How a Mangled Nursery Rhyme Inspired 7 Social Media Platform Strategy Techniques

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

I Know Why Your Blog Won’t Grow

You Hate Twitter and Facebook

Won’t Give Anything Else a Fair Look

No Wonder Your Book Sales Are Slow

Many writers are stuck in the past. Maybe not as far back as Mother Goose, but back in the days where all we had to do was write good content—okay, great content—the rest would take care of itself. But let’s not kid ourselves. The rest didn’t take care of itself. Publishing companies had scores of people to market our manuscripts for us while we did the occasional book signing and then sat down to work on our sequel. Publishing houses have had to change with the times, however. Where there used to be dozens of publishers, now there are just a handful. Just last year we were all talking about “The Big Six” in the industry. Now there are just five. As publishers merged with one another and revamped their processes, many editors became swamped with manuscripts to review and many marketers found themselves overwhelmed by their workload. That meant that virtually no manuscripts were accepted without an agent, fewer manuscripts got published each year, and those that did required the author to do some of the marketing work. If an editor was on the fence about a project, a strong criterion for decision-making was to see if the author had a viable marketing platform. So why are we authors so resistant when we can see that’s the new path?

Well, like Ross said to Rachel when she asked him how things were with the girl from the Xerox place, “Nobody likes change.”

Why is change so bad? Think of all the times in your life that something changed. Not something you were looking forward to, like a wedding or a birth (although those can be challenging events as well as joyous ones), but something you were dreading.

A new school.
A job change.
Moving.

Sure, those things can be intimidating, but I bet none of them were as bad as you anticipated. And once you accepted your fate (cue dramatic music…duh, duh, duh!) and embraced your new role, things probably got pretty good.

So, as a writer, what can you do to embrace your platforming efforts? Let’s look at that wonderful nursery rhyme above for some ideas.

Blog.
Find what you’re passionate about and write regularly about it. “Blog” actually stands for “Web Log” and if you’re writing regularly about your topic, you’re cataloguing that topic for your readers. To paraphrase James Earl Jones, If you write it, they will come.
Facebook
Many of you probably have a profile page on Facebook to keep up with friends and family. Did you know you can create a professional “Author” page to market your book(s)? Most of you probably do know that. If you do, get on there and interact once and a while. It’s not just for posting and leaving. And for those of you who didn’t know, check it out. It’s a great place to meet your fans.
Twitter
Twitter is tricky, because your account has the potential to grow faster in Twitter than in any other social media outlet. The problem is, it’s hard to say anything meaningful in 140 characters or less, especially when some of your message is taken up by hash tags to get your message seen by particular groups of people. (But I am a strong proponent of hash tags [this mark -#- followed by a word or phrase without spaces] because they filter your message to people following anything with a particular hash tag, and help you make contacts in those groups.) Still, I recommend Twitter, because it’s fast and it’s vast.
Pinterest
Many people don’t realize this, but Pinterest can be a useful marketing tool. Just create a board for your published works and your works in progress. Include people, places and things that occur in your books. Just make sure you don’t use any photos that you don’t own the copyright to or have the owner’s permission to use.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the most professional of all the media listed, but it’s still a great resource. You can make a lot of contacts and network with people in the industry. Post your credentials, get endorsements, and even have your blog posts appear on your profile. There are also several discussion groups and forums to join that discuss writing, editing, and publishing topics. Don’t discount this option just because it’s a “professional” site.
Public Speaking
Public speaking isn’t for the faint of heart, and can be hard to break into, but it’s a great way to make a name for yourself. Start by volunteering your time at libraries, schools, or local groups who have interests that coincide with the topics that your novels cover. Before long, you’ll be comfortable in front of groups and you’ll have built a name for yourself as a public speaker so that people are requesting you and you can start charging for your time.
Other Media
There are several other media that you can use to generate brand awareness. Pick one or two and devote your time do doing these well. Once you have established followers, you can maybe branch out to another. Try to learn all the intricate details of the media you choose, not just the barest essentials. The better you are at what you choose, the more you can effectively interact. And the more you interact, the more loyal followers you’ll get.

In the end, isn’t that what we all really want? Relationships with our readers? A loyal fan base who is interested in our content, wants to buy our books, and tells others about us? Be genuine with your readers. Interact with them, don’t talk at them, and it will happen.

No one wants to be a Contrary Mary. We should all aspire to Go with Flo. (That’s probably not what that meant, huh? Still, it’ll stick with ya!)

Holiday or Heritage? Will You Fight for Cultural Cognizance?

I just read an article called “Columbus Day To Native American Day? CA Assemblyman Roger Hernandez Introduces Bill AB 55” by Anna Almendrala. In it, she discusses the possibility that Columbus Day will be replaced by a holiday called Native American Day in California. With us celebrating Martin Luther King Day today, and with Black History Month approaching in February, people definitely have minority rights and awareness on their minds. That brings up an interesting point.

Do you know what minority group fell victim to the largest lynching in US history? I’ll give you three hints.

1. It occurred in 1891.

2. It took place in Louisiana.

3. It was not African Americans.

It was Italian Americans.

I learned this dark part of my heritage in a fascinating piece called “When Italian Immigrants Were ‘The Other’” by Ed Falco.

New Orleans Police Chief David Hennessy had been murdered, and nine Italians had been tried and found not guilty. Enraged, a mob stormed the jail. The nine innocent men, along with two Italians in jail on other charges, were taken and lynched. The police began arresting Italian immigrants throughout New Orleans. Throughout the country, Italian Americans were being assaulted.

The New York Times ran editorials supporting the attacks, calling Sicilans “sneaking and cowardly” and “a band of assassins” and supported New Orleans’ lynching approach as their only recourse.

Teddy Roosevelt, who wasn’t yet in office, said the lynchings were a “rather good thing,” and John Parker, lynch mob organizer who went on to become Louisiana’s governor, said Italians were “just a little worse than the Negro, being if anything filthier in their habits, lawless, and treacherous.”

I have no interest in taking away anyone’s right to celebrate their heritage. Ask my children, I’m the first one to complain every Thanksgiving that it’s a hypocritical holiday. Atheists celebrate it as a secular holiday, so obviously they don’t believe the pilgrims were thanking God for a bountiful harvest. Christians who do see the Grace of God in the holiday often forget the role the Native Americans played in the first Thanksgiving meal. And even when their role is remembered, no one acknowledges that the settlers simply turned around and stole their land from them after they saved their lives. So really, isn’t Thanksgiving more of a Native American Remembrance Day than Columbus Day?

Yes, Native Americans were here before us. I don’t know how they got here. Maybe they were here since Pangaea. Maybe they crossed the Bering Strait over a now melted glacial bridge. There is no denying though, they were here first and have first claim. That’s undisputed. There’s also evidence that the Vikings came and went before Columbus did. The Italians didn’t live here first. The Italians didn’t even find this land first. But it was Columbus who paved the way for mass exploration, resulting in the country that we’re all benefitting from today. Why not acknowledge that?

I’m saddened at the horrors that befell the native cultures who lived here. The explorers hundreds of years ago were conquerors, and they were hostile and brutal. The spread of disease and the treatment of women especially turns my stomach. We can’t change the past; we can only learn from it. So let’s not put cultures on pedestals. Let’s not forget that when the Europeans tried to buy the land, albeit for a ridiculously low sum, the natives accepted the offerings believing that in their culture, land couldn’t be purchased because it couldn’t be owned. It wasn’t just the Europeans who were duplicitous in their dealings.

I’m proud to be an American, just as I’m proud to be of Italian descent. I think it’s important to celebrate where we came from, but not to the point that we divide ourselves from the rest of our countrymen. There is no reason to take away a celebration from one culture and give it to another when we can set aside days for both cultures to celebrate their own histories, particularly when the cultures include a beautiful and strong one like the Italian culture that has been oppressed time and again, and an often forgotten and proud one like the Native American culture. Both cultures deserve a right to be acknowledged. I would happily celebrate a day that honors and remembers the Native American culture. I would also hope the people of this great nation can see the contributions of my culture, and can see a reason to honor it.

I see no reason why state legislators feel the need to waste time on divisive bills when there are obviously more important matters facing our nation. Let’s not let them get away with eroding our traditions or wasting our time and tax dollars. Instead, let’s uphold them to the principles that all our ancestors lived by—concern for the welfare of the people who inhabit this great nation.

Reality Blogger Award

A shout-out and thank you to Janna Hill, blogger extraordinaire at http://jannahill.wordpress.com, for this nomination. It took me a while to post this because I’ve been practicing my acceptance speech. Then I realized I don’t actually get to give one. I just have to answer the questions below. So really, I wasted your time. Twice now, once while I wrote a beautiful and heart-wrenching speech, and once while you read this paragraph. So, without further ado, I give you my answers:

If you could change one thing what would you change?

My husband’s mind when we argue.

If you could repeat an age, what would it be?

The Age of Aquarius was pretty cool, if you’ve ever watched Hair. Seriously, I have my husband, my kids, my dogs… I’m pretty happy.

What one thing really scares you?

Hell.

What is one dream you have not completed, and do you think you’ll be able to complete it?

I’d love to out-sell J. K. Rowling, but I think that’s why it’s called a dream.

If you could be someone else for one day, who would it be?

I wouldn’t want to be someone else. I know what a mess my thoughts can be; I’d hate to see what kind of mess I’d stumble into in someone else’s.

So, the rules state I should choose up to twenty bloggers. Up to? Craziness. Do you know how many blogs there are out there? What topics they cover? How often they post? Insanity. Instead, I chose just a smattering of blogs that have touched me in a special way over the last year. I hope you check them out, and check out Janna Hill’s, too. In no particular order, here they are:

Joy Keeney @ http://joykeeney.wordpress.com

P. C. Zick @ http://pczick.wordpress.com

Candace Knoebel @ http://candaceknoebel.wordpress.com

Doug Oldfield @ http://www.writingfictionblog.com

Jooseph Anthony @ http://joedegiorgio.com

Here are the rest of the rules. Nominees:

Visit and thank the blogger who nominated you
Acknowledge that blogger on your blog and link back to them
Answer the 5 questions presented
Nominate up to 20 blogs for the award and notify them on their blogs
Copy and paste the award (found above, or in my sidebar) on your blog somewhere

That’s it. Enjoy your award, winners, and the rest of you, please visit my nominees.

Vonnegut’s Take on the Shape of Stories, Then and Now

From one Italian American family to another, our loved ones are always with us. Here’s a touching tribute retold here.

How to Break into Indie Publishing… One Woman’s Journey

In my last post of 2012, “The Year in Review,” fellow author and blogger Janna Hill commented that 2012 was a journey for her because it was her first year as an indie author. You know me, I’m always interested in hearing about someone else’s path. I immediately asked her if she’d share her story with me (and you). Despite being sick with the flu, she took a few minutes to answer some questions about her road to independent publishing.

You’re blog’s main focus is photography. Can you talk about how you became a writer?

Whew! I thought you were going to ask me to talk about photography. How I became a writer requires digging into the memory archives. Let’s see… like most writers I have always written although I was probably 22 years old before I wrote anything for the ‘public’ eye. My debut came as a spoof; an unsolicited parody I had written of (yes of not for) the hospital newsletter. My coworkers were amused and my supervisor told me I had missed my calling. That moment in time mingled with the encouragement of my aunt, my mother and a few others who encouraged me to venture into the world of writing. After winning a few minor contests and several honorable mentions in essays, short stories and poetry, I started submitting on-topic articles to various magazines and newspapers. Somewhere along the way I became a ghostwriter. Ghostwriting served me well for many years, mainly because I lacked self-confidence and courage. When I reached the age of 50, I had an epiphany and I called myself a writer. Getting older has its rewards.

Can you briefly explain what “indie publishing” is for my novice readers?

Sure. Indie is short for independent. Being an indie author, an indie publisher, or both pretty much just means you are on your own. It’s your baby and you are a single parent.

I saw on your website that you have several titles published already. When did you decide to stop publishing the traditional way and go the indie route?

I wrestled with the notion throughout 2011; by January 2012 it was decided.

Why?

For a number of reasons. The support system in traditional publishing is not what it once was. Authors are expected to do more and receive less. Those reasons, coupled with the fact that most of my work was to someone else’s credit; I was tired of being a ghost and realized the break I was waiting for was going to break me. I was waiting for a bus that would never come.

How does the indie path differ from the traditional path?

The traditional path offers you a sense of stability; editing and design come stamped with a recognized seal. Indie means you will have to hire out any service you can’t do for yourself and you’re an unknown brand. People are leery of unknown brands.

In what ways was your indie path better?

It has given me the freedom to be me.

In what ways was it harder?

In every way imaginable. Finding (and keeping) a quality editor/proofreader/critique panel was a real challenge.

Is there anything that you’d do differently now that you have some experience under your belt?

Yes. I think I would’ve transitioned a little slower and maybe (just maybe) held my tongue a little tighter.

Can you offer any advice to aspiring or established authors regarding indie publishing?

Be ready to hit the ground running and have all of your ducks in a row. Don’t be overanxious. To paraphrase my favorite editor: “A bad reputation is harder to recover from than no reputation at all.” And lastly, when you’re certain that your product is ready for market, have your marketing strategy ready before its release.

A giant, heartfelt thanks goes out to Janna, who took the time to answer these questions, without the promised refreshments. The next time you’re in my neck of the woods, Janna, dinner and drinks are on me.

Janna is a wife, mother and grandmother born and raised in Texas where she still happily resides. She’s a licensed nurse and now calls herself an independent author—she writes adult literary fiction and poetry. Her characters are usually from the south because that’s where her heart resides. Her photography and blog can be found at http://jannahill.wordpress.com/, and her website, http://www.jannahill.net/, has links to all her published works. I encourage you to check them out.

Markup: HTML Tags and Formatting

Headings

Header one

Header two

Header three

Header four

Header five

Header six

Blockquotes

Single line blockquote:

Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

Multi line blockquote with a cite reference:

The HTML <blockquote> Element (or HTML Block Quotation Element) indicates that the enclosed text is an extended quotation. Usually, this is rendered visually by indentation (see Notes for how to change it). A URL for the source of the quotation may be given using the cite attribute, while a text representation of the source can be given using the <cite> element.

multiple contributors – MDN HTML element reference – blockquote

Tables

Employee	Salary
John Doe	$1	Because that’s all Steve Jobs needed for a salary.
Jane Doe	$100K	For all the blogging she does.
Fred Bloggs	$100M	Pictures are worth a thousand words, right? So Jane x 1,000.
Jane Bloggs	$100B	With hair like that?! Enough said…

Definition Lists

Definition List Title: Definition list division.
Startup: A startup company or startup is a company or temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model.
#dowork: Coined by Rob Dyrdek and his personal body guard Christopher “Big Black” Boykins, “Do Work” works as a self motivator, to motivating your friends.
Do It Live: I’ll let Bill O’Reilly will explain this one.

Unordered Lists (Nested)

List item one
- List item one
  - List item one
  - List item two
  - List item three
  - List item four
- List item two
- List item three
- List item four
List item two
List item three
List item four

Ordered List (Nested)

List item one -start at 8
1. List item one
  1. List item one -reversed attribute
  2. List item two
  3. List item three
  4. List item four
2. List item two
3. List item three
4. List item four
List item two
List item three
List item four

HTML Tags

These supported tags come from the WordPress.com code FAQ.

Address Tag

1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
United States

Anchor Tag (aka. Link)

This is an example of a link.

Abbreviation Tag

The abbreviation srsly stands for “seriously”.

Acronym Tag (deprecated in HTML5)

The acronym ftw stands for “for the win”.

Big Tag (deprecated in HTML5)

These tests are a big deal, but this tag is no longer supported in HTML5.

Cite Tag

“Code is poetry.” —Automattic

Code Tag

This tag styles blocks of code.
.post-title { margin: 0 0 5px; font-weight: bold; font-size: 38px; line-height: 1.2; and here's a line of some really, really, really, really long text, just to see how it is handled and to find out how it overflows; }
You will learn later on in these tests that word-wrap: break-word; will be your best friend.

Delete Tag

This tag will let you ~~strike out text~~, but this tag is recommended supported in HTML5 (use the <s> instead).

Emphasize Tag

The emphasize tag should italicize text.

Horizontal Rule Tag

This sentence is following a <hr /> tag.

Insert Tag

This tag should denote inserted text.

Keyboard Tag

This scarcely known tag emulates keyboard text, which is usually styled like the <code> tag.

Preformatted Tag

This tag is for preserving whitespace as typed, such as in poetry or ASCII art.

The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost


  Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
  And sorry I could not travel both          (\_/)
  And be one traveler, long I stood         (='.'=)
  And looked down one as far as I could     (")_(")
  To where it bent in the undergrowth;

  Then took the other, as just as fair,
  And having perhaps the better claim,          |\_/|
  Because it was grassy and wanted wear;       / @ @ \
  Though as for that the passing there        ( > º < )
  Had worn them really about the same,         `>>x<<´
                                               /  O  \
  And both that morning equally lay
  In leaves no step had trodden black.
  Oh, I kept the first for another day!
  Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
  I doubted if I should ever come back.

  I shall be telling this with a sigh
  Somewhere ages and ages hence:
  Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
  I took the one less traveled by,
  And that has made all the difference.


  and here's a line of some really, really, really, really long text, just to see how it is handled and to find out how it overflows;

Quote Tag for short, inline quotes

Developers, developers, developers... --Steve Ballmer

Strike Tag (deprecated in HTML5) and S Tag

This tag shows ~~strike-through~~ ~~text~~.

Small Tag

This tag shows smaller text.

Strong Tag

This tag shows bold text.

Subscript Tag

Getting our science styling on with H₂O, which should push the "2" down.

Superscript Tag

Still sticking with science and Albert Einstein's E = MC², which should lift the 2 up.

Teletype Tag (obsolete in HTML5)

This rarely used tag emulates teletype text, which is usually styled like the <code> tag.

Underline Tag deprecated in HTML 4, re-introduced in HTML5 with other semantics

This tag shows underlined text.

Variable Tag

This allows you to denote variables.

Markup: Image Alignment

Welcome to image alignment! The best way to demonstrate the ebb and flow of the various image positioning options is to nestle them snuggly among an ocean of words. Grab a paddle and let’s get started.

On the topic of alignment, it should be noted that users can choose from the options of None, Left, Right, and Center. In addition, they also get the options of Thumbnail, Medium, Large & Fullsize. Be sure to try this page in RTL mode and it should look the same as LTR.

The image above happens to be centered.

The rest of this paragraph is filler for the sake of seeing the text wrap around the 150×150 image, which is left aligned.

As you can see the should be some space above, below, and to the right of the image. The text should not be creeping on the image. Creeping is just not right. Images need breathing room too. Let them speak like you words. Let them do their jobs without any hassle from the text. In about one more sentence here, we’ll see that the text moves from the right of the image down below the image in seamless transition. Again, letting the do it’s thang. Mission accomplished!

And now for a massively large image. It also has no alignment.

The image above, though 1200px wide, should not overflow the content area. It should remain contained with no visible disruption to the flow of content.

And we try the large image again, with the center alignment since that sometimes is a problem. The image above, though 1200px wide, should not overflow the content area. It should remain contained with no visible disruption to the flow of content.

And now we’re going to shift things to the right align. Again, there should be plenty of room above, below, and to the left of the image. Just look at him there… Hey guy! Way to rock that right side. I don’t care what the left aligned image says, you look great. Don’t let anyone else tell you differently.

In just a bit here, you should see the text start to wrap below the right aligned image and settle in nicely. There should still be plenty of room and everything should be sitting pretty. Yeah… Just like that. It never felt so good to be right.

And just when you thought we were done, we’re going to do them all over again with captions!

Image Alignment 580x300 — Look at 580×300 getting some caption love.

The image above happens to be centered. The caption also has a link in it, just to see if it does anything funky.

Image Alignment 150x150 — Bigger caption than the image usually is.

The rest of this paragraph is filler for the sake of seeing the text wrap around the 150×150 image, which is left aligned.

And now for a massively large image. It also has no alignment.

Image Alignment 1200x400 — Comment for massive image for your eyeballs.

The image above, though 1200px wide, should not overflow the content area. It should remain contained with no visible disruption to the flow of content.

And again with the big image centered. The image above, though 1200px wide, should not overflow the content area. It should remain contained with no visible disruption to the flow of content.

Image Alignment 300x200 — Feels good to be right all the time.

And that’s a wrap, yo! You survived the tumultuous waters of alignment. Image alignment achievement unlocked! One last thing: The last item in this post’s content is a thumbnail floated right. Make sure any elements after the content are clearing properly.

Markup: Text Alignment

Default

This is a paragraph. It should not have any alignment of any kind. It should just flow like you would normally expect. Nothing fancy. Just straight up text, free flowing, with love. Completely neutral and not picking a side or sitting on the fence. It just is. It just freaking is. It likes where it is. It does not feel compelled to pick a side. Leave him be. It will just be better that way. Trust me.

Left Align

This is a paragraph. It is left aligned. Because of this, it is a bit more liberal in it’s views. It’s favorite color is green. Left align tends to be more eco-friendly, but it provides no concrete evidence that it really is. Even though it likes share the wealth evenly, it leaves the equal distribution up to justified alignment.

Center Align

This is a paragraph. It is center aligned. Center is, but nature, a fence sitter. A flip flopper. It has a difficult time making up its mind. It wants to pick a side. Really, it does. It has the best intentions, but it tends to complicate matters more than help. The best you can do is try to win it over and hope for the best. I hear center align does take bribes.

Right Align

This is a paragraph. It is right aligned. It is a bit more conservative in it’s views. It’s prefers to not be told what to do or how to do it. Right align totally owns a slew of guns and loves to head to the range for some practice. Which is cool and all. I mean, it’s a pretty good shot from at least four or five football fields away. Dead on. So boss.

Justify Align

This is a paragraph. It is justify aligned. It gets really mad when people associate it with Justin Timberlake. Typically, justified is pretty straight laced. It likes everything to be in it’s place and not all cattywampus like the rest of the aligns. I am not saying that makes it better than the rest of the aligns, but it does tend to put off more of an elitist attitude.

Inspiration for 2013’s Goals and Targets

comedy tragedy masks Happy New Year!

For those of you who thought the world was going to end in December (an end that the Mayan’s never in fact predicted), welcome back to the party. And it is a party, by the way. I have the highest hopes for 2013 being a fabulous year.

It’s time for resolutions. It’s a time I usually dread. I think back over the resolutions I’ve made (and never kept) in the past and wonder why I should bother. But this year I have a better outlook. One reason is that I know even attempting to improve myself in any way is better than the status quo. Another reason is that everyone needs a clean slate once in a while. This is a great time for a fresh start. Finally, I usually look at the resolutions as something bad that I have to try to change. This year I’m looking at them as something good that I want to try to attain. Perhaps a different outlook will make all the difference in achieving my goals. Even though I’m just starting today (my vacation is just ending because my kids are just going back to school today), I already feel better than I have in prior years. It all has to do with outlook.

Many writing sites say to set both goals (something within your control) and targets (something outside of your control, but likely affected by your goals), and to be specific. They say if you set them publically, you’re more likely to be held accountable. I agree with the goals and targets, and I agree that a public declaration does give you motivation, but I believe that your resolutions are personal. Do what you want with them. If you want to share them for motivation, by all means, take a megaphone to the mall. If posting them above your laptop keeps them on your mind, then post them there. Write them in glitter paint and hang them across from your toilet dining table so you see them several times a day. Tell your mother-in-law so you can be harassed about them until you complete them. (Hey, whatever works for you.) But the important thing is to be specific. Use concrete numbers, not generalities, and set realistic deadlines.

In order for me to set my 2013 goals and targets, I thought back over 2012. And I realized, I had an emotional year. I laughed a lot, and I cried a lot. I cried when my niece left for boot camp, I cried when my son “graduated” middle school and cried again when his football team went undefeated this year. I cried when there were births and deaths, I cried at natural disasters and violent tragedies. I cried at Mass when I heard hymns that reminded me of my grandfather and I cried when I heard songs on the radio that reminded me how precious and short life is. I cried during movies, TV shows and reading. And, despite my kids’ utter humiliation, I even cried during certain commercials on television. I’m a softie.

But I also laughed a lot. I laughed when my husband and kids told jokes. I laughed when my dogs jumped up and licked my face. I laughed when family visited from out of state. It filled me with joy just seeing them walk in the door. I laughed (and maybe cried a little) when my daughter won her first tennis match. I laughed when I learned for the first time I was getting a story published. I laughed with my friends at writing group and at writing conferences. I laughed at myself when I did and said stupid things (more times than I care to count). I laughed when my computer posted an, “It’s dead, Jim,” message on my screen (otherwise I would have cried). I laughed when my daughter and I foolishly thought we could do the P90X system. That lasted four days. (And then I almost cried when I could barely walk.) I laughed when the Steelers hired Todd Haley as the OC. (Look where that got us.) I laughed at Christmas when my kids opened their gifts—their faces were priceless.

Yes, it was an emotional year. I wish I could erase the horrors, but we learn and grow from them, and they make us appreciate our joys and successes all the more. As I evaluate 2012, I know what I want from 2013. I hope you take the time to do an honest assessment of your last year and create a goal and target list for 2013. If you want, post it here. I’m not your mother-in-law, but I’d be happy to keep after you about your progress!