Kicking and Screaming into the Future

· by · in Marketing and Publication, Writing. ·

facebookFacebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Nook, Vook, Kindle. Help I’m dying. I’m about to go on one of Amazon’s special programs to sell my e-books. My learning curve is straight up. I’m just trying to understand all the ins and outs of Facebook, to say nothing of Twitter. I don’t know the first thing about Twitter. I know these things are the future and I’m trying, Twitterbut… My son and daughter do these things instinctively, but it takes me a long time to master even the simple commands. Come on world, give me a break. I’m 75. I first saw TV when I was in grade eight. I started to become a writer on this thing called a typewriter. I communicated with other writers by meeting them at a class. Slow down, typewriterWorld, I’m trying to catch up.

All right. Rant over. On my facebook page, if I want to tell the world that I shopped for bananas yesterday, I click in the box that….

 

Images Courtesy of:

  • thepoliticalcarnival.net
  • simplyzesty.com

21 responses to “Kicking and Screaming into the Future”

  3. The trouble with Facebook (if it is a trouble) is that … who cares if you shopped for bananas, or are stuck in traffic (unless yo’re warning other drivers). It has it’s uses, but I’m beginning to think the mundaneness of most postings is a waste of both the reader’s and the poster’s time. A lot of my “friends” there are heavily into politics, particularly US politics, and I tend to ignore their postings. I enjoy keeping up with the writers there (and how do I find you, Ed?), and my relatives, but for the rest *shrugs*

    • Thanks for your comments, Dave. How do you find me on facebook? Other than typing in my name…Wait I could ‘friend’ you.. I just tried. Can’t find you. There’s a Dave Bennett in Ladner that has lots of tattoos. That’s not you. You could ‘friend’ me. Ahh, for the good old days, when I could email you.
      Ed
      http://edgriffin.net/

  4. I hear you Ed, and I’m only 58! By the way you look marvellous dahlink! That said, I’m persevering because I understand I need to build a platform prior to publication. Seth Godin says even as much as 3 years in advance. So, we’ll keep beating this new path together…keeps us young, yes?

    • Right you are, Karen. The platform. I just read Bob Mayer’s book, The Shelfless Book. He says don’t start promoting until you’ve written 3 books. I’m on #s 6 and 7, so I get to promote. Yes, we have to build the platform. I know we have to, but I’d rather be writing to be honest.
      Ed
      http://edgriffin.net/

  5. Ed, I’m running (well more like a fast shuffle) right behind you. I’m not on Facebook or Twitter. I’m still figuring out the computer.

  6. Alas, I hear you too, Ed. Sometime in the next few weeks, I’m going to put my toe in the water by learning how to format short stories into e-stories for sale on Smashwords or Amazon. I figure that might give me confidence to tackle putting the novel into digital form later on – start small, is my motto.
    Re twitter, its worth depends entirely on whom you follow. If you have a few other writers you’re following and they’re followng you, then you can retweet one another’s’ promos and help one another along; I think that’s good. I like twitter – but I only follow writers or people allied in some way to the industry.

    • Good tip, Danielle, about Twitter. I’ll try. I’ve been lucky to have a daughter who translates my books into digital formats, mobi and ebook. And also lucky to have a colleague who helps me along with social media.
      Ed
      http://edgriffin.net/

  7. I’m getting fed up with all the new technology. Record players replaced by 8 tracks, the cassettes, the cds, now ipods, i phones, i clouds! Can I use the exclamation mark? We need PIN numbers, passwords, electronic cards. With Facebook, twitter,etc, we are exposing ourselves to the world, then we’re fearing for our privacy.

    • MsKaty, Twitter’s good if you follow worthwhile people. It’s also good if you’re trying to sell an ebook or story. You can tweet about it and give people the link to your site – and if you make a point of retweeting other writers’ tweets when they’re trying to sell their work, then it’s pretty likely they’ll do the same for you when you’re trying to sell yours. Twitter can be a very supportive community if you choose your followers wisely and keep the numbers down.
      Good luck,
      Danielle

      • Thanks, Danielle. It might be worthwhile me trying to get a bit of a tutorial on it. Quite a few of my friends just love it… I’m so clueless and I’m useless at being concise! 😉

        Thanks for the tips. 🙂

      • Trust me, MsKatykins, No one could be more of a Luddite than me. You don’t need a tutorial, I was surprised at how easy it was. (Of course, there was a period where I found I was sending tweets to myself, but that passed 🙂

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