My Elevator Pitch

Thanks to my involvement with the StoryDam community, I am knee-deep involved with the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenge. In fact, I am leading the community through it!

Today marks day one of the program which means we are talking about my elevator pitch. If you want to know all about elevator pitches and how you should think about creating one of your own, then I highly recommend that you read my post Writing An Elevator Pitch for Your Blog on StoryDam.com. If, however, you are only interested in how I am developing my own elevator pitch for Rivera Runs Through It, then I invite you to read on.

My Passion

I have had many passions over the course of this lifetime of mine, but the one that begs for expression on this blog is my passion for stories.

My Audience

Over the course of the last couple of years I believe that the people who have begun to gather around Rivera Runs Through It are also entranced with stories. However, they can be more specifically be divided into two, not necessarily mutually exclusive, groups - readers and writers.

What I Do Here

After a lot of waffling around here on Rivera Runs Through It, I have settled upon a rhythm of writing and reviewing that I do like. I hope you like it as well, because after thinking long and hard about it, I have settled upon an elevator pitch that I am going to use to describe what Rivera Runs Through It is all about.

Rivera Runs Through It's Elevator Pitch

Rivera Runs Through It is a blog where I enjoy and explore stories from creation to consumption through reviews, reading and writing.  

What Am I Missing?

As you are a reader of Rivera Runs Through It, I invite you to tell me what you think. Am I missing something? Does Rivera Runs Through It represent something other than what this pitch proclaims? Let me know in the comments section below. One of the things I love about blogs is there power to always be updated. If I make a mistake on my elevator pitch on Monday, I can rewrite it and update it on Tuesday leaving no evidence behind of my infraction!

Do you have an elevator pitch for your blog?

Have you ever gone through the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenge before?

What types of things do you expect to read when you come to Rivera Runs Through It?

Blogworld New York Early Bird Pricing Ends Tomorrow!

It goes without saying that I learned an incredible amount from last year's Blogworld event here in New York City. As the date of the event creeps ever nearer I dance with the question of what I can truly afford one year later. The first question is, can I even afford to go to Blogworld this year? However, as the first question enters my mind, a second quickly challenges, can I afford not to?

As an attendee last year, I was a sponge sucking up whatever knowledge I could from every panel I could get into. I was having a virtual identity crisis as I had just started this blog and wasn't entirely sure I was walking away from another. When I was asked questions like "What kind of blogger are you?" I was honestly stymied, not knowing which passion I wished to pursue or what Rivera Runs Through It was meant to be.


Things are different now. I could go to Blogworld not only to learn, but also to network. In fact, my brand new (FREE) business cards arrived from VistaPrint today. Is this a sign? Shall I go into the red, start skipping breakfast or grow my hair out again just to jump in the waters again?

As far as I see it, I have 24 hours to decide. The early bird pricing ends tomorrow.

I figured I would share this news with you too, just in case you wanted to take advantage of this great deal. According to the Blogworld people you can Save up to $400 off your BlogWorld registration with Early Bird pricing! Early Bird pricing ends on 3/22/12!

Here's a small sampling of what I learned from last year's event:

• 3 Quickie Lessons from My First Day at Blogworld Expo New York 2011 
• 3 More Lessons from BlogWorld Expo NY 
• Blogging With An Authentic Voice 
• The Birds and Bees of Your Blog Life 
• Your Book Proposal from a Publisher's Perspective

And when I unearth my notebook from the event, I'm sure there are even more posts that can be written and shared.

Here are the various passes available for this year's event:

Important Dates and Pass Prices:

Pass Type	Thru Mar 22	Thru May 15	After May 15
3-Day Blogger and Podcaster Pass	$197	$297	$397
Social Media Business Summit	$697	$897	$1,097
Expo Pass	$47	$57	$77
Virtual Ticket	$197	$247	$297
Virtual Ticket Add-On (add to 3 Day or SMBS passes only)	$47	$47	$97

Check out who is speaking at Blog World Expo in June!

So is it worth the money? Absolutely. Now if I can just FIND that money!

How do you make the decision of how much you will invest in your own education - is it based on how much you have, how much you'll learn, a balance of the two, or something else entirely?

Have you ever attended a blogging conference? What lessons did you learn?

Comments, ConCrit and Conversations

Hi! (That's me!)

I blog.
You read.
Together, we meet through these words.

Hello.

Sometimes we stretch beyond the bounds of the post. You may be one of the few I know without this screen between us. Chances are, however, that you are not. For most of you, it is through these words and these words alone that we know each other.

That can be a lot, if we use our words wisely.

I love that you are here. I appreciate that you are reading, but I so desperately want to hear (read) from you too! In fact, that's why I started blogging in the first place.

I was trapped in this house. I was sick and found one tiny window to the world through my keyboard and this screen. I found you here. And you found me.

I was looking for conversations. I have rejoiced over comments. Now that I am focusing on my writing, I crave concrit. YOU hold the keys to these three Cs in your hands, but rather than hope that you read my mind, understand my wishes and somehow decide to partake in this dialogue without invitation, I have decided to take the time to say let's chat!

Comments

If you are a fellow blogger I don't have to tell you how precious your comments are. I will be honest and say, in the last month or more I have held back on commenting myself based on a comment I read "out there" that made me feel just a bit self-conscious. I'm over it. I had a great chat last night on twitter during #blogchat that reminded me why (1) I love commenting on other people's blogs and (2) how happy that makes my fellow bloggers. I'm back, baby!

If you are not a blogger, but you are a reader of blogs, please know that YOU ARE INVITED TO CONTRIBUTE. If you are worried about privacy issues, then sign in as a "guest" or just e-mail me (blogwithnv@gmail.com). Your comments, thoughts, ideas and questions are important too. Spelling doesn't count! There are no points off for messed up grammar! And everyone is entitled to their opinion - even if it is different than mine!!

ConCrit

I have only been doing this whole thing for about a year now. I crave constructive criticism. I can take it, I promise you (remember, I was a high school mathematics teacher for 12 years!). I am constantly striving to improve my blogging and, especially my writing. In fact when it comes to my writing, there are at least two things I know I need help with that I am SURE you can help me with:

1. My crazy type-Os Everyone makes type-Os every now and again, but in my case they happen just a little bit more frequently. You see, mixed in with the normal human-error stuff there's the fact that my "e" key is wonky. You may have already noticed missing "e"s in some of my writings! I try to catch them all, but I'm sure some slip by. Let me know! Drop it in a comment, I don't care if everyone sees it. 
2. Punctuation pointers I have already admitted this in my comments in the past - I am not a friend of the semicolon. That's not all. I am fairly certain I abuse the hyphen. I'm not sure. If you see something, say something! (Now I feel like we are on the subway or in an airport terminal!)

There's so much more embedded in constructive criticism - length of posts, layout, content - if you have something to say that I can learn from (and, in turn, so can all of the readers here), then please share. I will be eternally grateful!

Conversations & Community

Finally, I think this last part will grow naturally, but I will leave nothing unsaid here today - please comment to each other! Part of the reason I switch over to the DISQUS platform for commenting was because it allowed for interaction between my readers in a way that the Blogger commenting system did not. You can reply directly to another's comment. You can give that person a "thumbs up" letting them know you LIKE their comment.

Have fun. Get to know each other. There are some pretty cool people here and I feel like I'm the only one that knows about them!

This whole post reminds me of my classroom. Almost everyone's shy until the teacher creates community. I have to say, if nothing else, I think I was pretty good at that each semester. The question is - Can I expand my skills to the virtual world?

Only time will tell. And, just like in the classroom, at this point, it is out of my hands and in yours. All I can do is make you feel comfortable while you're here.

So I'm here.
And so are you.
I'm glad you came.
How do you feel about it?

Blogging Beginnings Like a Pro

For many, new year resolutions come in January. For others, Spring often marks a time of renewal. However, for me, it has always been the Fall. After so many years as a teacher, September, not January, has been redefined in my mind as the beginning of the year, so when I found out that the SITSGirls were getting together to work on Darren Rowse's First Week of Blogging book starting next week, I knew it was a match made in heaven!

The group class will be running from August 29th through September 9th, 

[UPDATE: The class start date has been changed to September 6th instead of August 29th!] 

giving us a little more than a week to appropriately share, discuss and reflect upon what's going on in each task. The program/book is one I am really excited to be working through, even though this isn't my first week with my blog. I jumped in feet first into blogging, my first week had little to no structure, I can't find any reason why I shouldn't begin again in my Fall time of renewal! Darren Rowse, or ProBlogger, as he is known on the Internet, has the amazing ability to break down the big ideas of blogging into manageable tasks to work through. I found this to be the case while working through his 31 Days to Build a Better Blog program, and can see, just with a quick perusal of this new book that the format seems to be similar.

Each of the seven "days" of this new book has a number of tasks/exercises to work through. To give you an idea of the major topics the seven "days" are as follows:

1. Set solid foundations
2. Publish and build presence
3. Concentrate on content
4. Understand the blog as a product
5. Put yourself out there
6. Define and demonstrate quality
7. Strategize for success

"Blah, blah, blah," you're thinking. These may be obvious goals to have in blogging. However, it is not in the labeling of each of these days that gains this program my support, it is in the design of the tasks I am asked to do on each of these days. I am confident that the tasks and exercises structured within the program will ensure that each of these goals will be met, not just understood as important.

I hope to share them all with you as I work through the class with the SITSGirls, but I wonder, why not work alongside you? IT will be loads of fun!

Here are some links that may be helpful in convincing you:

• The sign-up at the SITGirls site for next week's program
• How Darren Rowse Forever Changed My Life in 10 Days
• Where Do I Get My Degree In Blogging?

Follow the group's conversations on twitter by following the hashtag #SITSClass. My twitter handle is @riverand, feel free to follow me there, or to follow the Rivera Runs Through It FB fan page!

Let Brenna Tell you Almost All The Truth

Sometimes when you read someone else's blog you are left saying, "Now there's someone who gets it." Such is the case for me when I read the blog of this week's Stumble Buddy, Brenna at Almost All The Truth.

If you just started following my writing since I've started the Rivera Runs Through It blog, then you may not be aware of my obsession with living a greener lifestyle, becoming a more conscious consumer, or, most notably, my obsession with good, natural foods.Brenna's blog, Almost All the Truth speaks to each one of these topics and more spreading an amazing amount of important information for all of us to stay attuned to every single day.

Most times when I write about a Stumble Buddy I say "You'll thank me," for this introduction once you start readng, while this remains to be true in the case of Almost All the Truth, it also goes one step further: I'll thank you for taking the time to think about those things that are truly important in our world. Brenna's got a lot to share with you: sje's going to make you think, she's going to make you question and, if we are all lucky, she'll get us to change for the better!

Here's a quick tour of Brenna's blog to give you a taste of what kinds of truth she has to offer: 

• Is electricity natural?
• Reduce waste through thoughtfulness 
• Top Ten Ways to Reduce Breast Cancer Risk
• Wordful Wednesday: vision, glasses and children
• Getting greens with organic and fresh green smoothies

 That's just a bit of a teaser for you. There is so, so much more. Please take some time this week to check out Almost All the Truth and truly think about the words she offers us. 

***

This post was written as ta part of my continuing series on My Stumble Buddies. To be a part of our StumbleUpon party to read and stumble week by week, come visit the Kludgy Mom community in Blog Frog!

Other Stumble Buddy Posts:

• Are You Reading Read Aloud Dad?
• Get a Clue With Kludgy Mom
• The Perfect Formula for Learning at Old School with The Damsel   
• Find Out What You Should Know from the I Though I Knew Mama Blog 
• Shape Up AND Have Fun With The Budget Diet
• Ask Alison Golden About Her Secret Life as a Warrior Woman 

**Don't forget Rivera Runs Through It has a FaceBook Fan page waiting for YOU to LIKE it!!**

My Reddit Mistake

This past week, for the first time ever, I was called a spammer (cue dramatic music).

This made me sad, but it happened on Reddit, the social news website, which I had minimal experience with, so I instantly knew it was all my fault. Although I had no intentions of ever spamming anyone and I thought what I was doing was basic blogger practice, it was clear that I had made a mistake. This led to one big question:

What did I do wrong?

The short answer to this question is "Everything!!" but I can slim it down to two biggie mistakes that led me down this path. Here they are:

Mistake #1:
I Used Reddit As A Submitter Before A Reader 

Most of my social media use has started since I starting blogging, not before. I had never even heard of Reddit before I started blogging, and I didn't start using it until, one day it showed up in my traffic stats. Back in March 2011, I wrote a blog post about a non-profit grant opportunity here on Rivera Runs Through It. I was hoping to share the post with IHRF (the foundation for my rare disease) and other people who have IIH. Well, someone submitted it to Reddit. It remains, until this day, as the most popular post on this blog. I needed to know what Reddit was, so I followed the link in my traffic stats to find out.

The link took me to a page that asked me to sign up and asked me if I wanted to submit anything. I saw the power of this tool and I decided to save up only my best posts for this guy (to be honest with you, the speed with which that first post rocketed, scared the heck out of me!). A couple of times I went into the Reddit site directly to try to use it, but, with my inexperience, it overwhelmed me. 

Mistake #2:
I Used Reddit Just Like it Was StumbleUpon

All social media sites are not created equal. I know this. I swear I do... but the submission process felt  so similar! Those of you not new to Rivera Runs Through It, you know that I am a StumbleUpon gal - I know it, I love it, I use it regularly (maybe too regularly!), so, when I submitted my first link to Reddit, the process felt very similar and something I was quite comfortable with. Here is the StumbleUpon process:

1. When deciding I want SU to know I like something I found on the web, I click my thumbs up "I like it!" button
2. If no one else has ever done so (happens to me quite often), then I am asked to write a REVIEW for the site if I would like to, so other "stumblers" can see why they might like it.
3. I go on with the rest of my life. 

When I submitted a link to Reddit, I was asked first about the title and what part of Reddit I would like to submit it to, and then I was asked to write a comment if I would like to. I mistakenly interpreted this "comment" request to be the same as the "review" request and would often write it as a teaser or a "selling point" so people could see why they might want to read this post! Had I not made mistake #1 (above), this would have never ever happened.

 What have I learned?

You must know that the teacher's soul inside of me was, in fact, quite excited that I made a mistake, because without it I would not have been able to actually, finally learn about Reddit! I have decided in just the one weekend of playing since "the incident" that Reddit Rocks!!

Reddit is a community! The "comments" that I misinterpreted as reviews are actually (brace yourself people...) comments in order to engage in a discussion about the link with other "redditors." I love this! There is a main page of Reddit that has the top leading links from all of reddit, but there are also separate sections of Reddit for just plain old "funny" links or "food" links or "world news", or, honestly, almost anything you can imagine (I even found a MATH group of redditors!!!).

I am concerned I have created a whole new addiction for myself (the iPhone app has already been downloaded), but I think I have also found a fun new way to find out what's going on on the Internet. I think you should check it out to (if you haven't already), but you should do so in the right order! Go in and USE Reddit; become a redditor, join the conversations, begin some conversations and just have some fun! I highly recommend it.

Have you used Reddit before? 

Are you already a Redditor?

Have you ever misused a social media/media sharing site before?

Reddit alien image credits:
Reddit help
BloggingExperiment.com
~Lord-scarab
Reddit submission by danwin

What IF...?

A long, long time ago when I was but a wee girl in high school, an English teacher of mine said, "You know, ladies and gentlemen, 'IF' is the word in the middle of life," and then he walked over to the chalkboard and wrote the following:

L-IF-E

I loved it. I continue to love it. Did the creators of the English language embed this little gem for us when they first decided to spell the word life? I doubted it, but there it was, that little preposition that has so many of us pondering throughout our entire existence.

As of late (probably because I have been storing up all kinds of creative juices by not being in the classroom for a whole year) I have been getting inundated by a lot of "What if...?" scenarios in my head. While they continue to build and crowd up my head, it has come to my attention that these are perfect writing opportunities!

I will post my first What If Quandary (with my response) next Tuesday. I think it would be great if you came on by and joined in, gave your own response or shared a link to your own blog where you responded!

In the meantime, in preparation for all of this out-of-the-box thinking, what are your big "What IF" questions?

If you have a What IF? question you would like to submit as a possible future prompt, please do so in the Rivera Runs Through It Community What If discussion.

Blogging with an Authentic Voice

A bit more "authentic" than necessary this morning. (nice hair)

When blogging, it sometimes feels as though you lose a piece of yourself as you send your words out into the Internet for the world to see. Most bloggers are interested in more than merely sharing their thoughts on a topic; most are looking for engagement. To facilitate this aspect of technological communication, blogging experts typically dispense with a singular bit of advice:

When you blog, do so with an authentic voice.

I doubt there are many bloggers that set out to do otherwise, but sometimes, under the pressures to provide continual content, efforts to find ways to monetize, bring more traffic and blog promotion, it is possible that an authentic voice can get pushed aside.

In May, when I went to Blog World Expo New York, I went to a panel by Jodi Beck of MomTalk and WomensForum.com fame entitled "Why an Authentic Voice Rings True." She spoke a lot about how she started (back in 1996!) and built up to such an enormous venture, but the most valuable part of the panel, for me, was her break-down of what an authentic voice is and is not.

An Authentic Voice IS

• YOU in print. As basic as that sounds, I agree with this. Does your printed word reflect YOU? While you do need to keep your readers in mind as you write, and those for whom you are an affiliate, these two aspects should not have you being insincere to yourself. Select your affiliate programs carefully - do you truly enjoy this product? Will you be able able to sell it sincerely? There are plenty of programs out there, simply find the ones that work for you.
• Honest, transparent first person. If you are going to sell, let your readers know. If you have an opinion about a topic, share it. You will not make all of your readers happy all of the time, but that is normal, that is human. Wouldn't it be nice if your readers remembered, even for one post, that there was an honest-to-goodness human being behind all of your beautifully designed digital masterpieces? However, from a creative writing standpoint, I am not sure one actually has to write in first person to have an authentic voice, but I do believe the perspective should be yours.
• Emotionally connected. I agree with this point if, for no other reason, that it too brings in the human aspect of blogging. This does not mean that every post needs to be some emotionally charged work that leaves your readers requiring a monthly supply of Kleenex tissues just to get through your feed. This simply means, in my opinion, that blogging does not have to be objective reporting one would find in a newspaper that's interested in "Just the facts, Ma'am!" (Unless, of course, your blog is serving as a news source and your portfolio for a future in journalism!).

An Authentic Voice IS NOT

• Preachy. This can be difficult if you feel strongly about a topic. In fact, a reader of Grist actually wrote into an advice column about the issue after a difficult situation in real life. There is some good advice in the response that I think can be transferred to blog writing in Umbra on talking about environmentalism without being preachy.
• Arrogant. Here's another one to be careful with bloggers! Did you start writing your blog because you are an expert in your field? Do you feel that you know more than the average man/woman on the topic at hand? Do you have a litany of references that can be furbished upon request and awards and accolades to prove just how much of an expert you are?! Well, that is just AWESOME! That is why we, your readers, come to your blog in the first place. Find a way to incorporate all of that into your "About Me" page. There is absolutely no need to be arrogant in your posts once we have arrived. We don't need to be reminded of how amazing you are all of the time, we simply need you to share a bit of your awesomeness with us - if you do that, we'll be back and we'll tell our friends about you, too!
• Perfection Oriented. Machines are perfection oriented. Humans have this cute little thing called "human error." Everyone knows about it, statisticians even account for it in their big studies about really important stuff. If you try to pretend that you are above error, that makes you a tiny bit less human to your readers and less relate-able.
• Manufactured. This speaks mainly to the blogs that expand and become joint ventures, or posting with an enormous frequency. If you have gotten to this point, it is important remember how you did so - even if you bring on guest posters, or start to collaborate with other bloggers, there is no reason for you to ever shift your voice and sound "manufactured." This can create a quick and slippery slope - why would readers stay? In short, Jodi Peck's point here was, the authentic voice of a blog is important no matter what level of blogging your are at. (And she could speak to that point a heck of a lot better than I can!

Remember: 

It is YOUR VOICE, more than anything else, that sets you apart from the crowd and makes you truly unique.

How do you maintain your authentic voice when writing?

Other Blogging Lessons I've Learned

• The Birds and Bees of Your Blog Life
• 3 More Lessons From Blog World 
• 3 Lessons from My First Day at Blog World NY 
• Your Book Proposal from a Publisher's Perspective
• How Darren Rowse Has Forever Changed My Life in 10 Days 
• Where Do I Get My Degree In Blogging?

Check out Blogworld in LA in November (click below for up to 30% off if you register by 9/21)!

Ask Alison Golden About Her Secret Life as a Warrior Woman

At the beginning of this summer, I was catching up on my blog reading and my Stumble Buddies when I was struck silent by a post by Alison Golden. It was timely, it was relevant and it was one of those reads that you simply knew you had to share once reading - the post was 4 Heartstopping Myths On Drowning Every Responsible Parent Should Know. I read it, shared it and could not stop talking about it. Although I had been reading Alison's bog for a little while before this, it was with this post that I recognized the Warrior Woman Alison truly was!

 
I look forward to Alison's posts as I know I will be exposed to humor, inspiration and possibly even learn something new! This blog is written in such an authentic voice, you can't help but feel like you are getting to know Alison, the person, more and more as you read her blog. I invite you to do so and join me in reading Alison Golden The Secret Life of a Warrior Woman, and just to get you started here are some of my favorite posts:

• What A Male Escort Taught Me About Going All the Way...
  
• 19 Priceless Tips for Introvert Mothers
• 69 Quotations to Inspire Frazzled Mothers
  
• Pole Dancing, Boudoir Photos - What is Happening to Me?
• 11 Reasons Clearing Clutter Can Change Your Life

***

This post was written as ta part of my continuing series on My Stumble Buddies. To be a part of our StumbleUpon party to read and stumble week by week, come visit the Kludgy Mom community in Blog Frog!

Other Stumble Buddy Posts:

• Are You Reading Read Aloud Dad?
• Get a Clue With Kludgy Mom
• The Perfect Formula for Learning at Old School with The Damsel   
• Find Out What You Should Know from the I Though I Knew Mama Blog 
• Shape Up AND Have Fun With The Budget Diet

**Don't forget Rivera Runs Through It now has a FaceBook Fan page waiting for YOU to LIKE it!!**

My June in Review: Books

I realized a couple of days ago that I did not write about any of the books I rad in the entire month of June! I talked them up quite a bit in real life and in other forms of social media, but somehow missed sharing it on Rivera Runs Through It. So, without further adieu, here is th short list of my June reads:

2030: The Real Story of What Happens in America by Albert Brooks

This novel caught my eye with its subtitle of "what really happens in America." Isn't that intriguing to think about - this country in the year 2030 if we keep going the way we are going? I was hooked. However, when I read the brief description of the book and saw that cancer was cured and that led to good news for part of the population, and a nightmare for the rest, then I was sold. I wrote a complete review as a guest post on the Creative Boomer blog, since the Baby Boomer generation plays a pretty prominent role in the story as it is told. For more details about what happens in this book and how I felt about it, check out the post Creative Boomer: Is 2030 the new 1984?

 

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

  

This book was recommended to me by a family member who knows about my attraction to young adult novels. She warned me that this story was different than the others we had both read and discussed in th past, but it was a "must-read." She has never, ever steered me wrong, so I dutifully obeyed.

This book, in a word, was haunting - and this is from an avid Stephen King fan. It was told from the perspective of a girl who was abducted and living in captivity. I didn't realize how on-edge I was throughout the entire book until reading one sentence just broke me down to tears. It was a very good book, but not an easy one for me to read at all. However, it is recommended for reluctant readers. This always baffles me, but my husband (the English teacher) vouches for the fact that many students, in his experience are drawn to these types of stories when they normally show little interest in other offerings!

Invincible #80 by Robert Kirkman

Comic books have been one of the hardest things to get back into since my vision got all screwed up with my crazy disease (Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension) - reading them in print is impossible and downloading them is sometimes no better, but always expensive (especially if my husband is buying the SAME issue in print!). Even so, I've been wanting to get back to comics for awhile now and when my husband sad that DINOSAURUS returned in issue 80 of Invincible, I knew I had to download it!

My husband and I agree, DINOSAURUS should totally run for President. He is a bit extreme with his techniques, but both times he has appeared in Invincible, his ability to take action to clean up the messes we have made for ourselves, is equally admirable and frightening. He is a mysterious character with no origin story (as of yet...), but one the Riveras want t-shirts of!

 

Excuse Me, My Brains Stepped Out by Pandora Poikilos

The last book I read in June was written by a blogging buddy of mine. This novel was special read for me, as the protagonist, Anya, was diagnosed with the same disease as I have (Pseudotumor cerebri is another name for Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension). The book captured much of what one goes through when diagnosed with a rare disease (or any disease, for that matter) and the type of perspective-shift that can come from it.

I was impressed by this book not only for its content, but also for its technique of delivery. In my review on Amazon I likened the book to that of Sandra Cisnero's House on Mango Street, which, if you haven't read it - it s a series of short stories from the perspective of one character that seem completely inconsequential on their own, but taken together, give you a complete vision of the character and her environment. When reading Pandora's book I was, at first, in the same mindset as I shifted from chapter to chapter, thinking, "They don't seem to connect," until, the pieces started to fall together... until the story of Anya came to light. Really cool. Great book, I recommend it!


So that's pretty much it! I did a lot of recovering (June is not going in the record books as one of my healthier months this year), writing, TV watching and some movie going in June, too, so four books (well, three and one issue of a comic) is not too bad. We'll see how July stacks up against this!

Have you read any of these books? What are your thoughts?

What books did you read in June? (I am ALWAYS looking for new reads!!)

Your Book Proposal from A Publisher's Perspective

Many bloggers are on the path from blog to book, so it was no surprise to me that there were publishers at the Blog World Expo to take advantage of this fact. I have no idea where my blogger adventures might take me some day, so I decided to check out the panel entitled "What Publishers Really think About Your Book Proposal" presented by a group of editors from John Wiley.

In short, a successful book proposal should contain the answers to three major questions:

1. Why YOU?
2. Why THIS Book?
3. HOW Is It Going To SELL?

As each of the editors shared their own personal preference for genre (one was a sci-fi editor, one was a historical and foreign-based fiction editor and one was a celebrity editor) and unique skills, there were some clear answers to these three questions that seemed to sell no matter what genre you may be interested in writing. Let's take a look at each one in detail.


Why YOU?

You must understand that as an editor in a publishing company each of these individuals is exposed to countless authors who are just as passionate about their work, who have been working just as hard as you (maybe even harder!), who write just and wonderfully as you, et cetera, et cetera, so you must answer the question: WHY YOU? Here are some of the answers that the editors said that catch their eye:

• You write a lot, possibly even in magazines
• You are an expert on the subject and have evidence of this fact
• You have been making a lot of "noise" in the field
• you have special expertise in language (this came from the editor with interest in the foreign-based genre)
• You are a celebrity (of course, this came from the celebrity editor)

Why THIS Book?

Have you been to the bookstore lately? Have you checked out the "New Releases" section? How about the "Bargain Books" section? Both of these sections have lessons in them - 1. How much competition is out there and, 2. how many of the books that do get published that still end up not being successful. You need to think long and hard about this question: WHY THIS BOOK? Believe it or not, just because you wrote it is not reason enough! Here are some things to consider and/or include in your proposal to let your prospective editor(s) know why your book needs to be published:

• Explain your book in terms of other successful published books
• Do NOT say "This has never been done before," OR, "This book is the first of its kind" - while this may sound like a positive unique experience, it actually sounds like your book has no shelf to be placed on in a bookstore!
• Be on the lookout for the publishing house you are contacting is promoting and explain how your book fits their current market (or go to a publishing house that better fits your book!)
• Read the "acknowledgments" sections of books similar to your own to find good contacts to make the right match

HOW Is It Going To SELL?

You may be embracing your artistic side as was philosophical through the writing of your latest masterpiece, but, in the end, this is a business. If your book can't sell or it doesn't look like you can be much of a help in the selling of it, then your deal is done. Your book proposal must have some evidence of the fact that you have considered sales and the selling of your book and that your plan may have some legs. Here are some things that help (and this is where the web and social media came to the panel):

• You have cultivated an audience, or created some sort of platform for yourself - this can be either through writing in print, or through the Internet
• You have a wide presence on the web
• You use your website as a TOOL FOR COMMUNICATION, not merely as an artifact of your work
• You can show interaction and/or influence with your audience (again, this does not have to be online)
• Do NOT spend time on the Internet as an afterthought - either all in, or all out

What Does It All Look Like?

Maybe you knew more about this stuff than I did before I sat down to this panel, but after all this chat about who I was, what my precious book was all about and what kind of sales person I was going to turn out to be, I was still wondering, "What the heck does the proposal actually look like?" Luckily, I was rescued from my curiosity and I now pass along the favor:

The Proposal

5-7 pages, containing:

• An annotated table of contents for your book, 

• A "Who Am I/Why Me" Statement (one editor said, "Formulate your Elevator Pitch", those of us who have been through the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog know all about elevator pitches!)

• & At least 1-2 sample chapters of the book, or some other equivalent sample of your writing (blogs or articles)

Other Quick Tips

There were so many little tips thrown in here and there for aspiring writers throughout the panel. I know I didn't get them all, but here are just a few that will hopefully help someone out there!

• Agents aren't necessary, but can be very helpful to run "interference" between you (the author) and the publisher (this way you don't always feel so offended when they are just doing their job by "hacking your baby"
• You will probably hate the cover of your book
• For fiction writers, a great place to create a platform is using the website Duotrope.com to get published in short fiction
• For all writers - the more you get published, the more "credits" you get
• **Be careful of blogging it could be a TIME SUCK!** (According to the editors there Blogging hit its peak in 2006-2007)
• Going from an eBook to a print book is difficult. HOWEVER, publishing a different print book with the SUCCESS of an eBook behind you makes the publisher's decision easier - in their eyes you already did the hard work

So what do you think, are you ready to write your proposal now?

Related Reading

• Publishing Myths and Truths for Bloggers from Ginger at Ramble Ramble
  

Other Blog Life Lessons

• The Birds and Bees of Your Blog Life
• 3 More Lessons From Blog World 
• 3 Lessons from My First Day at Blog World NY 
• How Darren Rowse Has Forever Changed My Life in 10 Days 
• Where Do I Get My Degree In Blogging?

The Perfect Formula for Learning at Old School with The Damsel

Do you like to learn things?

Do you like to laugh?

Do you wish you knew the simple ways to get things done like they used to get done - with stuff around the house, cheap to get, or at least with multiple uses?

Well then it is time that you join me in attendance in one of my favorite places on the Internet - Old School - Self Reliance 101, with one of the greatest teachers I know, The Damsel.

I was first introduced to The Damsel back in November when I first joined my StumbleUpon group. The first post I read was about fruit flies. I read the post and understood - I, too, hated fruit flies -  I was amused - Was this woman writing about herself in the third person?? - and I learned - the "Cup of Death" is simple to assemble and implement with the Damsel's clear instructions.

I thought it must be a fluke. A great, simple, short post highlighted among many others that could not have all possibly fit this beautiful formula: relevant, fun and educational - I was so wrong - this IS the Damsel's formula! This is what you will find each and every time you attend The Damsel's class. Now, not all of her posts contain recipes for death traps, but every single one will either teach you something or leave you in deep thought about something. As a teacher, myself, I could ask for nothing more from each of my lessons.

Enough. I am wasting your time. I'm making you late for class! Here are some of the posts on my must-share list:

• Spring Cleaning
• Caramel Popcorn, Lazyman Style
• Nostalgia as a Life Choice
• How to Make Your Own Jet-Dry - sort of
• Walking to School (or Biking)
• How to Wash Windows
• The Last Week of School - Old School Style

I had to stop myself. This list was a lot longer a minute ago, but I want you to go explore the school grounds for yourself. Get on over there! The Damsel is waiting and I'm sure she has something wonderful to share with you today!

***

This post was written as ta part of my continuing series on My Stumble Buddies. To be a part of our StumbleUpon party to read and stumble week by week, come visit the Kludgy Mom community in Blog Frog!

Other Stumble Buddy Posts:

• Are You Reading Read Aloud Dad?
• Get a Clue With Kludgy Mom

 


**Don't forget Rivera Runs Through It now has a brand-spankin' new FaceBook Fan page waiting for YOU to LIKE it!!**

4 Great Ways to Get Your Blog Writing Going

You are sitting in front of your computer. You are ready to write for your blog. You've even managed to carve out a nice space of "me time" to accomplish this task, but then it hits you - what the HECK am I going to write about today? Since you have little time to waste, let me tell you about some of the fabulous resources out there to get you juices flowing.

Share Your Knowledge/Learning 

Do you have a skill, a hobby or something else you can teach your readers? Have you just gone to a class, watched a movie or read a book where you have learned something? Take a post to teach us! Here are some examples of some great teaching posts that I've run across:

• 6 Ways to Start An Art Collection Without Breaking the Bank Using what she knows from being an artist's wife, Ginger teaches us some tricks of the trade so we can all add that glitz and glam to our spaces no matter what our income is!
• 4 Heartstopping Myths On Drowning Every Responsible Parent Should Know When Alison learned about what drowning really looked like, she knew she had something to share. It was an extremely important post and, because of that, it went viral. Do you have some important knowledge that you should be sharing with the world? Don't take it for granted that everyone knows what you do!
• Lemonade Pie Kristl of The Budget Diet blog had a fun, yummy recipe from her childhood that takes only four ingredients and some chill-time. She shared it with her readers who are always interested in fun things to do, make or get for a bargain!
• How to Wash Windows from The Damsel of the Old School - Self Reliance 101 blog. The Damsel is one of my great online teachers, this is just one example of her fun and funny teaching style that leaves you begging for more. ...and this is a post about washing windows. Moral here: inspiration can be anywhere - you just have to be up to the challenge of writing about it!!

Challenge Yourself

Pick a challenge, either for yourself or for your blog and write about it. This can be a lot of fun and an easy path to finding material to write about. Here are some challenges you might want to think about:

• Go Meatless! This past November I found out it was World Vegan month and decided, in honor of that, to go meatless every Monday for the entire month. I documented it on my blog Searching for Sustenance and it gave me an easy day of writing for six weeks of Mondays. I also couldn't help but occasionally refer back to it from time to time, so it continues to be a source of writing inspiration. Here is my wrap up post What I Learned from Meatless Mondays.With this challenge you'll examine ethical eating and your blog will benefit from it as well.
• 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Do I write about this enough on this blog? I love this challenge. I am going through it again right now. If you participate with a community like I am (shout out to the SITS Girls!), then not only does the eBook give you tons of ideas for writing, but so do your fellow participants! You will be improving your blogging skills and you'll have something to write about every day! Here's a fantastic look at one of the most content-heavy days in the challenge From Eileen of the Web Design School blog: Tips and Tutorials for Bloggers Day 6.

• Couch to 5k Program This is a nine week program to go from couch potato to 5K runner. It is a program designed for people who have often thought most exercise, especially running, is a far away dream. Dream no more! MAKE IT HAPPEN and take your readers with you on the journey! You will transform yourself, inspire others and be able to write about the program, your ups, your downs, your runs, your falls - there is SO much to write about here... (I keep dreaming of the day my IIH takes enough of a back seat for me to try this one!)
• 30 Day Challenges In general there are a lot of various types of 30 day challenges out there - fun ones, fit ones, financial ones, a quick search on Google will send you on your way to finding one that fits for you. One post about 30 Day Challenges that caught my eye was 10 Thirty Day Challenges No One Wants to Take.

Causes
Many causes need people to be talking about them. If you have a cause, or an action that is near and dear to your heart, then get writing! You'll feel better about it and you can engage your readers in discussing important issues. Here are some examples of blogs writing with causes in mind:

• Conversations on Giving  This is a segment on the Do Good blog where the act of giving whether through charity, kindness or self is discussed. It is a simple idea that can be written about in so many different ways.
• 365Give This blog fascinates me. It is about giving every single day. It doesn't have to monetary, it doesn't have to be huge, but it is making the commitment to giving at least once every day and then writing about it. Imagine you made this commitment. Imagine you had to write about it. How would this change you? How would it engage your readers?
• One-Shots Stay in the loop with your special causes to find out if there are any special events or petitions floating around that need some publicity. Don't forget that your blog can be your podium when necessary. For example, this week I am trying to get people to let the Girl Scouts know I would like some gluten-free cookies! To that end, I wrote this post: Tell the Girl Scouts How Big the Gluten-Free Market Is! (if you have a minute, you should totally check this post out and sign the enclosed petition!).

For the Art of Writing

• The Red Dress Club Every week these ladies provide two writing prompts. The prompts could be as simple as a word or a picture, or they could even be specific lines to be included in the writing - they change all the time and I check in every week. If you write on one of the prompts, you can return to the site to link up your post to share with the Red Dress community for concrit. It's pretty awesome.
• One is called the Red Writing Hood prompt and can usually be either fiction or nonfiction and is typically limited to be anywhere between 600-700 words. Here are some of my prompt responses: Detour in "Off My Trail", Someone who drives you crazy in "One Lucky Turtle" and Fightin' words in "Someone Stole My F-ing Car" (*warning: this one is angry)
• The other prompt is called RemembeRED and is a memoir prompt and has the same types of length restrictions. Here are some of my prompt responses: Forgiveness in "I Forgive You", A positive from a negative experience in "Wash Away My Normal" and something you are proud of in "My Teaching Appreciation Day" 

• The Writer's Toolbox This is an offline resource that I actually found in the Barnes & Noble bargain section years ago. The box comes with a timer, a number of different tools (sentence sticks, sensory cards and the protagonist game, for example) and  book describing different ways to use them in conjunction with each other to find inspiration.

There's More!


There is definitely at least second post in here about how you can write about what's going on in the news, how you can join blog communities like Blog Frog or SITS Girls or even Twitter parties like #CommentHour to see what other people are writing about and write a reaction post to it and link up. There's still even more, but to be honest, I think I am taking up too much of your time because you really need to get to writing!
 

The Birds and the Bees of Your Blog Life

As I expressed in my first post about the BlogWorld and New Media Expo 2011, the over-arching lesson I learned was that blogging is all about relationships. The first panel I attended, 365 Days to a Household Name led by Srinivas Rao of The Skool of Life blog and BlogCastFM podcast, started this theme right away when he began to analogize all of our Internet interactions with those that we undertake when finding our perfect mate.

I loved this analogy so much because it made clear to me the value of each of the interactions we take. I would like to share this delicate dance with you now so you can be better prepared for the World Wide Web.

THE FLIRT

Flirting is quick, it's easy, it's fun, oftentimes funny, and it can happen any number of times per day with any number of people in a room. All of this can happen without any of it holding that much meaning for anyone involved, however, for all relationships, there is usually some flirting in the beginning even if it is just to get noticed. So in the world of social media, on the path to developing relationships with readers, fellow bloggers, potential employers or potential clients if you want to flirt, then all you have to do it TWEET.

Twitter is the single most casual interaction held in the biggest, hottest party on the Internet. In 140 characters or less you give the twitterverse a little piece of you with every tweet - what you are interested in, what you write about, who you are. There is no commitment involved in Twitter, but when you've earned yourself a "follow," perhaps it is time to make the next move.

THE FIRST DATE

While you are busy blogging away and tossing your tweets out into the world, there are others doing exactly the same thing. Others you could be developing a relationship with. It is time to up your game with those you may think are worthy. As you are catching up on your reading, is there someone who's writing truly speaks to you? Or someone who is in your niche and may be someone you want to work with? Here are a couple of first date possibilities for you to consider:

• Blog Comment ~ If you are a blogger, you know the value of this. Receiving a meaningful comment related to your post can have the same dizzying effect as going on a first date with someone special: Someone connected with you, they liked what you had to say and they cared enough to share back. This is definitely a way to move toward a relationship and for me, personally, has led to guest posting opportunities and a number of web friendships.
• E-mail ~ In terms of the evolution of social media, e-mail is considered Web 1.0, you know - old news - however, sometimes old-fashioned charm is exactly what is called for on a first date. E-mail is not dead and it is very personal. If you want to make a one-on-one connection and you are not interested in doing it publicly, then this may be the move for you. Just keep in mind, for a first e-mail connect you want to keep it short and simple to ensure it is read.

As you continue your dating you can use some stand-out options that Srini shared in his session to deepen your connection. They are all pre-web, so you may want to grab a pen or something, because since they are pre-web they are unique in this digital age: send a letter, hand-written thank you notes, or even send a care package to a special someone who you wish to develop a working relationship with.

SEX?

This is where things get really personal and you are one on one - focusing on each other and (hopefully) nothing else. You may be saying to yourself That never happens in the social media world. Well, if you think about it for a moment, it will probably come to you. You can have this kind of connection with someone in a personal chat/instant message, through Skype, or with a Phone call (doesn't it seem to  always come down to somehow getting those digits?!). Anyone of these avenues is the type of communication that takes place between two people who want to connect and, oftentimes, are already in a social media relationship, or, at least, are on the fast track to having one.

THE RELATIONSHIP

So what are you in for? What are you working toward in this pretty little dance? Simply put: Conversations. In Social Media, on the Internet, and in your Blog Life your relationships are measured by your conversations. This isn't too different from what do in what we refer to as "real life," but it's something we sometimes think is beyond the reach of social media when we're seated behind the anonymity of our screens. It could be. If that's what you want. However, if you are looking for relationships, if you are looking to grow your blog, your business, your brand or simply just to find other like-minded individuals then it is time for you to start the dance - start flirting, dating and making some moves - in short, start having some CONVERSATIONS.

"Amazing things start happening when you start conversing for the sake of conversing." ~Srinivas Rao

Related Reading

• 3 Lessons from My First Day at Blog World NY 
• How Darren Rowse Has Forever Changed My Life in 10 Days 
• Where Do I Get My Degree In Blogging?

Srinivas Rao

• The Skool of Life
•  BlogCastFM

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