Authors and Social Networks
Authors and Social Networks: A Love/Hate Relationship
by Jacquie Rogers
Once upon a time, a writer would grab a quill with her ink-stained fingers and proceed to scratch out the latest adventure to thrill her readers. She lived in her head, maybe acted out a scene or two. The stacks in the library gaver her not only a dose of realism, but even more Bright Ideas to woo her readers into another world.
Intrigue . . . adventure . . . romance . . .
Her hope was to sell the book so the story could reach a wide audience. All she had to do was get a publisher, and she had it made in the shade.
Okay, that wasn’t entirely true because some of the most well-known 19th Century authors promoted themselves relentlessly. Mark Twain, Charles Dickens. They didn’t wait around for people to buy their books. Both of them took the show on the road.
I have to think that if they lived today, they’d be all over Facebook. Twitter was made for Mark Twain. Will Rogers, too. Can you imagine their tweets? I’d definitely be a follower!
Jane Austen
Jane Austen would probably be playing Fashion Wars on Facebook to get more “friends” to add to her readerbase. Hemingway would be playing Age of Chivalry for the same reason, and Daniel Defoe might find readers at Pirates: Rule the Caribbean, or maybe Island Paradise.
So if they’re playing games, who the heck is going to write the classics of tomorrow?
I wonder this. Today’s authors are under terrific pressure to promote, but promote what? You have to produce some inventory: a book, a CD, a painting–whatever you do, Otherwise, there’s no use promoting yourself. So time management becomes critical.
But it’s not that simple. Really, anyone can make a schedule and stick to it, or at least feel guilty about not sticking to it. The real problem for me is switching from the promotion way of thinking, which is more left-brained for me, to the creative, right-brained storyteller I want to be.
One friend says she turns off her monitor, cleans her desk, and leaves the room for five minutes. Then when she re-enters her office, she has changed her mindset from promoting to creating. That sounds good to me–I’ve tried it and it has even worked a few times, but not consistently enough to continue.
Another friend says she just guts through it. When she’s done with promotion, she’s determined to write 100 words on her manuscript. Once she’s done that, she gives herself a treat, which is usually some sort of exercise. Sometimes she walks out to get the mail, or tends a few potted plants, or whatever. But then she commits to getting write back to her story and writing another 100 words, which usually ends up being about 2,000. Now I like this whole idea and I’m gonna give it a whirl.
I can write 100 words. A whole book might be overwhelming, but 100 words is doable. It’s not even half a page.
So how do you coerce your brain to write instead of doing other distracting things?
| Faery Merry Christmas
by Jacquie Rogers Romance has gone awry in Faeryshire. Who would’ve thought Mr. and Mrs. Claus’s daughter would be “on the shelf”? Yep, Cheshya’s all a’flutter because her 2,000th birthday, the last day she’s eligible to take a mate, is on Christmas, only four days away, but Liam of the Red Clan, the only man she has ever wanted is otherwise occupied . . . Terra Humanus in 1956: carhops on roller skates, the submarine races, a pink Nash Metropolitan, Lucky Strikes, Little Richard, and the Shoreline Sharks Baseball Club starring ace pitcher Liam Stone. For the past five years, Liam of the Red Clan has lived in Terra Humanus, pitching for the Shoreline Sharks and obsessed with signing as a major league pitcher with the Cincinnati Reds. The faery queen sends Cheshya to help him achieve his goal, but in signing with the Reds, will he lose out on his true heart’s desire? What will it take to make a Faery Merry Christmas? “What faery fun! A winsome sprite’s barely still-ticking time clock. Mayhem in the land of Claus. And the man who could wave just the right magic wand obsessed with baseball. A Christmas story to cuddle up with–and keep you really warm.” Stella Cameron, NYT Best-selling Author |
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