Okay. I’ve been on Facebook for a week now and can’t say much has happened.
It could be my fault. I haven’t added much since setting it up. Posting writerly things would be a start.
I did have contact from several long lost friends. I clicked on some of them to see what they’re doing with their lives. I’ve learned FB can be a big time-suck.
Scott Rhoades commented and said social media is trending toward generating more discussion than blogs. He says that people wanting to know more about you as an author are more likely to seek you out on Facebook.
One author that effectively uses social media is John Green. I recently heard about this guy on the WIFYR blog. Becca Birkin was talking about an author who knows how to “speak teenager.” I have consumed several of his books hoping to develop an ear for that jargon.
John Green is an outstanding author which probably pushes his “likes” up to 1.3 million. (Beats my 31). His The Fault In Our Stars is coming out as a movie this summer. Besides his talent, what also is impressive about him is his use of social media. For TFIOS as well as Looking for Alaska, he uses this technology to answer readers’ questions about things in the books. He has a FB page, Tumblr and Twitter accounts, his own website, and a YouTube video channel he created with his brother.
So, what is a poor unpublished writer to do? I guess go out and write a book that people would want to inquire about. Write like John Green. And quit frittering away valuable writing time on Facebook.
And… WIFYR is still accepting writers wanting to lift their craft. Go to WIFYR.com.
(This article also posted at http://writetimeluck.blogspot.com)
2 comments:
I remember back when we were first being told that anybody who wanted to write needed a web page. It didn't worry me much. I had my first little web page all the way back in 1992, before most people knew what it was. So I set up a site with info about my writing, put a counter on it so I could see how many visitors I got, then watched the counter increment--which only happened if I went to my page to check the counter.
I guess a writer's web site and Facebook page are still no substitute for an actual book when it comes to getting attention from readers.
What? I've got to have a book, too???
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