by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
There’s something very satisfying about spring cleaning. I focus on looking at my house with a fresh eye, seeing the stuff that needs deep cleaning and that goes unnoticed unless I’m really searching for it. I got a good deal of spiffing up done before I twisted oddly, pulled something in my back, and decided to move on to quieter pursuits for the next week. Aging is definitely not for sissies.
Then I found some digital spring cleaning that needed to be done. I keep the back matter for my books (my bio, acknowledgements, backlist) in a OneNote document and copy-paste it into the end of each of my books. I have one document that’s hyperlinked (for ebooks) and one that’s plain text for printed books.
I do a great job of keeping my backlist updated for each of my series. But I noticed my bio at the top of the back matter was out-of-date. Badly. I think I’d had two other bios since then. I’d updated my bio on my website and other places, but had forgotten to do it for my back matter.
With that in mind, I did a quick check online to see if there was anything else that needed updating. I found a few forgotten odds and ends to take care of.
Here is where I took a look:
Website:
Is your “about me” page updated?
Is your contact info still current?
Do your links go to the correct social media pages?
If you’ve left a social media platform, have you deleted that link from your site?
If you have a “news” page or an “appearances” page, have you updated those recently?
Is there anything in your sidebar that’s no longer relevant? Any professional organizations you no longer belong to?
Social Media:
Does your profile picture or background need updating?
Is your bio updated?
Back Matter:
Last but not least, take a look at what you’re copy-pasting and make sure it’s exactly what you think it is.
Have you updated your online presence recently? What other areas have I missed?
Spring Cleaning Your Online Life: Click To TweetImage by Markus Winkler from Pixabay
I should probably do that.
Sorry about your back. There is no upside to getting older.
True! Although I guess it beats the alternative, ha.
These are such good ideas, Elizabeth! It's important to keep things updated, and confusing for readers if you don't. I've also found that as technology gets better, updating a web site can also include new digital 'final touches' that can really make visiting your site a good experience.
Confusing is definitely not the experience we want readers to have!
Thank you for the reminders! I need to update my events page! It seems like a constant battle to remain up-to-date! I hope your back heals quickly!
Hi Lisa! You’re right–it’s a struggle to keep everything updated, especially with all the different formats we’re all on. My back is better, although I’m still babying it for a few more days. :)
Glad you're feeling better. I'm slightly embarrased at how many exclamation points I used last night. I hadn't even had any coffee.
It’s just the very idea of spring cleaning that did that. It’s exciting, ha!
Hi Elizabeth – as my mother used to say to me … for goodness sake get it done – even though I was visiting her twice a day at the Nursing Centre and feeling totally frazzled – I just laughed … and still do thinking about it! We really do need to keep on top of things … well done and thank you for reminding us – cheers Hilary. I must get Spring cleaning and not pull any muscles … if I can ….
Mamas always have high expectations, haha! Maybe we should stretch before spring cleaning? Sad but likely true!
LOL! I usually remember to update my events page a couple weeks after an event has passed.
I think the events page is the toughest to remember!
I'm just finishing my home spring cleaning. I know I should spring clean my social media sites but I'll have to save it for another day. And updating Literary Rambles is an ongoing project all year round.
I bet keeping Literary Rambles up-to-date is a big job!