Welcome to Mona Karel

Please give a warm welcome to our Friday Friend, Mona Karel, and also a huge thank you, as she has stepped in at the very last moment to be with us today, in place of the scheduled blogger who did not deliver! Very many thanks, Mona.



Facebook and Twitter and Blogs, Oh My!
Way back when I first put pen to paper---or at least zipped a sheet of paper into the typewriter and applied fingers to keys---the main duty of a writer was, well, to write. Once you wrote, then you rewrote, you polished, you edited, then you submitted. You were accepted or rejected. Either way, you continued the process: Write, Rewrite, Edit, Submit. Your book came out, you signed a few copies at local book stores, and you went back to the process.

We now have such a brave new world. Instant communication with everyone, everywhere, all the time. For some people it’s right up their alley. For others (moi!) it’s being lost in London without a map. You think you’re speaking the language but you’re just not quite communicating.

At least that’s how I feel sometimes. And I bet I’m not alone. I fully embrace the concept of the electronic publishing world, and my Kindle is the first thing to be packed for any trip. E-publishing and small independent presses have meant life for off beat characters in stories written by clever writers who could never quite fit their square pegs into the round holes of traditional publishing.

Even in those not so long ago days of traditional publishing, unless one was of the elite in the publishing world, marketing fell upon the shoulders of the writer more than the publishing house if sales were ever going to go beyond the bare minimum. Now it’s expected, even required, that authors actively participate in book promotion.

All well and good and not impossible. For some it seems extremely possible, as they talk about throwing together a website and setting up a blog as casually as I once talked about braising pork country ribs then slow cooking in apple cider and adding cranberry salsa while cooking up brown rice in chicken broth. While others were keeping up with the digital world, I was concocting recipes. Which might have something to do with my shape, but I digress.

I admit to feeling intimidated by all the little icons at the bottom of a blog, encouraging people to F, to B, to G, thumbs up, Tweet, Twitter, let it all hang out and I have NO clue what some of them actually mean. I have finally decided I don’t need to stress over this any more.

After writing for too many decades to admit, I read the magic words from a publisher: "If you would like us to publish your book ..." My story of the immortal enforcer who is not a chest beating alpha hero, and the woman he’s been sent to punish found a home where they are appreciated. Mykhael and Kendra will make their debut in the world via the tender care of Black Opal Books
(http://blackopalbooks.com/wordpress/index.php/about/) in May. And I’m doing most what I do best to let the world know - writing about the experience and sending my words out to the world to read. I’ve created a blog for my writing persona at: http://monicastoner.org/ Come visit and share your experiences of your experiences in this whirlwind world of communication.

Thank you so much, Mona.  Like you, I'm still on the steep learning curve about modern communication!  We wish you every success with your book, and with your promotion and marketing!