Better blogging

I'm back!

My month in California really was *awesome* - but it is actually very nice to be back. It's nice not to be a tourist. It's nice to see A again, and all my friends ... and to be in London at this gorgeous time of year, with a nice autumnal damp in the air and all the leaves falling. It all generally feels like a new school year albeit starting a bit late.

Along with my new start is a resolution to post more on my blog, and post more about writing. Julie Cohen has a fantastic writing blog which is very inspiring. (She also has a new book out today which promises to be fab - go read it!)

I am beginning to realise that writing the book(s) is only half the responsibility of the published author. The other half is all about getting yourself out there: blogging, tweeting, making friends and connections, telling people about your book ... basically, self-promotion. This is not optional. Well, maybe JK Rowling can get away without doing it, but for us mere mortals it is essential, if you're going to help your publisher sell your book. When I consider it in the abstract, it fills me with dread and I just want to get under the covers and hide. The first time I went on Twitter, I thought it was just like being at a party where you can't think of anything to say and everyone else knows each other. But now I feel more confident and even sometimes enjoy it - though I definitely don't feel as if I've cracked it yet.

But when I think back to this time last year - when I was a totally unpublished author and never thought I'd get a book deal - I realise: it's a nice problem to have.

Anyway. That's one of my resolutions: the other one is to give my blog a makeove - a blogover, if you will. I would love suggestions from anyone who is dropping by - whether you're related to me, or a general lurker. How can I spruce my blog up? Should I desert Blogger and go for wordpress or something? More pictures? Fewer? Better links? Be brutal. And thanks for reading ...