Friday 28 April 2017

Fancy a Social Media Workshop for Writers in Mallorca?

Since moving to Mallorca I've been a bit in the shadows. Not literally but literary-ly.

In London, I attended literary festivals and writing events. I was a regular speaker and ran my own blogging and social media workshops for writers and other creatives.

I gave it all up when I moved, choosing to dedicate my time to fiction and journalism. But recently I've started to wonder about doing workshops again, here.   

On Tuesday I went to the 5th anniversary of a local book shop, Universal Bookshop. I was invited by the very welcoming and enthusiastic owner, Kay Halley, who called the event An Audience with Authors.  

Anna Nicholas launching A Chorus of Cockerels
last year at Universal Bookshop
It was really great to meet other writers and catch up with Anna Nicholas, who has written a series of books about life on the island. We'd talked about setting up writing workshops months ago over lunch but hadn't progressed further than scribbles on a page.

The idea of running social media workshops reared its head again, as I talked to other writers. One author was impressed that I had a traditional publisher.

"Ah, you're lucky," she said. "They do all the marketing for you."

This is definitely a common misconception. Perhaps once upon a time, authors were expected to just write the books and leave the marketing to the publishers. But gone is that time, if it did really exist. 

Whether traditionally published or self-published, writers must promote their books if they want to sell more than a couple of copies to family members.

"Tell me about blogging," she said, when I told her that in fact, that wasn't the case.  

Where to start? If only I had a couple of hours and my slides with me. I really should do a workshop, I thought.

"Do a workshop!" another writer urged, as I tried to impart everything I'd ever learned and she scribbled furiously into her notebok.

Giving advice to lovely Laura Provost,
who has written a children's book!
It struck me that there might be a good handful of writers and creatives out there who might be interested in a workshop about setting up an online presence and growing their audience.

SO:

If you are interested in workshops on social media and marketing for creatives, based in Mallorca, don't hesitate to get in touch at emily@emilybenet.com 

Alternatively sign up to my newsletter, where I'll post related news:

Add me to Emily's newsletter: 




Wednesday 12 April 2017

On Not Believing Everything You Read (Or: Finding Out You Were A Call Girl!)

You'll never guess what I've just found out. 

Before I tell you, I want you to know the source is bona fide.  I did an internet search and it popped up in Google. Not only that, the information was in a book. 

Not just an e-book either. I'm talking paperback. A proper published paperback. Judging by the reviews, it's probably sold quite a few thousand copies too. Basically, it can't be wrong.

Here goes the news:

"In England, Salt Publishing offered Emily Benet, who originally wrote under the name Belle du Jour,  a contract for her blog, Shop Girl Blog, about a twenty-eight year old call girl's sexual exploits. Shop Girl Diaries won a Guardian award, and rumors have it she landed a six-figure deal" - Extract from How to Blog a Book

Here it is:





To be fair, now that I read it again, it doesn't sound quite right.

A couple of things are off. The paragraph is completely accurate except for these teeny, weeny details:

1. I've never written under the name Belle Du Jour
2. I've never been a Call Girl
3. I've never written about my sexual exploits
3. I was not 28 years old when I wrote my blog
4. Shop Girl Diaries didn't win a Guardian Award 
5. I did not land a 6-figure* deal (A friend wondered if they meant I'd been paid with a Russian Doll. Another,  @Grays85 made the point that £0100.00 was still 6-figures) 

Apart from those minor details, the info was totally correct. The author even spelt my name right. Usually people can't resist doubling those 'n' and 't's.

Jokes aside, this is a good lesson on not believing everything you read!

The Author has since emailed me and is feeling very sorry. The information is going to be corrected. It's not much consolation to all the people who have come to my blog over the years looking for sizzling, sexy entries though, is it?

That's why I've decided to show you a bit of leg...



Enjoy.


For more thrills like this, you can read my book Shop Girl Diaries. Not much sex in it. No sex actually. But if you buy it, it will help me towards that six-figure deal I didn't get! 

Thanks for reading! 


Add me to Emily's newsletter for news about her books!