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Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Top 10 Countdown, #10

Top 10 List of Ways to Promote Your Writing.....Countdown

10. Get your name out!

Now this can be done in so many ways it's nearly ridiculous. There are so many possibilities that it actually overwhelms the normal (hmmm....normal...I used to know what that was, but have since lost the meaning) person.

"Why do I need to do the Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin, etc. thing?"

The honest answer? You don't. You are the master of your own destiny (Unlike the Queen song states!) and you choose what you have time for and what you don't. This is a GREAT thing. You have options, many of them, and they are all under your control.

You can create a:

  • Facebook page (www.facebook.com), though I haven't found that very helpful. I find that I am more apt to have family that know me there and want to share pictures and talk about real life and not my writing world. Though I have heard great things from other authors that use the same reasons why I don't find it helpful as reasons why they find it helpful. Though be on guard if you write under your real name. There may be people in your life that don't know that you write in a certain genre, and it may be a bit awkward for them to find out in this manner.

  • MySpace page (www.myspace.com), several authors say that their page has gotten them pretty good traffic while some older (or should I say "more sophisticated") authors have found MySpace to be a little "young" for their taste. I guess being hit on by young rap gods, and being proposed marriage by a Nigerian prince isn't a popular promotional tool.

  • Blogger or WordPress blog (www.blogger.com or www.wordpress.com), these can become rather time consuming and some authors do decide to pool their resources and create one blog. This creates the need to only blog once or twice per week. You can kill your blog and the interest in you if you are inconsistent in your blogging. If you start blogging every week and get your readers hooked on you and STOP! Your readers will become confused. They will not know when to come by to visit and will make little or no effort to search you out. This would be especially true if you were giving them samples of your work and were providing them tidbits of a free story to get them hooked on you and your writing. Starving readers will read elsewhere. So if you go this route, be prepared to be consistent, OR be prepared to work ahead and pre-post your posts.

  • Twitter page (www.twitter.com), OK, obviously you can tell that I can't get anything said in 140 characters or less, but with Twitter, if you are able to do it, then the world is at your fingertips. There are Twitter novelists that have a great following, and authors who mention all of their contests, and some authors who honestly mention some rather "unique" things on their Twitter pages. It's definitely a way to get your readers to know who you are and what is happening in your world. They have even gone as far as creating Twitter groups (http://twittgroups.com/index.php) which have every single type of group you could possibly want from Barfly to Book Marketing Online.

  • Create your very own website! Of course your readers want to get to learn who you are as a person and a writer, so show them! Showcase your talents and let them know exactly who you are. But keep in mind the things that niggle at your nerves when you visit other websites, and keep things to a minimum. No reader likes to have to dig through a jungle to find your latest release or your contact information. Keep everything within reach and ENJOY!

I am sure that there are thousands of other sites that you can join and network on, but I wanted to touch on some of the more popular ones and give you a few ideas as to what you could be aiming for. Shoot for the skies, this is your journey. Take it with your eyes wide open, open your wings and FLY!

Make sure you come back next week when I will be shouting like an old newspaper hawker, Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

8 comments:

  1. What great information! We have a web page but need to get ourselves out there more. Your article is like looking at a dessert menu and trying to decide what would be the most yummy choice. Thank you for putting this together.

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  2. Loved the blog today! TONS of great information! You outdid yourself on this post today! Way to go!

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  3. Angelica & Zi -

    I'm glad you found the article appetizing. I hope you are fulfilled with next week's article as well.

    AJ

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  4. lastnerve -

    Thank you for that wonderfully kind comment. Please come back for the next 9 weeks for more information and I hope it still meets all of your expectations.

    AJ

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  5. Glad to know I have all of the above... ;-)

    Authors need to be forewarned that it takes a lot of time to keep all of them updated. It's definitely worth it, though.

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  6. Ashton - Yes it does take quite a bit of time to keep up with them, and that's why many authors don't start. It's good to know you don't have to do them all, and you can pool your resources with others. Glad that you have all of those, and thanks for the comment!

    AJ

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  7. Wonderful post, Tami. I've got a handle on #10. Look forward to what you've got for #9. Will be checking back.

    Linda
    www.lindalaroque.com

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  8. #9 will be fun! It will be on Wednesday so make sure to come back. It is posted here each week.

    Thanks,

    AJ

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