FaceBook is Changing Public Sharing With WordPress

July 31, 2018 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 6 Comments

Posts to

If you’ve followed the news, the stock markets, or for that matter your Facebook account, you have already noticed something wrong. Is there ever. I won’t go into all of the details, suffice it to say, I’m close to shutting all of it down. I’m sure many of you might feel the same.

Now, WordPress must make changes. So, in an effort to give you some idea of what and how to address these changes, I will give you some bullet points, links to fix, and what I’m doing.

Starting August 1, 2018:

third-party tools, like Publicize, will no longer share posts automatically to Facebook Profiles.
This includes the WordPress. com tool that connects your site to major social media platforms ( Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook).
Any Facebook Profile connected to social sites will no longer share your posts to Facebook.
if you have a Facebook Page connected to your site — all your content should still appear directly on Facebook via Publicize.

Don’t know the difference between a Profile and Page?

Check out Facebook’s explanation.

What You Can Do:

If you want to keep your profile and still your followers to see your posts, you have two options.
1. Once you publish a new post, copy its URL and share the link in a new Facebook post.
2. The other option is to convert your Facebook Profile to a Page.
3. Review and change your social sharing settings at My Site(s) → Sharing on WordPress.com.
4. to share your concerns with Facebook, head to their Help Community to comment.

What I am Doing:

Currently, I have two Facebook profiles. One profile is for family, friends and the second profile is focusing on writing and those friends and acquaintances interested in all things writing.

To make things less confusing, I have taken the following steps. I will keep, for now my personal profile to stay in touch with family, friends, and social events within my communities. Politics of any kind, disruptive, or disrespectful comments, post, cartoons, or related will be blocked from my site. This is a personal , social, and family site. I will keep it that way or do the following: delete the offending post, meme, etc or delete my site entirely. The phone works just as well, if not better.
I’m converting my second Facebook Profile, previously used for writers, authors, and writing information, to a Facebook Page. It may, however, not transfer all followers, so if you get another invite,I hope you will accept. Again, this will be a page related to all things on writing. Pictures or post related to family should be shared on my personal profile. Family is welcome to follow but keep in mind this is a page dedicated to authors and writers. And, the same policy on politics, stated above applies to his Page.

My Facebook Addresses and Links:

Change is never easy, but sometimes necessary. So, check out the new page and if you’re not on it, send me a request!

What do you think about all the changes?

I’d love to hear your comments. Talk to me. Tell me your story. I’m all ears and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMcIntyreGood, Pinterest, Bloglovin, Twitter@sheilamgood, Contently, and Instagram. You can follow my reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

Some Hard Truths About Blogging

June 22, 2018June 22, 2018 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 20 Comments

When I began blogging, I will admit I had no idea what I was getting into. I just wanted to write.

I discovered a few things along the way:

Blogging is hard work.
It takes time, lots of time.
Blogging and writing my novel was a difficult balance.

P. S. Hoffman has written a great article on this very subject. 5 Ways an Author Blog Could Kill Your Writing (and What to Do Instead). Here are some highlights.

Blogging is a huge investment in time and effort.
It robs you of valuable writing time.
If you want to write a novel, blogging teaches the wrong skills.
Blogging is “information heavy and story light.”
If you want to build your storytelling skills – write stories. Readers want to read your stories.
Author blogs don’t sell books.
To blog well, you must love blogging.

I enjoy sharing with my readers my stories and the tips or resources I come across as I strive to learn the craft of writing. I discovered, however, that to focus on my novel, I had to put my blog on the back burner.

At first, I felt guilty for abandoning my readers, even if for a short while; but, I had to decide – Did I want to be a writer or a blogger? The answer was clear, I wanted to write. I set aside the focus on my blog and for more than three months, turned my attention to my novel. It is now complete and out to beta readers and editors.

For now, I can focus on sharing some of what I learned during the process of completing my novel and what happens as I go through the process from draft to publication.

The question is still an important one to ask? What’s your goal? Writer? Blogger?

Check out P. S. Hoffman’s post, 5 Ways an Author Blog Could Kill Your Writing (and What to Do Instead)and let me know what you think.

I’d love to hear your comments. Talk to me. Tell me your story. I’m all ears and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMGood, Pinterest, Bloglovin, Twitter@sheilamgood, Contently, and Instagram. You can follow my reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

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When Your Blog Can’t Be Your First, Or Only, Priority

December 3, 2017December 6, 2017 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / Leave a comment

For those of us who struggle with unexpected life events, the love of writing, and blogging, this blog post from Ryan Lanz is thought provoking and great advice! Thanks Ryan for sharing.

The Heavy Weight of Perfectionism

August 7, 2017August 17, 2017 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 8 Comments

My name is Sheila, and I am a perfectionist.

The experts say this personality trait comes from one’s childhood. For me, that’s probably true. My mom, God rest her soul, taught me, from an early age, to do things right the first time. Or, do it over until I could do it right the first time. Want to know the best way to clean windows, grout, baseboards or window seals? Gotcha covered, but that’s another post.

Even at this late stage in my life, I continue to struggle with having everything “perfect.” This is especially true as it relates to writing. That’s why my WIP, 40,000 words in, is still unfinished. This is not a trait of which I’m proud. Striving for perfection will suck the life out of your soul if allowed to run unchecked. At times it weighs me down, and I miss out on being present with the people and life happening around me.

Robin LaFevers from Writer’s Unboxed shares an excellent essay on the topic. The Perils of Perfection. It is well worth a read and thoughtful consideration.