Today I wanna open a can of worms with you folks and chat about:
Reciprocity.
Yeah, it's sexy. I know.
I bring it up because I was in a really great discussion with a publisher recently about how to make your mark on the Wide Wide Internet Highway without going insane in the process.
Her suggestion was to forget about "selling your book." That's right. Your product is not your book. It is you. I'm having my own personal website revamped to reflect that.
Acquisition Editors troll the interwebs these days to see if you are "out there" already. If you aren't you'd best comment here to start making an impact, then make sure you have a relevant post on your own blog (preferably NOT about what was in your kid's diaper this morning or how cute your cat is cuddled up in a shoebox--make a new blog for that crap), then hit Facebook and Twitter and start interacting with people, posting notices and excerpts (IF they are already contracted and edited).
I also go by the advice I got while setting up my pretty impressive social networking plan for my brewery. BLOG. Often. IT is the hub of your social media wheel of success. Use the outlets like FB/Twitter/Linked In/ Google + as spokes leading straight to the hub. A Blog is where you show your expertise, humor, successes and humbling experiences. ALL of it edited just as carefully as you would a submission. Because it is. You are submitting to the world at large you are an expert on .... writing. I see more cringe-worthy typos and flat out errors of grammar on "writer blogs" than is believable sometimes. Don't Be That Writer.
Treat it like a job--the two hours you devote every day to making your presence known on line. Find and join Yahoo and Google+ groups for outlets to promote and find ways to learn. I would add to that: Reciprocate.
Spend another hour to an hour and a half going to the blogs you like, and even finding one or two new ones via your shiny new group memberships and whatnot. Read and comment. A great example of this is the new USA Today Romance Blog. Read that sucker every day and have Something To Say about the posts. They love it. And you might learn something and/or find a hot new author to read.
The key is managing your time so that social networking doesn't feel overwhelming. Assign it a time of day and an ending. Set a timer. (It's how I do it). Be sincere, useful, and positive in your commentary. But Be There.
Next week--we might look at some sexy men instead of all this boring blah blah about writing, what say you?
cheers
Liz
www.brewingpassion.com
This blog post told me nothing. More sexy men please.
ReplyDeleteum. Ok. I will make a note Michael. Thanks for the comment...I, uh, think?
ReplyDeleteIn my mind I know you're right but I rarely find time to blog and when I do, my brain usually takes a nap and I can't think of a thing to write about. I don't want every blog post to be promo, promo, promo. That gets boring very fast and turns readers off, imho.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned taking time out specifically for this activity, but how do you also keep it fresh and engaging? My poor blog is sadly neglected. I'm surprised someone has not turned it in to Blog Social Services yet.
BTW: Sexy men are always welcome!
Carpe Noctem,
Des
Author Desirée Lee
Putting the Romance Back in Necromancy
http://www.desireelee.com
Great Post, Liz... You make a lot of good points that every author should hear. I know I'm not the best at keeping up with the social networking portion of my "me" product, but I do like to help everyone else, too. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip on USA Today!
ReplyDeleteI've learned from my life as "Beer Wench" www.a2beerwench.com that it is not only necessary, but crucial to maintain a presence on the net to get noticed. I know for a stone cold fact that acquisitions editors nowadays google you (IF your MS gets past the gate keepers) and the more you are out there the better.
ReplyDeleteYou must build it into your daily schedule. Frankly, even if you become a NYT bestselling author and are rubbing elbows with JR Ward (I'm guessing her's are sorta bony) you MUST MUST MUST consistently communicate with readers via your blog and draw attention to it via your other social nets.
In my VERY crowded romance market (along with YA and fantasy I'm guessing) it's even more important in order to break through the ever lovin' clutter.
No excuses.
sorry
Nice blog but I agree with Des (about the time and content) and I think it's mostly because I'm not sure it makes any difference, well any more than anything else we do to promote.
ReplyDeleteIt absolutely makes a difference. I've read about authors who've "stopped" social networking and have noticed book sales falling off.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, have you SEEN how many of us there are out here?
How else can you be heard?
Speaking, that's how. And a lot.
Mind you---note that I don't wanna read about your kids' halloween costume--I wanna hear about how what happened while you were making it inspired you to write a new story.
keep it relevant.
Publish or perish? hardly.
Promote or ...
Any author in this time and space, should frankly know by now, that promoting your book comes second.
ReplyDeleteBut as far as how you go about putting yourself out there, that can depend greatly on what genre you write in, who you are published by and what your goals and the publisher's goals are.
Loved the "Hump Day Regular"
well heavens! OF COURSE writing the book is first. Getting is published is second. promoting IT is about seventeenth after editing, cover art, galleys and what not.
ReplyDeleteI'm talking about promoting yourself. As a product. So that you can get still MORE books written...and published.
I think I go to blogs more than I'm on yahoo loops. I just write and edit and write some more. I promote my ass off though. Lots of times people I've hosted invite me places or I'll get a random email from someone I've never met asking me to blog swap so I do!
ReplyDeleteI like the points you make, Liz. I have to agree that social networking is important, especially if you're a newbie, like moi.
ReplyDeleteI'm fairly new to the "blogging" world, so I'm finding it difficult to know WHAT to write about. Someone advised me to just write about me & whatever I'm passionate about, even if that includes something other than writing.
I've had a presence on Facebook since right after it was created (when it actually still worked right)! Twitter, however, is something I had but never really used it, so I'm still learning that one, slowly.
Another friend told me, "If you believe in your books, no one is going to promote it better than you can yourself. If a Facebook page with a few friends is all you have as "fans", then it's a start. Yes, it is complicated, difficult, time-consuming and draining, but it'll all be worth it -- if you want it bad enough."
Every time I start doubting this road I'm on, I open that email and read it over and over again, realizing he has a point. I can't expect others to promote my work better than I can myself. My books are MY sweat, blood and tears.
Oops - sorry - I guess I got a little carried away! Ha! Just my two-cents worth.
Thanks again for the blog post, Liz!
May God bless,
Trisha Wilson
Blogging is a wonderful tool, and let me put on my web designer hat for a second. By blogging every day, the little bots that rank your blog on the search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing come back to your site each time you post something new. So it's one way to drive your name and blog up on the search engine. When I first started, I didn't understand this. I'd put my name in the search engine and let me tell you if I had a nickel for every time I got a full page of links for the country singer, Trace Atkins or for South Dakota government pages, I'd have at least twenty bucks.
ReplyDeleteSo blogging and helping other authors and definitely commenting are worth while when it comes to getting your name out there as author.
Great article Liz!
It is so difficult to donate enough time each day to promote and still have time to WRITE. It's time management, but there are only so many hours in a day.
ReplyDeletePromotion is so important and a new release particularly takes a big chunk out of a day, but it's all worth it.
@tricia yes blogging is important. Remember though, you want to put it "out there" that you are an "expert" at writing. You are published after all. Make sure your posts are accurate and sans typos or lazy grammatical errors. Also, (I am a broken record and I know this) make it relevant either to your book (like it's setting, how you came up with the characters, places you been or things you've done that have inspired you).
ReplyDelete@dakota
YES! I am actually revamping my actual site to make it work more like a blog although keeping my blog separate.
@betty. I just carve out 2 hours at each end of the day for it. set the timer.
Bravo Liz:) I've recently begun 'word waring' on twitter; we keep track of our word counts and encourage each other during the day. I hate it when all I see on FB is 'buy me buy me' or 'look what I wrote' posts; I like to see what people are thinking/doing/feeling during the day. And yes, sometimes conversations go off in tangents, but that just makes it more interesting:)
ReplyDeleteI also like to interview my characters on my blog and provide background info on how this book or that one came to be.
I know you're right about spending the 90 mins to 2 hours commenting on others' blogs. I just need to find a way to re-prioritize my day. It's always something, you know?
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should sleep less.
Molly--am I following you? I'm beerwencha2
ReplyDeletebetween beer and books, trust me, catnaps are my friend, as is caffeine.
ReplyDeleteLiz, I try to do a lot of this, but I have a hard time limiting myself. Setting a timer is great advice. Must do that now. :)
ReplyDeleteLoved this blog - especially the misspelled words when you're supposed to be a writer part- of course that's what spell check is for right? lol Good Stuff!
ReplyDeleteKrista Kedrick
http://kristakedrick.wordpress.com
@krista scared me! thought I might have missed one (i've been known to, just ask my editors).
ReplyDelete@jessica it's the Only Way
Oh! and one more thing: see what I'm doing RIGHT NOW? I'm responding. Creating a conversation. Showing that I know, care and want to hear more about what you think about what I had to say here.
ReplyDeleteIf you blog and expect comments, expect to comment back.
Oh look! my timers is going off!
time to spend 2 hours on editing! But I"m watching you kids....
Perhaps I won't post about dirty diapers, but I've found that people want to talk to authors about every days things. It's how you get them to come back time and time again because they can relate to you on a personal level. Great post and I'm attempting all that right now!
ReplyDelete@kellie post about dirty diapers if you must but make it relevant to your writing life. you are an expert in that first and foremost (as a "product")
ReplyDeleteThis blog, has been so helpful to me over the years and I love how the new contributors are exploring more topics and giving us more interaction. The information stuff is nice--the book features, the interviews, the For Your Infos...and of great value---but this is just fun.
ReplyDeleteYes, blogging is important but as Tina-Sue has helped me with, so is connecting with audiences on a personal level and one of the best ways to do that is to verge out of our overcrowded genres and book worlds. Go on blogs that interest us in other areas---kittens, puppies, gardening, cooking, etc---and while there, take the gentle approach of "Hey I have this book."
When I started doing things like that, venturing out, taking my books into the other areas of my life, my sales dramatically increased. As has been mentioned here, people want to know what else you do. Sometimes saying, "I'm an author and I'd like you to buy my book" is akin to the, "So what do you do for a living?" question that is so very tiring. Unless you are a beer wench.
I can imagine sharing your occupation would lead to some great conversation!
Really like the concept of "Choose Your Own Romance...", Liz and I bought the Tap Room.
Great post Liz! Love the timer idea too. Sometimes I get caught up in a repetitive cycle of checking email, visiting blogs, jumping to Facebook... I start to feel like a hamster on a wheel, lol. And yes, it's overwhelming sometimes.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Liz!
ReplyDeleteI've recently refocused my two hours a day on visiting and supporting other people's blogs. I reach far more people that way than I ever could on a single personal blog.
I cut Facebook out the picture because of their disrespect for privacy and lack of on-line security. If they change their ways I'll go back.
XXOO Kat
@Cate thanks! I too fall victim to social net and email jumping when I'm supposed to be (at this moment) editing (hides from editor)
ReplyDelete@Kat thanks. I don't post pix of my kids, my phone number, address or anything beyond my hometown. Certainly no twitter-worthy career ending photos like a few I've seen! I'm a helpless FB addict!
I agree 100% and I am all over. Blogs are where the readers are. I belong to or follow about 75? LOL talk about overwhelmed but when asked to do a spot? I write it up and send it asap, sometimes a month ahead of time. I do this because I may forget, and then the blog owner will write and say, where is the spot? This only had to happen to me once! I love your ideas and now...? I' am following your blog as well.
ReplyDelete(Leanore)Bonnie Lea Elliott From Romance Novel Junkies
@Academic Swirl THANKS! so much. I truly hope you enjoy it. and yes, the beer biz allows me to network in a huge group outside of my "book world" without a doubt without having to get into puppies, kittens, gardening, cooking or knitting absolutely NONE of which I can do very well, or like very much.
ReplyDelete@wicked (may I call you that?) thanks--you make an excellent point that I forgot. When you finagle a guest spot on someones else's blog it really is proper etiquette to actually write the damn thing. Early. And send it with proper credits for photos and links if you want them. Don't make the blog owner hunt you down! It's GREAT advice to do it the minute you have time after you've scheduled it. Most blog sites allow you to prepost. cheers!
ReplyDeleteLiz
Great post, Liz. And I agree about reciprocation. Yes, we're all in competition with each other. Tough. Life is too short to be at war with each other. I'd rather get along with other writers than sell a few more copies by being a diva.
ReplyDeleteNice post. The point I got is to make time for the social media, which I don't normally have time for. I guess that means cutting out another activity, but like you said if you want to make your mark then it's something you have to do. And as authors, it's what all of us want to do.
ReplyDelete@Cindy damn now I have to stop calling you a diva behind your virtual back (not)
ReplyDelete@S Scott--yep, gotta do it. after a while it becomes pretty second nature.
Liz, I have to agree with you. Responding on someone else's blog is the best way to show you care about other people. Many times you will find the people on whose blogs you responded will come to yours. I have a lot of friends on Facebook. Most of them have friended me for one reason or another. I would like to think it is either because of my content on Facebook or because of my blog content or maybe Twitter. I think once people know what kind of person and author you are then they will be more ready to buy what you write. That is what I am hoping!
ReplyDelete@Lionmother good point. that's what I mean by "reciprocity" Facebook and twitter are NOT just for your ego-building. They are "social NETWORKING". Not "social self aggrandizement".
ReplyDeleteI am just learning about social media and I find it takes a lot of time. but I'm finished my last book, and I could be editing a different book. but I'm taking this time to learn the process so that I have a platform and am ready for my first sale.
ReplyDeleteso your blog comes at a good time. thanks
lousie
Gosh, yes! Thanks so much for this article. Some authors forget one important truth; other authors are readers, too. This is a tough business, and sure we all want a piece of the action, but we're all battling similar challenges as well. Sharing knowledge, offering support fosters and perpetuates success all around. Put out there what you as an author would like to get back, and it will happen :)
ReplyDeleteI'm just starting this promotion lark and already know social media is what its all about. Thanks for your advice. I'm finding an hour each morning easy to do but realise now I need to connect with more blogs. Off I go to start searching
ReplyDelete