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...

This last month was a reminder that publishing is not for the faint of heart, the faint of spirit, or anyone who had trouble selling her assigned box of Girl Scout cookies. photo credit: pam's pics- via photopin cc Now…ahem…a few years later, I have once again donned the sash, it would seem—only this one says “Author”—and I find myself knocking on the digital doors of esteemed strangers, begging them to lavish their nonexistent spare time and goodwill upon an untested product, without even the promise of a sugar high in return. And so began, this past month, the cringe-worthy task of begging for blurbs . Here are a few things I’ve learned in the process. 1. Aim high. How high? High enough to draw attention and bring you an audience (you’ll want a blurb worthy of your personal anguish in asking for it), but just below the mega-stars’ “no blurb” policies. Yet it can be a trick identifying authors in that sweet spot. Amazon rankings may offer some clue—in general, a ra...