Having a serious web presence is a necessary component towards
building an author platform and you shouldn’t wait until your work is published
to start leaving your footprints in cyber-space. Many editors and publishers
will ask to see what your web presence is before considering a liaison with
you. Often times it doesn’t matter how well you write if you can’t provide a
potential editor with a URL or two from the outset.
“Oh I don’t want to
waste my time playing on FaceBook, Twitter, Google-plus…”
So don’t play, discipline yourself and do what you’ve got to
do and then go to your writing. Social media is a valuable tool for an author;
it gives an author a chance to interact with other writers and potential
readers. Twitter feeds, FaceBook pages, a well maintained blog and an
attractive web-site will help you to get the word out about YOU as a writer and
any work you’ve published.
A mistake many new writers make is thinking that a blog and a
website are the same – they aren’t. A website is informational about your brand
(you) and product (published work). Your website should be easy to navigate and
provide the viewer with a short bio about you (relevant to your writing), a
list of any work available, buy links, a list of awards and recognitions,
contact information (usually an email – do not provide your home address or
phone number), and an up-to-date listing of appearances both online and
in-person. Your blog may be a part of your website or it may be a completely
different domain.
A blog is a running and constantly updated series of short
posts that will be interesting to readers, let the world see what kind of a
writer you are, and help spread your name. The blog is not a series of sales
ads – “buy my book”. It is a good idea to keep a fairly consistent theme and
post with both a good frequency and regularity so that readers will want to
keep coming back for more. Examples of some good topics to blog about include
character interviews, back stories (WHY did you write your book?), commentary
on current events that are relevant to the topic of your book (yes, even
fiction works) and brief excerpts and a list of buy links to a work. Some
writers will also include interviews of other authors.
There are many opportunities for free or low cost blogs and
websites so you don’t have to worry about going broke while you wait for that
first royalty check. Many blog and websites will offer a more personalized URL
for a SMALL fee (ChelleCordero.com instead of ChelleCordero.Wordpress.com);
extra storage when needed can be purchased for a few dollars and added to the
package when necessary. Several of these sites offer very user friendly formats
and canned designs so you can do-it-yourself without being a web designer or
know HTML.
FaceBook offers Pages which can be set up to use for an
author or other “celebrity”. You will need a regular timeline in order to set
up a professional page. Using your privacy settings you can choose to keep your
regular timeline private and shared with only a few (such as family and close
friends) and use that for any social posting – meanwhile you can have an author
page where you share only topics about your works, other authors and writing
related stuff. Again, using your settings you can allow interaction with
readers and fans (recommended). Your professional pen name should appear on
your page no matter what other name is on your timeline.
Writing Exercise:
Write a 500 AND a 1000 word bio about yourself – include topics relevant
to your writing such as 1) when you made the decision to be a writer; 2) what
is your expertise for the topic you write about; 3) and a very brief bit about
your personal life – married, children, career, etc. If you write more than one
genre or write both fiction and non-fiction, write bios for each so that you
can cater your expertise and other info for the work that you produce.
Writing Prompt: Make
a list of 20 (or more) headlines or topics for blog posts – things that you
would like to write about. Is there a specific theme to your topics?
