All about publishing a book, and getting help to convert a PDF to ePub, Mobi and other e-book formats

Member Login
(My Account)

FAST LINKS

Follow us!
Twitter
Facebook
Myspace
Blog
WritersEducation.com

Discover the best thriller writers on the planet!

SSL

WARNING! PLEASE READ ABOUT THIRD PARTY ADS: Authorlink encourages writers to thoroughly investigate third-party ads on this or any other site offering free and easy publishing help. We subscribe to the highest standards of the traditional publishing industry, and do not necessarily endorse any advertiser on our site. Also, Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on our site enabling display of ads based on user visits to our site and to others on the Internet. Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy. Authorlink guidelines, #7 includes more on our own policies

[ Search for Articles ] [ Visit Our Interviews Page ]

Speaking of Social Media…

Getting Comfortable with The Dark Side

By Columnist Marcia Meier
February 2012

*"As writers, we hate the idea of promoting ourselves."* —MEIER	As writers, we hate the idea of promoting ourselves. It just seems, well, unseemly. We believe others ought to be promoting our brilliant work. And if you’re like many of my writer friends, engaging in social media seems akin to embracing the dark side. We’re purists, after all.
*"Over time, we’ll explore things like how to use Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn . . ."* —MEIER	Well, this column intends to help you come into the 21st century by learning how to use social media and other techniques, like blogging, to build a platform (that all-important thing every agent and publisher wants you to have). Over time, we’ll explore things like how to use Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to your advantage and still have time to write. We’ll consider the pros and cons of writing a regular blog, how best to set it up and how to come up with ideas for posts. We’ll look at search engine optimization and other techniques that right now are making your eyes glaze over. I promise to make it as easy and fun as possible.
*"if you’re serious about making a career as a writer, you can’t afford not to embrace new ways of marketing . . ."* —MEIER	The publishing industry is changing at such a pace that, if you’re serious about making a career as a writer, you can’t afford not to embrace new ways of marketing and drawing attention to your work. I’m mindful of the time commitment involved in creating and executing a social media marketing plan (that’s actually what we’ll be doing). It does take time, but there are ways to blend efforts, and if you are focused, you can make social media work for you, rather than feel like it is driving you. Occasionally I’ll point you to a recent blog of mine that focuses on a particular technique. Recently, I wrote about why writers should blog, and so I recommend you take a look. Send me your questions! I’ll try to answer them in future column posts. And if I don’t know the answer I’ll find an expert or resource to confer. Welcome to Speaking of Social Media!
About Marcia Meier	Marcia Meier is an author, award-winning journalist, writing coach and developmental book editor. Her book, Navigating the Rough Waters of Today’s Publishing World: Critical Advice for Writers from Industry Insiders (Quill Driver Books, 2010), was named one of “10 Great Books on Writing from 2010” by The Writer magazine. Learn more about Marcia on her web site.