I’m sitting at home today. Again.
Snow and sleet hitting the windows and covering the lawns, icy and white. Again.
Old man winter and mother nature either joined forces to wreak havoc or are battling it out to see who wins. Not sure who to place my bet with.
Last night, I felt overwhelmed. And a little lost. So much to do and so little time to do it. In today’s publishing world, it’s up to you (unless you are Nora Roberts, James Patterson, Dan Brown, etc) to promote and sell yourself and your books.
How do you build your platform (according to the pros, it needs to be done BEFORE publishing) which includes promote, blog, facebook, twitter, read (read craft books, read to stay up with the market, read for pleasure and relaxation). And find time for family, friends, Critique partners, Yahoo groups, work, housework, yardwork… and most important – WRITE!
I decided I needed help.
Twitter? joined awhille back, but was scared to death of it. Didn’t know the rules or how it works. What if I did something wrong and looked like a doofus?
Facebook? Only do I get on it occasionally.
MySpace? Forget it. Haven’t been on it in years.
Blog? I try to blog on this blog as much as I can, but it gets sporadic. The YA blog, I’m trying to find posts that are appropriate for well….a YA blog.
So I did a little research. Found Kristen Lamb’s blog. Kristen is a Social Media expert and teaches how to build a platform and an author brand. She also has a series going on the blog titled Twitter Tuesdays which she talked about the do’s and don’ts of tweeting. Very informative and helped me feel more comfortable and stick a toe out in the twitter ocean. In fact, I downloaded her book, ‘We Are Not Alone – The Writers Guide to Social Media’ on my nook. Hope to get some hints and suggestions that may help me get a handle on what I need to be doing at this point in my career along with the most important thing – WRITING, of course.
How to get this all done? Planning. Lots and lots of planning. And discipline to stick with the plan.
I just completed a course with Kerri Nelson titled Book Factory and she taught how to be productive and prolific using timed increments in both your writing career and day to day tasks. Very good. Check her out.
BTW! Our Napa Valley Vacation photo scrapbook we made and ordered from Photoworks is here! And it is awesome!!!!!
Still freezing out there so I’m planning on fixing a roast chicken tonight ala Emeril’s recipe. Will soon have the house smelling yumptious!
Hang in there and stay warm!
~Sandy
