Change is progress? Love it. Hate it. Have to deal with it. by Kaye Spencer

One would think enough time had passed that the electronic v. printed-on-paper debate wouldn't be quite the issue it was a few years ago but, alas, I encountered this very debate just a few days ago. *sigh*

So, for what it's worth, this is my perspective, and it's mostly a commentary about dealing with change.

There are two main reasons people read: 1) to be entertained and 2) to research/learn about a topic. For me, the medium by which I am entertained or by which I gain knowledge does not change my reading experience whether I'm reading via electronic print or paper print. I will couch that comment with conceding that if I need the map or illustration in a particular book, I will choose paper-print over electronic. Yes, the 'feel', the 'smell', and being able to physically turn the pages/touch the pages of a paper-printed book is part of the reading experience for a good share of the reading public, but I believe a time will come when kids no longer have those experiences. While it's sad to me, it's also part of the technologically progressive era in which we live.

I have a plethora of paper-print books and electronic-print books. Each has its benefits and drawbacks. I don't prefer one over the other because each medium meets my reading needs in its own way. The medium by which the printed word is conveyed is simply in is current stage of evolution, which is really the crux of the debate: the evolution of technology. Evolution means change. Change means letting go of familiarity. Letting go of familiarity means leaving your comfort zone. People are "creatures of habit", as the saying goes, and we find it difficult to let go of the things we're comfortable with in order to embrace the latest technology. Every generation since time began has faced this.

I remember this type of phone in my grandparents' houses when I was a kid, which means it was cutting edge technology to my mom, who, now at 82 years old, has seen a lot of telephone technology, and she has mastered the latest: an iPhone 6. *grin* It's all a matter of acceptance.



I'm a prime example of someone who doesn't deal willingly with technological changes. My introduction to the age of computers was on an Apple IIe then I upgraded to an Apple IIGs, albeit grudgingly.

Image courtesy: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apple_IIGS_Woz.png

I skipped the Mac stage and went straight to PC. That's when I fell madly in love with Word Perfect. Then the unthinkable happened. Microsoft Office took over the word processing world. I fought the Word, but the Word won. So, under duress, I accepted Microsoft Word 2003. Then the evil Word 2007 stepped onto the street. I strapped on my guns, donned my poncho and flat-topped cowboy hat, clamped my teeth down on a stubby cigar, and assumed the squinty-eyed Man with No Name stance. I faced Word 2007 at high noon with both guns blazing, and I ran that bad boy out of town. But to my great chagrin, his younger (and faster-on-the-draw) brother, Word 2010, rode into town, and... Bang, bang, he shot me down. I lost that gunfight, but I made a miraculous recovery, and I will move on to the next update with a new computer in a few months.

We tend to fear, and initially reject, what we don't understand. I will admit that while I have embraced electronic print books wholeheartedly, I have a small collection of 100+ year-old paper-printed books that I cherish. I will hand these down through generations of my family with the hope these books are a reminder of how far technology has evolved.

Until next time,


Kaye

Fall in love...faster, harder, deeper with Kaye Spencer romances

http://www.kayespencer.com/

Why Care About SEO

The creepy crawlers are coming. They've been up in your junk already. I write of the spiders and crawlers, those creeping tools the search engines use to catalog your web content. They make decisions we never see, which is why SEO is critical.

What is SEO?
It's an acronym for Search Engine Optimization. If you write paranormal romance, you probably want your site listed as high as possible when a potential reader googles "paranormal romance." But if you haven't signaled to the search engines that you write in that genre by mentioning the keywords on your site frequently, then good luck. Here are a few simple tricks to optimize your web presence.

SEO is Simple
Labels and tags can do the trick somewhat, but the actual content of your posts and web copy must include clues to help the engines. You don't want to make your writing sound fake or awkward, but mentioning a keyword three times in three paragraphs can improve your chances of being discovered. Using the keywords in a heading also helps.

Keep It Fresh
If you don't blog but have a website, change the copy on the site at least once a month, more if you can stand it. Incorporate your blog with your website or start an Updates/News section. Search engines look for changes when they send the crawlers out to find content. If your site hasn't changed in a while, your place in searches drops and the crawlers come back less frequently. It actually makes sense because there are a gazillion sites on the web that are abandoned or irrelevant. Don't become one by default.

Search for SEO Examples
If you want to drive traffic to sell your erotic steampunk high-concept novel, google the keywords first and see what the competition is doing. You can learn from others about what works in searches.


Find an Expert
Or ebook. Or website on SEO. Tons of info is available for free. This post is a tiny push to get you started and myself started, too. I'm learning as I go, and advice helps. Good luck making your site SEO friendly.

Jennifer Fulford
@jmfwriter
www.livingonink.com

Reading, Comfort Zones, and Technology

A couple of weeks ago, I came across a discussion on a writer's group about whether or not the medium by which we read affects the reading experience itself. The comments revolved around the on-going, and dare I say, boring, debate of electronic print books not being "real" books vs. paper print books being the "only books"; the nostalgic aroma of paper print books vs. aroma-free e-books; the warm, fuzzy feeling of holding a "real" book in your hands vs. the hard, cold, impersonal feel of an electronic reader... It was the same old, same old. So I asked myself why I read, and I came up with two reasons: 1) to be entertained and 2) to research/learn about a topic. So for me, the medium by which I am entertained or gain knowledge does not change my reading experience whether I'm reading via electronic print or paper print.

Why does the debate over paper-print vs. electronic-print have to be an either/or ultimatum? I have a plethora of paper-print books and electronic-print books. Each has its benefits and drawbacks. I don't prefer one over the other because each medium meets my reading needs in its own way. The medium by which the printed word is conveyed is simply in is current stage of evolution, which is really the crux of the debate: the evolution of technology. Evolution means change. Change means letting go of familiarity. Letting go of familiarity means leaving your comfort zone. People are "creatures of habit", as the saying goes, and we find it difficult to let go of the things we're comfortable with in order to embrace the latest technology. Every generation since time began has faced this.

I'm a prime example of someone who doesn't deal willingly with technological changes. My introduction to the age of computers was on an Apple IIe then I upgraded to an Apple IIGs, albeit grudgingly. I skipped the Mac stage and went straight to PC. That's when I fell madly in love with Word Perfect. Then the unthinkable happened. Microsoft Office took over the word processing world. I fought the Word, but the Word won. So, under duress, I accepted Microsoft Word 2003.

Then the evil Word 2007 stepped onto the street.

I strapped on my guns, donned my poncho and flat-topped cowboy hat, clamped my teeth down on a stubby cigar, and assumed the squinty-eyed Man with No Name stance. I faced Word 2007 at high noon with both guns blazing, and I ran that bad boy out of town. But to my great chagrin, his younger (and faster-on-the-draw) brother, Word 2010, rode into town, and... Bang, bang, he shot me down. I lost that gunfight, but I'm making a slow recovery as I learn how to work with Word 2010.
So, what's my point? Every generation fears, and initially rejects, what it isn't comfortable with technologically. E-books and e-readers are simply the latest evolutionary development in the area of information- and entertainment-providing media. I will admit that while I have embraced electronic print books wholeheartedly, it hurts me to acknowledge the inevitability that someday paper-print books will go the way of the dinosaur. Selfishly, I hope I don't see that in my lifetime.
Until next time...Fall in love...faster, harder, deeper with Kaye Spencer romances

http://www.kayespencer.com/