Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Social Media Advice for Writers

So now that I'm full recuperated from RWA and semi-recuperated from having my wisdom teeth taken out, I finally get to go over all the great things I learned from RWA. One of which is social media skills. I went to a workshop about social media and what really stuck with me was that: promotion can be seductive and deadly! And I totally agree with this. As a new author it's easy to get lost in wanting to do nothing but promote my new book. However, it's also easy to loose track of what's important. The writing!

The workshop stressed that you shouldn't try to tackle everything at once, and while I'm definitely one of those people that try, I'm slowly learning to pace myself. I learned that it's okay if I'm not a facebook guru, or a blogging guru, or even a twitter guru. What was important was that I find a social media device that worked best for me. And having been fiddling around with the different media sites, I think I've settled on Twitter. To me it's the most fun. Short, sweet, and to the point. Plus you can upload fun pictures! I know, I know, FB does that too, but for some reason it's a lot easier for me to handle on my iPhone. So I'm going to focus on my Twitter account. Does this mean my blog and facebook will be forgotten? Nah. I still have love for the FB and Blogger, they're just taking the backseat for a little while. ;)

Now that I've finally found what's hopefully a niche in the social media world, I'm going to set some goals to keep myself motivated. Instead of trying to tackle the world, I'm going to go slow, try to blog 1-2 times a week and Tweet at least once a day. Social media is like a habit, you have to practice to get good. So now it's time for me to practice. Wish me luck!

12 comments:

  1. I became addicted to twitter, Facebook tied with Pinterest.

    The only thing with twitter is having to be careful on how many times you respond to a follower or number of people you follow it at a given time... I experienced twitter the detension... though I am back, twitter does not provide a specific number of limitations... it is still addicting lol

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  2. My spelling on iphone is terrible...sorry...keys small

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  3. I still don't get twitter. I'm there. But meh.

    Facebook I love but the whole photo thing has me spooked.

    Hopefully I come across as funny and witty as I think I do with my posts and emails.

    Thanks for the Nat'ls update.

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  4. Ha! I blogged about the social media advice, too - but some of my readers are telling me to ignore it!

    http://spellspinner.wordpress.com/2012/08/01/more-than-shoes/

    Happy writing -
    Diane Farr

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  5. Good luck!!! It was so wonderful to meet and spend time with you at RWA!! You are just wonderful.

    You rock!!
    Rionna

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  6. I'm still trying to get the hang of Facebook. After reading your blog, I don't feel so bad about my struggles with it. Thanks for the post.

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  7. Hi Mary! Just wondering--which social media workshop did you attend?

    I have a blog, I'm on FB, Goodreads, Google+, and Twitter. I find that I get the most traffic to my blog from Twitter.

    That's my story and I'm sticking with it. ;)

    Lisa

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  8. Thanks everyone for stopping by!

    Kay- I think if I started pinterest I'd be doomed. Lol

    Lynn- Just let your true self shine and I'm sure people will love you! ;)

    Diane- I'll have to check out your post! Thanks for dropping by.

    Rionna- *Hugs*

    Angela- I'm pretty sure I'll be struggling with Facebook for a while. Lol.

    Lisa- I don't remember the exact title but I do remember it was a morning workshop on Thursday. Don't know if this helps. Lol.

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    Replies
    1. Must have been 360 Degrees of Self-Promotion by Stella Cameron, Cissy Hartley, and Jayne Ann Krentz. Quite a line-up!

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    2. That was it!! Definitely a wonderful line-up!

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  9. Glad you had so much fun at RWA Anaheim. Wish I could have been there.

    I never get on my twitter. It gets irritating because some people just repost almost everything and I'm left wondering, who is this person and why do I care? For example, this one person retweets so much, they're they only person I ever see, I have to scroll for miles.

    I love facebook. It's so easy to follow links to blogs or books releases (like I did today) and follow up with friends and authors.

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  10. Sounds like a good workshop. I'm shocked by how fast time goes when I'm using social media. I'd never really been on FB until I signed the Crimson contract, now I find it's probably my favourite.

    But I'm timing myself to be sure I don't overdo it, and setting daily word counts to keep writing.

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