Pinterest yes? Pinterest no? Yes. Yes Pinterest.

Eeeep. Guys.

So whenever I make a new blog post, I like to see how it's doing stats-wise. Call it vanity, call it boredom, call it whatever you want--because you know most, if not all, of us do it--but I like seeing the numbers, particularly when they go up.  As with most blogging platforms (I'd assume, anyway...I only use this one), you can go into the settings and view a variety of statistics...how many page views, which posts get the most views, etc.

Well, one of the stats bits allows me to see the referring websites, and for the first time, I saw Pinterest among them.

Pinterest (which, the longer I look at it, no longer looks like an actual word to me...), if you're living under a rock, is a website that allows you to organize content by "pinning" things from other sites into (or onto?) your "boards" to allow easy access later.  A lot of my friends use it for recipes or craft ideas, and a lot of writers I know use it for story ideas--locations, clothing, people/characters.  Handy.

It's also a giant time-suck that I didn't have time for.

I should also mention a friend I recently moved away from asked if I was on Pinterest, and I told her no, I wasn't, and she seemed really sad.

So that, combined with seeing my posts shared over there, made me sign up.

So, if you guys want to check me out over there, I'm now on Pinterest as Sarah Allan, though you can probably find me here directly (and not have to sift through the sea of people with the same name): https://www.pinterest.com/sarahallan25/

Not much going on there right now, but give me a follow! I'll likely make boards for my books and such, which will a lot of fun. After all, who doesn't enjoy looking at pictures? :-)

xoxo Sarah

New Newsletter! Woot!

I've been taking a class on how to self-publish on a shoestring by the amazing Magda Alexander for the past month, and one thing that was discussed was having a mailing list or newsletter.  Readers can sign up to get it, so you can update them on whatever's going on--a new release, contest, etc.

So, if you want updates on my writing, publishing, contest and giveaway news, either sign up in the side-bar on the right, or click the link here and sign up.  

I'd really appreciate it!

xoxo Sarah

Tech & the Twitter...

Or should that be "the Twitter" (Twittah...?) as they say over here in the UK?

I enjoy social networking.  I have a FB author page, a Twitter profile for me as an author, and this blog. (If you can't click the links, you can also see them in my right side-bar..."like" or "follow," pretty please?)  And anything to consolidate that crap together or make it easier is a good thing.  For example, when I post a blog entry, I have it set up so my FB page automatically makes a post.  Another example: when I post anything on FB, it's linked to my Twitter account, so it tweets for me.  Easy-peasy.  

And FB is my favorite to use of all those because of the fun interaction I get to do with the people who have "liked" my page, but I do love me some Twitter on occasion.  The problem is that Twitter's actual website doesn't have the best interface.  You have to click on a million different things to see stuff, like your mentions (where other people have mentioned your screen-name and tweeted you) or your direct (private) messages, and a ton of other stuff.  And don't even get me started on their lump updating.  I prefer real-time!

A while ago, maybe a year or two, there was an awesome Twitter app/client called Tweetdeck.  It somehow managed to consolidate all the things you'd want to do on Twitter, including real-time updating, in one easy-to-use program.  And the interface was super easy. 

The problem?  Twitter bought it and, pardon the phrase, promptly fucked it up royally.  Everything we liked about it was gone. And when I say "we," I mean myself and a ton of other users who jumped ship to find another app that worked as well.  I sought recommendations from friends, other people on Twitter, everyone...and no dice.  I tried a ton of them, and though some were pretty good, I kept comparing them to the old Tweetdeck.  

This would have been me if I could have found the old Tweetdeck's house. 

Even worse was that Twitter had stopped updating the old version of Tweetdeck, so it didn't even work anymore.  Though you could download the old program from multiple sources online, it used outdated support and wasn't the same.  Last week, out of desperation, I decided to give the new Tweetdeck another try, and lo and behold, the people at Twitter had literally JUST redesigned it.  It doesn't suck anymore, and it's actually very close to how the old Tweetdeck operated.  

So now I'm a happy camper, or at least happier, and am enjoying tweeting much more than I did before.  I realize this kind of sounds like an ad for it, but I was just so excited to find a Twitter client that I liked (again) that I wanted to share.

Do YOU have a favorite Twitter app or client for your computer or mobile device?  Does it update other social networks?  Tell me!

xoxo Sarah