Where I Am: I think I've been at my computer so long, I've become part of it, like the sailors aboard Davy Jones' ship.
What I'm Listening To: My Sims music and my whirling thoughts
I just finished up with a Writer's Digest Webinar on the subject of podcasting your writing in order to reach your readers.
*blinks*
I honestly don't know how I feel about all I learned today. It totallly flies in the face of what one ordinarily thinks of publishing and so on. In this case, author Seth Harwood created his own fanbase which ultimately led to publication of his books. He did this by putting his books online as free serial audiobook podcasts. Obviously, this worked for him. Look him up on Amazon or Google him and you will find he's done very well. He also founded CrimeWAV and co-founded Author Boot Camp with this same idea in mind.
So, do I serialize my book and make it available as a free audio podcast? I don't know. I would like to build the author's platform that is so often suggested. I just don't know if this is the method that I will really most enjoy and be most comfortable following. It does give me a lot to think about. Thankfully, this isn't one of those decisions I must make, you know, NOW. I can ponder it, read about it (yes, I did order Christina Katz' book after her kind and helpful comment on my last blog post), and generally research the heck out of it.
I could, of course, try a seriously modified approach and make audio files of some of my short stories available. It doesn't have the same appeal as a serialized book, I know, but I could get my feet wet that way and consider what I'm comfortable putting out there. That would have the added advantage of something I could try right away as I complete the editing and polishing of my novel.
Argh. For the moment, however, I'm going to go give my poor brain a rest.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Speak to me of platforms.
Where Am I: trapped in the pale glow of my laptop screen
What Am I Listening To: the sounds of My Sims Racing which is incongruous at best
So, the Writer's Platform, huh? It was inevitable that this should come up, really. I'm a new writer, after all, and like nearly all writers, I'd like to be published in the not-so-distant future. I say 'nearly all' because I do know a handful of delightful but sometimes incomprehensible people who write like mad without ever intending to show their work to anyone. I love them even when I boggle at them.
At any rate, here I am without so much as a plank, let alone a platform, to stand on. Obviously, this blog and my associated website (http://www.sjgordononline.com) are my attempts to build. However, I am aware that simply having a blog, a site, a Twitter account, and a Facebook page to not a platform make. Someone has to look at all this stuff, you know? Not only that, I have to provide frequent updates that are actually of interest to more than myself.
But, hey! No pressure! Right? Oy.
I have to admit, I'm still largely baffled by the whole idea of building a platform. I'm not clear on precisely what I'm after here. I know I should have lovely readers for my blog. I know people should be visiting my site. But I have so many other questions yet to be addressed. If you Google my name, should it be the very first thing that pops up on the results page? How do I get it to be the very first thing that pops up on the results page? Am I supposed to be posting samples of my work? How in the world do I determine what is interesting content for my readers? How do I get the following of readers I pretty obviously should have? When, in the midst of all this self-promotion, am I supposed to write the darned books? Do I worry about this platform building after I've begun to query (which doesn't really sound right to me)? Do I hold off on queries until the platform is fairly solid?
ACK!
I guess I'll seek out answers to these mysteries when I need a break from the rather wearying process of editing the heck out of my manuscript. Any and all advice from my readers (are you out there?) would be much appreciated.
*smooch*
What Am I Listening To: the sounds of My Sims Racing which is incongruous at best
So, the Writer's Platform, huh? It was inevitable that this should come up, really. I'm a new writer, after all, and like nearly all writers, I'd like to be published in the not-so-distant future. I say 'nearly all' because I do know a handful of delightful but sometimes incomprehensible people who write like mad without ever intending to show their work to anyone. I love them even when I boggle at them.
At any rate, here I am without so much as a plank, let alone a platform, to stand on. Obviously, this blog and my associated website (http://www.sjgordononline.com) are my attempts to build. However, I am aware that simply having a blog, a site, a Twitter account, and a Facebook page to not a platform make. Someone has to look at all this stuff, you know? Not only that, I have to provide frequent updates that are actually of interest to more than myself.
But, hey! No pressure! Right? Oy.
I have to admit, I'm still largely baffled by the whole idea of building a platform. I'm not clear on precisely what I'm after here. I know I should have lovely readers for my blog. I know people should be visiting my site. But I have so many other questions yet to be addressed. If you Google my name, should it be the very first thing that pops up on the results page? How do I get it to be the very first thing that pops up on the results page? Am I supposed to be posting samples of my work? How in the world do I determine what is interesting content for my readers? How do I get the following of readers I pretty obviously should have? When, in the midst of all this self-promotion, am I supposed to write the darned books? Do I worry about this platform building after I've begun to query (which doesn't really sound right to me)? Do I hold off on queries until the platform is fairly solid?
ACK!
I guess I'll seek out answers to these mysteries when I need a break from the rather wearying process of editing the heck out of my manuscript. Any and all advice from my readers (are you out there?) would be much appreciated.
*smooch*
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