Happy Sunday morning, everyone!
Today I’m being interviewed at the Author Exchange blog: a great place to find out more about your favorite authors. And now, it’s also a great place to post news on upcoming releases, announce contests, and post blogs. Author Linda M. Faulkner is the blog owner.
Hope you’ll pop over there and say hi.
My writing workshop yesterday went well. The audience was attentive and asked some great questions, and I learned a lot from the other authors there, too.
One of the questions I got was about how I balanced my online time (blogging, Twitter, Facebook) with my writing time and family time. I was also asked whether I found social media useful.
To me, the time I spend online on blogging and social media is promotional and networking time for me. Not only is promoting part of my job as a published writer, it’s also become a lot more enjoyable to me through online media.
Facebook: I started out using Facebook as a conduit to connect with family members and old friends who used it. I quickly discovered that I needed a separate page for my professional profile. My husband and I agreed that I would keep the kids’ and my husband’s image/names off the net as much as possible and let them enjoy their anonymity. (They didn’t sign up to be as public as me.)
This method has worked really well for me. I have a professional FB page as Elizabeth Spann Craig Author and have made a lot of connections there. Also, I’m figuring out Networked Blogs and have enjoyed discovering new blogs to read and new people to follow.
Twitter: I was a big pooh-pooher of Twitter, but have been surprised to find a niche there. If you want, you can use Twitter only to connect to readers, writers, and industry professionals. It’s a painless way to keep up with industry news via links, connect with other writers, etc. I was thrilled yesterday when someone tweeted that they’d just bought my book. That kind of connection with a reader was just unheard of before. Plus, I’ve gotten several book reviews written about my book because of my Twitter identity.
Blogging—Admittedly, blogging can take up a lot of time. There again, though, the rewards have been tremendous. I’ve connected with other writers and readers from around the world and have really enjoyed the experience.
Anyone else become a social media convert?