I've been studying the pros and cons of advertising through social networking (just saying that makes me want to say "yuck" and refuse to eat my vegetables). I knew going into this that the first book (Sing which, by the way is now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Diesel, Kobo, and iTunes), would be experimental in some respects. This was why I chose pre-polished work so I could focus on learning the mechanics of the market place and so forth.
This was probably one of my wiser decisions. Just like editing and formatting, Marketing a book is hard work--not for sissies or the antisocial. And frankly, I'm finding out that I'm a lot less social, even online, than I thought I was. My facebook page has a large list of people (and I'm grateful for all of them), but I hate to tell you how few of those contacts I've initiated. Even online I'd prefer to keep my circle of acquaintances to small and select. There's my inner circle, and then there's everybody else.
Yeah. Not going to work. Not if I'm going to make a go of writing as a business (as opposed to the occasional sale or rejection letter from agents). Luckily I'm coming into the market at a good time. A lot of experienced (social) folks have gone ahead of me and are sending maps back tied to the legs of virtual homing pigeons so the rest of us slogging through the swamps, like Lewis and Clark, can find the way.
One of these veterans is a writer by the name of Russell Blake who recently guest hosted on writing.ie. I ran across Russel on Twitter , saw a couple of his well-written comments and grew curious about what else he had to say (See? Social Networking does work). His article, Six Easy Tips for Publishing Digitally was a wealth of help. Russel is the author of several books. I'm currently reading Fatal Exchange and, though this isn't a genre I would typically select (I suspect that his target audience is male) I have to say, it's excellent, on the edge of your seat reading.
One of the pieces of advice that appears on every list of to-dos, including Russell Blake's, is to keep a blog. Which we know I already do. But I'm apparently supposed to be blogging regularly. Which means I can't let things collect dust around here as often as I have been over the last year or so. So today's entry is--in part-- about committing to doing this more than sometimes. Even once classes start I can probably fit an entry or two in a week. And we all know I can always find something to say. A lot of something. Maybe not something everyone wants to hear. But something. I like my kids, husband, puppies, gardening, books, writing, horses, Obama (yes, I did and I will do so again in November), and poetry. Surely something in that list will make someone want to come back and read again.
So if you're one of those inner circle readers who is still checking back in after--how many years? Seven? Thank you. And I mean that. And if you're just now arriving by way of twitter or facebook or someone else's blog or my web page, or even Google--Welcome. Please come in and stay a while. Excuse the dog hair. We're glad to have you. Feel free to add to the discussion or make fun of me (though I'd be sure you're faster than the dogs).
Yeah. Not going to work. Not if I'm going to make a go of writing as a business (as opposed to the occasional sale or rejection letter from agents). Luckily I'm coming into the market at a good time. A lot of experienced (social) folks have gone ahead of me and are sending maps back tied to the legs of virtual homing pigeons so the rest of us slogging through the swamps, like Lewis and Clark, can find the way.
One of these veterans is a writer by the name of Russell Blake who recently guest hosted on writing.ie. I ran across Russel on Twitter , saw a couple of his well-written comments and grew curious about what else he had to say (See? Social Networking does work). His article, Six Easy Tips for Publishing Digitally was a wealth of help. Russel is the author of several books. I'm currently reading Fatal Exchange and, though this isn't a genre I would typically select (I suspect that his target audience is male) I have to say, it's excellent, on the edge of your seat reading.
One of the pieces of advice that appears on every list of to-dos, including Russell Blake's, is to keep a blog. Which we know I already do. But I'm apparently supposed to be blogging regularly. Which means I can't let things collect dust around here as often as I have been over the last year or so. So today's entry is--in part-- about committing to doing this more than sometimes. Even once classes start I can probably fit an entry or two in a week. And we all know I can always find something to say. A lot of something. Maybe not something everyone wants to hear. But something. I like my kids, husband, puppies, gardening, books, writing, horses, Obama (yes, I did and I will do so again in November), and poetry. Surely something in that list will make someone want to come back and read again.
So if you're one of those inner circle readers who is still checking back in after--how many years? Seven? Thank you. And I mean that. And if you're just now arriving by way of twitter or facebook or someone else's blog or my web page, or even Google--Welcome. Please come in and stay a while. Excuse the dog hair. We're glad to have you. Feel free to add to the discussion or make fun of me (though I'd be sure you're faster than the dogs).
Detail:
I blog sometimes