We've all been there at some point as new authors...we want to get our product/art out there, and our name without becoming an Internet troll. So, how do you go about doing this?
Personally, where I've started is simple; Facebook, MySpace (not that anyone's on there anymore), Twitter, a blog, a website, and LinkedIn. But now what?
I'm a bibliophile. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, I love books. I can't stop buying and reading them, and have a hard time parting with them when I'm finished. My house is stock full of books from every genre, both fiction and nonfiction. Currently, I'm reading three different books with an emphasis on getting my work and my name into the world. How to Become a Famous Writer Before You're Dead by Ariel Gore is my most recent buy and read. While she can be crass at times, her writing and style is very to the point and in your face. But are her words of wisdom just that, or yet another author with the best of intentions with antiquated words?
That's yet to be seen. One of her chapters focuses on "Being an Anthology Slut". Personally, I love anthologies, they can be really fun sometimes. But where is the fun in that? What if it's just another non-paying, non-publicized e-zine run out of someone's basement? Does this still count toward your published works? I don't know. I don't have the answer to that question, but I can tell you this...I struggle to find the time to work on my own novels while raising a family, how am I going to find that 26th hour to contribute to an unknown, unread anthology?
Here's the part where you all chime in...tell us, all of us, how you publicized your own work. Tell us what avenues you utilized to bring attention to your brand. Sound off, my beloved fellow authors.
You're off to a good start. I had a lot to learn--I was used to the publisher doing all the marketing for me!
ReplyDeleteI've found blogging to be very effective in generating sales--but I'm having a hard enough time keeping up with blogs (writing AND reading).
There are sites like Scribd and Authonomy, but the latter is really too time consuming. If we just posted our works for exposure, that would be great...but they're set up so that you have writers wanting to trade votes, and if you read everything you're asked to read to get a vote, pretty soon you won't have a finished manuscript to publish!
I've also found Authonomy to be more time consuming then it was helpful.
ReplyDeleteBlogging, I'm finding essential in the marketing process, and facebook. Certainly elsewhere when you have the opportunity, plug yourself.
If I had the answer to your question I would be on the New York Times Bestseller list every week! LOL
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