iPad was hailed as a tremendous innovation when it made its 2010 debut. Computer tablets of all makes and models are becoming increasingly common. This new user can’t wait to get started! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Woo-hoo! This hard-working writer just won a brand-new iPad!
The contest was a promotional incentive from Demand Media Studios http://create.demandstudios.com/ to encourage its writers to sign up for the Google+ Authorship program.
The Authorship program directs future and present clients and fans to your work. For me that includes feature magazine articles, non-fiction books, editing projects and soon my novel “Loop Dee Doo” in addition to the gardening and business how-tos and overviews I write for Studio customers ranging from eHow to the online versions of national newspapers.
Google and its Plus are increasingly being shoved down our collective cyber-throat. OK, OK, I love my Gmail. I’ve visited Hangouts, am learning Drive and sharing Docs. The Authorship thingy sounded nifty, but the thought of laboriously nailing in yet another plank on my ever-expanding social media platform was as pleasant as sticking said nail into my forehead followed by a hearty whack from the plank.
I’m already linking, liking, tweeting, pinning and tubing as fast and cohesively as I can, aside from the MySpace and Red Room notices promptly deleted from my inbox because there’s only so much a writer can do. I joined Vimeo today, Goodreads last month, Spotify in spring and CreateSpace in January.
I participate as commentator and consumer. Every journey provides a myriad of TripAdvisor or Active Captain moments. Every product sparks an Amazon review. Most of the interaction is necessary; much of it, including this blog, is enjoyable.
I devote part of each day to reading and responding to others. Why would anyone connect with you if you won’t connect with them? Clearly the future path to writing success is circular – possibly a Google+ Circle. So I sucked it up and filled in the Authorship form and the Survey Monkey questionnaire that followed.
In addition to tempting us with iPads – two were given away – DMS made sign-up simple thanks to tutorials that really did walk me step by step through the clicking, cutting and pasting. My updated Google+ profile page needs further polishing and the Authorship link may take several more days to go live – you’re never really done with this sort of living resume – but here’s what I’ve got so far:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/113237536523741399907/about
Despite the increasingly complex connections authors need to create for their work I don’t yearn for the olden days of painstakingly typed queries, resumes and manuscripts hopefully mailed off (with proper return postage) to the harsh anonymity of the slush pile. Don’t-call-us-we’ll-(never)-call-you hasn’t gone out of style but in today’s wide-open world of communication there are end-run alternatives galore. Google+ Authorship is another on-ramp to Al Gore’s famously infamous “Superinformation Highway.”
I’m very thankful that Demand Media Studios offers performance-based incentives as well as luck-of-the-draw contests. I’ve learned a lot about the electronic content trifecta — Quality, Quantity, Quickly — and kept paychecks coming in while I’m shopping out my first novel, writing another one and waiting out year-or-more magazine publishing cycles.
I’m also grateful for Apple-savvy family and friends who can assist with iPad acclimation. I’ve never been politically correct, but I’ve always been PC. If you have any user tips for this happy prize winner feel free to share! What do you like most about your iPad? What are the drawbacks?
And by all means I encourage writers to get on the Google+ Authorship bandwagon:
http://www.google.com/insidesearch/features/authorship/index.html
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