DO YOU BLING? By Morgan Mandel

HOW MUCH DO YOU BLING? IS THERE A RIGHT OR WRONG TIME TO BLING?




Which glasses have the bling? The ones on the right, obviously.

After four years of wearing the same frames, even after changing prescriptions, I broke down and added more bling to my life. What prompted the change was a small scratch, which I knew would get larger with time, also Sears had a good sale. For the heck of it I tried on some snazzier frames and decided I liked them.

I wear them a lot, but not always. They do have their disadvantages. For one thing, I can see the sides of the new frames in my peripheral vision, which is very distracting. The old frames were open. Because of safety factors, when I’m driving, I still wear the plain frames. Also, when I go to aerobics class, I use the oldies so the new ones won’t get all sweaty.

For a while I even kept the old ones on the nightstand because I was afraid I’d knock the new ones off, but decided I was being overprotective.

I’ve come to the conclusion there’s a time and place for bling, actually many times and places. Also, there’s a time and place for plain.

Even before I changed glasses, I already was into bling. If you take a look at my website at www.morganmandel.com , you’ll find bling on the main page—banners, review site logos, photos, other doo-dads. At one time, it even had an electronic marquee advertising the release of Girl of My Dreams.
I try to make each page unique, depicting the flavor of my novel and the subject matter I’m presenting. You’ll find airplanes and landmark photos on the travelogue that tracks the rounds in Girl of My Dreams. You’ll find a projector on the page with the first chapter excerpt, plus other gimmicks throughout the website designed to grab the reader’s attention.

On my blogs, whenever I can I add some kind of graphic to catch the eye, like the photos of my glasses above.

I belong to a lot of networks on http://ning.com , also am a creator of a few, http://bookplace.ning.com and http://sixtyandsavvy.ning.com, where you’ll find all kinds of bling in the form of photos, trailers, and other gimmicks.

Along with the glitz, I also belong to a great many no-frill listservs - bookblogtours,longandshortromancereviews, MurderMustAdvertise, and too many more to mention. I learned of these groups through networking and also by typing in groups.yahoo.com and choosing topics I was interested in. From these message groups I’ve gained valuable information and valued friends. They are a necessary part of my education,marketing strategy and online social life.

So, which is better, bling or plain? I say they both have their merits.

What about you? Do you like bling? Or plain? Or both, like me?

Morgan Mandel
www.morganmandel.com
http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com

Tweets for Today

• 14:52 Just posted a blog at morganmandel.blogspot.com about 2 rock groups and the similarity to the Awe-Struck sale to Mundania Press #

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LEADERS LOST AND GAINED - THE METEORS, AWE-STRUCK, MUNDANIA PRESS By Morgan Mandel

The Meteors at Beacon Tap in Des Plaines

Last night was a perfect evening to sit outside and listen to great music. That's exactly what my husband and I did. We'd heard that The Meteors were playing at Beacon Tap in DesPlaines,Illinois, so we decided to drive over and listen to them. An outing to hear a local band play at a beer garden may not sound inspiring, but you need to hear the history of this band.

The Meteors, known as Johnny Star and the Meteors, were quite popular in this area as a cover band for about 30 years. With a powerful voice, the lead singer, Johnny Star, belted out songs by the Beatles, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Jay and the Americans. Then something wonderful happened for Johnny. About 3 months ago, Johnny was "discovered" and became an "overnight success." Jay from Jay and the Americans had left their group, they needed a replacement, and they wanted Johnny.

Johnny's big break left The Meteors without a lead singer. They could have given up, but instead reorganized and continued on. When we saw them last night, they didn't seem the same as when Johnny Star was their lead singer, yet they still had a great sound. Judging from the amount of people in the audience who got up to dance, we weren't the only ones who thought The Meteors still had it in them.

I'd have to say many of the authors from Awe-Struck right now probably feel like The Meteors did when they heard Johnny was leaving. The success of Awe-Struck became so daunting the owners, great as they were, couldn't keep up with the volume of tasks. So they did the sensible thing. They sold to another press that could better handle the load.

Now Awe-Struck authors are actually Mundania Press authors, though no outward signs are evident at this time and may not be for quite a while. The switch and all of its implications may seem a bit baffling for these authors, yet from what I understand, exciting days are ahead for them with new opportunities.

The main thin is, like The Meteors, the Awe-Struck authors will still be able to share their talents. Bottom line is that's what really matters.

Morgan Mandel
www.morganmandel.com
http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com
www.myspace.com/morganmandel

SOCIAL NETWORKS by Morgan Mandel

These flowers have nothing to do with the blog subject, but they're pretty enough to share.

Thanks to Blogger, I've got some neat widgets here you can link to and take you to some great social networks. You may even find me on some of them. BOOK PLACE and SIXTY AND SAVVY at http://bookplace.ning.com and http://sixtyandsavvy.ning.com are my own networks, but I belong to many others on ning. The array is endless and addictive.

I spend endless hours also at MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, Shelfari, Youtube, Goodreads. I gave up on Second Life because it was too confusing for me. You'll find some of my links further down in the left column. There are quite a few. When in doubt, if you type morganmandel in the address, you usually can find me.

Does it help market my books, TWO WRONGS and GIRL OF MY DREAMS? I can't tell for sure now, but I do know I'm making lots of friends without leaving home!

Morgan Mandel
www.morganmandel.com

VACATION FUN, FOOD, SLOTS - BOOK WORLD BOOK SIGNING

Morgan Mandel at Book World in Minocqua

I combined pleasure with pleasure on my last vacation. I confess to eating an overabundance of evil food, since vacation calories don't count. So I digged into the butter burgers and concrete shakes at Culver's, the fish and shrimp at the fish fry at Tula's, the fried chicken at Fibber's, and raspberry with white chocolate truffle ice cream at Cathy's. No, not at the same time. (g)

I also spent way too much time and money at Lake of the Torches Casino because I'm a player. Players play slots if they win or lose. When we win, we keep going since we have more money to play with. When we lose, the next spin has to be better than the last.

Besides participating in the evil sports of overeating and playing slots this past vacation, I also held a book signing on Saturday, July 26 at Book World on the main drag in Minocqua, Wisconsin. I had a great time talking to readers and telling them about my books.

Armed with a fresh review of my new romantic comedy, GIRL OF MY DREAMS, written in the nick of time by Joyce Laabs of the Lakeland Times newspaper, and the flyers in the window the past month, I set up my table at Book World.

Advance publicity does help. One woman said she'd hear of the book signing and that's why she came in. A younger woman, when she saw the cover of GIRL OF MY DREAMS on the table, said she'd seen the book before.

When I hear such comments I'm heartened to know my name and books are becoming known.

Anyway, Book World also stocked my debut mystery, TWO WRONGS. That was a good thing, since surprisingly that day more readers were in the mood for a mystery than a romance.

I'm looking forward to another booksigning during Cranberry Fest in Eagle River, WI on October 4. It's a very popular event, judging from the response I received last year at my book signing.

More exciting book signings being finalized.

Until then,
Take care,
Morgan Mandel
www.morganmandel.com
http://blogsthatrule.blogspot.comhttp://http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com