Tuesday, December 3, 2013

The Importance of Networking

To those who are aspiring or new writers, or even writers who have been published traditionally or self-published for a while (they're out there), you must market yourself, and you cannot limit yourself to Twitter alone. Twitter can be a remarkable tool in terms of getting your work and your name out there, but you can't rely on Twitter alone! In fact, with Twitter, so many tweets go by at such an alarming rate that you have to consider (or wonder about) the reality of just how many people have noticed the information you tweeted about your book.
 
What you need to consider is the idea of using your head to both think and step outside the box. Believe it or not, most people rely on Twitter alone. You need to build websites, blog, maintain accounts under as many writing/reading sites as possible (i.e., goodreads, authonomy.com), and employ LinkedIn in order to make connections with other authors that may be of a higher caliber and in a position to help spotlight your novel in the event that they can appreciate your work. You need to contact local shops, small bookstores, and maybe even make appearances at flea markets or high-school bazaars in addition to setting up book signings at the conglomerate book stores.
 
As an example; having written about Billy the Kid, one of the avenues I'll be pursuing is to contact the museum out in Fort Sumner (the Kid's home), and find out if they have either A) ordered or intend to order my novel, or B) offer to send them my book to sell. In either respect, I will allow them to use any sales profits my book nets as a donation, as I intend to give back to the man, dead or not, who allowed me to follow my dream so enthusiastically.

In addition, I will be blogging for creative writing outlets such as The Examiner, which is a national blog that employs writers from all walks of life to discuss all sorts of topics. I plan to use this outlet to my benefit by discussing relevant topics such as politics and current affairs, as these sorts of publications are affective, effectively drawing the attention and being of interest to the population. I intend to build on my name in any way I am able, and I plan to do it while employing the highest standards of integrity.
 
The point here is that you really need to search the corners of your mind and push the limits of every imaginable resource in order to get the word out there. Word-of-mouth is such a powerful asset which can be considerably advantageous to your writing career.