I found social media overwelming at first but I actually enjoy it now. I particularly enjoy blogging and have made some awesome connections through blogging. I think the trick is to limit the time spent on social media. But done right, writers will help to promote each other. I didn't realize bookmarks have gone the way of the dinosauer!
Really useful insights. I have noticed that increasingly people want to spend less time on social media. A gazillion followers doesn't sell huge amounts of books anyway
I’m with you on the website. I don’t want to sell courses and interact like an expert. I just do my stuff. Medium accomplishes some of it and eventually Substack will gather my email list.
Jun 17, 2022·edited Jun 17, 2022Liked by Alison Acheson
Interesting. I finally created a website after Twitter briefly kicked me off for "violating it's terms of service". (I posted to a public figure who had recently had covid that I hoped he and his family had weathered covid ok...twitter decided I was threatening them.) I had to "admit fault" to be allowed back on twitter. As more and more people abandon social media, I wanted somewhere for them to find me, and I know the thousands of followers i have on Facebook know me as open door dreaming, so I figured they could find that but not likely my substack. It's the simplest web page, which basically just links to substack and social media, but I have found some reluctance to "join" substack. As to Medium, I found Medium as a reader to be super annoying so I really didn't want to pay $5 a month just to follow some writers I was already following (paid and/or free) on substack.
It's certainly tricky. And being more of a photographer than writer, it's easier to post photos too.
I dabbled on the web years ago for an authors site but dropped it. Since then my wife and I have an online school for Kitchen Design, and I can tell you it is a lot of work with many twists and turns and dead ends.
It is a pity that publishers look for your online presence. When you think about it, isn’t that the role of the publisher—gatekeeper of content and promoter? Perhaps that is why the publishing industry is in such a pickle. They have lost their way and let the social media accounts dilute their worth.
Jun 20, 2022·edited Jun 20, 2022Liked by Alison Acheson
I've seen Korean publishers advertise books online using Instagram, Facebook and blogs. They make really provocative statements (very violent, sexual or political) for the title to catch people's attention. I personally don't think the advertisement works, because it usually gives away all the information about the book, and a bold statement that might have caught people's attention just seems to ruin the overall quality of the work. For promoting a work of my own, I have thought about making a Youtube video where I read out the whole story (like podcast or audiobook), but this wouldn't really be a safe way to expose my work without having the work published first. I think making a card that I can distribute to the publishers would be a much better way to start promoting my work. I wasn't aware of this method until today! Thank you Alison!
For me, I like to have a space to tie all my fiction writing and related peripheral activities together – even if I visit it infrequently. Twitter? Too cluttered, too linear, too limited. Facebook? Too … Facebook. Substack … too linear, and my Substack is designedly single-minded in its purpose – pushing out those stories to my followers. I found it worthwhile to create a simple WordPress website (coriobay.blog) with just four main pages: fiction samples – blog – about – contact. Nothing fancy, but it does the job. I don't stress about the blog, just copy something (one of my articles or photo-essays) across from Medium every month or so. The fiction samples are short stories that I swap about twice a year.
When I eventually get around to publishing any books, they'll get their own page, I guess.
None of this required any great expertise, or any outside help, and the cost is minimal.
I just feel that without the website, Steve Fendt's author persona would be too dispersed, ephemeral. Given that it's not my real name, and my professional writing happens elsewhere.
For my 'day job' writing, I just have a LinkedIn account as somewhere to park a résumé. More to remind my existing clients what I've done for them than to seek new ones, as I've been with those publishers longer than any of the in-house staff 😊. I'm practically a family heirloom.
I agree about book marks. I have done something similar with business cards and they are much more manageable and I believe are more practice. I have a website with a blog that I hardly ever use cuz it seems overly complicated. I use social media a bit, but find it works for me cuz I use it regularly to chat about my passions…grandparenting activities, books, gardens and the west coast; all of which tend to be what I write about so easy overlap.I doubt K will ever reach the point of influencing, but I interact regularly with enough folks that I feel I am both giving and receiving something of value. If anyone knows how how to get rid of the creepy followers who inevitably show up, I would be much obliged.
Being totally useless at self promotion and bored out of my skul by it AND a techno-idiot, my question is: have royalties to the published writer increased now that they have to do more work to promote themselves than the publisher does? (does the publisher spend so much time per day for months on end promoting your work?)
I found social media overwelming at first but I actually enjoy it now. I particularly enjoy blogging and have made some awesome connections through blogging. I think the trick is to limit the time spent on social media. But done right, writers will help to promote each other. I didn't realize bookmarks have gone the way of the dinosauer!
Really useful insights. I have noticed that increasingly people want to spend less time on social media. A gazillion followers doesn't sell huge amounts of books anyway
I’m with you on the website. I don’t want to sell courses and interact like an expert. I just do my stuff. Medium accomplishes some of it and eventually Substack will gather my email list.
Interesting. I finally created a website after Twitter briefly kicked me off for "violating it's terms of service". (I posted to a public figure who had recently had covid that I hoped he and his family had weathered covid ok...twitter decided I was threatening them.) I had to "admit fault" to be allowed back on twitter. As more and more people abandon social media, I wanted somewhere for them to find me, and I know the thousands of followers i have on Facebook know me as open door dreaming, so I figured they could find that but not likely my substack. It's the simplest web page, which basically just links to substack and social media, but I have found some reluctance to "join" substack. As to Medium, I found Medium as a reader to be super annoying so I really didn't want to pay $5 a month just to follow some writers I was already following (paid and/or free) on substack.
It's certainly tricky. And being more of a photographer than writer, it's easier to post photos too.
I dabbled on the web years ago for an authors site but dropped it. Since then my wife and I have an online school for Kitchen Design, and I can tell you it is a lot of work with many twists and turns and dead ends.
It is a pity that publishers look for your online presence. When you think about it, isn’t that the role of the publisher—gatekeeper of content and promoter? Perhaps that is why the publishing industry is in such a pickle. They have lost their way and let the social media accounts dilute their worth.
I've seen Korean publishers advertise books online using Instagram, Facebook and blogs. They make really provocative statements (very violent, sexual or political) for the title to catch people's attention. I personally don't think the advertisement works, because it usually gives away all the information about the book, and a bold statement that might have caught people's attention just seems to ruin the overall quality of the work. For promoting a work of my own, I have thought about making a Youtube video where I read out the whole story (like podcast or audiobook), but this wouldn't really be a safe way to expose my work without having the work published first. I think making a card that I can distribute to the publishers would be a much better way to start promoting my work. I wasn't aware of this method until today! Thank you Alison!
For me, I like to have a space to tie all my fiction writing and related peripheral activities together – even if I visit it infrequently. Twitter? Too cluttered, too linear, too limited. Facebook? Too … Facebook. Substack … too linear, and my Substack is designedly single-minded in its purpose – pushing out those stories to my followers. I found it worthwhile to create a simple WordPress website (coriobay.blog) with just four main pages: fiction samples – blog – about – contact. Nothing fancy, but it does the job. I don't stress about the blog, just copy something (one of my articles or photo-essays) across from Medium every month or so. The fiction samples are short stories that I swap about twice a year.
When I eventually get around to publishing any books, they'll get their own page, I guess.
None of this required any great expertise, or any outside help, and the cost is minimal.
I just feel that without the website, Steve Fendt's author persona would be too dispersed, ephemeral. Given that it's not my real name, and my professional writing happens elsewhere.
For my 'day job' writing, I just have a LinkedIn account as somewhere to park a résumé. More to remind my existing clients what I've done for them than to seek new ones, as I've been with those publishers longer than any of the in-house staff 😊. I'm practically a family heirloom.
I agree about book marks. I have done something similar with business cards and they are much more manageable and I believe are more practice. I have a website with a blog that I hardly ever use cuz it seems overly complicated. I use social media a bit, but find it works for me cuz I use it regularly to chat about my passions…grandparenting activities, books, gardens and the west coast; all of which tend to be what I write about so easy overlap.I doubt K will ever reach the point of influencing, but I interact regularly with enough folks that I feel I am both giving and receiving something of value. If anyone knows how how to get rid of the creepy followers who inevitably show up, I would be much obliged.
Being totally useless at self promotion and bored out of my skul by it AND a techno-idiot, my question is: have royalties to the published writer increased now that they have to do more work to promote themselves than the publisher does? (does the publisher spend so much time per day for months on end promoting your work?)