P on the Brain...Promotion, Platforms, Pitching, Publishing and Phew...

This week has been ‘my can’t quite settle to anything’ week. 

It is probably due to changes in the family routine...Theoretically I should have more time...I wonder where it goes. 

I need to wrestle my house into submission and also my brain, which has been jumping around all over the place. I have a new story idea that I have been doing a little bit of research on, and thinking about on how to tackle the story...You know me, sucker for anything that needs research, also I don’t know why but I have to challenge myself in structure and style as well... Why can’t I just write a simple story? As my good Fabo Friend commented on Facebook recently  ‘Just write Maureen write!!!’

So in this week’s blog there is a mix of different ideas that caught my eye.

If you read last weeks post and went aaaarhgh. Social Media and Promotion and...It’s all doing my head in... then have a look at this guest post on Sia McKye’s blog. Janice Hardy takes a look at using your time wisely on promotion.

If you looked at last weeks post and thought Twitter aaaargh. Nicola Morgan has a good series of posts on using hashtags for searching within twitter. (good for research)

If you thought 'I can’t do facebook...'Take a look at this article on Fan Pages from Publetariat.

Nathan Bransford has a post looking at platform...which I have touched on before...If you wanted to know what an authors platform is, in terms of agents and publishers, read Nathans post.

This morning I had the good fortune to be able to chew the fat with some writer buddies (Hi Melinda) and we discussed last years conference. It has been a year since Spinning Gold...(I can’t quite believe it myself.) We discussed the success stories and the challenges of putting on the conference. The next conference, Spinning Tales, will be in Auckland at the beginning of April. Planning is underway with the Auckland team.

One of the topics in our wide ranging discussion was the changing face of publishing and also the speed of change. Jason Pinter looks at this in his Huffington Post article The 12 Game Changers In Publishing (and he doesn’t mention the tech companies....)

There will be pitching at Spinning Tales...so it could be timely to have a look at what happens to your manuscript when it gets requested. An agent tells....

Ingrid Sundberg has a good post on her blog recapping the agents panel at SCBWI LA last month. Great information about what some American agents want.....

Darcy Pattison has guest blogged about book trailers on The Creative Penn. If you have been thinking about book trailers and wondering if it is for you, have a look at what Darcy has to say.

Over on Craicerplus  (My Amplify page) There are articles on

Reinventing Book Marketing.

What Do The Most Highly Paid Authors Have In Common.

New Print Books Jump Off The Page With Digital Enhancements.

Speaking Loudly...(how Social Media got the word out for Laurie Halse Anderson when her book was banned in schools....)

5 Ways To Make Your Novel Unforgettable...(for those of us stuck in mid novel blues...)

MG vs YA...(brilliant post and nailed for me why I love writing MG)

I want to leave you with a great video that Rachelle Gardner posted on her blog.

The The Impotance of Proofreading.

And if you know a teacher... send them this....Absolutely Brilliant!


enjoy,
maureen

and the pic is not my kitchen sink.

Being Social In The Media

This week I have been thinking about the Author and Social Media.

Publishers are seeing Social Media as a tool for marketing their Authors and Authors are being told that they have to be on Social Media. But which Social Media is best for you?

Should you Blog, Tweet or Facebook and if you do what sort of platform should you have?

Platform? I hear you squeak! 

If writing is a business (which it is) what does your business stand for? Are you a purveyor of finely crafted gentle bedtime stories for the under fives or a rip roaring paranormal farce for the fifteen plus age group. Do you write edge of your seat thrillers or explorations of the teenage psyce? Is your writing home in Non Fiction for kids or Fantasy Fair? Or are you all of these?

If you can define your platform for your readers then you have an easier time using Social Media to promote your brand of writing.

Three different ways that some Authors are using Social Media.

Sean McManus has an interesting article about using Twitter-Can you tweet your way to a bestseller?

Mary L Tabor blogged her second book as a way of coming to terms with a significant event in her life and this turned into a book deal.

Hire some actresses to read your book in prominent places. Ok it isn’t social media but it is social...

One of the key things about using social media is that to use it effectively you must add value.

Writing about your cat obsessively unless your writing platform is tied up to your cat in some way is not enough. However if you are a cat whisperer....and you have written a series of tween novels about the adventures of a spy who whispers to cats...then maybe you have a valid social media platform.

Jody Hedlund has an excellent post on social media for those people who think they have no platform.

If you are using Social Media already and are looking for another challenge Indie reader has a great article on podcasting your book, Books for your ears. More people are turning to podcasting as a way of getting the word out there about their work.

Seth Godin and Tom Peters were interviewed recently about blogging. Should we do it?

Two links on writing to think about.

Publetariat has a great list of links to help you critique better. This is good news for me as I start to pull apart my own work before sending it to a new critique partner.

Bob Mayer has an excellent article on pitching based on your goals. Bob has written some great thrillers and teaches a popular writing course based on Special Forces goal setting. As a former Special Forces Agent he knows of what he speaks.

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez was interviewed recently by bookviewcafe about where he thought digital publishing was headed. Guy is one of the founders of the Digital Book World conference and he sees the future of publishing as looking extremely bright.

So Authors...You  may as well get digital savvy because to take advantage of publishing in the future you have to be Social In The Media.

Over on Craicerplus (My Amplify page) there are articles on

For the closet geeks out there....How To Write Silly Science Fiction

Plot to Puctuation has a great article on What Star Wars Teaches On Character Introductions

Digital Book Covers...lets make them interactive...

What To Ask The Agent When You Get The Call...(pinup on your wall)

Adventures in Publishing are doing a great conference roundup over on their site (see my blog roll in the 

sidebar) There is a must read article on middle grade writing there with Linda Sue Park.

And now you have finally come to the end of this long post...to celebrate here is a joke for you.

 Guysread.com put together this great video to promote their children’s author collective.

Enjoy

maureen