I've been writing for years. Well, more than thirty to be accurate. I started freelancing magazine articles in the late 70s. In the 90s I was a feature writer for Enterprise Magazine. They're gone along with thousands of other print media and I dare say many more are destined to go the way of the dinosaur.

Like so many writers, I toyed with being a novelist; started several over the years. Ran out of juice. Started again. Tossed those out, too. Last year I self published what I judged a worthy piece of work: Betrayed. IT's doing "okay", great reviews, actually. Very strong. I've even garnered some national attention; AOL Finance, Business Insider. I have some pending ink from the New York Times, New York Post...NPR New York.

I managed to finish my second novel, Thick Fog In Pacheco Pass, which I plan to release in March. I also write a very edgy...somewhat ribald political blog.

What I haven't managed yet is figuring out how to use the Goodreads platform. I have a difficult time even navigating the site. My fault, not theirs. The brain-trust this site has is scary. There are so many high-powered degrees in computer sciences and software engineering I have a hard time reading the "About Us" page. I can't even pronounce some of those degrees. I'm only a writer. I'm looking over at the right side of this page as I write this article and I see: Formatting Tips. I read down the column and I see the possibilities for this very article using html code. (I get all jiggly just writing those words). Alas, I press buttons, click on links and stare, deer in the headlights, at how I might navigate to the next window that will finally result in what I want. No luck.

The point is, and believe me, I'm giving this message to myself as much as to anyone who bothers to read my blog; we can no longer be...only writers. We also have to learn what the hell to do with that code sitting over there on the right of this page. We have to uncover every nuance of how to use this and the hundreds of other platforms to bring our work to readers if we are not to drift away into obscurity...well, deeper into obscurity than we already are.

For me...I'm taking the bull by the horns. Goodreads boasts 13 million plus subscribers. I'd be happy if a mere hundred thousand or so discovered what a witty soul I am; clever, erudite...funny on some days. All-in-all a good writer whose works they'd like to have on the shelf. But first I have to figure out how to let them know I'm here. That I exist. That I'm bleeding out while attempting to decipher the Holy Grail of marketing. And the worst of it is...I'm only a writer.