I suppose there is something cathartic about opening yourself up to ridicule and criticism. For me, it happens so often, I’d like to say I’ve gotten used to it. Alas. I haven’t.
On September 21, 2010, I poured out my heart and soul about my deep, burning regret that a month had gone since my last post. Today is October 22 and, once again, a month (plus a day) has gone by. (The Catholic in me now kneels, bows her head and repeats, “mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.” Translations are available in the lobby.)
In the past month, I’ve found myself engaged in activities that took me to places I never planned to go. My parents both died at the age of 87. They somehow lived full, productive and happy lives without benefit of today’s technology. My mom had never seen a personal computer. I once asked my dad if he wanted to see mine and he replied, “No, not really.” If they were to ask me what I do during the day, I’d say, “I Tweet, blog, Facebook, Rocket, and youtube.” They would probably shake their heads and consider sending me to therapy.
When I published my first book at Smashwords, I studied the marketing guide from cover to cover. (Okay. Smashwords publishes eBooks, so I actually read the guide from a solitary screen. But you get my point, right?) For today’s self-published authors to not take advantage of every technological trend available is to do themselves a great disservice. We are the ones responsible for marketing our work, and the internet provides us with a wealth of tools at our fingertips.
To be honest, I don’t really utilize Facebook much in terms of marketing. To subject my small group of friends to my shameless, self-promotion seems a bit intrusive on our friendship. I might as well wear a sign in front of them that says, “Look what I did! Look what I did!” And on the rare occasions I do post about something I've done, nobody types back, “So what? Who cares?” but my imagination is vivid enough to picture them thinking it. I do use Facebook to make short announcements about The Poetry Hut to an even smaller group of “likes.” But I haven’t quite figured out how to make my posts sound exciting. “The monthly update to The Poetry Hut is now online. It features new contributor poems, blah, blah, blah.”
I’m a relatively new Tweeter. My first tweet at Twitter (sounds almost musical, doesn’t it?) was on September 24th. I resisted joining the Twitter ranks for quite a while. I was not sure how I could offer the world insight into my abundant literary gifts in 140 characters. And then, as though struck by lightning, it came to me. I can’t. Not just because I don’t have any, but more important, I’m not expected to. The great thing about Twitter just might be those 140 characters. You’re giving your followers (or tweeps) a glimpse into your personality. Of course, that can be good or bad, but the way I see it, I don’t really know these people because none of my personal friends are tweeps. That isn’t saying you won’t make new tweeps. It’s just that these people are following you because something you’ve written, in a small space, has grabbed their attention. You don’t need to spend hours searching your inner muse for something profound and pithy. All you really need to do is write how you feel or what’s going on. “It’s a gorgeous day and I don’t feel like writing” or “My book sales are in the toilet” will suffice. (I may have to save that last one. Forget you saw it here.) Never make all of your tweets about commercializing yourself. The number of your tweeps will dwindle if everything your write is solely to promote your latest book. A page full of tweets saying, “Buy my book” is a turn-off. You may be surprised by the interest you generate if you incorporate tweets about the world as you see it, as well as the mundane aspects of the writing life.
The best place for marketing your work to the fullest is on your blog. If you don’t have one, create one. If you do have one, then for heaven’s sake, be better about posting regularly to it than I am. Your blog represents who you are and what you do. You’re in complete control. There are no character limitations or content restrictions, so be as wordy or as self-promoting as you want! You can blog as a poet, an author, or a commentator on everyday life. Make sure to provide links to your books or any of your other blogs or websites. Also, include an RSS feed to your Twitter page. Interconnecting links and feeds builds your presence in the internet community. I administer two poetry prompt blogs. Although they are sorely lacking in participation, my tracking information tells me that people visit both of them every day. And not always the same people. You never know who’s interested in what you do. Give them something to be interested in.
I use MP3Rocket and youtube for creating special programming and promotional videos for our internet radio station. I will tell you outright that I absolutely love Rocket. You can find just about any piece of music ever recorded. When we were preparing our show on One Hit Wonders, I needed a song by Larry Verne called “Mr. Custer” and, lo and behold, I found it on Rocket. The basic subscription for this song sharing service is free. You can upgrade to a package that will provide you faster downloads and a broader range of selections. But, hey, if I can find something as obscure as “Mr. Custer” for free, I can’t see spending money for something more. Heck. What more could there be?
The Smashwords Marketing Guide also recommends promoting your book through youtube. I do create youtubes for promoting certain radio programs. But, in all honesty, I’ve never figured out how to create videos about my book. Whenever I think about it, I get an ugly picture in my head of someone (probably me) reading a chapter to a background of mind-numbing Muzak for an underwhelmed audience. Worse, I see my friends and me showcasing our lack of acting ability while portraying a scene from the book before a camera. Can you say, “ick?” However, there are minds out there way more clever than mine. Take that cleverness to a new level. If you find something that works, you’re moving in the right direction.
So, there you have it. A Poetry, Prose & Piffle look at promoting you and your writing through the social media. Will any of these tools guarantee you a million dollars? A million readers?? A safe answer to both is, “no.” They are, however, great places to begin. Get your name out there. Connect with those having similar interests. All of these marketing outlets can work like a chain reaction. One reader passes something on to another, and that reader passes it on to someone else. Get started on creating your own domino effect.
You have, no doubt, noticed that I haven’t addressed the length of my blogging absence. I’m sure I could come up with some really good excuses, but do I feel the need? To quote my dad, “No, not really.”
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