Kimberly A. Cook

by Kimberly A. Cook              (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

My web site needs to be updated. The design is old school and it has too much stuff on it. Seems I am purging stuff in all areas of my life these days, getting down to fighting weight. In my quest for a new design I unscientifically compared my favorite author’s web sites for romance fiction.

There is a wide variety of styles. It’s always easiest to compare something you can see than start from scratch. Just like writing. When all the design the possibilities overwhelmed me, I checked out Romance Writers of America’s statistics on what reader’s look for when buying a book. These were 2010 stats, but still good to know.

How do readers decide whether to buy an author’s book? The number four item for online purchase decisions was the author’s web site. Fabulous report, RWA always knows the fiction business. Read here http://www.rwa.org/cs/readership_stats  One needs to be a member to get the latest stats.

Since RWA does the survey every year, I can’t wait for the next results. With things moving so fast in the publishing biz these days, six months is eons. But it reinforces the importance of not only having, but liking your author website.

My web site went online in 1997. I’ve changed it over the years from writing code to now having a wordpress.com blog I want to incorporate into my site. I need easy and quick. In order to incorporate my blog, I had to switch to a Unix platform; that is about as much as I know about it or even want to discuss computer tech.

So this past weekend I copied all my code and content in preparation for this next project. I’ve got my new web site themes narrowed down to a few, so all I have to figure out is what is going back on the site and what is cut. Somehow it always comes back to editing. There will be some glitches along the way too, I’m sure.

Since I have both non-fiction writing books and fiction romantic suspense books in development, a single web site gets complicated. Nora Roberts uses two names and two web sites, but I don’t quite have her income, so one web site for me.

In the end I want an easy, fun, entertaining and classy site. Like Audrey Hepburn. Figure this will only take about 10 years to accomplish.  Stay tuned…..

by Kimberly A. Cook        (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

In the grand attempt to balance our lives and writing, it seems writing falls to the back burner quite easily. Is this because we don’t give it a high priority or are we all doing too much?

Carving time from our busy lives when day jobs, volunteer work, kids, pets, in-laws, parents, spouses, friends and telemarketers want a piece of us, creates tension. Not a good kind. It’s like my yearly mantra with my friend Carol, “Next year we’re going to get organized.” Twenty-five years later we’re still not organized, but we’re ever hopeful.

One must block time to get organized and stay organized. There goes writing down the slippery slope again until we get organized. And then last week I decided to lower my tv cable bundle bill and switch to a new cell phone company. NOBODY has enough time for what that requires. I can buy a car faster than switch cell phone carriers, by a good hour with minutes to spare.

Let’s say we actually get our book or article written, edited and ready to go. I publish using Print-On-Demand. So even when we survive the indie publishing swamps and make it to the other side, then the other combat boot drops.

When a new writer looks at all the marketing today’s authors need to do to promote our wares, a sane writer goes back into her cave and doesn’t come out. Ever. Social media can be a blessing, curse and huge time suck. (I spent two hours on Saturday merrily picking photos for Pinterest, so trust me on this.)

Do I do too much? Yes. It’s the bright shiny thing problem for us right brains. Squirrel! Am I trying to change? Yes. Will I get organized and have a calm life? One can hope. A buddy at my volunteer job thinks I am the most organized person he knows. Egad. The rest of you are in big trouble.

Writing I enjoy. For me editing is like getting my teeth cleaned and a mammogram at the same time. So what gets me editing? Bribes. I resorted to a pinky swear promise with a co-worker at the day job last Thursday. I swore to actually do more editing on the second edition of my non-fiction book titled Writing War Stories. So when late Saturday night rolled around and I’d done everything but that, including rearranging my patio furniture and rose garden, I bribed myself.

Sunday morning I drove 30 miles to the Huckleberry Festival in Welches, Oregon. Bought my gallon of picked huckleberries and a cookbook, ate huckleberry pancakes and drove back home. Then I edited for three hours. Yes! Sometimes all the goal setting, planning, want, drive, organizing and passion just doesn’t do it. Whatever it takes, find your bribe and get ‘er written.

by Kimberly A. Cook      (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

It’s fabulous news. For the first time, Generation Y (born between 1979 and 1989) have surpassed us Baby Boomers in buying books. The news release last week from Bowker and Publishers Weekly means great news for writers on three fronts.

First, the age group the Librarian of Congress was concerned had the lowest reading rates has stepped up their game. Two, the Baby Boomers, us pig in the python oldies, are still out there with massive future book buying power and we can compete with the young whippersnappers. Last and best – we have more reading customers! Let me just be mercenary about that last part and enjoy it.

The press release listed a couple of reasons for the change, but three stood out; the shift to ebooks, the ease of buying ebooks and the loss of the Borders bookstore chain which pushed people toward ebooks. Is it just me or did I almost swoon with ebook envy?

Though completely unsupported by scientific fact, I’m also going to throw out the possibility this pesky recession also chased more than a few of us to good old-fashioned cheaper entertainment like grabbing a good read. With ebooks also going from free to $9.99 in the most popular price range, it’s also a bargain.

Now before everyone gets crazy from some of the comments I saw online, let’s look at the numbers. Advice from my first semester of statistics comes back to me – you can say anything with numbers. The study says even with Baby Boomers as the biggest population group and spending the most on books in the past, 30 percent, we dropped to 25 percent. The Gen Y buyers stormed up to 30 percent from 24 percent last year.

This does not surprise me. While we Boomers are trying to retire, buy our long-term health care insurance and support college graduate kids who can’t find jobs, we’re slowing down a little on book buying. Ya think?

But just you wait. Treacherous old age Boomers will outwit youth and wi-fi debit cards. As for the small percentage drop in women buying books; while caring for aging parents, growing our own vegetables, babysitting grand kids and trying to make money, we are a tad bit BUSY right now.

However, we will be back. Boomer women buy. We did the 1980s the first time around – we know real sparkle, truly big hair and valley girl competitive mall shopping. We are not done. As soon as we get those retired husbands on an activity schedule, the grand kids atrocious spelling cleaned up from texting and our own businesses built to make enough money to support us to age 115, we’ll be right back.

There is no downside to this news. But keep in mind, there are more of us Baby Boomers (born 1946 to 1964). We might have lost one year of our book buying edge, but we can win this title back, I know we can. Let’s show these kids we survived without seat belts, bike helmets, cell phones or i anything. It’s a Baby Boomer Book Buying Throw Down. It is on!

Read the entire news release here http://tinyurl.com/c9jshmu )