Monthly Archives: September 2012

Author, Facebook, Online Communities

Facebook Author Page

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You need one right? Sure you do. Some authors makes one for each book while others like me creates one that pertains to us as writers. How easy is it to do? Simple actually. If you already have a FB account then all one has to do is create a group.

Create a page at the link here

https://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

It is as easy as filling in the dots. Before you start you might want to take a few minutes to figure out what you would like your page to be called. Do you want it primarily for you as an author or for each of your books. How would you describe yourself? What is the purpose of you creating this page? Are you wanting to use your real or pen name if you have one?  Once that is all figured out it is time to begin at the link above. You can change your name of the page a few times. However once you have 25 likes the name you place in the box will be the name until the group is no longer active.

This is a good way like Twitter and other social medias to get your brand and yourself out there. When I first started 25 seemed like a heck of a lot but that is where family comes in and friends of family. Thanks to them I reached the magical number relatively fast. There is one thing that FB does not say out there in the open. If you like someone’s page using anything but your profile page then the like is not counted toward the overall count. Why? No one seems to know the answer to this. So if you are getting people to like your page or you theirs use your profile page not your FB fan page.

How can we get our likes to increase comes to networking. There are quite a few karma groups out there that it’s mere existence is to like other people’s pages, follow their author’s blogs, follow them on Twitter and the likes. Some people are happy to jump on this wagon and go for the ride. Others feel it is impersonal and rather go slow and steady. Whatever way works for you works for you. I dip into both pots. Why not I mean it is all about authors helping authors trying to support each other in a tough business of publication.

Since I have started my page the hits on my author’s blog has gone up and with a bang. People are talking about what I write there and are sharing it with each other. A win for me and for what I am trying to accomplish. You can find the karma groups on FB, Twitter and other media. I have gotten most of my likes from Twitter and FB groups. In fact I am now an admin for such a group that helps share the karma around. On FB it is called Author Karma Group.

It is not a sure hit, most people will follow some will not. This crosses all formats of social media. But in doing this you come across some pretty cool people who are willing to share with you what they have learned as I am trying to do here in my social media series. We are all here for each other, trying to help each other out like others have done for us.  Some people are not into FB or creating pages for themselves and that is totally up to them. This is a tough business though an a little help goes a long way. And by doing this on FB it is a good start on getting your name out.

Have any questions just ask.

Art, Drawing Class, Happiness, Life

Drawing Class Part 2

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In May I signed up for a drawing class called “Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain” at my local community college. I blogged about it a few times to talk about the ups and downs I had with it. To put it bluntly in a group of seven students I was the only one who had never had a drawing class in her life. Fortunately the instructor was worth her weight in gold and she made the experience simply amazing.

Last week I signed up for the intermediate class and I started this past Wednesday. Looking at the description in the course catalog I wondered if I was getting in over my head. I probably am. But I am not letting this stop me. Fortunately due to the last class I have all the necessary supplies needed.

What I remembered was the commoderie of the other students. Those who were well advance then me but who still gave me encouragement. It was three hours once a week to forget all the stuff that was going on in life and concentrate on the art of drawing.  No matter if I was stressed, not feeling well, worried about this that or another once I entered classroom 139 it all got left behind as the door would shut behind me. There were times I felt so out of my element. There were the times I would show my husband and son what I had drawn and one could see they were trying hard to not hurt my feelings when they tried to figure out what I had attempted to draw. That was tough.

But if I looked from day one to the last there was a vast different in my drawing skills. The very last assignment was for us to draw ourselves while looking at our faces in the mirror. That took every lesson we had learned to get this done. When Nancy came by my spot she looked at my piece and then at me. She told the class when they had a chance to come see my eyes for I had nailed it. That was something that well I can’t even begin to express how that made me feel.

This was one of the best class I had ever taken at this school. But it gave me something much more. Since the class I have sketched. Sometimes it has been to fight off boredom. But most times it had been to unstress from life. The drawings don’t always come out where you know what the heck it is but practice does help. This has been a new tool for me to use and it is something I am truly grateful for.

So yes round two started. I am sure it will be six weeks of woohoo and also good gosh girl why the hell did you take this class? It will be one where I will feel inapt compared to the other students versus when Nancy stops by and tells me in her soft voice, “Yeah there you got it.”

But it will give me new ammunition to my budding drawing skills. I have had people laugh at my sketches and also make fun of me taking the class. But that is okay it really is. For it is now more than just a class I take one day a week. It gives me a piece of mind when I need it. So I got one class down.  Even though it has been months since I have stepped in this room I feel right at home. I am loving it.

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Tweet Tweet Goes the Twitter

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In keeping in theme with my online platform series today’s topic will be on Twitter. If done right any author can make this social media work for them. As mentioned in my post on online presence it was discussed how I started on Twitter. One little @ in a Writer’s Digest issue was all it took

One can either use their real name, pen name or something that describes themselves. For me it is @NewEngland_Muse. As long a I have been online my handle if it is not taken has been Muse.

The bio in Twitter does not give you much space to tell the world who you are. However it is a good lesson in learning how to be concise, to the point without unnecessary words. Something we will have to do when we write our synopsis for our books or our tag line.

My bio on Twitter is:

A writer who is tuning her 2nd/3rd book. A sports loving, photo taking gal who loves to sing/dance to her own enjoyment. She love to laugh even at herself.

Now that you have an account with a name that says you with a bio what next?

Tips I have learned along the way.

Hashtags are a good way to help yourself out. The symbol is # with the key word after it. This is used to mark words or topics when using Twitter. For example when I started to use Twitter where my book was concern I would use #JasperAmazonParrot or different variations of that. If I am looking for help from other writers I sometimes use #writers #authors #advice and again other variations are incorporated.

Try to not use to many hashtags per tweet, use the ones that are pertinent to what you are writing about. Two great programs Hoot Suite and Tweet Deck are programs where you can follow multiple hash tags at one time.

Users who place the # with the keyword in the search engine of this media will get hits from people who are using similar topics. It is a good way to meet people with similar interest. By doing so I have come across publishers, authors, bloggers and editors to name just a few.

When writing someone in Twitter using their DM , Twitter’s form of email, again you are restricted to a character count. It’s another good way for us as writers to write what we want to say in as few words as possible but getting our points across.

What is considered a nice following? According to people in this media anywhere from 2000-3000 is a good start. But that is really up to you. At the moment I have 3812 followers. But from that number I can say 90 percent are from people who are in the writing industry in one form or another. So to me that is a nice following.

How did I get to this number? Most users I have found will follow back, especially if they have similar interest to you. Using hash tags is one way or doing searches on the topics you are interested in is another. It took some time to get to where my number is at, and for me that works just fine.

From your followers you can place them in different groups. For example I have a group of people I know, writers from NC, publishers and editors and so on.  How often I tweet varies. If I am helping a user out by helping promoting them then my count goes a little higher. I try not to flood my users with too much information that might turn them off. Remember you are trying to build a platform that looks positive on you.  Twitter is a great social media that can be one of your best friends as a writer if you let it. It is never to soon to start getting yourself out there.

 

What I have covered is the very basic format of Twitter. If you have any questions just holler.