The Year of Giving Blog

I was told about this Blog by some friends who went to NYC on a mission trip. It's inspiring and thoughtful, definitely worth reading a few entries. And as a bonus, I think you might discover some interesting people/ideas/thoughts to incorperate into your characters or writing.

http://yearofgiving.org/

About Year of Giving Author...

The Year of Giving started officially on Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 3:30 pm.  The concept is simple.  I will give $10 to a different person every day for a year.  I will write about the people who I intersect with as well as the truly altruistic experience that I am sure to have!

I recently lost my job at a nonprofit organization due to the economic climate so taking on this endeavor may not seem fiscally prudent.  However, I think it is exactly these times that we must focus on helping others. 

I started the Year of Giving on December 15th in memory of my mother who lost her long battle with heart disease on this day in 2006.  She was a true altruist.  She always thought of others before herself. 

My goal is not to change the lives of those with whom I come in contact.  Let’s face it, $10 dollars is not going to change someone’s life in and of itself.  I do believe, however, that the act of giving will hopefully inspire others to pursue the ideals that the French philosopher Auguste Comte envisioned when he coined the term “altruism.”  Whether that comes in the form of someone who reads this blog and wants to embark on their own Year of Giving or someone who uses the $10 to help someone else out, the specific results are less important than the overall good that we can achieve together.

Thanks for taking time to visit the site.  I hope that you find yourself inspired today to do something special for someone.  You would be surprised at how even something as simple as a smile or a thank you can make the difference in someone’s day.  And remember, “happiness [is] only real when shared.”

Blogging (Live Journal takes another hit – see *** below)

How many of you guys are participating in the Write On Con taking place at www.writeoncon.com?

It’s a GREAT event for both beginning and published authors. Last nights’ LIVE panel was very interesting, especially if you’re a blogger. The panel consisted of ELANA ROTH (agent at Johnson Literary, www.johnsonliterary.com), KATHLEEN ORTIZ (Associate Agent with Lowenstein Associates, www.KathleenOrtiz.com), MARTHA MIHALICK (associate editor at Greenwillow Books, http://greenwillowblog.com), PAUL SAMUELSON (Sourcebooks Fire publicist, myteenfire.com).

The topic of the panel was Social Networking - what type of web presence should an author try to attain. You can find the entire transcript of the panel here: http://writeoncon.com/2010/08/live-industry-professional-panel-elana-roth-kathleen-ortiz-martha-mihalick/

REGARDING BLOGGING:

- Don't drive yourself crazy trying to join EVERY. SINGLE. SITE.

- What works and what's effective for each author is going to be different.

- My big thing is for authors to find the medium that works best for their communication style. If you like to use Twitter, great! If you hate it, DON'T USE IT. Use Facebook instead. Or blog. But try to do one thing REALLY WELL.

- I think if you don't have a book (and I don't want too much about your book on your site before it's sold to a publisher) just be yourself. Be interesting. Be professional.

- I like when an author's website gives me a sense of the kind of person she is, what kinds of books she's writing (excerpts are great!)

- Blog about anything you want. I, personally, am not a fan of 'snippets' on blogs. However, I won't judge someone on that.

- Don't put anything on the web that you wouldn't put on a billboard off a highway. A LOT of people will see it

- Don't be inhibited and be yourself, but also keep in mind that ANYONE can read it.

- Online presence SHOWS your dedication, to a certain degree.

- Regular, fresh, interesting content wins out any day of the week.

REGARDING FOLLOWERS/FRIENDS:

- I'd rather have 50 active, engaged followers with high quality content, than 10,000 spammy Twitter followers.

- I'd prefer 100 rabidly fanatic (active) authors to 1,000 lurkers.

- If you have 1,000 followers but NO ONE comments on your blog posts, it shows no one cares.

- When you have (example) 5,000 followers and you FOLLOW 5,000 people, that's a huge tip that you probably don't interact with your followers in an organic matter.

*** REGARDING LIVE JOURNAL:
The Question posed to the panelists: What are some of the mistakes you've seen that we can avoid?

One of the panelists said: Really ugly web design? LiveJournal as a general rule?

In a later comment said: I freakin' hate LJ, guys. You have no control over your content AT ALL. You're at their mercy and it's outdated.

Another panelist agreed with this statement.

I’m seeing this more and more regarding Live Journal, as well as less and less traffic across the board. I’ll admit, I’ve been working on this site, trying to make it look and read easy. Right now I’m just mirroring what I post here, but I may use it for more in the future.

I’ll never abandoned LJ, I think it’s a wonderful, personable way to connect with writers. Not to mention I’ve made lots of great friends on LJ. But I think we all have to be wary about looking into another form of blogging.