The Kari AnnAlysis

Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category

I love my blog, I really do. It’s like my little own piece of venting paradise. I can write whatever I want, whenever I want. So what is my problem? I am not being a good blogger.

My blog was born on MySpace, then grew on to Blogger, then to Wordpress, then I got my own little domain. I started the blog because I fell in love with Jane Eyre. I wanted to scream it to the world and let everyone know how I felt, not that they would care. My blog became a book blog naturally, because I love and know books and love to talk about them. And what a better place to do it than on the Internet? I can talk/write and if you don’t want to hear it or read it, you can click away and not hurt my feelings by rolling your eyes at me or blatantly ignoring my chatting.

I have been blogging for, geesh, three years now I think. I have had a lot of phases and trends, which is a constant in my life. I have been on meme kicks including Wordless Wednesday, Teaser Tuesday, In My Mailbox aka On My Bookshelf, etc. etc. etc. And I have been all over the place with posting book reviews from on time and often, to few and far between. There are times, like now, when I have a list of posts I need to work on, but they are just sitting there, gathering dust and losing steam.

I don’t want to say I am in slump, because I have the content, I just need to get it out there. So it’s a slump of sorts, I guess.

So what am I babbling on about today? I need to be a better blogger. If I want people to stop by and read, I need to give them a reason to do so. I need to be a stickler about getting my content on here and I need to be diligent about posting topics people will want to read about.

Yes, I have been busy lately, with work and life in general, but I need to quit making excuses.

I am asking for a little help from you, my readers, while I am working on getting back on top of my blogging game. I am asking you to be patient with me. I need to not only fine tune what I know and what I am good at, I also need to find out what I want my blog to say about me. A lot has changed in my life since I have started blogging. I am moving up the ladder at work, gaining more responsibilities daily, I am married, and even though I know I am in no way old, I am not getting any youner. I need to decide where I want my blog to go from here. I want to keep it based on books, but I want it to be more.

I have a few ideas up my sleeve on how to make this happen, but please stick with me as I am figuring it out.

I also want some advice. How do you keep up with your blogging game? As you grow as a person and blogger, how do you move forward and make changes to fit your personality and your life without making a complete overhaul? Do you have a blogging schedule? Do you do posts daily? Or take a day and knock out a whole week’s worth?

I am going to be positive here and hope on lots of responses and give you all a pre-Thank You for your help!

Since I have started this blog, I’ve become so much more than a reader. My passion for books has grown immensely but so has my passion for writing. And through both of my passions, I have met tons of new friends. One of those friends, Dana Kaye at Kaye Publicity has been sending me great books for a couple of years now.

And now, she has also introduced me to a whole new world and a bunch of new friends. It’s called Book Country. At first when Dana told me about this site, I was swamped with work, just getting back from vacation and not really sure if I wanted to join another online community. But once I finally got to sit down, sign up and check it out, I’m hooked!

Like with any other online family, you sign up and tell everyone a little about yourself. Since this is a bookish website, you get to share your favorite authors, books and what kind of reading and writing you like. Right up my alley!

So, I’m sure you’re asking “What is so great about this site? What makes it different?” I have heard of a few online resources to help with writing and actually signed up for one to help me with my query, but this one is completely different from any I have seen.

Some of the things you can do on this site is “Read and Review”. Under this tab, you can search genres and find books that authors have uploaded to read and review.

You can “Write”, which is why we are all here in the first place right? You can upload your book, or what you have done of it and people can read and help you with it. That’s the thing I am looking forward to the most. I have been done with my book for a few months now, but still have not let anyone lay eyes on it. It makes me nervous. I am afraid of what people I know will say about it. For some reason, I don’t care what strangers say, only the people I know. So, I’m getting involved with a whole new community of strangers to help me out.

You can also start discussions and get to know writers who like the same genres that you do.

I am an Internet junkie. I stalk on Facebook all the time and have to get in my daily spins on Bejeweled, I am a Twitaholic, with more than 13,000 tweets under my belt, I have a handful of fashion websites I check on a daily basis, not to mention scouring the real estate websites, waiting for the perfect house to come along. And I’m always up for a good Google search to prove a point. I honestly didn’t feel like I had any more time to give to another site, but even after a few minutes of looking Book Country over, I’m really excited to get uploaded and get going.

I’ve learned, in the short time since I’ve started writing, much like with a child, it takes a village. My husband is my rock and very supportive of my writing. He keeps telling me to keep trying and keep sending out my letters and keep writing. But this business can be cold and lonely and the more buddies you make, the warmer you will be. I have great su[ort from my writing group and am looking for much more on this website!

So, there’s my pitch, now here’s a few words from my pal Dana about the site:

Writing is a solitary practice, but revision requires feedback. Most aspiring authors send their
manuscript to friends and family, others meet with a critique group, and some enroll in an MFA
program.

In April, Penguin Group (USA) launched Book Country, a website dedicated to genre fiction
readers and writers. Focused on romance, fantasy, science fiction, mystery and thriller, Book
Country helps new authors hone their craft as part of a genre fiction community.

Users upload their novels (or a portion of their novels) for peer review. Book Country’s unique
genre map helps writers categorize their novels, and lets readers find books similar to ones they
love, which they then read and provide detailed critiques. Book Country brings the peer feedback
and community feel of a critique group, online.

Another key feature is discoverability. If you’re working on a novel, publishing professionals
won’t see it until you begin sending out query letters. Book Country gives agents and editors a
place to discover new talent; for this reason, many publishing professionals have already signed
up. Book Country also allows avid readers and bloggers to discover budding talent and use their
reading experience to offer helpful feedback.

As the world continues to shift online, Book Country creates a community that was once only
available in metropolitan areas. Now, genre fiction authors all over the world can come together
online to exchange feedback, engage in discussions, and have their work discovered.

Join us at www.BookCountry.com and follow us on Twitter @Book_Country

Alright friends, I hope this has been enough to persuade you to check out this awesome site and tool for writers and readers alike.

Now I want to hear from you. Have you heard of this site? Are you a member? If you’re joining after reading this, please let me know what you find that you love because we are both learning the ropes together!

Ugggghhhhh ladies and gentlemen, for the first time since I have started book blogging, I am in a slump. I cannot find a good book to read and therefore, I don’t have much to blog about.

In the past week, I have started and stopped three, yes 3 books. I haven’t put three books in the graveyard in my entire life, let alone in a week!

I normally feel a responsibility to myself not to quit things and to the author to review their book, but something’s not clicking right now. One of my New Year’s Resolutions this year was to read books that I want to read, but I still feel bad.

So here’s to hoping that my fourth book this week will be a winner, one that I can get into and get finished. If not, well then I may take another week off.

The only thing I have finished in the past week was the LIFE magazine of the upcoming Royal Wedding. Everything else is getting tossed to the nightstand.

Do you get into these slumps? What gets you out of them? A favorite author? Luckily I have a few of those with books on my TBR shelf.

Unfortunately, my NetGalley friends are not going to be happy that all the books I have tossed lately are from their selection. Although there is a a lot going on right now in my life, I think that because I don’t physically have the book, that’s something that is making it much easier to put away.

I know I am rambling, but this is all getting written down before I try to start another book, hopefully one that I can finally finish… befo

I have been so absent lately and I apologize to the authors who have not gotten reviews and to my lovely readers who I know are extremely sad to be missing out on my wit and what not (Ok, I may be going delusional). I hope to get back in the swing of things this weekend, but let me share with you what’s been going on lately.

1. I’m still sending out queries to agents. I’ve sent out 12, gotten 4 nos and have not heard back from 8. I’m feeling better with my tweaks with each one I send.

2. In the time I’ve been waiting on responses from agents, I’ve been working on my second WIP, which is my sequel and I am hoping to be able to finish up my first draft of it this weekend. WHOAH! Two books so far in 2011? That’s what I’m talking about!

3. Some MAJOR work changes! I work at a tv station in West Virginia (WSAZ). The past few months we’ve been going through some crazy awesome renovations. Like they busted out walls and laid new carpet and wallpaper in the newsroom. Well, that was just phase one. We had about a month to enjoy it before phase 2 began. Phase 2 was switching over from editing on tapes to editing on computers. Yes, we were in the stone age and are now in the space age. Monday was our first day and was a little rocky, but now we are getting in the swing of things and I’m loving it. It’s so different and amazing. Obviously by my positive attitude, you can tell that after Monday’s stress, Tuesday was pretty easy, or I would probably still be complaining.

4. I’ve been reading the LONGEST book ever. Although it’s really cute, Holly’s Inbox is so freaking long. I’m on page 470 and still have 100+ to read. Not that that’s really hindering me from writing reviews, but I have been spending a lot of time on it and am just trying to add more numbers.

5. Oh, just thought of this one. I am getting ready to enter the first 7500 words of my book into the WV Writers Conference Competition. I won’t be in town for the conference, but what the hey, I may get a prize anyway right?

So, here’s some things you can expect on the blog in the next week:
Etsy Find Fridays: theme to be determined!
AnnAlysis: Bumped
AnnAlysis: So Many Boys
Websites for Fashionistas

So keep your eye out for these posts and I hope to get back on track soon! xo

So less than a day after I sent in my first query, I got back a rejection response. I have some friends that are in my writing group that have an agent and are published, so I asked them what path I should take. I know I have only received one rejection, but it was enough to get me working harder.

It was suggested that I check out the message boards on Verla Kay’s website. Wow! I have learned so much in just a couple of posts.

There are tons of different boards, depending on what you are looking for. I went to the queries/critique board. My first post was asking about credentials. I wanted to hear other opinions on if my being a journalist counted as a credential, especially since my main character is a budding journalist herself. They all agreed it did.

So then I went for my second post. This was the one I was nervous about. I put up my summary of my book and asked for critique. I got five responses in just a day. So, I used what they told me, reworked my summary and sent out a batch of queries.

What I am going to do now is ask them to critique my new summary. If I get all rejections from the queries I sent out, I’ll be ready to send out the next ones, with hopefully a better summary to attach.

Have any of you tried this site? Let me know if you do and it helps you as much as it helped me!