Books, Blogs, Authors and More discussion

You are cordially invited to peruse Jim Vuksic's Blog.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
If you find a topic of interest, please feel free to share your comments, questions, or sggestions at the end of each post. Some of my best ideas have come from others.

Blog posts - listed by topic and date:
July 27, 2017 - 70-Years-Old, Whether I Like It or Not!
June 23, 2017 - A Public Response to a Private Message on "Goodreads"
May 31, 2017 - Experiencing Bad Times is Essential to Appreciating Good Times
May 20, 2017 - A Final Farewell to a Novel from the Author
April 27, 2017 - Sometimes, There is No Next Time!
March 19, 2017 - Enough is Enough!
Feb. 23, 2017 - The Greatest Story Never Told
Feb. 5, 2017 - Before Rejoicing or Becoming Upset About What is Said, Consider Who Said It and Why
Jan. 8, 2017 - An Author's Account of the Slow, Yet Painless, Death of His Book
Dec. 28, 2016 - A Simple Way to Live a Complicated Life
Dec. 14, 2016 - The Least Exciting War Story You May Ever Hear
Nov. 28, 2016 - Writers May Take Credit for Success, but Should Accept Responsibility for Failure
Nov. 12, 2016 - A National Anthem to Reflect a Sadder Time
Nov. 1, 2016 - Celebrating the 3rd. Anniversary of "Jim Vuksic's Blog"
Oct. 17, 2016 - The Bucket List That Included Writing a Novel
Sept. 21, 2016 - "Oh Death, Where is Thy Sting?" "Oh Grave, Where is Thy Victory?"
Sept. 8, 2016 - I Know You Are, but What Am I?
Aug. 21, 2016 - A Published Book is a Finished Product, Not a Work in Progress
Aug. 1, 2016 - Reflecting Upon the 5th. Anniversary of My First and Last Novel's Release
July 16, 2016 - The Availability of Beautiful Women
July 10, 2016 - Watch Your Language!
June 30, 2016 - Three Easy Steps to Evaluate a Novice Author's Veracity
June 13, 2016 - Marketing a Book is Similar to Marketing Any Product
May 25, 2016 - Reciprocity Agreements are Often Inappropriate and Ineffective
May 18, 2016 - Urges that Writers and Published Authors Should Consider Resisting
May 6, 2016 - Voting: The Sound Decision versus the Rash Decision
April 18, 2016 - Utilizing a Blog for Blatant Self-Promotion
April 6, 2016 - Unprofessional Advice from a Retiree Who Just Happened to Write a Novel
March 26, 2016 - Creating Characters of a Race, Creed, Nationality or Color Other Than Your Own
March 15, 2016 - Evaluating Goodreads Authors - Separating the Wheat from the Chaff
March 8, 2016 - Writing a Novel - One of My Most Unsuccessful, Poorest Paying, Rewarding Endeavors
March 1, 2016 - The Time to Learn about Writing and Publishing is Before One Writes or Publishes
Feb. 22, 2016 - I Did It Their Way!
Feb. 14, 2016 - Some Website Discussion Group Participants Behave Like Debating Politicians
Feb. 6, 2016 - A Copy of "Levels" is En-Route to Five "Goodreads" Giveaway Winners
Jan. 29, 2016 - The Problem with Blind Faith is That It's Blind!
Jan. 21, 2016 - Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who is to Blame for it All?
Jan. 13, 2016 - The Author's Guide to Attaining Permanent Amateur Status - Results Guaranteed!
Jan. 5, 2016 - More than Six Decades of Happy and Some Not So Happy New Years
Dec. 29, 2015 - An Invitation to Enter a "Goodreads Giveaway"
Dec. 22, 2015 - A Few Words Often Mean a Lot
Dec. 14, 2015 - Explanations for What I Do and Don't Do on "Goodreads"
Dec. 6, 2015 - To Obsess Over Consumer Ratings & Reviews or Not to Obsess; That is the Question
Nov. 29, 2015 - Behavior Guaranteed to Antagonize People and Encourage Them to Avoid You
Nov. 18, 2015 - Celebrating the 2nd. Anniversary of "Jim Vuksic's Blog"
Nov. 11, 2015 - Self-Imposed Guidelines for Reading Choices, Reviewing and Literary Website Participation
Nov. 3, 2015 - Due Diligence and Research Prior to Publishing Avoids Conflict and Issues Afterward
Oct. 26, 2015 - A Professional Author Always Writes Like One; No Exceptions and No Excuses!
Oct. 18, 2015 - In Search of a Vocation or What to be When I Grow Up?
Oct. 10, 2015 - I Advise You Not to Take My Advice Regarding How to Become a Successful Author
Oct. 3, 2015 - A Successful or Failed Social Experiment - An Invitation to Let the Readers Decide
Sept. 25, 2016 - Some of my Best Ideas Have Come from Others - or - Why I Choose Not to Spit
Sept. 18, 2015 - The Ten Commandments for Aspiring Wroters (Handed Down by a Non-Prophet Reader)
Sept. 10, 2015 - My Sister was an Only Child and Other Things I Regret
Sept. 2, 2015 - Professional Authors Know the Time and Place for Self-Promotion; Amateurs Don't
Aug. 25, 2015 - Sometimes, What We Hear Being Said is Not What Actually is Being Said
Aug. 17, 2015 - There is No Better Reality Check than a 50th. Reunion
Aug. 11, 2015 - Having a Book Published Does Not Necessarily Mean that I am a Writer
Aug. 4, 2015 - The Cyber World: A Nice Place to Visit, but You Shouldn't Want to Live There
July 28, 2015 - People That Aggravate Me
July 21, 2015 - Some are Destined to Become a Successful Author. Some are Not.
July 13, 2015 - A Parental Delusion: Our Children are Special, Fantastic and Wonderful
July 6, 2015 - Birds of a Feather Flock Together & Great Minds Think Alike
June 27, 2015 - A Commentary on Comments Posted by Authors
June 17, 2015 - Personal Beliefs re: Life, Death, Marriage, Self-Sufficiency, and Religion
June 10, 2015 - Advice is Only as Reliable as its Source
June 3, 2015 - Naivety, Free Books and Egocentric Promotion
May 26, 2015 - A 67-Year Life Story In Just 500 Words
May 19, 2015 - Predicting Who will Write the Next Great Novel is Difficult; Determining Who will Not is Not
May 6, 2015 - Artistic Independence and Rebellion are Not the Same Thing
April 29, 2015 - Just Who Do You Think You Are?
April 22, 2015 - It is Absolutely Unprofessional to Attempt to Redefine Professionalism
April 15, 2015 - No Magic Spell will Make Dreams Come True, but Common Sense Might
April 8, 2015 - Boorish or Unprofessional Behavior: Misguided Substitutes for Intelligence and Knowledge
April 1, 2015 - Words of Wisdom That Only the Wise Seem to Heed
March 20, 2015 - A Goodreads Oddity
March 11, 2015 - One Person's Heaven is Another Person's Hell - Often, We Create Our Own
March 2, 2015 - Those Who Think Thay Have a Lot of Friends Just Think They Have a Lot of Friends
Feb. 23, 2015 - My Future Favorite Best-Selling Author: You Know Who You Are
Feb. 16, 2015 - The Facts, Just the Facts
Feb. 8, 2015 - Humans Developed Words to Replace Drawings. So What Happened?
Jan. 29, 2015 - Before Becoming Upset, Consider the Source
Jan. 21, 2015 - Real, Legend or Myth - Does It Really Matter?
Jan. 11, 2015 - Lessons Learned
Dec. 28, 2014 - Claiming to be a Professional Writer Does Not Make It So
Dec. 14, 2014 - It is Not Yesterday! It is Not Tomorrow! It is Today!
Dec. 3, 2014 - Non-Fiction is Sometimes Pure Fiction
Nov. 14, 2014 - Denial Does Not Make It So
Oct. 31, 2014 - It's Not My Fault and Other Half-Truths
Oct. 25, 2014 - Spamming & Rating/Reviewing One's Own Book - Aggressive Promotion or Narcissism
Oct. 20, 2014 - Cheap or Free - Not Always a Good Thing
Oct. 7, 2014 - The Never Ending Book Pricing Debate (Different Strokes for Different Folks)
Oct. 3, 2014 - Claiming to be a Writer and Other Mistaken Assumptions
Sept. 1, 2014 - Beware of Amateurs Offering Expert Advice
Aug. 18, 2014 - Pen Names - Who's Who?
Aug. 8, 2014 - A Reality Check for Self-Published Authors
July 13, 2014 - Belated Thank You or "Roll the Credits"
July 6, 2014 - Be Willing to Sacrifice Today for a Better Tomorrow
June 8, 2014 - The Never Ending Writing Experience
May 18, 2014 - Too Much is Too Much - Period!
May 9, 2014 - Death: The End of Life - Destruction - Extinction
April 17, 2014 - Hey, That's Me!
April 11, 2014 - New Rule: You Can't Say "Can't"
March 30, 2014 - Quiz - How Much do You Know About the World of "Levels" Spoiler Alert!
March 15, 2014 - Difference of Opinion or Personal Attack
March 9, 2014 - Excerpts from Chapter XIII of "Levels" - Reality
March 2, 2014 - The Perfect World - Maybe
Feb. 28, 2014 - Excerpts from Chapter XII of "Levels" - Vocations
Feb. 21, 2014 - Determining the Selling Price of a Book
Feb. 20, 2014 - Excerpts from Chapter XI of "Levels" - Compromise
Jan. 31, 2014 - Excerpts from Chapter X of "Levels" - Only Three
Jan. 23, 2014 - Success and Failure are a Part of Life
Jan. 14, 2014 Excerpts from Chapter IX of "Levels" - The Museum
Jan. 7, 2014 - To Promote or Not Promote is not in Question. It's a Matter of How?
Jan. 4, 2014 - A Person is What He Reads or Maybe Not
Dec. 29, 2013 - Excerpts from Chapter VIII of "Levels" - Decisions
Dec. 22, 2013 - Dreams Can Come True. Many Don't
Dec. 17, 2013 - Excerpts from Chapter VII of "Levels" - Freedom
Dec. 14, 2013 - Good Enough is Never Good Enough!
Dec. 11, 2013 - I Love to Read, But...
Dec. 9, 2013 - Hey, That's Not Funny!
Dec. 6, 2013 - The Pre-Publishing Process
Dec. 3, 2013 - Excerpts from Chapter VI of "Levels" - Separation
Dec. 2, 2013 - It's Good to be Loved, But be Prepared Not to Be
Nov. 29, 2013 - Excerpts from Chapter V of "Levels" - Revelation
Nov. 28, 2013 - Excerpts from Chapter IV of "Levels" - Procreation
Nov. 27, 2013 - First or Third Person (Decisions! Decisions!)
Nov. 27, 2013 - Excerpts from Chapter III of "Levels" - The Crossing
Nov. 26, 2013 - Excerpts from Chapter II of "Levels" - Next Level
Nov. 24, 2013 - Author's Confession
Nov. 23, 2013 - Excerpts from Chapter I of "Levels" - Main Level
Nov. 22, 2013 - Reader's Reaction/Opinions of "Levels"
Nov. 21, 2013 - The Inhabitants of the World of "Levels" or Hey, Nobody's Perfect
Nov. 20, 2013 - The World of "Levels"
Nov. 18, 2013 - How a Personal Challenge Became a Published Novel or How "Levels" was Born

Jim wrote: "Most recent blog post: Aug. 11, 2015.
Having a Book Published Does Not Necessarily Mean that I am a Writer
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..."

Jim,
Your comments here really struck me, because I have essentially the same feeling about being a 'writer'.
Some people have kindly called me a writer and I feel it necessary to say, "I've written a few fun mysteries." If in the introduction to another friend they say, "MaryJo is a published author", well, that can hardly be refuted, but your point is a very valid one. There is some status to that perhaps - and it is a great conversation starter - but the world is Full of published authors, just as it is full of well, drivers, etc.

MaryJo wrote: "Jim wrote: "Most recent blog post: Aug. 11, 2015.
Having a Book Published Does Not Necessarily Mean that I am a Writer
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..."

Jim,
Your comm..."

Mary Jo,

You make an excellent point. The invention of the personal computer and proliferation of publishing opportunities outside of the former traditional venues has dramatically changed the face of the literary world. The once sparsely populated crowd of published authors has literally experienced a population explosion.

Thank you for viewing the blog post and sharing your viewpoint.

Jim wrote: "Most recent blog post: Aug. 25, 2015.
Sometimes, What We Hear Being Said is Not What Actually is Being Said
https:www.goodreads.com/author/show/5085801..."

This reminds me of one of my husband's favorite observations, "It's not what's being said, it's what is being heard."
Not exactly your point, but a closely related one.

MaryJo wrote: "Jim wrote: "Most recent blog post: Aug. 25, 2015.
Sometimes, What We Hear Being Said is Not What Actually is Being Said
https:www.goodreads.com/author/show/5085801..."

This reminds me..."

MaryJo,

Never the less, a very good point. Your husband sounds like a wise man indeed.
Thank you for taking the time to view the blog post and share your input.

Jim Vuksic

Jim wrote: "Most recent blog post: Sept. 2, 2015.
Professional Authors Know the Time and Place for Self-Promotion; Amateurs Don't
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..."
Just read your post, and felt like I was sitting in a class for 'new authors promo 101'. That is not a slam!
:]
I've been writing and publishing for just a few years now, and have made a couple of faux pas' in this area, but generally err more on the side of not wanting to offend. I really sympathize when a brand new author appears on the webs, knowing what a road there is ahead for the self-publisher and novice to learn all the lessons - including this one. but some of it is simple common sense and courtesy.

Most recent blog post: July 27, 2017.
70-Years-Old, Whether I Like It or Not!
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...