When I received my Liberal Arts Degree in English Literature many years ago, someone told me that if I wished I could use that degree and be a teacher. Perish the thought! Teachers needed patience. Teachers needed to be precise. Teachers needed to be so many things I was not. Or, so I thought. And, maybe that was true at the time. Since then, I've discovered that somewhere along the line I actually did become a teacher, without even trying. No, I don't stand in front of a physical classroom of children or adults. Instead, I teach in the virtual world. I don't hire out for online classes, but I teach nonetheless. Not only that, on any given day, my classroom can be huge. My audience covers this area & more! I've been writing and networking for some time now, and happened to have picked up some pointers along the way, as well as an audience. It seems almost every time I blog, I find myself sharing a tidbit I've learned, in the hopes someone might fin...

After decades of work focusing on my craft as a writer, the time has arrived to project a new image as author. This past month has been all about image. Kathryn Craft My son, Jackson Williams, an amateur photographer with a good eye, great camera, and even greater patience, took a couple hundred photos of me over a two-day period, from which I selected photos for a variety of uses. The mug shots I had been using, that my husband quickly snapped around my house? Gone. Fresh photos with natural lighting have now taken their place, including a few fun shots like the one in the signature block, below. To the right is the head shot that will serve as my official author photo on my novel. With that behind me, I devoted the rest of January to designing my author website and starting a new blog. I had used Go Daddy’s Website Builder software to create my editing site at  Writing-partner.com , so decided to go the same route for my new author site at KathrynCraft.com . I favor cl...

The definition of social media is evolving. The Wikipedia version is constantly under discussion and is dynamic, changing as fast as the various components of social media change. To get to the bare bones, however, we can say that social medial consists of internet-based applications accessible to a variety of content producers and a wide audience of consumers/readers. You, as producer or consumer, can participate in social media and social networking in a variety of ways (blogger, Wikipedia contributor, photo sharing exhibitor, podcast producer, internet forum contributor/reader, corporate marketer, and so on). Finding resource materials on the use of social media seems easy when you take a look at booklists. I’ve consulted: Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day by Dave Evans (Wiley Publishing, Indianapolis, Indiana, 2008) Blogging for Dummies by Susannah Gardner and Shane Birley (Wiley Publishing, Indianapolis, Indiana, 2008) The Twitter Book by Tim O’Reilly and Sarah Mil...

Have you noticed how many bloggers have lists of links to other blogs? Often, the links are labeled "favorites." Ever wonder why they are favorites? On my blog, many are in the list because they provide great advice and tips to authors. Some, like Velda Brotherton offer great tips on the process of writing and tips to improve writing such as this one on including the senses in your scenes. Teagan Oliver offers other views on writing. Recently she took us on a tour of the hero's journey. LJ Sellers , who is a tallented writer and editor, offers tips on both writing and editing. In this linked example, she shares some simple edits that make for stronger, clearer storytelling. Over at BlogBookTours , Dani Greer works hard to help us create and maintain effective blogs and to use those blogs to market our books. Helen Ginger provides all sorts of tips from writing to marketing. She often hosts guest bloggers with expertise in specific areas. Some sites are a mixed bag. Pauli...