Dilemma of the Multi-Genre Author

It’s great fun for a writer to wear many different hats: to write effectively on a variety of fun topics. It keeps life interesting. But how does the multi-genre author effectively manage their brand, website, and social media pages?

That’s a trick I confess I’ve yet to manage properly. I’d love reader feedback on this dilemma!

When I began writing, it wasn’t quite so tricky. My first website I managed myself was in the 90s, on Tripod (no longer in existence, but oldies may remember it) under my author name.

Next came WordPress blogging. For parents, I had (have) my Parenting by Faith blog. For writers, it was (is) my Sell Your Nonfiction blog, on how to sell magazine articles. My articles on parenting and writing are still there; most on perennial topics, thankfully.

Well eventually my old WordPress themes became unsupported: the graphics went wacky. The switch from free WordPress.com to fee supported WordPress.org made sense, for more personal control over my material. The creation of CrossConnect Media to merge (ideally) all the weird parts of my brain on one site seemed possible. I chose the Get Noticed Theme, which had/has quite a learning curve. (It is no longer supported by the designer, but still seems to work … for now).

NOW here I go, turning into a history nut! At least a nut revolving around 95-year-old letters found in my own attic, written from an American mom in the Indian jungle, a remote island convict colony with an elephant logging camp in the 1920s. How could that NOT be irresistible to a writer?

So here I am. As if my sites are not complicated enough. It may not be as much a disconnect as it seems: a good portion of the historical biography I’m writing has to do with motherhood. And writing, of course. But if I’m not careful, this website could turn into a very strange medusa.

For now, I just keep running my old blogs and hope my social media pages add clarity to what I do, in addition to my Bio. History buffs may enjoy my Facebook page, Laurie Winslow Sargent: for Parents, Writers and the Eternally Curious with links to my Twitter page. There I’m posting some fun historical tidbits related to my research of the 1920s-1930s in British Raj India. Here, I will continue to post tips on the writing business.

If, perchance, you are a multi-genre author like myself and have successfully figured out a one-size-fits-all website for yourself, I’d love to hear about it!

Laurie

Laurie Winslow Sargent is the author of Delight in Your Child's Design and The Power of Parent-Child Play, has contributed stories to a dozen other books, and has had articles in national magazines with 300,000 to one million readers. Radio interviews with Laurie have aired in 48 U.S. states and abroad. Her current nonfiction book in progress is based on 1920s to 1930s expat experiences of an American couple in British Raj India. She is also executor for the original manuscripts of Hayden Howard, award-winning 1960s author.

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