Get Fuzzy Potty SM Chat
Just before the meetup started, I was staggering through Lowe's (warehouse stores disorient me 'til I'm sick, bad sick). I tried to see the distinctions among $99 toilets and ones that cost up to $500 but are still without a plasma screen and Internet connection. That's as far as I could tell, because the models were all mounted above my head on tilted shelves, and I feared the headline if an earthquake shook them down on me:
"Woman Dies in Potty Tumble"
I felt my way back to the customer service counter (weirdly vacant of customers), to learn that the company delivers for a fee, even if I hire them for installation. Separate trucks, separate crews, separate charges, I guess.
Preceding this plumbing excitement was a Twitter Chat on balancing your time between building an online presence and actually writing the damn thing. As usual I questioned the question. I'm all about the context and data. The notion seemed to be that all the publishing industry and related personnel (agents) want all writers to have a burgeoning existence on the Internet. No data were offered.
Yes, I know you can cite some agents who advise this tactic. And I've read of a few authors whose publishers expect it. And do the majority? Throwing up a blog, Facebook page, Twittering, etc. seems fairly easy to start. But wait! These are for people who have already acquired an agent, sold a manuscript. It's for established writers more than people trying to break in to the publishing industry as writers. Show me the data that say it helps beginners.
Here's what I think happened. When the Web became available (early 90s) many rushed to put up a "personal page," to link a few together for a site. It was a fad until marketing people latched on. A new medium to exploit! They brought in businesses. Internet use exploded. People with products to sell shifted to pages/sites about products. It seems to me that the same cycle repeats for each new social medium (SM) introduced. Eventually, if you have anything to sell you were/are required (by social pressure) at least to have a site.
Then pundits (myself included) warbled praises of digital devotion, forgetting that we were watched by beginners as well as established writers. No wonder newbies are so confused about platforms and which SM to use, and exhaust themselves trying to do it all. One at a time, it seems easy, at least to jump in. The work is in the long haul, and now in coordinating your broadcasts.
What is the result of all this self-promotion for people who want to become published authors or establish themselves as writers: a lot of time lost. Not all wasted, but nothing productive accomplished in terms of producing writing to sell. SM tidbits are not credits in the writing world. Tweeting is not writing poetry. Maintaining a FaceBook fan page is not enticing people to buy your work. It's all playing around. "Time suck" is a term I see more often in discussions about this arena of battling media.
Sometimes I think a better term would be "social seduction."
Labels: marketing
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I had the strangest Amazon.com experience last week. But first, as they say on TV, a little background. I occasionally offer Amazon books for sale in this blog. I also sell books through the Amazon Seller program--anyone can do it. Some of the books I've listed are first editions with inscriptions and autographs by the authors. These are categorized as "Collectible." Presumably the author's literal scribblings add value to the literary ones.
The same evening,
Just in case the animation does not display: the sun symbol alternates with the text, "San Diego Website Excellence Award."
I spent this day changing over the email subscription service for this blog to consolidate it with the RSS feed from FeedBurner (now part of the Google Empire). If you want to receive the blog in your Inbox rather than going online, use the form near the top of the right column, click on the "Subscribe" link in the menu at the top of the page, Click on the "Subscribe by email" link in the RSS feed you may be receiving, or click on this one: 

Improvements to Google's Book Search service now allows websites to include a "Google Preview" button. When the viewer clicks on the button, a smaller window overlays the page with preview and search features. I think it looks better than the same service presented at 
You know how hot video is right now on the Web and on mobile devices. I don't think visual communications are soon going away. Anything that engages multiple senses makes more of an impact and a more lasting one. Author clips, intriguing plot snippets, or other teasers about your writing leave readers wanting more.
Wouldn't it be lovely if there were a Genre Court of Last Resort that issues clear definitions of genres? Of course, then there would have to be a Genre Court of Appeals for all those indignant litigants to follow. Alas, no such authority exists, not even the venerable
Anyone who hopes to have a book published, and everyone who considers self-publishing, will benefit by reading Rachael Donadio's essay on the NY Times website,
Writers often need to contact celebrity and authority figures. Sometimes it's for an interview, quotes, or other content-related reasons. Other times, they're looking for a way to obtain a testimonial, blurb, or maybe a preface for a book. One method of research is to subscribe to WhoRepresents.com. Here are some tips from John Kremer's
A new-to-me company, Adaptive Blue, is offering "smart links" and SmartLink Widgets to enhance blogs and websites. They come in a variety of flavors (stocks, music, wine, movies), but we'll focus on the one for books.
The next time you stroll through a book store--and please, do support the brick-and-mortar variations of Amazon--you may come across a free book. It might not be labeled as such, but if you try to check it out, the clerk won't be able to ring it up and could ask, "Did you get this here?"
