Why, How and Where of Social Media

This week I was honoured to be invited to speak at a Strathpine Library to a writers group on the topic of social media. It was a fun night and the group was very welcoming and participated enthusiastically.

Here are some of the points we covered:

Why use social media?

1. Connect with your peers - Writers share a supportive and encouraging community. You'll find other writers who are learning the craft and willing to share their findings as well as professional authors offering tips and advice online. My online writing buddies have helped me by sharing links, bringing competitions to my attention, guiding my marketing plans, and making recommendations for service providers.
2. Keep up with industry news - You can follow agents, publishers and other industry experts to learn of opportunities and guidelines for submissions.
3. Reach an audience. Readers use social media too and they love making a personal connection with the authors they read. Social media is a great way to make readers aware of your books.

Marketing yourself:

1. Be consistent. Most writers will spread themselves over more than one social platform. Have one suitable profile picture, preferably of yourself and not your dog/cat/kids/favourite cartoon character. When people connect with you, they want to feel it's really you. Using the same profile pic on all platforms means follower won't be confused by your identity. 
2. Entertain, educate or engage. This is the only reason you post. If you can be humorous, go ahead, share a joke (appropriate to your target audience). Followers will also appreciate tips and advice. Plus don't forget to respond to other people's posts, make a connection.
3. Some people believe you must follow everyone who follows you. I feel you should follow the people who's posts interest you, don't worry if they follow you back.
4. Stand by your own standards and ethics, don't criticise other peoples decisions online. For example, there's a lot of criticism about certain authors paying for reviews lately. I choose not to pay for review, but those authors who do have the right to make their own choices. 

Where to go?

There's many options for social media, here's my choices:

1. Blogger. I tried Wordpress and looked at others, but for me Blogger was a nice simple and clear platform. It's very easy to update and to follow through Google friends. I also like that Blogger links to my Google+ account.
2. Facebook. This is not my favourite platform, but it's where my friends are. I don't like the way you have to request a friend acceptance from people you want to follow. It is handy though for creating fan or group pages.
3. Google+. I like the way this platform flows. The circles are a great idea, you place people into the groups you want to use. My circles include writers, marketing, internet experts, artists and friends/family.
4. Twitter. This is great for finding and sharing links. You're limited to short posts, so sometimes it can feel a bit like everyone is posting at you rather than interacting, but it is the platform that has generated the most sales for my ebook My Zombie Dog.
5. Goodreads. A good site for gaining reviews.
6. Amazon. You can create your own author page.
7. YouTube. I follow some wonderful authors who offer vlogs (video blogs) on this platform. It's also good for hosting your book trailer. YouTube does attract trolls (people who leave nasty comments just for the sake of upsetting you) so don't post vlogs unless you're thick-skinned.

In this digital age the culture of writers has evolved to include social media, it's important that we evolve to fit within this emerging culture.

And for some online fun, why not take part in this blog challenge: Write a short story for halloween with a romantic spin and post your link on Romantic Friday Writers:

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G is for Google and Goodreads for Writers

Had a conversation with my dad last week about the marvels of Google. He said he can still remember having to research in libraries, and even then you were very limited to the books that library had in stock. Now he's writing humorous, military thrillers, he often needs to check information and dates of political events and underworld activity. I have to agree. I grew up with computers only being able to move two white lines up and down the sides of the screen to hit a digital ball that bounced between them (go Atari!), and became very impressed with those tables that showed Space Invaders and Pacman. 

But now you can find out whatever you need from Google. But Google has plenty more to offer writers than just a search engine:

• Google Maps - actually see the street where you're setting your story without ever going there.
• Gmail - I got sick of my email changing every time I changed Internet providers. I've had my gmail account for years now and love the stability.
• Google Docs - If you work on your manuscripts at work and home or out and about, by putting them on Google Docs you can access them on the go and never worry about loosing your manuscript. I used this before I became a dedicated Scrivener user.
• Images - A great way to find pictures of your characters to add to their profile.
• Google+ - Social media site where you can connect and sort your followers into groups, such as writers or readers.

Another important G site for writers is Goodreads. This is a community of readers and writers where you can record the books you're reading. On Goodreads you can set up an author account, write your bio and have your own book launch or giveaways. Make sure your book is listed on there!

Now I have to figure out where to hide the chocolate eggs for my kids. It never failed to intrigue me why kids aren't scared of this giant rabbit that sneaks into their home at night and leaves chocolate eggs - Don't want to bust that bubble, but bunnies don't lay eggs, if they do leave round chocolate-coloured things... not sure you should eat them.

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Google + Writing Circles

Are you Google +ing yet?

I was sceptical. I still remember the wasted moments wandering through an empty Google Wave. I questioned Google's approach of limiting the sign ups for Google + - after all, social networking only works if everyone's there.

BUT. I love the ease of adding people to your circles. Now instead of bombarding my friends and family with the endless links I find on the craft of writing, I can target those posts directly to other writers. I also feel more comfortable adding people, knowing I don't need their permission to follow them (like Twitter - you can block someone if necessary).

People will migrate from Facebook and Twitter to converge in Google +. I don't expect it to be quick, others will be wary and many will be nostalgic about the platform they've spent so much time building (remember the die-hard Myspace enthusiasts?). I'll stay in Facebook while I've still got Friends there - I'm not attached to particular platforms, but I'll go where the people are - I like the people.

If you're not in Google + but would like to start building your profile there, drop me an email and I'll try to send you an invite (I'm not sure how many I can give out, so first in first serve). If you've already started and want to add a widget to your blog to promote your Google + check out:

www.widgetsplus.com

Now, I'm thinking... BLOGFEST TIME! I've never held a Blogfest before, exciting times.

On the 31st July I'll post up details of the 'Imagination Sparks Blogfest' and how to sign up. For the blogfest we'll all share a creativity exercise that helps get our Muse revved up to write. To get you started, I'll blog about a great exercise Tom Evans, author of The Art and Science of Light Bulb Moments generously shared with us.

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