Flutter: The New Twitter

Let's Talk Publicity ~ Part 2: Is Your Best Face Working for You?

Okay so on Monday we talked about what not to do - especially before you get that first contract. Today, let's talk about all the things you can do with publicity after the contract and how to tell if they are working, or not.

Remember our little song from Finding Nemo:


Just keep swimming...
Just keep swimming...
Just keep swimming...

Let's face it, there are a lot of ways of getting word out about your writing. With the plethora of free social-networking sites now available on the internet, there is no excuse (for even the poorest among us writers) not to be doing some publicity.

I won't go into details on all these sites. Katie did a nice series a couple months ago that quickly overviewed several sites and how to use them. You can see those posts here, here, here and here. But I would like to give you a list of sites and methods that I have found beneficial in my publicity efforts for Rocky Mountain Oasis.

Shelfari, Goodreads, Tag My Book, Facebook, Shoutlife, Twitter (I hesitated to list Twitter because, admittedly, I'm one user who is on the fence about the awesomeness of Twitter. But I do have an account and post to it occasionally), my blogs, my website, several forums that I frequent (I recommend that you get in on a forum that you really enjoy and make friends there. Amazon also has forums.), book signings, post-card mailings, blog tours, and interviews.

I have done a little or a lot with each one of those methods. It takes time! What I want to encourage you with today is to: Just. Keep. Promoting.

It can get tiresome. Especially since, often, promotion is done before a book is even out in print and we don't have a way to measure how sales are doing - ie. how that particular method of publicity is working. Even after the book is out, many authors don't get royalty statements but twice a year, so it is still hard to measure the effectiveness of certain publicity methods.

My suggestion is to make a plan. Depending on your personality it might be to work on publicity for a few minutes each day on multiple sites. Or it might be to work on one site for a week and then move on to another site in rotation. I'm not sure what will work best for you. But if you write down your plan, stick to it, and keep getting the word out about your book, you won't be sorry.

So how do we tell how well our publicity is working? Well, I'm not sure there is an answer to that other than your twice yearly sales statement. There is the elusive Amazon sales rank, which is an okay measure. There are also reviews that start popping up of your book. Sometimes the reviewer will say why they bought your book and then you will know which particular piece of publicity worked to make them buy it. But mostly...

Just keep swimming...

Just keep swimming...

Just keep swimming...

Let's Talk Publicity ~ Part 1: Putting on Your Best Face

What does Publicity have to do with Finding Nemo?

Do you remember the song from Finding Nemo that Dory-the-crazy-blue-fish kept singing?

Just keep swimming,

just keep swimming,

just keep swimming...

Yeah, publicity is a lot like that. You just need to keep at it.

Sometimes you will feel like you are the only fish swimming upstream, while everyone else is swimming down, but you just need to keep swimming. Keep pressing on. Keep putting yourself out there - but make sure you are swimming in the right direction.

I realize that many of you may still be in the stages of looking for a publisher or agent. I want you to stop and remember that everything we do, whether we are thinking about it or not, is publicity. For the good or for the bad. (To keep with my analogy, all us little fishies are contstanly swimming, whether we are going in the right direction or not.) The Internet is a vast place, but with the ability of search, it shrinks right down to small-town-barber-shop size. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY ON THE NET. (And at writers conferences, and to agents and publishers you may talk to. Because if the Internet is barber-shop size, the writing world is even smaller. And agents and publishers do talk to each other.)

I read several agents and publishers blogs and I can't tell you the number of stories I've heard about an agent or publisher being interested in an author until they went on a Google hunt and started discovering some things the author had said.

Put yourself in an agent's shoes for a moment. Let's say they get two promising queries. Query A is from Suzy Sweetwater. She always has nice things to say on her blog about the industry, agents, and all things publishing. Query B is from George Grumpypants, who is contantly griping and complaining on his blog. Which person do you think the agent is going to request more information from? Of course it is Suzy Sweetwater because the agent doesn't want to risk the fact that they might be a subject of one of Mr. Grumpypants' tirades in the future. Not to mention that any future publishers will probably also check him out and the bad attitude might prevent them from offering a contract, which will keep the agent from getting paid.

Now this doesn't mean that you have to say nice things about something that just drives you crazy. But the old addage "sometimes it's better not to say anything at all" will serve you well. And if you just HAVE to say something, make sure that you say it in a respectful, thought-out way, or it just might come back to haunt you.

These principles apply whether you are brand new to the industry, or have just signed your 20th contract.

Okay, so let's say you are doing the best you can to make sure you are at least started in the right direction, by being careful to present a professional appearance each time you swim into the writing world.

In the next post we are going to talk about how to know whether your publicity is working for you, or not.

Oh, and if you enjoy our site and would like to nominate us as one of the 101 best places for writers to hang out on the net, we'd be honored. Please see the Writer's Digest section in the upper left side-bar.

Fabulously Fun Friday: Query-Letter Rejection

Review of Writing Short Stories for Pleasure and Profit by Marian Gavin

If the heart of this slim volume could be summed up in one phrase, that phrase would be Just write! The details of how to write a successful short story are rather scarce in Gavin’s ten chapters of smooth prose. But what certainly is not lacking is a wealth of ideas and encouragement. After closing the back cover on the final page, I didn’t feel so much empowered to write a story, as I did inspired.

After an introduction that was more essay than anything else, Gavin gives her readers one hundred and two story starters to start the creative juices flowing. The next three chapters, in which are found most of the meat, are made up mostly of excerpts from the author’s own short stories, used as examples of what she terms the three types of stories—the personal experience story, the personal emotion story, and the out-of-nowhere story. The rest of the book contains a smorgasbord of writing information, everything from common story patterns to troubleshooting and revising.

I was pleased with her attitude that a story should have a deeper meaning than the dollars a writer is paid or even the interest of a reader. To paraphrase what she insists all throughout the book, a story should be written only because it must be written.

Certainly, Gavin is not the final word in writing short stories, but I think her brilliance comes from the fact that she never claims to be.

The Power of Blogging with Linda Fulkerson

The Power of Blogging

Is blogging the bane of your existence? Or maybe you just feel like your blog needs a little bit more of an edge? Well, I have great news for you! Linda Fulkerson is here today and she has a blog all about blogging. Hop over there for a visit and I'm sure you will learn bunches and bunches. (But first read all about her blog here. :))

Thanks, Lynnette, for letting me take up your blog space today!

I started On Blogging Well for several reasons, but the main one was selfish. I have a lot of friends who are “newbie” bloggers and, because I’ve been blogging for a while now, they often call or email me with questions. I found myself answering many of the same questions over and over, so I decided there must be a need for a blog for new to intermediate bloggers. Besides, pointing my friends to the blog would save me time, right? LOL!

The blog has become a major project but I’m so glad I started it, even if it does take more of my time than answering a few periodic questions from friends. I’ve met many new friends and have learned SO much through researching and reading other blogs.

Basically, On Blogging Well has a 7-day editorial calendar. This helps me have an idea about what to post each day plus it helps readers. I have readers who won’t miss the blog on certain days, but because they’re busy, skip it on the days when I post topics that aren’t as important to them. And different readers have their favorite topics. It seems to be working well.

The schedule is:

• Marketing Monday – Each Monday we discuss a different aspect of marketing, such as traffic generation, product promotion, etc.

• Techie Tip Tuesday – I try to use videos, when time permits, to explain technical tasks that can help bloggers. Sometimes I refer my readers to tutorials made by other bloggers or I simply write a post. And yes, I take requests, so if there’s something you’ve been struggling with, use the contact form and I’ll do my best to help answer your questions.

• Wednesday is Friends Day – Each week we feature a blogger who has used his or her blog in a unique way.

• Thursday is Words Day – This topic shares writing tips, especially in regards to blogging, such as writing effective headlines, etc.

• Freebie Friday – Every week we have a give-away on Fridays. Sometimes it’s a mini-report I’ve written or even an eBook one of my blogger friends has offered. I try to select valuable information that all bloggers can use for these freebies.

• SEO Saturday – This topic could be titled “Search Engine Optimization Demystified.” I try to give quick and easy tips that even non-techies can implement that will help their blogs gain better rankings.

• Potluck Sunday – Each Sunday I pick five of the best blogging-related posts I’ve read throughout the week and post links to them.

The blog is relatively new but we’re already developing a community of regulars, which is exciting to me. If you haven’t yet visited On Blogging Well, we’d love to have you stop by and introduce yourself.
Happy Blogging!

Linda Fulkerson is a wife, mom, author, hobby farmer, photographer, blog coach/online marketing advisor, and self-proclaimed blogaholic. She’s been blogging for nearly six years, and while some not-quite-six-year-olds are barely out of pull-ups, in bloggy years, that puts her among the blue-hairs. You can learn more about Linda by visiting http://lindafulkerson.com/ or by stopping by her blog, http://onbloggingwell.com/.

Fabulously Fun Friday: Never Underestimate the Power of a Good Story