Lesson One: What's in a Name?

Time for some soul-searching. I will look back at the 10 best lessons I learned while venturing into this publishing business. The first lesson? Do better research on the name of a blog.

I started out with a really good idea for a blog. I was going to create a forum for all those struggling writers who hammer away without getting a publishing deal. I thought I had a really good title, too.

The First-Timers.

The name fits. All those writers who are aiming for their first publishing contract seemed like fertile ground for a blog. Am I right? Probably. I just didn't check out the name thing first.

Something called "The First-Timers" doesn't first bring to mind the publishing business, according to Google. That title is reserved for something much more intriguing, like first-time sexual experiences. Hmmm, Google is going to like that subject matter. My blog on the publishing business? Not so much.

The current name, "Fingertips on Keyboard," was born about two weeks after I started the blog. I comes from a line I wrote in my first novel (the one in dry dock for later revisions). It describes a big part of my life over the past few years. It works. The First-Timers? Only if I'm interested in reading about a person's leap into sexual adulthood. Uh, not so much.

Lesson No. 2 will be posted later Friday.

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