Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Want to Help Me Think Outside the Box?

I want to keep this blog "fresh"--new, exciting, and interesting to my readers. So here's where I need your help: what is it that you would like to see here on "Seasons of Humility" that's "outside the box"?

Now, I'm guessing from what I know of those of you who leave comments that most of my readers love books, writing, and movies. (Feel free to correct me if you don't feel that way!) What would you think of some of the following post series?
  • Behind the Scenes: Spreading the Word--Interviews with the people who put together and run Christian book review programs.
  • Operation: Let's Get Published!--Join me on my journey to publication. Learn about the little steps I'm taking, the advice I'm receiving from my author/blogger friends, and the failures/successes I'm making along the way.
  • Movie Night--Let's open up that movie cabinet and pop in some old favorites. We can get some good girl talk going on why it is we love those endearing chick flicks.
These are just a few possibilities. I would love to hear which of these appeals to you most! Or tell us what else you might like to see here. I'd appreciate some help climbing out of this box! ;)

If you don't generally comment but still like to read my blog, it would be awesome if you could pitch in today just so I could get an idea of what interests you! Thanks so much!

(The picture is of me at the aquarium in Galveston, Texas--I'm not really trapped in a box/cage. No Ambers were harmed in the making of this post.)

14 comments:

Katie Marie said...

Operation: Let's Get Published sounds neat! If you don't mind sharing...what WIP are you writing??

And I love reading movie reviews, so that would be fun, too! :-)

Though I just wanted to say, your blog is awesome just the way it is! I ALWAYS enjoy checking it each morning to see if you've posted something new!

~ Katy

Vince said...

Hi Amber:

I have two ideas:

1) Characters Review Their Authors. These would be book reviews by the characters in the book as to how they feel the author did. If the author was fair, how they would have changed the story, and if the author really understood them.

To make this more fun, as in a book club, have a woman review the author from the POV of the heroine and a man do the same for the hero. Let the hero and heroine interact in the review to the point they might disagree with each other.

I am not sure that we have ever had characters review the author before, but it should be fun and it would be outside the box.

2 Characters & Themes in Search of an Author. In this forum readers could suggest characters and themes that they would like to see an author write. These should be unavailable in the marketplace.

I think it would be interesting to learn what people would like to read that is not being written by anyone out there.

Vince

Keli Gwyn said...

Amber, I like your fist two ideas.

Bluerose said...

BOTH of Vince's suggestions are awesome!!

All of yours are, too! ;) I especially like the Behind the Scenes idea. That would be very interesting! I just don't write or have a chance to watch movies lately, but I know lots of your other readers would LOVE those kinds of posts.

I love your blog, though! It's one of the most unique and fun blogs out there. :)

Casey said...

I know you are going to hate this but...I like what you are doing, but that doesn't help does it? LOL!

I really like the idea of your second one and your first idea sounds fun. It can be hard doing new stuff like this, huh? :)

Amanda Stanley said...

Well, I'm very happy to know no Ambers were hurt in the making of this post! LOL ;)

Your ideas are great, especially liking the second one! :) And I really like both of Vince's ideas too!

Girl, your blog is ALWAYS wonderful and fun and inspiring so don't go crazy trying to think of new stuff - what you got is working great and is beautifully unique!!! :D

Blessings,
Amanda

Amber Holcomb said...

Good morning, everyone! So wonderful to see you all here! :)

Katy,

Aww, thank you! I recently finished the first draft of my first manuscript, which is an historical romance set in 1885-1886. :) The heroine is a farm girl from Kansas who learns about a brother she's never met before and heads out West to meet him, only to face tragedy along the way and begin a harrowing journey with a young mountain man.

I haven't yet started on the sequel, but some interesting ideas have been running around inside my head and I'm eager to follow up on them! :)

So if I do the post series "Operation: Let's Get Published!" I would talk about the steps I'm taking to get the first story published and maybe throw in some of the steps I'm taking to write the sequel. :)

And thank you so, so much for the last lines of your comment!! That means so much to me that you enjoy checking to see what I've posted. :D

~Amber

Amber Holcomb said...

Vince,

Those are some fantastic ideas! I am definitely interested in following up on them, but I will be sure to give you credit for the creativity. :)

Thank you for the suggestions!

~Amber

Amber Holcomb said...

Keli,

Thank you for your input! :) The more opinions the merrier! ;)

~Amber

Amber Holcomb said...

Bluerose,

I agree--Vince's ideas are very unique and awesome! :)

And I'm glad you like the "Behind the Scenes" idea. :) I might just have to see if I can make some good contacts!

Also, thank you so much for the compliment! I really appreciate your support and encouragement!!

~Amber

Amber Holcomb said...

Casey,

Actually, that is very helpful, because I'm super glad to know that what I'm already posting is enjoyable to read! :) We had a guest speaker in Print Journalism yesterday who was talking about online journalism. Even though the blogging he was discussing had to do with journalism specifically, he still made some interesting points. :) I was inspired to check in with ya'll and make sure I'm meeting your needs/interests!

Anyway, thank you for also sharing your opinion on the options I listed! :)

~Amber

Amber Holcomb said...

Amanda,

Hahaha, I just wanted to make sure no one was worried after seeing that picture. ;) LOL

Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I'm definitely interested in doing the second one--just have to make sure I keep a proper balance between sharing helpful tips and sharing too much about my WIP. ;)

And thank you so much for the encouragement, my friend! :D

~Amber

Kav said...

I'm really curious about the behind the scenes part of publishing too. Wonder if you could use your blogging wiles to find out about cover artists, copy editors, marketing etc. The 'real' people behind the publication of a book.

Amber Holcomb said...

Kav,

That would be really cool! I'll have to see how effective my "blogging wiles" are... ;)

Thank you for the suggestion!

~Amber