Bacil Donovan Warren's Blog, page 14
November 14, 2015
NaNoWriMo week 2 thoughts
So, it's Saturday November 14th. NaNoWriMo's "official" halfway point is tomorrow, and after two weeks of my first actual attempt to do this, here are my current thoughts.
Impressions
To start, I am really happy with my decision to do this. I've connected with some very cool people, and I've gotten so much better about "being a writer."
What does that mean, even? Well ... here's how I see it. An "author" is a person who publishes a book of some kind. There are lots of people who are authors, but are not really "writers." To my way of thinking, a "writer" is someone who writes because they have things to say. I have stories I'd like to tell, but if they sit in my head I'm not a writer. In fact, all I really am, at that point, is a creative dreamer or thinker.
When I sit at the computer to type the stories I have in my head down into a document, that's when I'm a "writer." That's the transition, and is the part I hadn't really quite figured out how to make work, at least not consistently.
As it turns out, it's really—for me, at least—as simple as saying "sit down and write." Making the time, forcing myself to have a goal every single day, as I have for NaNoWriMo, has proven to me that the main factor in wanting to call myself a "writer" is to just write. Yes, I also need to read. Yes, I also need to research. Yes, I also need to edit and proofread (although, I am not doing those things to my NaNoWriMo project yet, that's what December & January are for, for me), and I need to market and network and give people a reason to want to try reading the stuff I have written. But most important of all these things, I have to write. Steven King is famous for saying (among other things) that the writer who doesn't read lacks the tools to write well, and yes I need to read to get better. But if all I do is read, I'm a reader, not a writer. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
So what I've learned in two weeks of NaNoWriMo is that I am absolutely capable of being a writer, if that's what I intend to do, and the first "trick" is to just plan time every day to sit down and write. Without the overriding "goal" of NaNoWriMo, though, what are some motivations I can use instead? What I plan to do is to continue to set weekly word goals, and focus on one or maybe two projects at a time. They probably won't be as ambitious as current goals—11,669 words/week for NaNoWriMo is fine—but a 5k/week goal seems reasonable for new writing projects (that works out to just less than 715 words/day). I will also need to set aside time to edit and polish this novel, as well as other works I will finish, so I also intend to set aside time each day for that process, as well. Maybe write new stuff in the morning, and edit or proofread or whatever in the evening.
But what I have learned the most is that I can do it. If I actually want it, it's there for me.
Alright onto the nitty-gritty.
Words for the week: 18,003
Average/day: 2,572
Total for month: 36,013
Goal updates
Main goal of course remains to get at least 50K with a "wouldn't it be great if" of 60K and even 75K by the 30th, both of which are certainly within reach.
First resolution: kill two more characters (I promise, it actually fits!)
Second: Every single day, write at least once, and preferably twice. I set my Scrivener session word count to reset every time I close/open the project, so the word count is by writing session. I have it set to the NaNoWriMo daily goal of 1,667, and although I haven't gotten each session that high every day twice a day, I have used it as a motivator to not give up yet on a session ("you can't get up, you're still in the red! Write at least until you get to the orange!").
So, that's week two for me, let me know how you're doing in the comments!
Impressions
To start, I am really happy with my decision to do this. I've connected with some very cool people, and I've gotten so much better about "being a writer."
What does that mean, even? Well ... here's how I see it. An "author" is a person who publishes a book of some kind. There are lots of people who are authors, but are not really "writers." To my way of thinking, a "writer" is someone who writes because they have things to say. I have stories I'd like to tell, but if they sit in my head I'm not a writer. In fact, all I really am, at that point, is a creative dreamer or thinker.
When I sit at the computer to type the stories I have in my head down into a document, that's when I'm a "writer." That's the transition, and is the part I hadn't really quite figured out how to make work, at least not consistently.
As it turns out, it's really—for me, at least—as simple as saying "sit down and write." Making the time, forcing myself to have a goal every single day, as I have for NaNoWriMo, has proven to me that the main factor in wanting to call myself a "writer" is to just write. Yes, I also need to read. Yes, I also need to research. Yes, I also need to edit and proofread (although, I am not doing those things to my NaNoWriMo project yet, that's what December & January are for, for me), and I need to market and network and give people a reason to want to try reading the stuff I have written. But most important of all these things, I have to write. Steven King is famous for saying (among other things) that the writer who doesn't read lacks the tools to write well, and yes I need to read to get better. But if all I do is read, I'm a reader, not a writer. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
So what I've learned in two weeks of NaNoWriMo is that I am absolutely capable of being a writer, if that's what I intend to do, and the first "trick" is to just plan time every day to sit down and write. Without the overriding "goal" of NaNoWriMo, though, what are some motivations I can use instead? What I plan to do is to continue to set weekly word goals, and focus on one or maybe two projects at a time. They probably won't be as ambitious as current goals—11,669 words/week for NaNoWriMo is fine—but a 5k/week goal seems reasonable for new writing projects (that works out to just less than 715 words/day). I will also need to set aside time to edit and polish this novel, as well as other works I will finish, so I also intend to set aside time each day for that process, as well. Maybe write new stuff in the morning, and edit or proofread or whatever in the evening.
But what I have learned the most is that I can do it. If I actually want it, it's there for me.
Alright onto the nitty-gritty.
Words for the week: 18,003
Average/day: 2,572
Total for month: 36,013
Goal updates
Main goal of course remains to get at least 50K with a "wouldn't it be great if" of 60K and even 75K by the 30th, both of which are certainly within reach.
First resolution: kill two more characters (I promise, it actually fits!)
Second: Every single day, write at least once, and preferably twice. I set my Scrivener session word count to reset every time I close/open the project, so the word count is by writing session. I have it set to the NaNoWriMo daily goal of 1,667, and although I haven't gotten each session that high every day twice a day, I have used it as a motivator to not give up yet on a session ("you can't get up, you're still in the red! Write at least until you get to the orange!").
So, that's week two for me, let me know how you're doing in the comments!
November 11, 2015
Thoughts of Beauty Wandering (a poem)
Thoughts of Beauty Wandering—A poem by Bacil Donovan Warren
I caught my thoughts a’saunter, as sometimes they will doAcross a heather field, all soft with morning dew Within my sight, her form approached; from Heav’n itself it seemsHer silhouette a perfect shape; the woman of my dreams.
She stands before my vision with her light brown hair askewThe gentle curve of her cheekbones, her eyes of pale blueThey don’t just see the man I am, they see the me inside—The person I am meant to be, I can no longer hide.
As toes, buried in beach sand, are eventually revealed,So she reminds me, every day, not to keep concealedAll the things I am within, the bad along the good—To reach the heights I seek, upon her shoulders I have stood.
And even though it seems as if she’s disappeared from sight,I know the woman that I love has given my dreams flight.
I caught my thoughts a’saunter, as sometimes they will doAcross a heather field, all soft with morning dew Within my sight, her form approached; from Heav’n itself it seemsHer silhouette a perfect shape; the woman of my dreams.
She stands before my vision with her light brown hair askewThe gentle curve of her cheekbones, her eyes of pale blueThey don’t just see the man I am, they see the me inside—The person I am meant to be, I can no longer hide.
As toes, buried in beach sand, are eventually revealed,So she reminds me, every day, not to keep concealedAll the things I am within, the bad along the good—To reach the heights I seek, upon her shoulders I have stood.
And even though it seems as if she’s disappeared from sight,I know the woman that I love has given my dreams flight.
November 9, 2015
Silver Ribbons (a poem)
Silver Ribbons
— A poem by Bacil Donovan Warren
The initial enticement, words that seem to mirror action; at first, intoxicating. Embracing.
The dulcet tone of her voice, the mere presence of her: warm and inviting
As the bright rose and orange of sunset on thin clouds, stretching forever away
As love should.
Time moves, and the warmth becomes a raging inferno.
Desire to possessing; caring to giving to single-minded focus—
A need to provide, to comfort, to support as best he could.
The surrender of self to a picture bigger than one;
A picture so big only two can possibly fill it.
As the picture forms, the colors shift; not anymore are they the dreamscape of sunset.
Instead, they become first the penumbra of shadow:
Snaking out, like the silver ribbons at the end of twilight
Icy tendrils with frozen spearpoints, wrapped around his beating heart,
Squeezing it still. Stabbing it empty.
Even yet, it tries to sob tears of anguish—regret—appeals to sanity, to fate
Her ears deafened to the cry of the mutilated,
It screams its silent chorus of together, a song lost
In the now-frozen, darkest black of solitude.
— A poem by Bacil Donovan Warren
The initial enticement, words that seem to mirror action; at first, intoxicating. Embracing.
The dulcet tone of her voice, the mere presence of her: warm and inviting
As the bright rose and orange of sunset on thin clouds, stretching forever away
As love should.
Time moves, and the warmth becomes a raging inferno.
Desire to possessing; caring to giving to single-minded focus—
A need to provide, to comfort, to support as best he could.
The surrender of self to a picture bigger than one;
A picture so big only two can possibly fill it.
As the picture forms, the colors shift; not anymore are they the dreamscape of sunset.
Instead, they become first the penumbra of shadow:
Snaking out, like the silver ribbons at the end of twilight
Icy tendrils with frozen spearpoints, wrapped around his beating heart,
Squeezing it still. Stabbing it empty.
Even yet, it tries to sob tears of anguish—regret—appeals to sanity, to fate
Her ears deafened to the cry of the mutilated,
It screams its silent chorus of together, a song lost
In the now-frozen, darkest black of solitude.
Silver Ribbons
Silver Ribbons
— A poem by Bacil Donovan Warren
The initial enticement, words that seem to mirror action; at first, intoxicating. Embracing.
The dulcet tone of her voice, the mere presence of her: warm and inviting
As the bright rose and orange of sunset on thin clouds, stretching forever away
As love should.
Time moves, and the warmth becomes a raging inferno.
Desire to possessing; caring to giving to single-minded focus—
A need to provide, to comfort, to support as best he could.
The surrender of self to a picture bigger than one;
A picture so big only two can possibly fill it.
As the picture forms, the colors shift; not anymore are they the dreamscape of sunset.
Instead, they become first the penumbra of shadow:
Snaking out, like the silver ribbons at the end of twilight
Icy tendrils with frozen spearpoints, wrapped around his beating heart,
Squeezing it still. Stabbing it empty.
Even yet, it tries to sob tears of anguish—regret—appeals to sanity, to fate
Her ears deafened to the cry of the mutilated,
It screams its silent chorus of together, a song lost
In the now-frozen, darkest black of solitude.
— A poem by Bacil Donovan Warren
The initial enticement, words that seem to mirror action; at first, intoxicating. Embracing.
The dulcet tone of her voice, the mere presence of her: warm and inviting
As the bright rose and orange of sunset on thin clouds, stretching forever away
As love should.
Time moves, and the warmth becomes a raging inferno.
Desire to possessing; caring to giving to single-minded focus—
A need to provide, to comfort, to support as best he could.
The surrender of self to a picture bigger than one;
A picture so big only two can possibly fill it.
As the picture forms, the colors shift; not anymore are they the dreamscape of sunset.
Instead, they become first the penumbra of shadow:
Snaking out, like the silver ribbons at the end of twilight
Icy tendrils with frozen spearpoints, wrapped around his beating heart,
Squeezing it still. Stabbing it empty.
Even yet, it tries to sob tears of anguish—regret—appeals to sanity, to fate
Her ears deafened to the cry of the mutilated,
It screams its silent chorus of together, a song lost
In the now-frozen, darkest black of solitude.
November 8, 2015
Week 1 check in blog from Lectito.ME
As part of the NaNoWriMo festivities Lectito.ME is following five authors, and I am one of the five. Week 1 of NaNoWriMo is done, and all five of us have checked in to provide feedback and encouragement.
November 7, 2015
NaNoWriMo 2015, week 1 thoughts
It's been a week since I started my first National Novel Writing Month, and it's been an interesting experience so far.
First, I want to give props to a trio of inspiring fellow authors: Jamie Davis (the Podmedic), Sam Bradley (@SamBradley11), and B A Wilson (@BAWilsonWrites). Each of them has given a unique insight and inspiration to my efforts, and they deserve credit for reaching out to help a stranger reach his goals.
Second, I'd like to pass on a couple of things I've already learned, based on my experience and the advice of those authors above. Write! Write first. Write a lot. Write without too much concern for the polish, the flow, the "sound" of what you're writing. It can be edited later; in fact, you will almost certainly need to edit it later. It will be really rough. It may even suck. As Jamie told me: "let it suck." For those readers who, like me have a desire to constantly polish and fix things, please hear me echo his advice: don't. Seriously, let it suck, and write a lot of stuff that sucks. Michelangelo touched on this idea, noting "every block of stone has a statue inside it"; write a big block of stone, and only later, go back in and chisel out the story hidden inside. Said another way, by Antoine de Saint Exupéry, "it seems that perfection is attained not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to remove." I believe that I will find it easier to remove and polish a lot of sucking writing, and turn it into a finely crafted story, than to try to fix small pieces.
On to the stats:
Average daily words: 2,572.
Largest single day: 01 NOV, with 5,023 words
Total words: 18,010.
Words remaining: 31,990
Estimated finishing date: 20 NOV.
I am aiming to hit at least one more day (probably Monday) of 5k words.
To my fellow NaNoWriMo writers, keep up the good work, and even if you're not as far along as you'd like, you're still farther along than you were!
First, I want to give props to a trio of inspiring fellow authors: Jamie Davis (the Podmedic), Sam Bradley (@SamBradley11), and B A Wilson (@BAWilsonWrites). Each of them has given a unique insight and inspiration to my efforts, and they deserve credit for reaching out to help a stranger reach his goals.
Second, I'd like to pass on a couple of things I've already learned, based on my experience and the advice of those authors above. Write! Write first. Write a lot. Write without too much concern for the polish, the flow, the "sound" of what you're writing. It can be edited later; in fact, you will almost certainly need to edit it later. It will be really rough. It may even suck. As Jamie told me: "let it suck." For those readers who, like me have a desire to constantly polish and fix things, please hear me echo his advice: don't. Seriously, let it suck, and write a lot of stuff that sucks. Michelangelo touched on this idea, noting "every block of stone has a statue inside it"; write a big block of stone, and only later, go back in and chisel out the story hidden inside. Said another way, by Antoine de Saint Exupéry, "it seems that perfection is attained not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to remove." I believe that I will find it easier to remove and polish a lot of sucking writing, and turn it into a finely crafted story, than to try to fix small pieces.
On to the stats:
Average daily words: 2,572.
Largest single day: 01 NOV, with 5,023 words
Total words: 18,010.
Words remaining: 31,990
Estimated finishing date: 20 NOV.
I am aiming to hit at least one more day (probably Monday) of 5k words.
To my fellow NaNoWriMo writers, keep up the good work, and even if you're not as far along as you'd like, you're still farther along than you were!
November 5, 2015
One of five featured NaNoWriMo authors on lectito.me
Lectito.me has graciously started a series of blog entries on NaNoWriMo, and I was one of five authors selected to discuss my experiences on their site.
November 1, 2015
NaNoWriMo 2015 day 1 thoughts
Just a brief note based on my first day's activities (3,593 words so far, and I might try to get in a third session before bed).
First, the general advice that I got to 1) not edit, just write? Good advice, but oh so very tough for me! I edit as I think, mostly (I suspect a lot of other writers do, too), and I often will backspace or re-write a passage as I'm writing it. I'm trying to break that habit, though, in the interest of getting words on pages.
Second, the advice to just be okay with sucking, at first? GREAT advice (and, thanks to Jamie the Podmedic, +Jamie Davis). I am 100% okay with the first (very rough) draft being kinda icky to re-read later, because I'ma go in there and edit the heck out of it anyway.
Third, Scrivener. I love this tool anyway, but I changed the way I use the Project Tracker for now. It was set up, as was advised in many places, to track the overall project as well as per-session by using the deadline method. In short, if you open the Project Tracker on a Mac you can click "Options" and tell it when your writing deadline is, and how many words total, and it will calculate the daily word count accordingly. This is fine, but I found a better way for me: I did all that, then turned off the Automatically calculate from Draft Deadline checkbox. I set the session target for 1,667 words, and also changed the reset option to reset every time I close the project. That means that I have a session target of 1,667 every time I open it up. For me, it's just easier to close Scrivener when I'm finished, so I'm not tempted to edit right now (which I totally would!), and it also kinda kicks up my writing a notch. Next time I open it, I'll have a full day's worth of words as a goal, even if that happens later tonight. That certainly means I can blast through 3k+ words in a day several times, and have some leeway for things like Thanksgiving, etc.
Anyway, that's my first impression. Don't expect a blog entry every day, but I will endeavor to update again next Sunday.
First, the general advice that I got to 1) not edit, just write? Good advice, but oh so very tough for me! I edit as I think, mostly (I suspect a lot of other writers do, too), and I often will backspace or re-write a passage as I'm writing it. I'm trying to break that habit, though, in the interest of getting words on pages.
Second, the advice to just be okay with sucking, at first? GREAT advice (and, thanks to Jamie the Podmedic, +Jamie Davis). I am 100% okay with the first (very rough) draft being kinda icky to re-read later, because I'ma go in there and edit the heck out of it anyway.
Third, Scrivener. I love this tool anyway, but I changed the way I use the Project Tracker for now. It was set up, as was advised in many places, to track the overall project as well as per-session by using the deadline method. In short, if you open the Project Tracker on a Mac you can click "Options" and tell it when your writing deadline is, and how many words total, and it will calculate the daily word count accordingly. This is fine, but I found a better way for me: I did all that, then turned off the Automatically calculate from Draft Deadline checkbox. I set the session target for 1,667 words, and also changed the reset option to reset every time I close the project. That means that I have a session target of 1,667 every time I open it up. For me, it's just easier to close Scrivener when I'm finished, so I'm not tempted to edit right now (which I totally would!), and it also kinda kicks up my writing a notch. Next time I open it, I'll have a full day's worth of words as a goal, even if that happens later tonight. That certainly means I can blast through 3k+ words in a day several times, and have some leeway for things like Thanksgiving, etc.
Anyway, that's my first impression. Don't expect a blog entry every day, but I will endeavor to update again next Sunday.
October 31, 2015
NaNoWriMo 2015 plan
NaNoWriMo 2015 is nearly upon us! Here's my plan, including posting my progress.
First, I should point out that I changed my novel. I have had an idea in my head for a couple of years now, for a sci-fi novel about answering Enrico Fermi's famous "Where is everybody?" question. A while ago I created a pretty detailed outline for it, then set it aside. I tried to resurrect it as a short story a few months ago, and decided to wait, and now I'm glad I did.
With that in mind, I went ahead and switched. And the outline for it is quite detailed, although still somewhat incomplete (there are a couple of parts with just chapter names, for example), so that will definitely help. Daily, I plan to spend the first 2 hours of my day writing, setting those aside for me to be neck-deep in Scrivener in full-screen mode. That may not be long enough, so I also plan to spend an hour before bed. We'll see how that goes.
The plan is to aim for 1,750 words/day, with a daily minimum of 1,667. Sundays will be "makeup" days; if there are any days during a week I was short, I'll aim to make up for it on Sunday.
I have my calendar ready (for a really nice one, check out Dave Seah's excellent NaNoWriMo 2015 calendar), and posted near my desk.
I will post daily word count updates to my NaNoWriMo profile and probably Twitter, with weekly updates to all my social media accounts, probably on Sundays. (That may change, depending on the integrations available through the website!)
I am nervous, but as ready as I can be, I think!
First, I should point out that I changed my novel. I have had an idea in my head for a couple of years now, for a sci-fi novel about answering Enrico Fermi's famous "Where is everybody?" question. A while ago I created a pretty detailed outline for it, then set it aside. I tried to resurrect it as a short story a few months ago, and decided to wait, and now I'm glad I did.
With that in mind, I went ahead and switched. And the outline for it is quite detailed, although still somewhat incomplete (there are a couple of parts with just chapter names, for example), so that will definitely help. Daily, I plan to spend the first 2 hours of my day writing, setting those aside for me to be neck-deep in Scrivener in full-screen mode. That may not be long enough, so I also plan to spend an hour before bed. We'll see how that goes.
The plan is to aim for 1,750 words/day, with a daily minimum of 1,667. Sundays will be "makeup" days; if there are any days during a week I was short, I'll aim to make up for it on Sunday.
I have my calendar ready (for a really nice one, check out Dave Seah's excellent NaNoWriMo 2015 calendar), and posted near my desk.
I will post daily word count updates to my NaNoWriMo profile and probably Twitter, with weekly updates to all my social media accounts, probably on Sundays. (That may change, depending on the integrations available through the website!)
I am nervous, but as ready as I can be, I think!
October 27, 2015
The CloudAge™ Author: Social Media discussion
Another part of the wonder of the CloudAge™, especially for an author, is social media; that is, the Internet-connected apps and software ecosystems where people congregate to create, exchange, and/or consume information (my definition, and not necessarily comprehensive). An author in the present time has an opportunity to create a brand around themselves before even being published, and can leverage that brand later when communicating with agents or publishers. Indeed, many agents & publishers now require an existing social media presence for debut authors, because it demonstrates a willingness by the author to be fully present in marketing themselves and their work—which alleviates certain burdens of the agent or publication editor & their marketing departments. Here are some of my observations, and collected experience and advice, on how CloudAge™ Authors can leverage social media to their advantage. In a later blog, I will go over some specific marketing advice I've culled and collected over time; for now, I'm just going to go over some of these entities.
First, some limitations: there are dozens and dozens of social media networks and apps around. Since we don't literally have all day and night and all day and all night tomorrow to go over them all, and I am reasonably certain that I don't know them all, I'm going to focus on a few that will either:
have the most potential reach (that is, you will get the most eyeballs for your time); or,the most focused audience(s) (ones that target writers & readers in particular).Next, let's talk about size. As of August 20151
With these sizes in mind, the stats are a little bit misleading. Although there are a lot of users on the QQ, QZone, and WeChat sites, they are primarily in China (all of them are properties of Tencent, a Chinese holding company). If you publish and distribute there now, then these will be good networks on which to market, but keep in mind that advertising is strongly regulated in China. I would certainly advise communicating with a marketing or PR firm with extensive experience in Chinese marketing, rather than trying to go it alone (at least at first)2
Leaving these four out, the six left over are Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Skype, Google+, and Instagram.
Third, let's discuss "purpose" and "suitability for a particular use," as far as CloudAge™ Authors and social media are concerned. More to the point, what is a given social media's core function and how to best use it to your brand's advantage, as a CloudAge™ Author.
For all its various changes, upheavals, and acquisitions, Facebook remains largely a friend-network medium. That is, it is still primarily a way for individual people to stay in touch, and keep up, with other individual people. There are some business features, and Facebook is certainly trying to incorporate more ways for people to interact with paid advertising (and, in the process, largely alienate the businesses that use Facebook), but for all that, it's really just about individual people interacting with each other. Because of its sheer mass of active users, it is going to be essentially a requirement for an author to have a Facebook Page for their brand. I do not, however, advocate the use of Facebook as a primary marketing tool; instead, focus on making your Facebook page a replacement for the portal of days gone by. Today, it should be a gateway to your other marketing efforts. There are a couple of main reasons for my feeling on this. First, Facebook has made it nigh-on impossible to have any "organic" reach until you expand your Page Likes into the thousands—even then, they make it difficult to reach your audience in their News Feed—instead forcing Page owners to spend money advertising with questionable results (and metrics), as well as questionable reach3
This is not to say that you shouldn't have a Facebook Page; to the contrary, simply due to the enormous reach of Facebook, it is virtually required to have one. Instead, I recommend using the Facebook page as essentially an extended "about me" and a portal, and that most of your Facebook posts be links to other resources, such as your blog or website. Use the Facebook page to give Facebook users a place to find you, and then click on your blog posts to read your updates. Definitely use the "Shop now" button though; the "call to action" can drive potential sales straight to your Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or other website page where the Facebook user can immediately purchase your latest writing.
WhatsApp, along with Facebook Messenger (if you consider it separately) is an instant messaging service; think of it as a replacement for your phone's text messaging application. All three of them are direct-to-device communications; that is, you compose a message—from the phone's messaging app using SMS/MMS, or with the WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger app—and send it directly to the devices registered for the recipient(s). All of them support messaging lists (although, not all the same way, or well), enabling you to "blast" information to multiple recipients directly all at once. Unfortunately, this is often considered bad form, and will likely rapidly result in your brand being unfollowed.
Twitter has been referred to as a "microblog" service; while that might be one way to describe it, I have always seen it basically as Facebook Lite; basically all you have are status updates. Right now, those status updates are limited to 140 characters (including URLs and image links), so they must be very brief. What is great about Twitter is exactly that, though: short, descriptive entries, with images and links to more comprehensive information. In addition, it is an excellent place to find content you can "RT" (re-tweet), which is one way to gain respectability: when another author posts a blog you find useful, or an editor or agent posts a "call for submissions," retweeting them will get other people's attention. Don't underestimate the ability of a network of other authors and editors to get you noticed!
Skype is essentially a video-conferencing app; in many ways, it is a replacement for a telephone. One innovative use of Skype, however, is the creation of video (or audio) blog entries; if you are interviewed over Skype (and have obtained the necessary permissions, if any), record the interview—and do any post-production needed—then post it on your website or blog, and link to it using your other social media tools. This can be especially useful if you happen to land a large-impact interview, you can use the buzz generated from it for a long time4
Google+ is Google's foray into the social media marketplace. For a while, it was a required element for anyone with any Google account—from gmail to youtube—to tie their account to Google+; Google has since relaxed this requirement significantly. The Google+ team also recently lost its head honcho, and seems to be languishing. It does come with a couple of extremely useful tools, however; Hangouts (which can be used without Google+, although it does require a Google Apps account in that case), and YouTube (which is not technically part of Google+, but since it is so useful I will definitely cover it here). Hangouts is a great tool for interacting with your fans or followers, as well as the media; you can schedule events where fans can ask questions and get instant feedback, and you can conduct multi-user video chats. Recording these (again, with permission when needed) and producing them for inclusion in your blog can reap multiple, long-reaching benefits. YouTube can be a very useful marketing tool for hosting your recorded videos, and you can create content specifically for YouTube as well—see, as an example, the Princess Rap Battles by Whitney Avalon, among others. A software company might post a series of "how-to" videos, showing how their software works; an author might post those video or audio interviews we discussed earlier, as well as short blurbs about their work(s).
Instagram is primarily a photo sharing network, now owned by Facebook. Since Instagram and Facebook share a lot of photo publishing connectivity, it makes sense to link your Facebook and Instagram accounts, and then post your images through Instagram to both sites simultaneously. While an author may not necessarily use this as a specific marketing tool often, you can certainly think of ways it might help build audience (organically, I might add!): you could post the photos of your trips to interviews, selfies at book signings with your fans, even just your goings-on about town. It can also be a great place to get feedback and/or exposure for your book by posting book covers.
One final site that deserves special mention for authors is Goodreads. Although it does not have nearly the user base as the others on this list, the users it does have are readers. The vast majority of people on Goodreads are book lovers, and that makes Goodreads a highly self-selected, targeted group for exactly what you do: write. There are also many authors on Goodreads, with whom you can connect and exchange information, tips, and spread goodwill.
Finally, let's consider that all of these social media platforms are two-way streets. It is not enough to merely sit and announce your own projects, but also to use the platforms to connect with other people. If your postings are all you tooting your own horn, eventually people will become inured to your sound and ignore it. Instead, use your platforms to announce as well as delight, inform, and also to help spread the reach of other people whom you find interesting. In a later blog post, I will discuss some specific strategies for overall social media marketing, as part of a general marketing plan, but for now remember that your fans will be much more likely to stick with you if you can not only write amazing books, but also inform them about the amazing works of other authors, as well as information they will find entertaining, useful, and enlightening.
Footnotes:
African-American Literature Book Club, "Serious Problems with Facebook Promotion", October 11th, 2015, http://aalbc.com/blog/index.php/2015/10/11/problems-facebook-promotion/Jim Edwards, Business Insider, "Facebook Advertisers Complain Of A Wave Of Fake Likes Rendering Their Pages Useless", February 11th, 2014, http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-advertising-fake-likes-2014-2Jennifer Sleg, Search Engine Watch, "Facebook Ad Fraud: How Can Advertisers Combat Paid Likes?", February 19th, 2014, http://searchenginewatch.com/sew/news/2329878/facebook-ad-fraud-how-can-advertisers-combat-paid-likes(back)
4: As discussed in Guerrilla Marketing , the savvy guerrilla marketer inside any author will get big bang for small bucks, when re-using certain content. In the book, the author describes re-using a one-time ad in popular magazines (Time, for example), putting it on a great big posterboard inside the front office with the blurb "as seen in Time," and reaping the rewards from that for as long as possible. This, it seems to me, would certainly apply to interviews via Skype or other video chat apps (Hangouts, for example) as well. (back)
First, some limitations: there are dozens and dozens of social media networks and apps around. Since we don't literally have all day and night and all day and all night tomorrow to go over them all, and I am reasonably certain that I don't know them all, I'm going to focus on a few that will either:
have the most potential reach (that is, you will get the most eyeballs for your time); or,the most focused audience(s) (ones that target writers & readers in particular).Next, let's talk about size. As of August 20151
With these sizes in mind, the stats are a little bit misleading. Although there are a lot of users on the QQ, QZone, and WeChat sites, they are primarily in China (all of them are properties of Tencent, a Chinese holding company). If you publish and distribute there now, then these will be good networks on which to market, but keep in mind that advertising is strongly regulated in China. I would certainly advise communicating with a marketing or PR firm with extensive experience in Chinese marketing, rather than trying to go it alone (at least at first)2
Leaving these four out, the six left over are Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Skype, Google+, and Instagram.
Third, let's discuss "purpose" and "suitability for a particular use," as far as CloudAge™ Authors and social media are concerned. More to the point, what is a given social media's core function and how to best use it to your brand's advantage, as a CloudAge™ Author.
For all its various changes, upheavals, and acquisitions, Facebook remains largely a friend-network medium. That is, it is still primarily a way for individual people to stay in touch, and keep up, with other individual people. There are some business features, and Facebook is certainly trying to incorporate more ways for people to interact with paid advertising (and, in the process, largely alienate the businesses that use Facebook), but for all that, it's really just about individual people interacting with each other. Because of its sheer mass of active users, it is going to be essentially a requirement for an author to have a Facebook Page for their brand. I do not, however, advocate the use of Facebook as a primary marketing tool; instead, focus on making your Facebook page a replacement for the portal of days gone by. Today, it should be a gateway to your other marketing efforts. There are a couple of main reasons for my feeling on this. First, Facebook has made it nigh-on impossible to have any "organic" reach until you expand your Page Likes into the thousands—even then, they make it difficult to reach your audience in their News Feed—instead forcing Page owners to spend money advertising with questionable results (and metrics), as well as questionable reach3
This is not to say that you shouldn't have a Facebook Page; to the contrary, simply due to the enormous reach of Facebook, it is virtually required to have one. Instead, I recommend using the Facebook page as essentially an extended "about me" and a portal, and that most of your Facebook posts be links to other resources, such as your blog or website. Use the Facebook page to give Facebook users a place to find you, and then click on your blog posts to read your updates. Definitely use the "Shop now" button though; the "call to action" can drive potential sales straight to your Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or other website page where the Facebook user can immediately purchase your latest writing.
WhatsApp, along with Facebook Messenger (if you consider it separately) is an instant messaging service; think of it as a replacement for your phone's text messaging application. All three of them are direct-to-device communications; that is, you compose a message—from the phone's messaging app using SMS/MMS, or with the WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger app—and send it directly to the devices registered for the recipient(s). All of them support messaging lists (although, not all the same way, or well), enabling you to "blast" information to multiple recipients directly all at once. Unfortunately, this is often considered bad form, and will likely rapidly result in your brand being unfollowed.
Twitter has been referred to as a "microblog" service; while that might be one way to describe it, I have always seen it basically as Facebook Lite; basically all you have are status updates. Right now, those status updates are limited to 140 characters (including URLs and image links), so they must be very brief. What is great about Twitter is exactly that, though: short, descriptive entries, with images and links to more comprehensive information. In addition, it is an excellent place to find content you can "RT" (re-tweet), which is one way to gain respectability: when another author posts a blog you find useful, or an editor or agent posts a "call for submissions," retweeting them will get other people's attention. Don't underestimate the ability of a network of other authors and editors to get you noticed!
Skype is essentially a video-conferencing app; in many ways, it is a replacement for a telephone. One innovative use of Skype, however, is the creation of video (or audio) blog entries; if you are interviewed over Skype (and have obtained the necessary permissions, if any), record the interview—and do any post-production needed—then post it on your website or blog, and link to it using your other social media tools. This can be especially useful if you happen to land a large-impact interview, you can use the buzz generated from it for a long time4
Google+ is Google's foray into the social media marketplace. For a while, it was a required element for anyone with any Google account—from gmail to youtube—to tie their account to Google+; Google has since relaxed this requirement significantly. The Google+ team also recently lost its head honcho, and seems to be languishing. It does come with a couple of extremely useful tools, however; Hangouts (which can be used without Google+, although it does require a Google Apps account in that case), and YouTube (which is not technically part of Google+, but since it is so useful I will definitely cover it here). Hangouts is a great tool for interacting with your fans or followers, as well as the media; you can schedule events where fans can ask questions and get instant feedback, and you can conduct multi-user video chats. Recording these (again, with permission when needed) and producing them for inclusion in your blog can reap multiple, long-reaching benefits. YouTube can be a very useful marketing tool for hosting your recorded videos, and you can create content specifically for YouTube as well—see, as an example, the Princess Rap Battles by Whitney Avalon, among others. A software company might post a series of "how-to" videos, showing how their software works; an author might post those video or audio interviews we discussed earlier, as well as short blurbs about their work(s).
Instagram is primarily a photo sharing network, now owned by Facebook. Since Instagram and Facebook share a lot of photo publishing connectivity, it makes sense to link your Facebook and Instagram accounts, and then post your images through Instagram to both sites simultaneously. While an author may not necessarily use this as a specific marketing tool often, you can certainly think of ways it might help build audience (organically, I might add!): you could post the photos of your trips to interviews, selfies at book signings with your fans, even just your goings-on about town. It can also be a great place to get feedback and/or exposure for your book by posting book covers.
One final site that deserves special mention for authors is Goodreads. Although it does not have nearly the user base as the others on this list, the users it does have are readers. The vast majority of people on Goodreads are book lovers, and that makes Goodreads a highly self-selected, targeted group for exactly what you do: write. There are also many authors on Goodreads, with whom you can connect and exchange information, tips, and spread goodwill.
Finally, let's consider that all of these social media platforms are two-way streets. It is not enough to merely sit and announce your own projects, but also to use the platforms to connect with other people. If your postings are all you tooting your own horn, eventually people will become inured to your sound and ignore it. Instead, use your platforms to announce as well as delight, inform, and also to help spread the reach of other people whom you find interesting. In a later blog post, I will discuss some specific strategies for overall social media marketing, as part of a general marketing plan, but for now remember that your fans will be much more likely to stick with you if you can not only write amazing books, but also inform them about the amazing works of other authors, as well as information they will find entertaining, useful, and enlightening.
Footnotes:
African-American Literature Book Club, "Serious Problems with Facebook Promotion", October 11th, 2015, http://aalbc.com/blog/index.php/2015/10/11/problems-facebook-promotion/Jim Edwards, Business Insider, "Facebook Advertisers Complain Of A Wave Of Fake Likes Rendering Their Pages Useless", February 11th, 2014, http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-advertising-fake-likes-2014-2Jennifer Sleg, Search Engine Watch, "Facebook Ad Fraud: How Can Advertisers Combat Paid Likes?", February 19th, 2014, http://searchenginewatch.com/sew/news/2329878/facebook-ad-fraud-how-can-advertisers-combat-paid-likes(back)
4: As discussed in Guerrilla Marketing , the savvy guerrilla marketer inside any author will get big bang for small bucks, when re-using certain content. In the book, the author describes re-using a one-time ad in popular magazines (Time, for example), putting it on a great big posterboard inside the front office with the blurb "as seen in Time," and reaping the rewards from that for as long as possible. This, it seems to me, would certainly apply to interviews via Skype or other video chat apps (Hangouts, for example) as well. (back)
