Friday, August 22, 2014

SOCIAL MEDIA -- Why Bother? by Meg Mims


Many moons ago, writers wrote (longhand or via typewriter - that's Louis L'Amour, by the way - before the desk computer or laptop). They wrote from start to finish, printed off the pages, boxed it up, and sent off their book (to an agent, editor, or the proverbial slush pile.) Once they signed a contract, writers started the next book. Did they worry about promotion? Nope. Did the publisher routinely take care of the book's cover? The print run? Distribution?

Yup, yup, yup.

Things are a bit different now. Some western writers are hanging on to the "old ways" by their fingernails. A blog, what's that? Why do I need a website? Tweeting is just plain silly, like teats on a bull.

Some writers believe they'd rather not put a "face" to their name, especially on Facebook. What's so social about Social Media? Writers might believe it robs them of precious writing time.

While that might be true (and some people waste hours on Facebook), you can say the same about answering the telephone, watching television, playing video games, reading others' books, exercising their horse, even sleeping. "Call me old-fashioned, just don't call me late to dinner."

It's all about networking. Surely you've heard that term. And while life happens, so does change. And friends -- the times, they are a-changing.

The most successful business man is the man who holds onto the old just as long as it is good and grabs the new just as soon as it is better.    Robert Vanderpoel

Every writer -- no matter the genre, no matter how young or old -- has to consider they are IN BUSINESS. A hobby doesn't fly with the IRS. So every serious writer needs the basics besides a solid plot, characters and a finished manuscript. YES, a finished manuscript, because writers rarely sell on proposal (unless you're already published with a good sales track.) You want to sell, and make money doing it. Right?

First off -- will you use your real name? Think about what "public" really means. If you prefer privacy, come up with a pseudonym. And consider the idea of "branding" -- just like the old days of cattle ranching. Say Double-Bar L aloud -- it rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? -- versus a surname difficult to pronounce or spell. Think about the bookshelf, too. Top, middle or bottom? Where do you want your readers to find you? Remember, many readers purchase on-line now so that's not as important as it once was.

Does a name/brand matter? Yes. Readers need to find you, unless you're Louis L'Amour, Stephen King or J.K. Rowling. It's a fact. Your name is ON your book, and "brands" that PRODUCT as yours. And readers want to do more than crack open the spine. They want to know more than the story. They want to know YOU, the writer. And that means taking to "social media."

So. You're an author, with a book -- or several. A WEBSITE can be cheap, and sometimes easy. But they often LOOK cheap and easy too, so consider that if you're working your way up the ladder of success. A website can be your first investment. It's relatively cheap to buy your "domain name" for a year -- and cheaper for three years. Avoid the URL of "authorname" followed by blogspot.com or wordpress.com because people will remember "authorname.com" a lot easier. You also need an ISP like GoDaddy or Hostgator or some other host for your website, paying a set amount per month. You could also hire your grandkid, a friend or someone who knows what they're doing to "set up" your website. Shop wisely, because you ought to know how to maintain and update your website once in a while.

Next, consider a choice between Twitter and Facebook. Unless you're willing to tweet (and that means NOT constantly promoting your book - keep that to once or twice a month) about anything and everything, avoiding politics, religion and sex, AND re-tweet other followers' 140-character tweets, forget it. It's useful to get your name out there, but not necessary. FACEBOOK will do a lot more for an author. Caution: if your timeline is filled with gross photos, jokes or rants between family members, change the setting to private. Keep that stuff far away from your author name/brand. I've often seen authors rant on and on about the school parking lot idiots, or their a**backward relatives, or spout F-bombs and worse, and thought, "Whoa. That's not professional." Remember -- keep your author name *sacred* and stay on "topic."

How? Create an AUTHOR PAGE and profile. Post updates of your books, reviews, print or ebook giveaways, writing tips, etc. Think visual, too! Share other writers' inspiring photos, quotes or interesting ideas about books, reading, writing or whatever might relate to your book. For example, when my western mystery Double Crossing debuted, I shared all kinds of information about trains -- with photos from the CPRR.org website, details about the Pullman Palace cars, maps of the cross-country transcontinental railroad route, menus of the station houses along the way, etc. Quick visuals often "tell a story" faster than a long stretch of words. Even this blog post has visuals to give the eye a rest and add color and interest.

Which leads to the last option I'll share about Social Media possibilities -- and in my opinion, is the most fun. PINTEREST -- what is it? Think "virtual corkboard" or "scrapbook" only on the web. See the "sharp point" on the bottom of the P? Yup. PINS.

It's easy to become a member, too. It's similar to Facebook in networking potential. And it's also a way to spend hours exploring ideas for characters, costumes, places, food, celebrities, films, books, whatever your little heart desires. The minute Pinterest appeared, I signed up. Hey, I'm an artist and love visuals!

How can you use Pinterest to your advantage? I typed Pinterest.com into my browser, and then typed "western books" into the search bar -- VOILA! Click here to see. From book covers to film posters to baby shower ideas, it's all there as  a visual feast. It's also pretty
self-explanatory to create your profile and "boards" before adding "pins" -- for example, either uploading your book covers from your computer or inputting the URL of the purchase links from Amazon, B&N or Smashwords. I recommend the latter, in fact, because it's another way to nudge readers to buy. To the left, the graphic shows a sample profile with boards.
I can hear the grumpy (cat) men whining aloud. "Why, why, why would I bother to use Pinterest? It's mostly for women! Men go to the bookstore, they buy my books, I'm fine." Uh, huh. Sure. But don't men want *more readers* to buy their books? Why limit your readership? So get over it. Say YES. You'll thank me for it. Check out my book board by clicking here if you want to see. Then check out the rest of my boards while you're there.

The same goes for women -- I'm here in Western Fictioneers to network with a lot more male writers and readers than my books would normally reach. It's not easy learning to juggle all this "social media" with a writing career. How can you do it?

Time management, of course. And knowing your limits, because you can't cover the Ponderosa in a day on horseback. The same goes for networking. Unless you're as famous as the late Louis L'Amour, who has a website and videos about his career, and a staff to keep his name/brand alive.

Hey, great idea. Maybe one day... 


Mystery author Meg Mims lives in Southeastern Michigan with her husband and a 'Make My Day' Malti-poo dog. Meg loves writing novels, short novellas and short stories, both contemporary and historical. Her Spur and Laramie Award winning Double series is now among the Prairie Rose Publications book list. Meg is also one-half of the D.E. Ireland team writing the Eliza Doolittle & Henry Higgins Mystery series for St. Martin's Minotaur. You can find her on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. 




14 comments:

  1. Meg, some wondeful ideas I hadn't thought of. I do agree, social media is part and parcel of the landscape today. It does take a bit of trial and error to find what works best, but I can see how it would be beneficial in the long run. It all boils down to following the passions for telling a story and finding the people to share it with. Time to get to work on promoting the stories. BTW best on all your writing. Doris

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Doris! always willing to help fellow writers out with what I've learned about social media.

      Delete
  2. Thanks for the social media primer, Meg. It takes a few minutes a day to manage but I think it's worth it in terms of visibility and sales. Never thought of using Pinterest. I'm so distractible I might never get any work done if I start exploring there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I hear ya, Vonn! I save Pinterest as a "vacay" from writing, and spend a whole day trawling. It's soooo addictive!

      Delete
  3. Meg,

    This article is a kick! I'll share it with a lot of other writers and publishers.

    Thanks!

    What about Google+? You didn't mention that one.

    Charlie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am on Google+ but I choose not to really do what's necessary to keep it going. It's more fun on Facebook and Pinterest for me. Even Twitter can be easy. I guess I don't like Google having such control and the "eye spy" role. LOL

      Delete
  4. Good article!

    As Vonn says, it only takes a few minutes a day to share a couple of photos and retweet a writing quote or two. The idea is to drive traffic to your website, where you have your blog, links to your bookstore, and some goodies like free samples and photos for your loyal readers! Every author should create that "platform" the editors and agents are looking for!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If only it was like the "olden days" again. LOL

      Delete
  5. Meg,

    I agree with you, like it or not, social media promotion is 'where it's at' in publishing nowadays. To confess, though, I'm not a social person in real life so doing the social promo stuff in my cyber life is challenging. However, I understand the necessity for self-promotion, and I do what I can, when I can--as we all do. It's interesting to see what 'works' for each of us. For instance, I have a website that I keep current, and I get along with Twitter and Triberr. Facebook and Pinterest do not appeal to me at all, although I utilize the promo capabilities they offer. I'm just grateful for having so many social media choices for promoting, so I'm not complaining. *wink*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's the best idea, Kaye - use what works for you! Good point.

      Delete
  6. Meg, thanks for such a comprehensive approach to social media and the need for a balanced strategy and identify which social media networks best work for the individual.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're welcome, Tom! And don't forget, your NEXT book is the best publicity, ever.

      Delete
  7. L'Amour refused to learn touch-typing because in the time it would take him to become proficient and productive, he figured he could write another complete book. While that's true in the short term, going forward he would've saved time on every subsequent book and made up for the lost time in short order. The same applies to learning social media skills. I prefer to write early in the morning while me head is fresh and clear, and do any social media stuff later in the day, because once I step into Facebook, my head is cluttered with distracting nonsense.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So true, Ron! Just think how many more books L'Amour could have added to his stack!! and I'm the same way - work in the am, veg in the pm when the brain is slower. Thanks for visiting the blog!

      Delete