In many ways social networking seems tailor made for writers who are developing their platform. After all, writers are already glued to their laptops, predisposed to written communication and, of course, prone to elaborate procrastination techniques.
I’ve been delving into the social media landscape for about a year now, when my former CEO wanted to friend me on Facebook. Seemed like a good time to start so I built a Facebook page and started accepting all of the various friend requests from friends, acquaintances and complete strangers.
Soon after, the rage around the office was LinkedIn, so I created a LinkedIn profile and similarly accepted all of the friends, acquaintances and strangers who came my way.
At the time, I have to admit that these social networks seemed to me like little more than frivolous time sucks. But as I’ve transitioned from full-time editing for a publishing company to venturing out on my own, I’ve found these “friendships” can actually be quite valuable to the freelancer. Here’s how:
• As a freelance writer, you never know where your next job might come from and if you’ve taken the time to develop online relationships with publishing types, those relationships can be golden when it’s time to send out that next query.
• I’ve found LinkedIn to be particularly useful for asking questions and getting great feedback from seasoned professionals. I was recently mulling over a blog post on business cards for writers and wondered if it’s a good idea or not to put your headshot on the card. A simple questions posted on LinkedIn garnered nearly 40 responses from other writers, editors and business professionals. Not only do you have solid answers to your professional questions, people who may well be in the position to hire you now know your name.
• After resisting its alluring tweet for months, I’ve recently become a member of Twitter, which is the social networking site that limits you to micro-blogging posts 140 characters or less. Talk about the art of brevity. But it can take a bit to get your footing on Twitter as you take in the great volume of microblogs streaming continuously down your home page. I’ve found that the most effective use of Twitter is becoming known as an authority in your field by posting links to your own blog posts, as well as other relevant links in your beat.
I know a lot of authors use social networking sites to promote their books and I have a few thoughts on that, as well. I’ll be posting on that topic tomorrow.
How have you effectively used social networking to help your writing career? Please leave your tips here in the comments.
-Maria Schneider
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I recently had a website professionally designed, and when I wasn’t satisfied with the interactive abilities of that site, I created MySpace pages for my two pen names.
I also have a poorly maintained blog for my garden writing. I am also on Linked In, and I’m active in several writing forums including the Cherry Forum, Will Write for Wine, and others connected to my critique groups.
I once sold a book in a genre I’d never written for, simply because I sent my editor something I’d written as a joke. And I sold my first garden book because I had joined a professional association. My editor saw something I had written, found me in the directory, called and offered me a book deal. I ended up writing five books for her.
So, it’s true — you never know what will lead to an important connection.
LinkedIn has proven itself as a really good resource for making some technical writing and design connections when I first moved to Chicago (about 1 year ago). Twitter is a tool I have yet to divulge. Brevity…indeed that may be the main reason I use it…to test my skill in getting the message across in 140 characters or less!
Anywho, thanks Maria for the advice :-)
I’ve joined all three over the past years and haven’t spent any time developing relationships. Your post is timely, for me, as I’ve been wrestling with some increasingly intense inner prompting to dive into full time web-based writing. Next to talent, I think relationships are key.
I signed up to FACEBOOK because Simon T. Bailey, a motivational speaker, suggested it as a way to do social networking and connect with others. He also suggested LinkedIn, but I have not checked into this yet. He too thought this was a way of getting yourself known and you never know where that may lead.
Hi,
I was taken by the ear, kicking and screaming into the world of Twitter. I didn’t get it. After about a month of solid effort I have made some true connections and have had more writing opportunities come my way, so I think it was worth it.
I finally gave in and started a Facebook account yesterday and I hope the same scenario plays out.
It is a natural extension of the writer who is seeking work. Social networking should be a tool the writer has in their holster, ready for use at any moment.
I will say that a disadvantage of using Twitter is that now when I’m writing something I sometimes type “@” when I really mean “at”. Yikes.
Cheers
George
I’ve used Twitter, Facebook (just ramping up), and MySpace to find good writers who want to get published. Since we only publish eBooks, it’s slow going.
I’m trying to figure out how to educate folks on the fact that while the traditional market still dominates, it’s contracting while electronic options (blogs, websites, eBooks, and such) are expanding.
I have a hard time keeping up with my blog, full-time job, and facebook, nevermind adding twitter and other sites to that list. There just never seem to be enough hours in a day…then there are the email accounts–personal, blog, and professional…how do you keep them all straight.
I’m completely overwhelmed by all the different social networking sites out there. Unless you devote a lot of time to one it seems to go nowhere and a little time in a lot of places useless.
The upside is that I’m never short on reading or resources for ideas:)
For non-fiction writers, social media platforms serve as a powerful means of building a personal brand. I’d even suggest that it’s a critical element to branding.