SusanWiggs | blogs Archives

May 31, 2009 | 3 Comments

Fun with blog stats! Here are a few of the search terms that have brought eyeballs to my blog. I’ve arranged them in poetry form for you. If I was able to figure out the link, I added that, too. Enjoy!

poems to tell people you hate them

turkey-baster baby

the field of freaky flowers

I stepped on a slug barefoot, what can happen

why ball-point pens use blue ink?

best place on earth

sleeping with phone in hand

defination of photography from authors

how to write christmas on a cake

dog with floppy ears

mrs. carla my first sex teacher

Sexy fiction woman

what do ear wigg do to you

Whatever happened to peacock blue ink?

why use clairefontaine

MAKING A FACE ON A CAKE

madeleine stowe

the day you were born

vanity plates suzanne

Ribsy quizzes

I want to meet and marry a pilot

empress of the north blog

cake face

spotted dick

parachute pants

what dose the snowglobe stand for

jealousy like ink in milk quote alice monroe

funny bird cartoons, poop

a naked man swimming

how to 300dpi

michelangelo appropriation

love photography

picture of parachute pants

scanoe

mysterious things

poems to tell people you hate them

"love photography"

turkey-baster baby

the field of freaky flowers

I stepped on a slug barefoot, what can happen

why ball-point pens use blue ink?

best place on earth

sleeping with phone in hand

mrs. carla my first sex teacher

defination of photography from authors

how to write christmas on a cake

dog with floppy ears

Sexy fiction woman

what do ear wigg do to you

Whatever happened to peacock blue ink?

why use clairefontaine

MAKING A FACE ON A CAKE

madeleine stowe

the day you were born

vanity plates suzanne

Ribsy quizzes

I want to meet and marry a pilot

empress of the north blog

cake face

spotted dick

parachute pants

what dose the snowglobe stand for

jealousy like ink in milk quote alice munro

funny bird cartoons, poop

a naked man swimming

how to 300dpi

michelangelo appropriation

love photography

scanoe

mysterious things

the business side of writing

March 28, 2009 | 1 Comment

Deborah Bouziden: When did you acquire an agent and why? Do you think agents are important to a beginning writer’s career? Why or why not?

SW: I worked with a couple of agents before I was published, but they didn’t work out. Within a few months of selling my first book, I attended a local conference where I met a couple of agents and went with Richard Curtis based on his personality, client list and genre know-how. I later moved on to Robert Gottlieb at the William Morris Agency, and we parted ways when he left the agency to found his own firm. Then, at last, I found my “terminal” agent in Meg Ruley. I’d always thought we’d be a good match, but never approached her to represent me. Why? Bad advice from people giving me “friendly” pointers. Eventually I stopped listening to outside advice and paid attention to my gut. The gut was right. Meg and I are friends and a great team, and she’s done amazing things for my career.

Meg holds a meeting.

In most types of commercial publishing, an agent is mandatory. Every week there are requests and things for the agent to handle. I can’t imagine juggling everything on my own.

DB: What should romance writers know about marketing and the publishing business today? What are some marketing tips for them? (One or two, if you can think of any.)

SW: Create a vibrant, user-friendly web site with a companion blog, and keep it fresh. Readers are surfers these days. Give them something great to look at on the Web.

Also, be kind to everyone you meet in the business, from the casual reader who drops by a booksigning to a book chain’s vp of marketing. The first time I met Nora Roberts, she had just published her first single title novel (Hot Ice) and was at a booksigning in Houston where nobody came. She and I talked that day, and I’ll never forget how genuine and kind she was to an emerging writer. Debbie Macomber is another great example. She is one of the most beloved authors around because she’s genuinely kind, and very generous with advice and encouragement. Writers like that are my role models.

DB: How has the Internet changed the way you work? (Research? Staying in touch with editors? Readers? Marketing? Etc.)

SW: It’s a classic blessing and a curse. Everything is literally at your fingertips, meaning you can instantly find out how an emergency ejection takes place in a fighter jet. That’s a blessing. It’s a curse because everybody can find you and they’re all so great! I am easily distracted, and the Internet messes with my focus. It’s easy to get sucked down into a time sink when you’re searching or surfing.

However, it makes doing business very fast and easy. No more churning out printed pages. I just e-mail everything.

Question for everybody–how do you stay focused when the World Wide Web is just a click away?

Google Reader

January 30, 2009 | 6 Comments

old-school "post"

Back when I was a teacher, I instituted “Helper Fridays: Saving Your Sanity One Tip at a Time” on a small chalkboard by the door in my classroom. Students would come up with an organizational tip and post it. “Posting,” back in the day, meant writing it in chalk on slate. Yes, I’m that old.

Today’s Helper Friday tip: If you follow more than one or two blogs, this is the best way to organize them. Sign up for Google Reader (you’ll need to sign in with your Google account; if you don’t have a Google -gmail- account, you have to register for free but it’s only the one time) and tell it which blogs you like. Once you do that, you’ll find all your blogs listed in one place. Type Google Reader into the address bar, et voila. It lists all your favorite blogs and you can sample the ones you like. You know what? I just did a lousy job explaining this. Do yourself a favor and read Elizabeth’s post about Google Reader. She’ll walk you through it.

One of my favorites? Shrinking Violet Promotions, a blog for introverted authors looking to promote their books. And lookee there. Today’s guest blogger is moi! Blathering on about you-know-what. Happy surfing!

I’ve been typealized.

December 07, 2008 | 5 Comments

I’ve always wanted to go into analysis but who has time? So I had my blog analyzed instead. It uses the Myers-Briggs matrix. The result is hilarious to me because every quadrant is exactly opposite what I get when I take the test (I’m an INTP). Type in your blog’s URL here and see why “type” you are. Here are my results:

The analysis indicates that the author of http://www.susanwiggs.com is of the type:

ESFJ – The Socializers

The social and opinionated type. They are especially attuned to the feelings of themselves and others. They tend to be very aware of the values of their peer-group and tend to see things as either right or wrong, good or bad. They tend to be traditional and value their friends and family the most.

The Socializers are down-to-earth, practical people and very keen on making sure everyone is alright. This quality makes them enjoy social work places. Since they enjoy beeing and keeping things neat and tidy, they often also enjoy working in such environments.

(This is followed by a scary diagram of a brain with a big bulge in the “feeling” quadrant. DUH.)