Kim Smith's Blog

So, November brought hurricane Nicole. We only got her as a tropical storm and didn’t vacate our home this time. I wasn’t too worried but oh my! The wind did blow! I am currently still reading the same two books but making very little headway. Instead, I am working diligently on a new book. Yay me! How is your November going?

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Well, by now everyone knows that the storm has passed. It was definitely one for the record books. I am still shaking over it, to be honest. Hurricane Ian taught me many lessons, the first of which, do not discount friendships for the sake of propriety. A dear writing buddy of mine, www.nlwestaway.com invited us to shelter with them, and she and her hubby took the best care of us! And I wasn’t going to even ask them, because well, friends- propriety. You should not do that in the face of a storm like Hurricane Ian. I suffered a little

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and what haven’t I read yet? So, when I say I am behind on my reading, you just do not know. I have so many books! And I thought how fun it would be to list all the ones I have yet to read/finish, and for YOU to tell me if you have read any of them and what you think about them. Here’s the list of what’s on my Kindle: Successful Self-Publishing, Joanna Penn Business for Authors, Joanna Penn Romance Your Brand, Zoe York Romancing the Beat, Gwen Hayes The Witching Well, Sarra Cannon The Singularian, Sandy Butchers The

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like the seasons… nothing stays the same. Fall feeels like changes. Do you long for the change in weather- from the long hot summer to the coolness of fall? Well, me too. Unfortunately, in Florida, there isn’t a whole lot of that. But that doesn’t mean that I won’t have some changes in the digital space for you! I am going to be making a LOT of changes and they are huge ones, folks. What is Kim up to now? I am going to change up my whole brand. I will be giving you more info as time goes on

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and why do we do it? Social media marketing is nothing new. Authors have been using it for years. I personally have been marketing my work on social media since the early 2000s because it was the only thing we could do and feel successful. Trad pub was still king at that time and SM was still very new. Today, by the same token, it has become so popular and to be honest, overused, that most folks don’t like to even talk about social media marketing. Marketers ruin it for all of us, so says Gary V and I honestly

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The Little Theater is the latest book in the Mt. Moriah series. If you want to know more go to the Amazon site here is the link The Little Theater (Mt. Moriah Series Book 4) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TTNQVFY/...

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Just a quick update. My contact with the second agent has not taken place yet, I’m still waiting. But I’m still hopeful that this will be a positive interaction once it comes. I just wanted to remind you all that if you have not gone to Writer Groupie, to the podcast or to the YouTube channel, why don’t you do that today? I have so much information listed under the podcasts and in the YouTube channel videos that you might really find interesting especially if you’re a writer. The address for that is writergroupie.net and you will find all the connections there to the videos at YouTube and to the podcast. The podcast actually resides on that site so if you’re a podcast listener you’ll find those there. As to what I’m doing now, I am currently still writing The Overlook, and I am currently editing my young adult fantasy that is in the hands of the agent. It’s a long journey from first draft to publication, you guys, so if you’re in the trenches with me just know you’re not alone, and that we’re gonna make it it’s just gonna take some time. In my personal life I am still working every day, five days a week (although it’s only 5-hour days it is a job and retirement is calling me). I’m looking forward to a day when I no longer have to work, even though I enjoy my job, even though I like the people I work with, it’s just… you get tired sometimes. You just get tired, and you’re ready to quit. Guess it’s that way with writing, as well. Sometimes. You just get tired. So, if you’re feeling tired today, you’re not alone there, either. But we are not quitters. Even though we’re tired, we’re not going to quit. I’m not going to quit, and you’re not going to quit. I refuse to let you quit. Heckfire, I refuse to let myself quit. So maybe we’re just feeling these dog days of summer a little bit more so than usual. Maybe these dog days of summer have gotten us down a little bit, but you know what? There’s always September. There’s always fall, cooler weather, and pumpkin spice to cheer us up again. Looking for a good book to read? Who’s with me? Who’s ready for some cooler weather? And some cooler foods, and some cooler everything? If that’s you, leave me a comment down below. Until next time…

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Or lack thereof… So, what did July being you? What will you be doing in August? I was able to go on two lovely boat cruises No, no not ship cruises but boat cruises still very fun and would do again! I also heard back from an agent submission… to the negative. Sadly, that seems to be the case for a lot of authors. IF you are one, please feel free to leave a comment below. It’s a big pond and there are only a few fishes who know how to swim, if you get my drift. My biggest question today is this: DO YOU KINDLE VELLA? This is a very interesting opportunity for authors today. It allows one to post stories in “episodes” instead of books. You can post one or two a week if you want! I know this is not new news really, but as usual, it is news to me. At any rate, I have read some of the episodes and am sort of interested in adding some of my work to the collection. I would love to hear your thoughts. Also, I just sent my latest newsletter today, and if you are not subscribe, go on up to the header and do that, won’t you? I am going to be offering some fun freebies very soon! I am currently taking a 6-week online course that I hope will change the trajectory of my writing career. Since it is back to school time, are you doing any professional development these days? Let me know below, I am wondering who is with me. Well, that is enough for now. I will see you around the WWW and I hope you are having a great day! Make August a month to remember!

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and the noise just keeps coming…. What else is new? Fireworks, thunderstorms, and overall my writing life has been thundering along. I spent the better part of Saturday, July 9th pitching to agents at an online workshop. It was truly a learning experience. Agents are just super nice folks with a job that carries them to all sorts of events and online things. I really felt sorry for the ones with early calls, as it was done via Zoom. At least my lady was very put together and attentive. I was ever so grateful to all of them for their wisdom and kindness. So, did I get any interest? Yes! I did! Am I working hard on subs? YES! I AM! That is why this post is going to be rather short. I thought I was ready to hit the send button but then I found some snaggy things in the first TEN pages of the manuscript and am working through those before I sub. Just enough stress to kill me haha. I’ll be back with more interesting posts in days to come… you are welcome to check out the Youtube channel over here: www.youtube.com/c/writergroupie if you want to hear more of my ramblings.

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I’m sorry I haven’t been blogging. It’s been a busy time here. I am posting this pic and that’s about it. Until next time-k

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