This is #2 in a series, beginning with Is The Publishing Industry Dying? about how to cope as an author in the new world of media.
As a writer, you hear it all the time from everyone, “You have to be on social media!” You may be asking yourself why and wondering if this is all just a fad and if you ignore it long enough, it’ll all just go away. Well, I’m here to tell that this is more than a fad and it’s not going away. Furthermore, you ignore social media at your own peril.
So, What Can You Do?
There is a lot of turmoil and change out there and you can either stick your head in the sand and ignore it or, do something about it.
I recommend the latter approach because as Rhett Butler once said, ‘Most people don’t realize that you can make as much money when the world’s going to Hell as you can when things are going well!’
As writers always tell me, publishers have never been too eager to spend money on promoting mid-list authors. And now things are getting worse. But there is a silver lining in this dark cloud.
Social media allows you the writer to have more of a say in your own future. Yes, new skills are required and you’ll either have to learn them or pay for them but it can be done. You have more control over your own destiny and you have a force multiplier never before available to you. You have a never before opportunity to reach out to agents, publishers, reviewers, and readers and bring them into your community and stay in touch with them. Or, for aspiring, talented writers, self-publishing becomes more of a realistic option. Furthermore, this ability to promote yourself and your writing to large audiences is available to you for little to no cost to get started.
Paraphrasing the classic American bank robber, Willie Sutton, you want to be on social media because that’s where the people are! Just look at the numbers for social media users:
Image source: http://www.bhamdigital.com/2018/02/14/social-media-in-pharma-statistics/
There’s a lot of potential here isn’t there? That’s why you need to be on social media as a writer especially if you’re starting out!
How Can You Do This?
You begin by developing a social media program to do just that: promote yourself and your writing. (And don’t forget your email list and website/blog while you’re at it!) You demonstrate to potential agents, publishers, reviewers, and readers that you do have a following and that you’re worth they’re investing their time in you. You stay in constant contact with your community. Let me put it another way: you can be a successful, published writer!
What’s Stopping You?
The biggest obstacle that I find with my clients, whether or not they’re writers, is their saying that they don’t have the time. (You knew this had to be too good to be true; there had to be a catch.)
Looking at yourself and changing the way you work is critical to becoming successful with social media as a writer. Learning new skills is another important part of this transition. Look around you, your competition is doing it already.
What do you think will happen to you if you don’t?
I’ll be blogging here about writing and social media for the next several months and I’ll show you how you can develop your own successful social media program and how it can help you. I’ll also be happy to answer any questions that you may have. In the meantime, please feel to check out my blog at someddi.com.
Or, feel free to contact me at my email address below and I’ll answer your questions or discuss social media impact on you as a writer.
Thanks for reading and best wishes for your writing!
Con Patrick Sweeney is the Managing Director at Someddi LLC, a social media advisory practice, focusing on small and midsized organizations, and independent professionals. His website is http://someddi.com/ and he can be reached at conpsweeney@someddi.com He welcomes queries about social media for writers!