The Power of Association

About eight months ago I was (and still am) a member of two writing groups here in my town. That was it. I barely knew how to use a computer or surf the internet. Sending email was about it for me. Then my son-in-law sent me an email telling me, because I like to write, I should look at this website--Webook. So I did and I joined it. I was overwhelmed at first. But I gradually began to understand it and play with it. It's now a part of my daily routine. I wanted to be a part of a group, so I hunted around and found someone--Lilysea--who had her first chapter of a novel posted for review, so I reviewed it and sent her the info. She asked me to be her friend, so I accepted. I saw that she had a blog. I had no idea what a blog was, but I took a look at it--Peter's Crossing. I somehow discovered some other blogs by writers. I was gaining information I didn't even know I was looking for. Then it dawned on me that I could write a blog. But how do you do it? I checked out a book from the library, "Publishing a Blog with Blogger." It told me what to do, so I gave it a try. I was amazed. It was so easy, a child could do it. So I started my blog around October 2010. And I've been blogging ever since. I notified my email list of my blog, and Lilysee welcomed me to the world of blogging.

I came across another website--AgentQueryConnect--and I recognized some of the members as members of Webook, so I decided to join. What a powerful experience that has been. It opened a whole new world of writing and publishing to me. I soon discovered the world of self-publishing. And if you've read some of my earlier posts, you know I've gone back and forth about it. Then I discovered Amazon.com and that you can publish books for free, so I began investigating it.

I also made a new friend through AQC--Tanya Reimer--who became a follower of my blog. So I learned what following was and signed up to follow her blog. Now that I knew what following was, I signed on to follow Lilysea's blog, and some others.

In the meantime, I was learning about Facebook. I had heard of it. My children were all on Facebook, but from what I had seen of it, it held no interest for me. But the more I read about it being part of the self-publishing world, the world of cyberspace, and that many writers were on Facebook, I decided to join. I did so not very long ago, maybe a month ago. In trying to figure out how it works, I've discovered that I actually like it. I've made a number of friends and reaquainted with some old ones. I've created a Page for my writings. Oh, and I've made friends with Lilysea on Facebook.

Through AgentQueryConnect I learned about San Francisco Writers University, liked it, and joined. It had a free course on Setting Up Your Storefront in Cyberspace, which was all about what I was learning to do. I've followed some of its advice--I'm taking baby steps--including joining LinkedIn, which I did today. Who did I meet in LinkedIn but Lilysea and I also saw that one of my daughters is on Linkedin.
Hey, I'm still a baby in cyberspace, but I'm worlds ahead of where I used to be. And all thanks to my son-in-law. Thanks Kent.