Jamie Harrington Totally the Bomb says Pay it Forward.
Make friends with other aspiring writers at the same place in the process that you are and then help them whenever you can. You will develop amazing friendships and a support system that is essential to your well being as a writer.
Set up a google alert that will tell you whenever someone mentions your name online. This allows you to respond quickly to thank them for the nod and also allows you to reciprocate.
Keep blog posts under 500 words plus a cool picture. Some of the blog readers only display 500 words, so most followers won’t click through after the 500.
Lock down your personal Facebook account and create a fan page for yourself (even though this makes you feel like a tool since you don’t really have fans yetJ). No need to permanently scar the psyche of your unsuspecting young readers with the edgy, inappropriate humor of your adult friends. This has to be done BEFORE people you don’t know start trying to friend you.
Awesome bits! I had heard of the alert thingy but I never knew how to do it (well, still don't) But seems like a neat tool to have. Also don't have a facebook for writing yet for that very reason! And I don't give my personal one either...Awesome stuff Cin!
ReplyDeleteColene..just google Google Alerts..that easy. I know, I hadn't actually done it yet either 'cause I thought it would be harder!
ReplyDeleteThis is great info. I was thinking of doing the alert on google. I was thinking of doing a fb account for fans, but I think I'll wait until I'm actually published to make one. Then I'll lock down my personal fb.
ReplyDeleteAbby--I know this is all good advice, but I haven't embraced the whole FB Fan page thing yet either. I think I need to finish my book first...
ReplyDeleteGreat tips. I really do need to set up that FB page. It's something I've been thinking about for a while but haven't actually done.
ReplyDeleteOh, how cool! I was unaware of the Google Alert. I'll have to try that now. As far as facebook goes...sheesh...if I started a fanpage before I actually have some sort of established "base" it will likely still have the randomness of my daily life in it. But I have thought about it and may actually do it this weekend. No where near finishing but I can always direct my Bloggies to that FB page. Great ideas!
ReplyDeleteLynda,
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit of a slow adopter myself. AND, I can never figure out when to blog vs tweet vs FB...ugh and all this assumes I have something more to say than 'headin to the grocery store again--weeee!'
Erica,
I totally believe Jaime about the Facebook fan thing, but I'm still working on the whole, blog, tweet, FB thing without adding separate Fan stuff too. And yeah, while it would show great faith in myself to believe in the possiblity of fans at this point, the page would get mouldy before I needed it at the rate I'm writing this month!