You need to know what the process is before it begins so you know what to expect.

Allow your editor time to work your script. If you are giving an editor a short period of time or constantly emailing them to find out how much longer, the work is going to reflect that. It may not necessarily mean they are sloppy or not competent to do the work, but more of them wanting to please the customer so the process may turn out a rushed finished product.  Schedule at least four weeks at a minimum for your books to be in edits but allow up to eight weeks if need be. If you are looking to use a well-established editor, you may not be the only one and she may be booked out for months so schedule ahead of time and don’t rush it for your own sake.

Some manuscripts (especially first time authors) need way more work than others and you need to have that time allotted. DO NOT schedule your book release party before your book is at the printers. Scheduling a release date is great, as long as you have also scheduled that time period for proper edits and typesetting to take place. Nothing is more annoying or a more telling sign of a novice author than someone trying to go to edits three weeks before their scheduled release date. I never like to give an exact release date until I get it the delivery date confirmation from the printer. There is nothing wrong with saying Fall/2011 or Summer/2012. This way, you are not looking like a dumb ass when your date comes and goes and you have no book or worse yet, you have a sloppy, unprofessional book.

I will revisit this again with more suggestions. I look forward to the urban genre getting the respect it deserves and that starts with us.