Saturday, April 14, 2007

Saturday Ramblings

"We wanted to see how far we could go..."
~from Salem Falls

So we're supposed to get hit with a nor'easter this weekend, Sunday into Monday. And maybe lasting until Tuesday. What?? In mid-April? I know, I know, it isn't unheard of, but still. I've had my fill of snow and sleet and temps that chill you so you never really get warm.

###

Anyone looking for a good read should check out Jodi Picoult's novel Salem Falls. I'm a fan of her writing, though the last couple novels didn't blow me away. But SF is a great modern twist on the Salem Witch Trials...the story of what happens when a group of teenage girls decide to see how much they can get away with in accusing a newcomer to their town of rape. Suspenseful, great character development, and enough twists en route to the end that will keep you guessing!

###

There's a discussion going around on the Samhain Author Loop about Myspace. Many, many authors have pages to promote themselves, I know. They connect with "friends," display their covers, blog about their writing. And many people believe it's the #1 way to promote yourself these days.

I, however, do not have a Myspace page and really never plan to. My reason? All my high school students do, and from the start I believed that it was more a place for the younger crowd to socialize than anything else.

I haven't heard authors say that Myspace necessarily translates to more sales, just a wider base of people who know you. I suppose that's the purpose of promotion, anyway. Still, I can't bring myself to give in. Any site where my students hang out on off hours isn't really a place I want to be. Sort of like the mall arcade, or one of their basements.

But does anyone feel differently? Am I really "missing the opportunity of a lifetime" (one of the Samhain author's claims) if I don't have a Myspace page??

6 comments:

Marianne Arkins said...

I haven't the least desire to get a Myspace page either... and, take a look at the "big" names out there -- they have websites, they have blogs, but they don't have a Myspace page.

I know, I know, I'm not Nora or Jenny or one of the Quills... but still... There's just something about Myspace that turns me off completely.

M. - who is battening the hatches in preparation for the lovely weather heading our way

Judy said...

I have a MySpace page, mostly because all my kids do, but none of us "hang out" there. I check it about once a week or so (if I think about it). And, some friends from college have found me there. I just stick mainly with my blog, though. If I really get to where I need to promote, I might do more, but I don't really plan a lot. I do have some other writer friends who do MySpace as well as blog.

Jessica Y. said...

Hey ALlie! I e-mailed you about my Amazon GC, just wanted to let you know! :)

Moby Dick said...

The only way for myspace to become uncool is for older people to invade it with their blogs, ads, book covers, etc. I think that will be the ultimate revenge.

I stay away from myspace because it is depressing to see how thousands of teenagers lack any kind of human values, morality, or taste. If you read some of the romance stories posted there, it will make your hair curl. I don't think I am a prude, but then again, I have gotten older. Maybe I will start a myspace page just to help ruin it for the teenagers.

Anonymous said...

I experimented with Myspace as a way to promote my work, but it never really amounted to anything. Myspace is much more useful for promoting music.

Anonymous said...

Alot of adults have myspace pages for dating purposes. My friend has one and is trying to get me to do one for my writing but I wasn't impressed when I went skulking around myspace. Liz