Social networking means business

by Stacey

Everyone talks about how important social networking is for marketing and promoting your book, both before you're published (especially for nonfiction, where without a sizable platform you're dead in the water before you even begin) and after. That it's important is not new news, but I found this piece in Publisher's Weekly about a recent webcast about digital marketing interesting because it goes into detail on just how social networking influences consumer buying habits. This offers a small way to quantify its impact on selling books. And the numbers are pretty powerful -- "consumers are 67% more likely to buy from the brands they follow on Twitter, 51% more likely to buy from a brand they fan on Facebook, and 79% more likely to recommend brands and products they follow on social media." I also like the suggestion "Don't spray and pray. Listen, reply and engage."

To me this piece serves as yet another reminder that whatever your goals as a writer might be, it's important to find those important connections to others both inside and outside the community. It all starts with talent, and sending out a message or a piece of writing that your audience can connect with in a meaningful way. The broader your reach, the easier time you will have finding agents and publishers to pay attention to you and the work you're doing. The numbers prove it!

Cash for pageviews

by Chasya

These days we often advise our clients to get out there and build a presence on the internet. We may sound all broken-recordish on this issue, but the free publicity an author can get simply by engaging in social media is becoming more and more necessary and invaluable! And, of course, we’ve been practicing what we preach right here on our blog and by spending time reading and boning up on social media ourselves. Which is why this great piece from The Awl caught my attention. Looks like the New York Observer is offering cash prizes for certain achievements made by their staff on the interwebs! Authors, take note, because the tips they offer to achieve these goals are fantastic and can be used to boost your own web presence. Check out their advice on how engaging readers in discussion and offering commentary on buzz-worthy topics can get your name out there.

Any other helpful tips you’ve come across in your own quest for internet domination?

Is blogging killing writing?

by Miriam

Being the chatty bunch we are here at DGLM, we spend almost as much time talking about whether we should be blogging as we spend actually blogging. For us, the issue is the time it takes to come up with a blog topic on our allotted blogging day each week, the time it takes to find an interesting story to comment on, the time it takes to write our post, the time it takes to read the ensuing comments and respond, if appropriate or necessary…. In short, all of us are conflicted about how much time away from our always reproducing piles of work blogging demands. And, yet, we do it because you can’t be a forward thinking outfit in this day and age without a blog presence (secretly, some of us even enjoy the interaction with our readers and followers).

This piece in the Daily Beast is interesting in that it raises another topic. Is blogging making writers less able to write anything with more substance than a People magazine article? Is it imperiling long, satisfying narratives, replacing them with the literary equivalent of gossipy chit chat?

Obviously a lot of people are worried about the fate of the publishing business. But what about the fate of literary works and the actual craft of writing?

If Margaret Atwood can do it...

by Miriam

One of the more frustrating things about our work these days is trying to convince certain authors of the need for establishing a presence on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Some of them claim that they can’t possibly do this, as it would prevent them from meeting their deadlines. Some tell us they’re too old to learn new tricks and they’d rather leave that newfangled stuff to the kids…who don’t read anyway. Others get on a very high horse and lecture us about the death of culture these sites represent and chasten us for asking them to prostitute themselves.

Then, there are those adventurous souls who are game to try anything that will broaden their readership, allow them to connect to their fans, and sell books! So, it was with great delight that I read this piece by Margaret Atwood--whose literary bona fides are hard to challenge and who could comfortably rest on her mountain of laurels at this stage of her career--about the pleasures of tweeting.

What it boils down to is “communication,” isn’t it?

In control

by Lauren

Yesterday, Michael offered some really sound advice on how to deal with potentially difficult situations that arise in the publishing process, and I wanted to follow that up with a link to something of a companion piece over at Pimp My Novel. Eric outlines what you can’t control as the sales force tries to make magic happen for your book and then finishes with a sobering but important fact: “Everything from having your partial MS passed on to the agent by his/her assistant to the final sales call to winning all kinds of fancy literary awards will inherently contain an element of randomness or luck, and it's up to you to make the best of it, regardless of the circumstance.” That last part is key to a satisfying publishing experience. Some things will be affected by chance, but that doesn’t mean you should just passively leave your entire career in the hands of fate! For everything that lines up perfectly, capitalize on opportunity and don’t bank on chance. Lucky enough to have some author signings in an era where that’s less and less the case, don’t forget to tweet about it, make a Facebook invite, and email your address book. When things seem to be going wrong—and inevitably something will—do what you can to fix them and do everything you can in other areas to minimize their impact. Pretend you’re in AA and memorize the serenity prayer—and talk to your agent when you need help with the “wisdom to know the difference” part.

And if you’re still wondering how to make the best of it, run don’t walk to the previous post Eric links to in his entry: What You Can Do: Twelve Easy Steps. His hypothetical timeline may well be much shorter than what you’ll experience—except in the parts where the work is on your desk and you’ll be praying to every god anyone has ever believed in for more hours in the day—but it outlines clearly just how proactive you can and should be. You can’t force luck to go your way, so make sure you don’t forget to do all the things within your power.

A viral video about PUBLISHING?!

by Michael

I was really impressed by this video from DK in the UK.  It was designed for use in-house, but it was so popular that they decided to share the love.  And, in my experience talking to teen readers at events, this video is right on!  (Make sure to watch it all the way through--you'll miss the point if you don't!)

Facebook for fun and marketing

by Miriam

Being a relative latecomer to Facebook, I’ve embraced it enthusiastically. On a personal level, I enjoy knowing what my friends are up to without actually having to schedule a phone call in the middle of a busy week. Given how busy most of my friends are as well, I’m pretty sure that the feeling is mutual. On a professional level, I like to keep tabs on our clients and publishing colleagues – it’s helpful to know who’s doing and saying what, and, often, rumor and information get around faster on Facebook than through PW or Pub Lunch. And, of course, it’s undeniable that with the gazillion members and the sophisticated networking capabilities, Facebook is a great way to market yourself and your book. Thing is, you gotta do it right.

Because I’m far from being an expert in this area, I won’t go into technical details about what doing it right entails. (In fact, I would suggest that those of you trying to establish an effective presence on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites, who have the means to do so, should seek help from a good brand building consultant specializing in this area.) But, I can share some of the things my colleagues and I have discussed as being turnoffs:

1. Be interesting. If you’re using social media to further your career, don’t treat it like the equivalent of sitting on your couch in an old t-shirt, watching reality tv and eating Doritos. You should make an effort to make interesting observations, post entertaining links, etc. Telling all your friends repeatedly that you love your cat, or offering local weather reports in your area, or what you had for dinner last night is nice every once in a while but if all your posts are the same, people will stop paying attention.

2. Don’t oversell yourself or your book. If you only post when you have a book event you want people to go to or use your update screen to post fragments of your novel, your “friends” will start to get annoyed. Your posts will become the equivalent of spam and be roundly ignored.

3. Try to read your friends’ posts and comment when appropriate – don’t just indiscriminately “like” everything or offer clichéd or throwaway responses to their posts. Remember, their friends are seeing your comments too and that’s an opportunity to expand your own network.

4. Avoid sending “gifts” en masse. A birthday greeting to a friend is fine. A “blessing” that will appear on the walls of your 1,500 friends…not so much.


What are the Facebook practices you all find irritating? And which other social networks do you find yourself and your favorite authors on online?

The big picture

by Stacey

Pondering blog ideas while observing the blizzard of 2010 outside my window, I thought it would be a good idea to talk a little bit about authors and their commitment to social networking, and in particular building and maintaining a loyal audience that continues to grow long before and after a book's publication date.

For nonfiction and fiction authors alike, the importance of connecting with your audience is crucial at every stage of an author's career. At the beginning, it's about finding your readers -- identifying who they are and where they hang out online; then it's about building and growing that fan base, but also about maintaining fans' interest and keeping them coming back for more. It's not helpful to put up a website or blog, or start a Facebook page or Twitter account, and only keep them active right before and right after publication. It's about building a long term relationship, and it has to become a part of your daily routine. Seriously, none of this is new information, but it bears repeating because the results are clear and in many cases quantifiable. A recent example worth noting is my client, Shreve Stockton, whose book the Daily Coyote stems from her popular blog. An author who is intimately connected to her fans has the ability to stay close to his or her audience, and as a fringe benefit can even sometimes generate national publicity (and not necessarily directly book related, but that's the point) months after a book's publication.

There are a lot of resources available for anyone's use on the web, and a long term commitment to building your name, creating ongoing content that is fresh and engaging, and creatively thinking of new ways to connect with readers are some of the ways to ensure a successful career that has longevity. Books have become only a part of the bigger picture of an author's platform, and staying focused on these efforts will pay off in the long run in expected and sometimes unexpected ways. If you have any stories that illustrate this point, please share.