Monday, March 15, 2010

Hi, My name is...


Today marks my 50th post. There was cake here earlier. Sorry you missed it. But… only two more weeks until the next Keep It Going Contest – so there’s something.
Yesterday, I finished up my most recent round of edits.  It is now tucked away in a folder titled - Do Not Open Until April 15th. Based on the feedback I have received, I am hoping that I will be able to do light clean up (mostly line edits), and then start querying. To prepare (and to keep my hands off the manuscript), I will be spending the next month focusing on marketing, perfecting the query letter, and writing the *shivers* synopsis.
The first step of marketing is figuring out who you are. When I started this blog, I set it up as A.J. Frey. I did so, because I wasn’t sure about having my name out there with a bright neon sign saying that I was writing. I was still a little afraid. Going by my initials helped me step out and start publishing this blog.
This weekend, I decided to google myself, well A.J. Frey. Here’s what came up.

Do you see the second item? OMG! I don’t want to do die of some horrible disease. Ahh!  And Hockey?! The facebook is not even mine. I don’t exist.
So, then I searched my maiden name. Well, I won’t post that. She’s in the adult industry. Don’t want us to get confused – so that’s a no.
Lastly, I decided to see what happens when I search my own name. My real name. I mean everybody I know already knows that I write – so the secret’s out. 

Five results. All five belong to me. When I googled it originally, it was only one – and that was from when I made the Dean’s List. (Yep, I’m a nerd.)
Now, you have the blog, the dean’s list, my entry into the Dear Lucky Agent contest, and a comment I made on Nathan Bransford’s blog today.
I don’t know that if/when I get published I will want to be so accessible, but while I am trying to become published – yes, yes, I do.  If they are looking, I want it to be easy for an agent to find me. But with this comes added responsibility. I have to keep my name clean.
I have locked in my slice of the web. So, now if you type in  www.aliciajfrey.com – you will get me. (Google will redirect you if you continue to use aj-frey.blogspot.com) I’ve started playing around with the pages. The “About Me” is the only one that is currently active, but I will be adding to them each day until I get it like I like it.
So, hello all – My name is Alicia!
So, are you using your real name? What do you think of the About Me section? Are you using Blogger’s pages? If so, are you doing it in lieu of a separate website?

5 comments:

  1. That second Google item is indeed scary!

    I hate writing a synopsis - no adverbs or adjectives and it's still gotta sound exciting. The publisher who invented the synopsis should be shot...

    ReplyDelete
  2. As writers we need name recognition, and it's never too early to start.

    That's why I'm David F. Weisman. The world is full of David Weismans.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good luck with the synposis. I can do a 10 page one no problem, it's that one pager that kills.

    My writer's name is a mixture of my name and my husband's (since he's my writing partner), and it's fairly unique. It's also easier to pronounce than "Colgin" and keeps me separate from my science identity (yes, I'm a nerd too!).

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm currently blogging completely anon, but I've really being thinking about that recently, and I want to build a presence online eventually. Although right now, I really need to focus on my edits.

    Congrats on finishing up your edits and sitting the manuscript a side for a bit, I'm going to be being doing the same thing once I'm done with my draft.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congratulations on finishing!

    I like writing synopsis(es)(ies)??
    I hate editing and dread the day it begins.

    I'm going to google myself...that sounded different in my head.

    ReplyDelete