2017 Goal!

It’s been a little while, but one of my goals this year is to be a better blogger. For one thing, that could help with this whole author thing. For another, I have very real desires of gathering a number of freelance writing opportunities, and I think one good way to help that happen is to have examples of certain writing types and to keep a consistent blogging presence. Sure, I have the sewing blog, but it’s very tailored for one general topic.  I’m thinking I could explore more topic choices through blogs,  and hopefully doing so will provide me with a wide range of writing samples I could use for freelance positions.

It also is a recommendation when trying to better yourself through health choices to keep a journal. So, for both of those reasons, I’ve opened up a new blog (no posts yet!) that will ideally just be for that specific category of posts—a healthy lifestyle. Or, healthier anyway! The rest—less-than-healthy recipes, non-sewing crafts, nerdness—those could all show up here. I can’t guarantee weekly posts or anything right now since I’m so deep in needing to edit two more novels, but I figured it was worth the update to let you know what’s happening.

Blogging more is a 2017 goal, and you can expect to see evidence of that through both of these blogs throughout the year!

One more detail: My upcoming book, Within the Essence, is available for pre-order through Amazon!

Sewing Projects

Hey, guys! I’m not sure I ever posted this on here, but in addition to my standard sewing posts on this site, I also contributed a little something here about hand quilting tips 🙂 If you’re a fan of sewing and quilting, check them out!

Within the Essence Cover Reveal

It’st that day, and I love this cover! So, let’s get right to it!

As the demons near, the Essences rise…

AJ had never been particularly athletic or coordinated, so waking up to realize she suddenly has super-human strength is a massive, mind-shaking shock. Finding that she’s gained a stalker overnight is another mark in the unusual category, and when she discovers she’s always had the essence of a werewolf in her blood, her world all but shifts beneath her.

Demons, she’s told, are looming in the world’s future, and the only hope humanity has of surviving their arrival is if she and teenagers like her surrender their humanity to dive into their mythical essences. Fairies, dragons, dwarves, mermaids… The remnants of seventeen different fantasy species must come to life to save the lives of everyone.

Someway, an army of supernatural teenagers must prepare to meet the demons escaping from their dimensional banishment, or everything ends. Can these teens succeed and save the world?

Excerpt: “My name.” He shrugged. “It’s Julius.”

“Well, that’s one question answered, at least,” she admitted after a humorless laugh. “But why are you following me?”

He breathed deeply like he would need the strength, and probably the patience, to see this conversation to its conclusion. “I’m a gatherer.”

She shook her head and held her hands out to her sides in a helpless gesture. “What’s a gatherer?”

“AJ,” he started, drawing out her name as if unsure how to proceed. “Things are happening. All over. I know you’ve been affected.”

“What things?”

She’d purposely chosen the question to divert the attention from herself. He seemed to notice since he gave a light shake of his head.

“What could be the beginning of the end,” he told her. “I wish I could offer a more pleasant explanation, but you need to be aware of what’s at stake here.”

“And what is at stake?”

“The world as we know it. Evil has returned, and if not dealt with, it’ll take over.”

“Evil’s returned?” she parroted in a dubious tone and crossed her arms in front of her. “I wasn’t aware it left. Ever heard of Hitler? Attila the Hun? Mint Oreos?”

“Evil men,” he nodded in acquiesce, “and evil… snack food.” He looked at her curiously, forehead scrunched, then shrugged another time. “But it’s still human. Or, food. I’m talking major evil, above and beyond anything a human could achieve.”

“What’s gonna achieve it then? Aliens?”

e stared directly into her eyes, a fierce resolve unlike anything she’d experienced from him lighting his features. “Demons.”

Pre-Order Kobo Link: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/within-the-essence

Jivin’ Tango Giveaway!

The giveaway was approved days ago, but I figured I’d wait until it went live to post the link 🙂 Here you go!

Let’s Turn This Blog Around!

For starters, the blog posts before this one might seem a little confusing to someone who stops by the blog because of my books. You see, I took a couple of social media marketing classes, and part of those classes was to keep a blog. So if you read through some of the older posts and wonder, “Why in the world is she rambling about quilts and/or Hootsuite,” reading this section can give you a reason!

I’m not in those social media marketing classes anymore, but I decided to keep the blog up and running—with some changes—for non-class reasons. From here on out then, expect less about Buffer and maybe more about books!

For instance, I come with book news! Perhaps you’ve heard of my Division trilogy? If not, don’t feel bad! I’m not exactly Stephen King here! In any event, the first book of that trilogy was my first finished novel EVER, as well as my first published one. Needless to say, the series has a spot in my professional heart.

And that trilogy has officially been picked up by a publisher! InkSpell Publishing has offered contracts for the books, and I’ve accepted! The anticipated re-release dates for those books are during 2017, and I’ll try and keep you posted about news where they’re concerned. I will miss their covers, but I really feel like this could be the best option for me. I look forward to seeing how things go with the new covers and how well the books might do next year!

Other than that, I’m booked to be a part of a Facebook event later this month, so keep an eye on my Facebook page for more information about that at a later time 🙂

I also have a paperback copy of Jivin’ Tango that I’m planning to give away through Goodreads, and I plan to post that link after the giveaway is officially approved. If you’re active on Goodreads, enter!

Until next time, guys!

Future Implications

I think social media has been changing for a long, long while, and the evidence lingers back in my undergraduate days when Myspace was the it-place online. How many people even use Myspace these days? At one point, I was so comfortable with Myspace that I was more interested in maintaining that page than I was my Facebook page. In the end, Facebook seems to have won the battle, especially since it’s been listed as “the biggest social media network on the Internet, both in terms of total number of users and name recognition” (Maina, 2016, “Facebook” section). Had I thrown in the Facebook towel instead of the Myspace one, I might’ve been all alone, talking to the air!

It’s also worth noting that Facebook was listed as #2 by one site just a year ago (Milanovic, 2015, “#2” section). This switch is potential evidence that social media shifts, and sites can vary by popularity as the years go by. Their standing isn’t set in stone, and if it isn’t permanent, keeping an eye on where sites do stand is a reasonable marketing strategy. There are so many social media sites to choose from, and the popularity of each could shift at any moment.

The shifting factor could be something that’s connected to the site itself—like when Facebook decided to expand its users to include more than “people who had valid college e-mail addresses” (Kornblum, 2016, para. 3). Opening up that window allowed for more users, and without that decision having been made, perhaps the site would never have become as popular or useful as it is today. If the site, however, has a flaw that makes use more difficult than what another site can offer, the social media trend could shift toward a different site just as easily. Again, it isn’t set in stone!

The bottom line is that a person should know where to promote his or her business online if maximum positive results are desired. Otherwise, the business owner might choose a site and put sincere effort into an endeavor that’s doomed to fail because the wrong media outlet was chosen. To put it simply, “social marketing strategies will have to evolve with whatever comes our way” (Farris, 2009, para. 8), and we should keep our eyes open.

This detail is something that companies have been considering for years—or at least potentially should have been considering—and I don’t think it’s letting up any time soon. The implication that things will progress and sites will possibly compete with one another leaves significant room for professional social media users to keep up with the times, so to speak. If we want to make the most of our social media endeavors, we should take the time to do our research and see what sites and apps are the most likely to positively impact our sales and/or goals. Otherwise, we might be dooming our businesses to fail, even though we’re putting in online time.

Is this a human or a technological issue? I think it’s potentially both. People seem to want to be on the cusp of something great, so seeing people continually strive toward that next-big-thing on social media makes sense. Likewise, companies are known to compete with one another, so seeing sites try to push their boundaries and top one another in certain elements makes sense as well. What owner of a site wouldn’t want his or her business to be number-one? So long as that competitive nature stands, I think sites will keep changing, and people will keep shifting their preferences in reaction—and in a desire to be top-of-the-line.

A similar issue could be the growth of technology itself, since phones and such have become tools for social media. Having a phone that can connect to the Internet wherever there’s a signal allows a person to tweet, pin, or post a status update without being near a PC or laptop. As technology continues to progress, like with keeping up with social media sites, businesses and such should do their research to see what new apps and technological devices should be embraced to keep up with the times.

Again, this concept could link back to the desire for people to be on top of trends and such—to progress with technology as it grows—but the ending result is still the same. If people want growth, and companies want to grow, things will change, and a business needs to consider those implications should the owner want to take his or her social media presence as far as it can go.

References:

Farris, S. (2009, December 23). “5 Social Media Implications for Brands in 2010.” Adweek. Retrieved from http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/5-social-media-implications-brands-2010-101173

Kornblum, J. (2006, September 11). “Facebook will soon be available to everyone.” USAToday. Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-09-11-facebook-everyone_x.htm  

Maina, A. (2016, May 4). “20 Popular Social Media Sites Right Now.” Small Business Trends. Retrieved from http://smallbiztrends.com/2016/05/popular-social-media-sites.html

Milanovic, R. (2015, April 13). “The World’s 21 Most Important Social Media Sites and Apps in 2015.” Social Media Today. Retrieved from http://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-networks/2015-04-13/worlds-21-most-important-social-media-sites-and-apps-2015

Viral Marketing Initiatives

What makes marketing initiative go viral?

This question seems simple, and maybe the answer comes down to the notion that social media is too vast of a marketing opportunity to let slip away if you want your business to expand in today’s world. Odds are, companies are putting information out there to the public, and the public is picking up on some of those details more than others. As one author says, “[v]iral marketing describes any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message’s exposure and influence” (Wilson, 2012, “Viral Marketing Defined” section).

Within that very definition, maybe the real question lurks. The audience might be what makes something go viral by sharing and telling, but what exactly “encourages individuals to pass on” (Wilson, 2012, “Viral Marketing Defined” section) details in the first place? There are probably plenty of answers for this question, and a number of them potentially have some validity, like the following list of five details in a marketing campaign that could make it go viral.

1. It’s emotional. If you want to attract viewers, you might want to connect with them. In order to do that, certain emotions can be targeted and expressed to draw in potential consumers, “particularly positive emotions like amusement, joy, hope, surprise, nostalgia, affection and excitement” (Reese, 2014, “#3” section). Another source reported that “surprise, curiosity, amazement, interest, astonishment, and uncertainty” (Libert, 2014, “#2” section) are ideal when creating the campaign that you hope will go viral. If people feel good or intrigued because of your campaign, they’re logically more likely to tell their friends, share the post, or spread the word about that campaign.

2. It looks (and acts) nice. Everything down to wording and imagery can be important with campaigns. Something that’s visually appealing or interesting might have a better chance at going viral than something that’s bland and forgettable. Even the time of day that a campaign posts can matter in the world of marketing (Reese, 2014, “#5” section). Making the post easily accessible by time can make the difference as to whether your intended audience is likely asleep when it posts or possibly in front of a computer. Ease of use and viewing is important for similar reasons, since “[i]f your content loads too slowly, is covered in pop-ups or is difficult to navigate, [people might] not share it” (Reese, 2014, “#6” section). In order to give your post the best chance at going viral, maybe consider those details to make it’s engaging and accessible.

3. It’s memorable. One of the most memorable campaigns I can recall is Dove’s video called “Dove Real Beauty Sketches | You’re more beautiful than you think.” In it, a series of people give self-descriptions to a sketch artist, then other people give the same sketch artist a description for that person. The end result is that people could compare and contrast how they see themselves as opposed to how someone else sees them by seeing both of the sketches (Dove US, 2013). I saw that video (maybe a lengthier version) for the first time a while ago, and I still remember it. What that means, in the end, is that this campaign was so successful on my end of things that it’s still having an impact initiated by the Dove company. Is there a better result for a campaign than to still be relevant so long after it aired? Whether the answer to that is yes or no, Dove was memorable, and it “yield[ed] more than 114 million views the first month” (Ankeny, 2014, “Real women, real rewards” section).

4. It’s built for certain consumers. For that above-mentioned Dove campaign, “[t]he content [seems to have been] developed with the target audience in mind” (Reese, 2014, “#4” section). Dove is a company with beauty-related products, and the campaign reached that potential consumer base by referring to beauty and aesthetic insecurities. Like their products that could help a person feel confident and comfortable, the experiment conducted could’ve done the same for those who were a part of the process. The products physically offer care, and the sketching process offered a deeper level of that caretaking. The campaign related to Dove’s consumers, reinforced their image, and spoke to at least this viewer!

5. It’s interactive. According to one source, “content that enables viewers to participate tends to be shared more often” (Reese, 2014, “#8” section). One of the best examples I can think of in relation to this detail is when Lay’s encouraged audiences to interact with them “with ‘Do Us a Flavor,’ challenging consumers to create new Lay’s potato-chip flavors for the chance to win $1 million or 1 percent of the winning chip flavor’s net sales” (Ankeny, 2014, “Crowdsourced Crunch” section). There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of work on Lay’s part for this campaign, other than creating the imagery, idea, and such, and of course judging the competition. Most of the work was left to participants. In essence, you partake, and we’ll let it happen and reward a winner. Even if a person wasn’t interested in potato chips, he could still be interested in this competition for the reward detail. This strategy, in essence, stretched from only chip-fans to anyone-who-wants-money-and-will-make-chips-for-it, and the number of people reached might’ve been huge. Had Lay’s gone with something less interactive, the impact and reach might’ve been less grand, even if it required more work.

There are other details that could help a campaign go viral, but these steps are at least a starting point that could be used for a number of businesses, companies, or reasons. All in all, they could give you a better chance of going viral and expanding your post’s reach—which is potentially what you were going for in the first place!

References:

Ankeny, J. (2014, April 23). “How These 10 Marketing Campaigns Became Viral Hits.” Entrepreneur. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/233207

Dove US. (2013, April 14). “Dove Real Beauty Sketches | You’re more beautiful than you think (3 mins).” Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpaOjMXyJGk

Libert, K. (2014, October 21). “8 Elements of a Viral Content Marketing Campaign.” Inc. Retrieved from http://www.inc.com/kelsey-libert/7-elements-of-a-viral-content-marketing-campaign.html

Reese, L. (2014, October 9). “Catching Content: Top 10 Attributes of Viral Marketing Campaigns.” EnveritasGroup. Retrieved from https://enveritasgroup.com/campfire/top-10-attributes-of-viral-marketing-campaigns/

Differentiation

A new day, a new semester, and a new direction for the blog! Since I’ve recently accepted a job as a sewing blogger, and I have a vague idea of opening my own online quilt shop someday, I figure investing some time in learning about that branch of marketing could be a good idea. And quilts and sewing fit better with the “Cupcakes & Quilts” theme anyway!

 

Quilting as a profession does seem to be harder to find on social media sites than writing was. Searching for “quilt shops” and such, in my experience, has a tendency to bring up stores that sell quilting materials instead of actual quilts. That detail doesn’t mean that there aren’t online quilt shops, but locating Twitter/Facebook pages for those kinds of stores proved a time-consuming task. In the end though, I did locate a couple of quilt stores to use for this differentiation blog where I’ll compare and contrast social media presences and such.

 

The first company I’ll use for that exploration is The Handcrafted Shop, which isn’t actually a specific store. Like Etsy, it’s a site where people making homemade items can sell their products, including quilts.

 

The second company is Primitive Star Quilt Shop, which is located in Indiana. This shop seems to be its own company, rather than the collective approach of The Handcrafted Shop.

 

I suppose that singular vs. collective detail might be the biggest difference between the two companies. Acting as a general hub for quilters creates something akin to a “pirate ship” (Blanchard, 2011, Kindle Locations 1392-1394) style, where quilters can potentially sign up and start selling in a market that could come with its own followers. In that regard, a quilter wouldn’t need to start from scratch to build a group of potential buyers. The site itself is structured so that a new quilter could be exposed to quilting enthusiasts, since those enthusiasts might already be familiar with the site for browsing.

 

Primitive Star Quilt Shop, and shops like it, might have a harder time bringing in new customers, because that customer-base isn’t within arm’s reach, so to speak, like it could be for collective shop stores. After all, “SEEN and HEARD.  Those are the names of the game in any marketing plan” (“Word of Mouth Marketing,” 2013, para. 2). The easier it is then to be noticed, the better it could prove for your business.

 

As far as similar traits go, both sites employ other social platforms—like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. In regards to that list, I’d potentially give the edge for social media employment to Primitive Star Quilt Shop, because they seem to have involvement with more social media sites—like Pinterest and Youtube. Perhaps The Handcrafted Shop has pages on those sites as well, but even if that is the case, the lack of ease in finding those sites still proves a disadvantage. Primitive Star has them listed on their main site and/or Facebook site, providing easy finds.

 

The Handcrafted Shop is a bit more limited in the sites they share on their main site and Facebook page. Personally, if I have to look too hard for something online, there’s a chance I’ll lose interest and move on to something else. If that’s a typical mentality, The Handcrafted Shop might be stunting their own reach by either only using certain sites, or not providing quick and easy information for those sites to those who would come across their main site or Facebook page.

 

I also feel like Primitive Star Quilt Shop has a better angle on their main site in regards to their blog. While The Handcrafted Shop might tend specifically toward shopping and the site’s products, Primitive Star Quilt Shop offers more engagement for the reader—like tips and craft ideas. Since “[a]ttention is a gift” (Brogan, 2013, p. 108), and people may “want to connect with [the artist]” (Li & Bernoff, 2011, p. 108), giving potential customers something to enjoy on the site beyond what they can buy could be a good thing, like a reward for checking out the site.

 

Admittedly though, this compare/contrast notion is a bit off-balanced, since I’m comparing a collective shop to an individual one. Perhaps if more individual quilters made their Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/Pinterest/etc. pages more findable, comparing one specific shop to another might prove a little easier. Unfortunately, finding the social media sites (outside of their Ebay/Etsy/etc. shops) is kind of like finding four-leaf clovers. You might think you’ve come across one, but don’t be too surprised if when you give the clover a good look, it’s got three leaves. Or, in this case, if you click on the link, the shop is actually a quilting supplies store.

 

This lack of social-media-employment is a possible downfall for quilting shops, particularly with the age range of quilters. As one author said, “Quilters are getting younger, and many quilt shop owners have been ignoring them and their needs. Worse yet, they may be invisible to them. Understand younger quilters will not even know you exist if you do not have a web presence…” (Quilting Contessa, n.d., “#4” Section).

 

My possible theory on the matter is that quilters who jump on the “pirate ship” (Blanchard, 2011, Kindle Locations 1392-1394) of a selling community—like The Handcrafted Shop—might feel like they already have their audiences within reach, so they don’t feel so driven to go to other sites to bring in potential customers. Maybe, as the above author noted, quilters don’t quite grasp how important social media can be in the quilting business. While for all I know, sales for your average quilter might be just fine as things are, the idea does spark curiosity about how far companies on sites like The Handcrafted Shop could reach if they would make use of social media sites as well.

 

Overall, this week’s searching led me to conclude that there’s a possible advantage not being embraced by a number of quilters through social media sites. Even if a quilter could make a living on sites like Etsy and The Handcrafted Shop, how much higher could profit margin and customer loyalty be if they employed these other sites and actively tried to bring people to their shops? It’s a lesson to possibly keep in mind should I go on to open this quilt shop: Use a collective shop, but don’t completely overlook external marketing through online means.

 

References

 

Blanchard, O. (2011). Social Media ROI: Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts in Your Organization (Kindle version). Indianapolis: Pearson Education, Inc. Retrieved from Amazon.com

 

Brogan, C. (2013). Google+ for Business: How Google’s Social Network Changes Everything (2^nd ed., Updated and Expanded ed.) (Kindle version). Indianapolis: Que Biz-Tech. Retrieved from Amazon.com

 

Li, C. & Bernoff, J. (2011). Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies (Expanded and Revised ed.). Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.

 

Quilting Contessa. (n.d.). “Top 5 Ways to Market Your Quilt Shop.” QuiltingHub. Retrieved from: https://www.quiltinghub.com/Articles/ArticleID/279

 

“Word of Mouth Marketing.” (2013, August 22). Quilt Therapy. Retrieved from: http://quilttherapy.com/?cat=76

Twitter and Blogging Tips

There are a number of ways for businesses and companies to reach potential customers online, even if that business or company is technically just one author 🙂 Having a Twitter account has its own potential. An author, for instance, on Twitter could follow “influencers” (Schaefer, 2012, p. 31) to get an idea of good methods of tweeting, or insight on writing tips in general. Blogging, too, is a possible means of communicating with an audience, one that could keep followers up-to-date about news and upcoming products. Not too surprisingly, there are tips that can help a blogger or Twitter-user get more from his or her online marketing experiences.

For these tips, let’s start specifically with Twitter, where a tweet could get lost among a crowd of other tweets. This idea could be a good reason to set up lists on the site. Setting up those lists and organizing what you do and don’t see at any given time could help you focus on the accounts that you feel are the most significant to you, and help you maintain the strongest relationships you’ve built on Twitter. Since “these lists can be shared” (Li & Bernoff, 2011, p. 199), building them could also help you interact with new people who are interested in a list.

Those interactions in and of themselves are related to tips, because Twitter (and other sites) should potentially be about “building relationships” (Ashlock, 2016). In fact, one writer says that the “most important tweets are [a person’s] replies” (Ashlock, 2016), not his or her main posts. Why? That writer argues that “[p]eople will remember you more for responding to them, than for the most clever tweet you could possibly write praising yourself” (Ashlock, 2016).

Beyond those aspects, hashtags can be helpful with book marketing as well. Simply adding “#newbook” to the end of a tweet about your latest release can make a random person looking for a “#newbook” come across your work. Hashtags are also central in being a part of Twitter chats, where people are communicating because of a “common interest” (Schaefer, 2012, p. 133). If you attend a Twitter chat for horror books, for instance, you might assume there’ll be a good number of horror readers and writers participating. If you write horror books, this chat could be an opportunity to interact with fellow horror writers, and to potentially introduce yourself and your books to horror fans.

There’s also the idea of going through a site like Buffer or Hootsuite to schedule tweets. Doing so could allow your account to be active, even when you’re away from the computer, and possibly reach more of an audience. As Schaefer points out, “[i]f you’re only spending 20 minutes a day on Twitter, do it at different times of the day, so you have the chance to interact with a broader range of people” (Schaefer, 2012, p. 102). Having pauses between those tweets could further increase your effectiveness on Twitter (Schaefer, 2012, p. 53), and allow those posts to “fan out…throughout the day” (Schaefer, 2012, p. 101) without having to sit at the computer so long.

These ideas, to me, might be some of the main tips for using Twitter. As far as how well the people in the book-publishing world do with these tips, I’d say success can vary. Maybe one author tweets and replies with a level of comfort that another author doesn’t quite have with the site. But I think the existences of book-related hashtags and potential book-centered chats might show that authors are using Twitter in effective ways and using the platform to get to know people while showcasing their crafts. So, all in all, Twitter seems to possibly be an effective tool for some.

For blogs, there are still options to build relationships and draw an audience. One tip is to make sure “people can find the blog” (Li & Bernoff, 2011, p. 116), which can be assisted through a detail as small as “post[ing] comments on [other blogs] to lead people back to you” (Li & Bernoff, 2011, p. 117). Basically, “the blogosphere is a conversation” (Li & Bernoff, 2011, p. 117), and you should arguably find ways to make sure people know you’re taking part.

There’s also the issue of making sure you’re blogging enough. If your blog goes without an update for six months, a person who just happens upon your blog might not feel inclined to invest himself or herself in the page. As one writer says, “[b]uilding an audience for your blog is based on trust. Just as you’d show up to school or work, you need to show up to your blog” (Stauch, 2013). Your posts don’t have to come every day. In fact, “see[ing] an author blog weekly or every other week and be consistent” (Stauch, 2013) is actually okay, since there’s “a pattern” (Stauch, 2013). If readers can be familiar with a certain schedule, they’ll have a better idea of what to expect from your blog and from you. That way, they don’t think you’ve “gone MIA” (Stauch, 2013) because you go so long between posts.

How good are authors with this part of the equation? I suppose the success rate could vary, but for me, I kind of stink at it. Blogging is a pretty low priority for me, to be honest, and if I don’t have something to post, I often won’t. Truthfully, even if I do have something to post about, I’ve been known to still not post. This flaw is something I admit, and if I want to make the most of my blog, it’s something I should potentially fix.

References

Ashlock, C. (2016, February 19). “Twitter Tips for Authors.” Ask the Agent: Night Thoughts about Books and Publishing. Retrieved from: https://andyrossagency.wordpress.com/2016/02/19/twitter-tips-for-authors/

Li, C., & Bernoff, J. (2011). Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies (Expanded and Revised ed.). Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.

Schaefer, M.W. (2012). The Tao of Twitter: Changing Your Life and Business 140 Characters at a Time. [Kindle Version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com

Stauch, S. (2013, October 15). “Author Blog Posts: How Long, How Often?” Where Writers Win. Retrieved from: https://writerswin.com/author-blog-posts-long-often/

For an author, social media can be…

For an author, social media can be something that is effective and useful. I imagine, anyway. My successes have been somewhat limited 🙂 But even with my lack of success in regards to social media, there are a couple of things I still recognize as pitfalls, whether through personal experience or by hearing warnings from other people.

One example can be linked to a woman I used to follow on Twitter who not only posted solely about her book (at least I can’t recall seeing any other tweet from her), but seemed to post the exact same tweet over and over. As a follower, seeing the same thing repeated that much, maybe hourly, became kind of annoying. As an author, I realize annoying people probably isn’t the best way to go about gaining and keeping an audience.

Even if Twitter were conducted in a face-to-face “industry conference or a chamber of commerce meeting” (Schaefer, 2012, p. 108) kind of way, the aforementioned author’s strategy wouldn’t necessarily be the best option. Why? Simple. A good number of people might not want to “stand there and read press releases” (Schaefer, 2012, p. 108) at such an event. They might want more interaction, which is a human quality to apply to my online accounts (Schaefer, 2012, p. 108).

Possible bottom line: If my audience isn’t ever interested in what I post, they might not stick around for when I do post about my books. I might want to get people to buy those books, but I know from experience that the beating-people-in-the-head approach can backfire since I ended up unfollowing that person. And if I’ll unfollow someone for it, I should assume my potential followers would as well.

Similar criticism could be given for authors who automatically PM a person after a follow to ask said person to buy a book. I’ve done the PM thing, and I’ve been on the other end of it as well. Arguably, the approach is like meeting someone for the very first time, and asking for five dollars within the first three minutes. Doing so could offer an instant, bad impression of the person making those requests.
Basically, the mentality for the person reading the buy-my-book request could be something like, “I realized you exist about two minutes ago, and you already want something?”

Rather than doing something so instant, an author should ideally build a rapport with people *before* asking for favors or promoting books. As Schaefer claims, “[i]n an always-on, real-time, global world of business communications, the priority is on human interaction that leads to connections. Connections lead to awareness. Awareness leads to trust. Trust is the ultimate catalyst to business benefits, as it always has been” (2012, pp. 19-20).

That concept is why tweeting about more than just your book over and over is a good idea. Otherwise, there’s not necessarily a definite rapport or relationship between the followed and the follower, so why should the followers care about the followed’s book? Even after waiting though, pushing a book via PM could still be an intrusive idea, since you’re singling out one person at a time for it. Personally, at this point in my career, I’d advise against it.

But beyond the idea of bombarding readers and followers with too much business, an author can do something potentially worse to his or her online image. What is that something, you might ask? An author can react to a negative comment about his or her book, like a negative review.

I don’t know that any author legitimately likes seeing that he or she has a bad review. I’ve seen an author or two mention they want people to review their books, even if those reviews are negative, but I might doubt the sincerity behind those requests. After the writing, editing, proofreading, promoting… Who wants to read someone say mean things about something you put so much effort into? I don’t, and I admit that.

But negative reviews can be a part of the career, too, and an author should know how to deal with them. As one writer said, “[y]our book, written with the labor of love and handled like your baby, is still a book, a product” (Kealey, 2015). In the end, “it’s part of the business” (Kealey, 2015), and authors should accept that fact, however much we might not like it.

The strategy to dealing with these bad reviews and comments? Don’t deal with them. At least not publicly. You can rant and rave to your friends all you want (Kealey, 2015), but don’t go on Twitter to verbally attack someone for negatively reviewing your book or to defend your work. A person is allowed to give his or her opinion, just like that person was allowed to pick up your book in the first place. To one writer, “[e]very reviewer has an opinion, and all opinions are valid to the person who has them” (Kealey, 2015).

Lashing out over a bad review won’t necessarily make it go away, and acting in such a way could come across as unprofessional and childish. In addition to that not-so-pleasant representation, one post claims that “[e]very response gives that review more momentum” (Kealey, 2015). What that equation could add up to then is that you look bad, and you could be promoting your criticism until it potentially reaches even more people. Which sounds like a lose-lose, to me.

Need proof that reacting in such a way can affect your online image? How about an apparent directory for some moments when authors were less-than-professional? Pocketful of Books has one! In fact, the post claims the concept of “Authors Behaving Badly” (“Authors Behaving Badly,” n.d.) is a “weekly feature” (“Authors Behaving Badly,” n.d.). I, for one, wouldn’t want to make that kind of list!

Personally, I’ve tried to not broadcast any negative feelings I’ve had about negative reviews to everyone following my accounts, taking the advice from others to heart. Overly public remarks like that could be a giant pothole, and I don’t want to jump in 🙂

References

“Authors Behaving Badly.” Pocketful of Books. Retrieved from: http://www.pocketfulofbooks.com/p/authors-behaving-badly.html

Kealey, A. (2015, March 15). “10 Ways for Authors to Handle Bad Reviews.” Indie Author News. Retrieved from: http://www.indieauthornews.com/2015/03/10-ways-for-authors-to-handle-bad-book-reviews.html

Schaefer, M.W. (2012). The Tao of Twitter: Changing Your Life and Business 140 Characters at a Time. [Kindle Version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com