Smorgasbord Posts from Your Archives 2024 #Potluck – 12 Ways to Update Your #Online #Identity by Jacqui Murray

Welcome to the series of Posts from Your Archives and I will be sharing posts from the SECOND six months of 2023 from your archives.

This current series is now closed to submissions but there will be a new series to participate in later in the year.

This is the second post from the archives of one of my favourite authors Jacqui Murray who has captured the imagination of the readers of her pre-historic series. Jacqui has many posts in her archives for writers at all stages in their development. Here is one that lays out the most efficient way to update your online identity and something we all need to do on a regular basis.

This week, I’ll post suggestions to get you tech ready for the blitz of writing you’ll swear to accomplish in the New Year. I do this every year so some will look familiar, but many are updated to reflect changes in the internet and virtual world we all inhabit.

Here’s what you’ll get in this series

1. 12 Ways to Update Your Online Identity
   
2. 8+ Ways to a Speedier Computer
3. Backup and Image your computer
   

Today: 12 Ways to Update Your Online Presence

For most writers I know, life zooms by, filled with research, writing, editing, critique groups, reading, promotions (of our books and others), people watching (to build characters), and thinking. There are few breaks to update/fix/maintain the tech tools that allow us to pursue our trade.

That includes our online presence and those personal profiles. But, if they aren’t updated, we are left wondering why our blog doesn’t attract visitors, why our social media Tweeple don’t generate activity, and why we aren’t being contacted for networking. Here’s a short list of items that won’t take long to accomplish. The ones you read last year, consider a reminder!

1. Update your online profile–on your blog, your gravatar, FB, X/Twitter, professional groups, your PLN. Have you changed focus? Switched jobs? Adding new publications or items efriends would like to know about? Is your contact information current? This, btw, should be done once a quarter, but at least at the new year.
2. Clean up your social media stream–delete pictures and comments you no longer find as funny as when you first posted them or make them private. If you have active social media, employers will check it out. Make sure it represents you.
3. Publish content constantly. This will make your page look fresh and current, a must.
4. Add copyright protections. A note in the sidebar or attached to each post or both (see mine). Readers erroneously think if there’s not a copyright claim, it isn’t. They’re wrong, but make it clear.
5. Use images and videos. Surveys are unanimous: Pictures and videos draw in readers. This is especially true with new potential readers/clients/audiences who don’t know you so don’t want to spend more time than necessary on your post.
6. Update old blog posts–start with the most-visited articles and work your way down (in case you run out of time). Update links and references that are out of date. Consider freshening images or banners.
7. Check individual post tags and categories–reorganize options so they authentically group your writing.
8. Check the sidebar–for out-of-date and no-longer-relevant widgets and links. Include new pieces that add utility. Move pieces around to give an updated look. Current thinking is ‘less is more’. Consider putting awards, PLN groups, memberships on separate pages noted in the menu bar.
9. Check your ‘pages‘–are they still relevant? Could some be nested under other pages to save room and/or make them easier to find? While you’re at it, be sure less-visited pages are up to date.
10. Check the appearance of your blog on a smartphone and iPad. Does it display properly? If not, consider switching to a responsive theme that auto-adjusts for a variety of digital devices.
11. Unsubscribe from lists you no longer have an interest in.
12. Update venues where you sell books like your Amazon Author page, Teachers Pay Teachers, BarnesandNoble.com, Google Play, and others–prices, descriptions, categories, freebies. I need to do this more often.

Do you have any maintenance tips to suggest?  I’d love to hear them. 

©Jacqui Murray 2023

A selection of books by Jacqui Murray

One of the reviews for Born in a Treacherous Time

D. W. Peach 5.0 out of 5 stars Enthralling world-building!

Reviewed in the United States

Move over Jean Auel (Clan of the Cave Bear) for Jacqui Murray. I went to bed right after dinner last night because I had to finish this book and would have stayed up all night to do it. What a fabulous read.

Born in a Treacherous Time takes place at the very start of mankind’s development – we are inventive, communal, thoughtful, emotional beings, but still deeply rooted in our animal origins, fully integrated into the harsh volcanic landscape and with the creatures who share our world. Survival is an ongoing challenge and hunger a constant companion. Overlaying the struggles of daily life is the threat of man-who-preys, the next generation of mankind.

The story follows Lucy (Woo-See) through a period of years. She’s a strong character, a healer, and a hunter who’s eager to learn new skills that make her an asset to her group as well as an outsider. There are a number of compelling characters, fully developed and distinct, with a wide range of personalities.

No doubt, Murray did her research, but so little is truly known about this time, that I’m certain she had to employ her imagination as well. The world-building is meticulous. Murray deftly presents a world as seen through the eyes of those who inhabit it. She created words (and hand-signals) to describe the landscape based on the characters’ observations: “Night Sun” instead of moon, “Fire Mountain” instead of volcano. Her attention to creating a logical and detailed reality is stunning. I was honestly enthralled.

The world-building extends to characters as well, and I loved that none of them had “modern” sensibilities that would have tainted the believability of the story. No one is squeamish about raw food or bodily functions, and death is viewed as a natural occurrence. The characters have many of the natural abilities and acute senses of the animals living around them, yet unlike their animal cousins, their understanding of the world grows with each experience.

Best of all, as a reader I became quite attached to these primitive humans, empathizing with their struggles, losses, and choices. There is a depth of emotion, spirit of community, and generous nobility that stretches through the hundreds of thousands of years to our current lives. A captivating book that I recommend to any reader who enjoys adventures, exquisite world-building, or works of historical fiction and prehistory. 

Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – Follow Jacqui: goodreads – Blog: Worddreams – Twitter: @WordDreams

About Jacqui Murray

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, and a contributor to NEA Today. You can find her resources at Structured Learning. Read Jacqui’s tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days here on Amazon Kindle. Also, read her new series, Man vs. Nature, starting with Born in a Treacherous Time–also on Kindle.

Thanks for dropping in today and I hope you are leaving with some books.. thanks Sally.