Monday, December 06, 2010

Monday Mentionables: Getting into the Holiday Spirit

Whew, what a weekend! We had family and friends in town to celebrate an early Christmas AND my (a little early) 40th birthday! Pictures to follow later this week, so make sure you check back.

The Christmas spirit is definitely in the air, though, and not just because we exchanged stockings and gifts here Saturday morning. Lights are strung outside, wreaths are hung, stores are filled with decorations, and carols and TV specials fill the airwaves. Last night we watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" with Hanna (our Norwegian exchange student). I hadn't watched either of them in years, so it was fun to see them again. True classics, that's for sure. We also talked about our favorite Christmas movies of all time. Mine: "It's a Wonderful Life." Hers: "Love, Actually" (I didn't even know it was a Christmas movie, but OK). Hubby's: "A Christmas Story."

What are your favorites?




Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Writers' Wednesday: Buy Yourself a Blog

Heads up, fellow writers: here's an opportunity you might be interested in looking into...

Lynda Coker is holding an auction to transfer ownership of her blog, Between the Lines. This seems to be a pretty well-established blog, with supposedly 800+ followers (though blog comments don't necessarily indicate a high level of involvement). Still, if you're looking to blog or maybe do some new promo and want a built-in audience of this kind, her auction might be worth looking into. She'll post the current bid amount at the top of her blog. Bidding runs through December, and ownership will transfer in February 2011.

It's an interesting concept. Time magazine this week has a feature on the changes from 2000 - 2010, and one of those is that the number of established blogs went from 3 million in 2004 to 130 million in 2010. Do people read them? Absolutely. Do they affect book sales, if we're talking specifically about authors? Hard to tell. I do think readers enjoy getting to know the authors they love in a blog sort of format. But does a blog exponentially increase sales? I'm reserved on that one. Other types of promo do more, I think. Regardless, blogs are a FREE way to interact with readers, so the chance to "buy" one that's already established is definitely an interesting concept to consder.

Good luck bidding!