Welcome to Writers Talkback. If you are a new user, your account will have to be approved manually to prevent spam. Please bear with us in the meantime

Yell listings etc.

edited September 2016 in Writing
Have cancelled my website with Yell, as was advised on here to do so, saving me a small fortune at the same time, but what I need to know now is, is it worth hanging on to their listings, which are free?

The only trouble with that, is that you have to give out your personal details, like home address and telephone number. Don't exactly want to share this info with the world. So, do you think it is worth staying in with their listing, the potential of sales being made that way(how many the likelihood????), or to quit that too, and get them to remove my personal details from public showing. Dodgy that, methinks....?

Comments

  • Personally, I don't think having your details listed there will be of any benefit to sales. The first place people will look for a book is Amazon.
  • edited September 2016
    You've been advised over and over and over again to get on with writing your book instead of wasting your time and money on marketing something that doesn't actually exist yet.
  • Agree with TN and Claudia.
  • That's what I thought. Amazon is where potential readers will look.

    And, sure, I only have about 30,000 more words to do now, about a month's effort's load. So I really am pursuing my writing.

    It is just that when I took out that contract for my website, the listings came free, so I just thought I'd ask whether I should keep them, given that they are giving out my personal details. Just needed that clarified so I'll put a stop to that too.

    The fiverr selling is helping change my domain over to my tumblr site, so I thought I'd ask about the listings while that was happening..

    I'm doing about 15 pages a week. Doesn't sound like much, but there's not much editing that will need doing, as I am just expanding upon the shell of the scenes I have already, fleshing them out into fuller, more involved scenes... Shouldn't be too long till I can send off for soundproofing, hopefully, via Baggy Books, if she has room on her schedule...

    Then while that is being read, corrected etc, I can get on fully with my two film scripts drafts then send them out... So in about a month or two, I should have the ebook and two scripts all completed and ready to go. In the meantime, I am trying to drum up some funding via go fund me... Advised by that seller...
  • Actually, just doing some calculations, there should only be about another 15,000 or less words to do, which would work out about a month's sweat's worth...
  • Yell is useful if you're advertising your services only - script writing, editing, etc. but pretty much useless for advertising your books.

    As for GoFundMe, you could probably earn ten times more writing articles for magazines at £100(ish) a pop! Plus great practice for honing your skills :)
  • I can't write articles. All I can do is creativity and I'd rather spend that time on my ebook, script etc.

    I know it's a long shot, but you never know. Any money that might be donated, will be gratefully received and, like most things, it can't harm me to try, can it...?

    And jb, the fiverr seller, has some really important contacts in that type of business, so if she will allow me to campaign on her sites too, who knows? She's done a lot for me in that respect, with her followers...
  • I can't write articles.
    You couldn't write books at one point either, but thanks for the dig that writing articles isn't creative :)
  • I look at article writing as being analytical, which is surely a different style of writing than just using pure imagination. Articles deal with facts and hard truths mostly....?

    And I've no desire to write articles, which would mean learning a different technique. I'd rather stick to the one that I can see I have a certain degree of skill and flair in. That just might be a winning formula for me....?
  • Stop talking...start writing.
  • Night time is my writing time. No neighbour's to distract me then....
  • edited September 2016
    I can't write articles.
    You couldn't write books at one point either, but thanks for the dig that writing articles isn't creative :)
    I look at article writing as being analytical, which is surely a different style of writing than just using pure imagination. Articles deal with facts and hard truths mostly....?


    Extract from one of my articles published in Australia's Sports Diver Magazine:

    '...The shallows were home to the juveniles. Tight swirls of catfish flowed like single entities. Schools of juvenile barracuda slicked back and forth. Rockmover wrasse danced like harlequin marionettes and boxfish dipped and ducked. Oriental sweetlips used plate corals to conceal themselves and clouds of anthias sparkled like miniature explosions...'



  • That's beautiful, Claudia.
  • It certainly is.

  • Writing an article is like telling a story - it's up to you how to tell it.

    Poetically or scientifically, full of purple prose or analytical jargon, with short, jagged sentences, or fluid unbreaking paragraphs that leave you gasping for breath...there are no rules.

    But fair enough, asking strangers for cash seems to be a popular tool nowadays.
  • I can't write like that. As they say, if you can't go wide, go deep.

    My writing is what they term 'populariist', in that it deals with human emotions by touching the surface.

    That type of writing can produce visceral reactions that can be very exciting to those who enjoy such 'sensationalising' of the emotions without getting titilating... That's not my style. My writing is commercially based, that's why I am hoping that maybe I can cross over into mainstream if I can figure out how to promote it to the right people.

    Scribophile, another writers' forum, has offered two new groups for me to join, one all about marketing, so will be taking a look at that too, for guidance..
  • I can't write articles.
    thanks for the dig that writing articles isn't creative :)


    Oops.

  • Stand corrected!
  • Shouldn't be too long till I can send off for soundproofing, hopefully, via Baggy Books, if she has room on her schedule...
    I like a nice quiet read :-D


    You're definitely better off without a listing on Yell, Lydia. I'm fairly confident that nobody has ever picked up the Yellow Pages (or its digital equivalent) to help them find their next book to read.

    Once you have a bit of track record of published work, and if you decide you're going to pursue a career as a copywriter, you might want to have a listing there. But I think even then it won't be as beneficial as a website full of (details of / links to) published work.
  • Just checked out my tumblr site today, created by that fiverr expert. Wow! She's put up images of film studios in action, which I never would have imagined to do. She runs her own media company and PR, as well, so understands the genre. She has joined my Facebook, and added 500+ likes by her friends, to assist me, and makes the odd comment on things I put on there. She seems to know what she is doing and that certainly does look impressive, that site. So I am with you on the Yell listings. Much wiser to go with social media progression.

    Still pondering as to whether I should concentrate on finishing my two films scripts,same story, different versions,as they ought to only take 3/4 weeks to complete, then I can get them assessed and sent off to agents, if no more work required. And while they are being assessed I could get on with my ebook? I am so close to finishing now, that I want to get things done as quickly as possible just so I can test the waters, so to speak... Finishing line is there. Just need to get the baton over to it...
  • In your rush to submit, don't neglect the editing/polishing process, Lydia.
  • That's been done. Just needs restructuring. The film script. And as for the ebook. I'm lucky, in that it usually comes out the way I want it to when I write. After the prilimary work that has already been done. It would just be a case of seeing what the assessors make of them, if more writing, editing would be necessary? Hoping, by the time they are complete, I will have done enough on them...
  • Restructuring will lead to extra editing!
    ...I'm lucky, in that it usually comes out the way I want it to when I write.
    YOU might be happy with it, but that doesn't mean it's ready.
  • Thorough editing is what takes it from good to great. It's not just about spelling!!
  • Correct spelling? You mean us writers even have to check what us writ before it goes out?

    *sighs and scurries off in search of Baggy's padded cell*
  • edited September 2016
    I'm lucky, in that it usually comes out the way I want it to when I write.
    Are you saying that you write one draft and are satisfied that your first draft doesn't require editing? That would be amazing if you can write like that.
  • Lydia is amazing because she's stored all those insights of a disadvantaged upbringing so they flow onto paper like maple syrup over Macca's pancakes.

    That is why we have two brain hemispheres. One for screen plays and one for ebooks. Fortunately, Lydia has nailed it, and I, for one, wish her the best with her restructuring and ultimate submissions to agents.

    Keep at it Lydia, because determination overrides all!!
  • I...I have no idea if this is sarcasm or not. The Internet has ruined me.
  • I'll grab an oar, BR. We're in the same boat.
  • I've no real idea of what anyone's on about in this thread.
  • I believe everything I see here.

    I am a vulnerable pensioner
  • I think PaigeElizabethTurner was being sincere when she wrote those words, or at least that's how I am taking them. If so, that's real encouragement, and I'll take great heart from.those words.

    And no my first drafts do not come out magically fixed on the paper, but require some tweaks and expansion along the way, but when I have done all that, and have the shell.of the story, then pretty much, I can just jot down words and they usually come out they way I want them to.

    Am aware that that is my reaction, alone, and the assessors may not see it that way. That is why I will be hiring them to give their considered opinion on these. Then if additional work is needed, I am quite prepared to.put in the effort...
  • Lydia your confidence is great, wish I was as confident about everything I do. Self belief is what keeps you going when others around you are sceptical. Make sure whoever does your editing or critiquing ( if that's a word) that they 'get' you. You'll know what I mean when they do.
  • Thanks for the vote of confidence, datco2014. It's great for me when what I am attempting to do is understood. And you're right, my ebook will need to be recognised for what it is, if it is going to be assessed properly. Thanks for that suggestion. Much appreciated...
Sign In or Register to comment.