The Undiscovered Country

Lost, Says I. Lost in the Internet I am.

Yodaspeak aside, when I first started my website and my other blog, I knew a lot of time was required, both to make it attractive to readers, and keep them returning for more.

My first blog I started here in 2005. At first I signed up to post my work for critique, and about six months later started my blog. I didn't expect any readers at first, but once I did I was hooked. I learned that in order to keep and gain more readers, I needed to visit theirs.

About a year later, I needed to cut down on my time spent there. I realized I was spending more time on my computer than with my husband or when I should have been working (one of the downfalls of an internet connection at a place of business).

It was easier to cut back than I expected, and I managed to cut down my time from two to three hours a day to about three to four hours a week.

I'm near falling into the same trap -- under the guise of marketing. There is so much available online to expose my name and my book, it's overwhelming. First there's the reading other people's blogs, and other exposure sites such as twitter, facebook and myspace.

How does one keep all that updated and keep in touch with friends without other parts of my life suffering?

Good thing I love my sleep, otherwise I'd set that aside.

My little 13-month-old boy keeps me grounded. He's at the intensely curious age where I can't ignore him for any length of time (even if I wanted to, which I don't. A child grows up so fast, I don't want to lose a minute of it).

I don't manage my time well, but I do make sure I spend no more than one hour online a day.

At home that is. At work, I admit to stealing time away from doing actual work. Stealing it is, too, because they don't pay me to play on the internet. I'm a bad girl.

If you don't see me around, you'll know it's because I'm meeting my obligations, something I should be doing anyway. Marketing can wait until my given hour at night, or during weekends while Thomas is napping or playing with Daddy.

Come this Thursday I'll try to write one entry a day to let you know how the conference is going. I'm looking forward to it, but at the same time it'll be a long four days. I've never left my son for more than five hours at a time, so not being with him for so long is going to be rough.

I almost forgot! Wednesday, February 18th, fellow author Voxxylady and I will be participating in a Q&A session about self-publishing beginning at 2pm CST in the Bookspa group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thebookspa/). If you're not a member, you might consider signing up. It's a group dedicated to reading, writing, and discussing books of all genres except erotica.