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 Thursday, February 18, 2010
5 Superb Tips from San Francisco Writers Conference
Posted by Jane
Pictured above: Patricia V. Davis and myself in San Francisco, outside of Fog City Diner
--
I took my first trip to San Francisco to speak and attend the San Francisco Writers Conference. It was a fabulous event, and I covered as much as I could on Twitter.
Thanks to the work of Jeanne V. Bowerman (Writer's Digest's favorite Twitter pimp), you can download a rough transcript of #sfwc Twitter tips by clicking here: SFWC.doc (195.5 KB)
Here are my favorite 5 tips from presenters that appeared on Twitter:
- Philippa Burgess: You need to win the hearts and minds of people before you win any dollars. Philippa gave a terrific (standing-room only) presentation on how authors can brand themselves. This particular tip conveys how important it is to build an audience interested in what you have to say before attempting to sell a book (to editors, agents, or readers).
- Alan Rinzler: Early intervention is really critical for a writer to get good feedback (from a professional, not family/friends). This was the most often repeated advice, and longtime editor Rinzler made a passionate and convincing case for it. (So did Patricia Davis, through the metaphor of a three-eyed baby.)
- (First tweeted by @Frannydink): Steve Berry, who has now sold 10 million books, was rejected 85 times before he sold first book. Speaks for itself. Later Berry commented that 10 revisions is not enough. More like 60 is what he recommends.
- Agent Ted Weinstein: Writers, think of yourself as multimedia empire - as a producer (in charge of your own success). Depending on or waiting for publishers to create an audience or readership for you is likely to end in failure.
- Patricia Davis: Critical - Writers shouldn't randomly blog but blog on material geared toward (book) target audience. I'm just as guilty as the next person when I tell writers vaguely to get a "blog," without really explaining how or when it is meaningful. Patricia did a great job explaining how a blog can be helpful when you're writing material that appeals to your core audience (those people who ultimately want to read your books—not editors/agents).
For anyone who attended the conference and has tips or observations to share, please leave in the comments! Or, if you followed along on Twitter, share your favorite Tweets.
Below: My first cable car ride!
Blogging | Conferences/Events | Digitization & New Technology | Getting Published | Industry News & Trends | Marketing & Self-Promotion
Thursday, February 18, 2010 4:36:19 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  Trackback
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Wednesday, December 23, 2009 Wednesday, December 16, 2009
I'm Now a Regular Contributor to Writer Unboxed
Posted by Jane
I'm very proud to announce that, starting this week, I'll be a regular contributor to Writer Unboxed.
My first post, to appear this Friday, will discuss the 5 things that make me stop reading an online site or blog (based on my experience curating Best Tweets).
——
Housekeeping note: I'm taking a little holiday in Ireland for the next 2 weeks (specifically, the Aran Islands, at least for the first 10 days). If Internet access allows, I'll post occasionally while I'm away.
Feel free to follow my adventure on Facebook, Twitter, or on my homepage (which I plan to build out properly during my vacation time).
Blogging | Digitization & New Technology | Fun | Marketing & Self-Promotion
Wednesday, December 16, 2009 2:22:54 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) Trackback
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Friday, October 23, 2009
Your Simple Checklist for Getting Known & Getting Readers
Posted by Jane
There's such a wonderful comment on yesterday's post that I wanted to
bring attention to it (slightly modified to apply to all genres). Thank you, Banana the Poet (aka Michele Breton)! Follow her on Twitter or visit her site.
Simple Checklist for Getting Known, Getting Readers, Building Platform
- Blog your work and gather readers (Michele blogged for three years)
- Start publishing company (optional, but great route for poets)
- Release poetry book (possible to accomplish for free and with little or no technical expertise, through services like Smashwords, Lulu, Scribd)
What other steps would you add, or have you found to be critical?
Blogging | Building Readership | Digitization & New Technology | Getting Published | Marketing & Self-Promotion | Self-Publishing
Friday, October 23, 2009 11:38:24 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) Trackback
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Monday, October 19, 2009
The First 5 (Simple) Steps for Growing Readership on Your Blog
Posted by Jane
One of my posts last month, The Benefits of Blogging, received a number of valuable comments.
For anyone wondering about the value of blogging, this is a must-read
for the variety of perspectives.
The next question that naturally arises—after you decide to blog—is
how to gain readership. Before I mention specific tactics, 3 things to
remember:
- It takes time; this is a journey. Be patient. Results don't come overnight.
- The
more focused your blog is (the more it is driven by a specific
purpose), the easier you will draw a readership. Sometimes it can take
you 6-12 months to figure out what your blog is about. Read the Brazen Careerist for more on this important point.
- You have to be consistent in when you post, even if you don't think you have enough readers for it to matter.
That
said, here are a few easy ways you can begin growing your reach. These
are meant to be simple, straightforward, and meaningfully accomplished
by anyone in the first months of blogging.
1. Comment on other blogs—blogs that you actively read and/or truly enjoy.
But don't just comment, "Great post! Go read my blog." Instead, make a
comment of substance that adds a resource, tip, or encouragement. Or
offer an opposing point of view. Make it a discussion, not a promotion
of yourself.
2. Be the No. 1 commenter on your own blog. Show your readers that you care and will take the time to respond and interact with them.
3. In your own blog posts, reference and link to other blogs/sites. Comment
on what other people are writing about, or summarize many viewpoints on
an issue. These other bloggers will discover you and might comment or
link to you.
4. If you're on Twitter, then Tweet your blog posts. (You can use TwitterFeed
to do this automatically if you like.) If you're not on Twitter,
consider that some sites/blogs see 30-50% (or more) of their traffic
coming from Twitter.
5. If you're on Facebook, then use the NetworkedBlogs application
from within Facebook so that your Wall automatically updates and links
to your latest blog post. Your readers/fans can also use the
NetworkedBlogs app to follow your blog.
For more resources on growing your blog readership, try these helpful posts by experts Chris Brogan & Guy Kawasaki:
23 Elements of Sharable Blog Posts (Chris Brogan)
The 120 Day Wonder: How to Evangelize a Blog (Guy Kawasaki)
Bloggers: What have you found to be most important or influential in growing your readership? Did you experience a tipping point?
Photo credit: Humanoide
Building Readership | Digitization & New Technology | Marketing & Self-Promotion | Blogging
Monday, October 19, 2009 11:01:50 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) Trackback
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