You have written your book, formatted it, picked an ePublisher to sell it (if you don’t know what I mean by ePublisher, please go back and read my last post here). Now you want to get the word out about it. Unless you have a strong network, chances are, you’re not going to see the amount of sales you want to see, unless you are paying for ads. This is why networking is important.
So what is networking? It’s connecting with other people who share your interest, like writing, reading, editing, etc. You can have a mixture of people in your network, too and I recommend it. As authors, we like to make connections with other writers. Why? Misery loves company. I’m teasing of course.
Strangely enough, many avid readers are writers, too. I know that I am, and many of the author connections I’ve made are the same way. We are a like-minded bunch and can sympathize with each other’s writing woes, offer support when we feel like giving up on our dream of writing, can share tips, contacts, etc. You get the point.
If you can network with reviewers, you are helping yourself out in the end, especially if you are an indie author. Reviewers can make us or break us. While there may not be such a thing as bad publicity, you want a good review. You have to go by their guidelines when submitting your work for review. If you write Sci-Fi, don’t submit to a romance reviewer. Seems like commonsense but you would be surprised how many people don’t check guideline submissions.
I do stress that if you find a reviewer that you want to approach, read their blog, leave a few comments and FOLLOW them. Don’t think you can just say here, I have a book, can you review it. Reviewers are like retweets on Twitter. It’s an “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” situation, as it should be. Nothing in life is free. Give and take is a part of the business, so don’t expect to be on the receiving end only.
All authors want to connect with readers. They are the reason we publish our work in the first place. We want them to read our book, and like it of course. Readers are great for getting the word out about our work. They can make us our break us, too so be sure to appreciate the writers you network with and who take time to read your work. They could be reading someone else’s book. Thank them when you hear they are reading something of yours, and if they review it on their blog or somewhere else on the internet, let them know you appreciate it.
I don’t think I need to explain why networking with editors or publisher is important. If you follow them on Twitter and they don’t follow back, it’s okay. Don’t feel offended. Most of the time they tweet helpful info for you to read. If they follow you back, feel honored, as you should with readers and reviewers as well.
Next week, I will discuss where you can network, who some of my network and writing communities are, and why they might work for you. As always, give me some feedback. Leave a comment to let me know what you think of the post, what you didn’t like, and any suggestions you would like to see me post about in the future. I’m always up for suggestions. Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the World Wide Web J
Hey!
I've recently started networking, and I find your post simply great. I couldn't agree more.
As someone trying to get the hang of networking, what I find to be the hardest is actually creating connections; I often wonder if being able to read many messages from many people at the same time doesn't actually translate into not paying much attention to any. Another issue is 24 hours in a day is just too little time, hehe. So many interesting things to read
, so little time…
From my limited experience, it's completely enriching to fallow your contact's blogs/pages/tweets, you find out all sorts of interesting things, you're always up to date with the latest in so many areas! It's quite amazing, and I'm loving it.
Looking forward to your next post, and thank you for your great advice!
Best wishes 🙂
Hi L.E. and thanks for the comment. I know exactly what you mean. It's crazy trying to keep up with so many things and there is a ton of useful information out there.
For me, Twitter and Facebook have been an amazing way to keep up with what's going on in my network of people. I love blogs, too.
It is difficult at times to search through the many post, tweets, etc. This is where we have to create those titles that grab someone's attention.
Once you start building a strong network, you start to develop subnetworks. I have different groups of people who I keep close tabs on.
Best wishes to you on building a successful network. It's takes time, but it will happen. I speak from experience 🙂
Great article? I too am new to the networking situation. It's nice to have such valuable incite.
Hey, Dawna. Thanks for the comment. Glad I could help out.
I have been writing for a very long time, but have only taken it seriously for a short time. For me the hardest part is unplugging from the networking and getting back to the novel so I can give all these new connections something to read. 😉
Hi Elizabeth. I know exactly what you mean when it comes to unplugging from networking. I love Twitter, but there are days I have a hard time leaving it and my iPhone alone so I can concentrate on writing. It's one of the reasons I'm still revising, lol. Thanks for the comment.
Kelli, at what point do you think an author should start networking? Once they have something to share or just as they are starting out. I have written a few things, won NaNoWriMo last year and a couple short stories, but don't have anything to share right now. (I am new to the network thing, seems overwhelming)
Thanks for posting this Kelli! As always I love your blog!
Cheers Tom
Author of "An Apple For Zoë"
SasMan, start networking now, even if your book is just a thought rolling around in your head 🙂 It's never too early to start. Let people know what you are working on, which genre, and where you are in the writing process. My book isn't out yet, but I tweet about revising, editing, how much the whole process drives me crazy, lol. It seems overwhelming at first, but you will get the hang of it. If you have other questions, I'll do all that I can to help.
Hi Thomas! Thank you, good sir, for coming back to read my new post and for following. You're awesome 🙂
SasMan, start networking now, even if your book is just a thought rolling around in your head 🙂 It's never too early to start. Let people know what you are working on, which genre, and where you are in the writing process. My book isn't out yet, but I tweet about revising, editing, how much the whole process drives me crazy, lol. It seems overwhelming at first, but you will get the hang of it. If you have other questions, I'll do all that I can to help.
Hi Thomas! Thank you, good sir, for coming back to read my new post and for following. You're awesome 🙂
Hi Elizabeth. I know exactly what you mean when it comes to unplugging from networking. I love Twitter, but there are days I have a hard time leaving it and my iPhone alone so I can concentrate on writing. It's one of the reasons I'm still revising, lol. Thanks for the comment.
Hey!
I've recently started networking, and I find your post simply great. I couldn't agree more.
As someone trying to get the hang of networking, what I find to be the hardest is actually creating connections; I often wonder if being able to read many messages from many people at the same time doesn't actually translate into not paying much attention to any. Another issue is 24 hours in a day is just too little time, hehe. So many interesting things to read
, so little time…
From my limited experience, it's completely enriching to fallow your contact's blogs/pages/tweets, you find out all sorts of interesting things, you're always up to date with the latest in so many areas! It's quite amazing, and I'm loving it.
Looking forward to your next post, and thank you for your great advice!
Best wishes 🙂