As a former teacher, I always expected a standard reaction when someone asked me what I did. I got one of those just last week. A woman was doing her best to connect with me at a stand-up cocktail party. She herself was new in town, managing a small office that provided business services to other businesses. She finally quit talking about her company and asked me what I did. I told her I was a writer, and she looked puzzled. "What do you write?" she asked. "Novels," I replied. The look on her face said it all. She might as well have just stepped in a nasty sidewalk doggy mess. "Oh," she said, and then she was gone -- abruptly, without a word of transition. She had just marked me as an untouchable. OK. I guess she wasn't much of a reader. But she was also an exception.

One of the hardest things I have had to learn since I started writing was that most readers really like writers. Real readers get excited when they find out that I'm an author.  They want to ready my books. They want to know how I do what I do. They want to talk about characters as if they are our mutual friends. Bu there's still a problem--a barrier to be overcome. I don't want to be the obnoxious character who walks into a room saying, "Here I am -- an author -- please come do me homage." And making those connections is even harder in social media situations.So how do you turn a stranger into an adoring fan, or at least into "someone who knows your name"? Here are a few tips  I picked up at a recent writers' conference.

1. Be friendly. Show that stranger that you are interested in her, no matter how odd she is. After all, she might give you the seed from which to grow a new character.

2. Be willing to work with others who love and write books. Share your readers with other authors and help publicize their books. Mutual interests make good friends.

3. Keep your personal troubles and traumas out of your internet posts, or at least use two accounts, one for personal life, another for the business of writing. Whatever you do, don't whine!

4. But do share the fun things that happen to you--not how much money you just made, but the strange red chicken that wandered into your yard. Talk about the activities that give you pleasure, the kind deed you observed someone else do, or a particularly lovely moment. Let readers see your personality.

5. Encourage your readers to weigh in on a controversial issue, but avoid taking a stance that will alienate some part of them. I wouldn't endorse a political figure, for example, but I would speak out about the need to have a public vote on an issue that people care about. Here, we recently had a controversy over whether wine should be sold in grocery stores. Getting the question on the ballot was a tough fight, so I was comfortable urging people to sign that petition without telling them which side I would support.

6. On Twitter, try using a robot to schedule your postings. That will let you make sure you are not saying the same old thing to the same few people over and over again. Bookbuzzr.com is good for this because you can see a list of your posts, and schedule them so that they do not repeat at the same time or on the same day.

7. If you're trying to encourage people to buy your book, use your blog or facebook post to talk about the writing process, the problems you have had with the story, or the research you have done to make the setting come alive. Sell yourself, not your book.

There are dozens of social media sites on the Internet, and I am certainly no expert on all of them. The big three—the ones most often used—are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. They serve different purposes, and I’ve been surprised to see how different their audiences are.

Let’s start with Facebook, which now advertises that it has over 500 million users. . . . On my own Facebook account I have discovered close to 400 “friends.” They include a few family members; a neighbor or two (although that strikes me as silly); some long-lost high school classmates; several former students, some dating back over twenty years; and a fairly large contingent of academics, mostly medievalists. The rest are members of Lions Clubs or members of the Military Writers Society of America, both locally and around the world. What can they possibly have in common? I know them. I’d recognize them on the street. I’d probably hug most of them. They are all people with whom I have shared both common interests and common experiences. We’ve worked together, struggled with the same problems, and shared our ideals and goals. I care about them and how they are doing, and I hope they care about me.

When it comes to posting my status on Facebook, I try not to bore my friends or irritate them unduly with efforts to sell my latest book. But if I have had a wonderful day—or a miserable one—these are the people with whom I can share it. I post pictures here, both of myself, so they can watch me age, and of my current activities. It is on Facebook that I am most open about my personal activities and opinions. What good does that do for business, you may wonder? Many of my friends will buy my books; even more will be tickled for me when I win an award. I receive a benefit when they talk about me or leave a congratulatory note on my wall. Facebook friends can form a virtual cheering section in our lives, and that’s important. . . .

 

My second social media outlet is LinkedIn. As I indicated earlier, this site is much more business-like than Facebook. I have over 300 connections on LinkedIn, and almost none of them are cross-overs to my list of Facebook friends. I know less than half of them personally. My LinkedIn connections are the power-brokers in my world . . . Many of my connections are members of Lions Clubs International, but they are the leaders in that organization—former international officers, staff members, or CEOs of Lions-associated non-profit organizations. They are people I can turn to when I need business-type advice. The rest are business figures with whom I have had some contact, and media and public relations people.

How can they help build my publishing platform? Well, my financial advisor, my lawyer, and my accountant are on that list, along with public figures who can orchestrate newspaper or TV coverage when I have an announcement of a new book or an award. They are the people who can help set up book signings or public speaking engagements. They are great contacts because they have their own contacts.

Another great advantage of LinkedIn is that it lets people with common interests form discussion lists, where they can connect with people who have similar interests or who are facing similar problems. I currently participate in several writers’ groups, as well as one that discusses fund-raising ideas for non-profits.

And then there is Twitter. What can you possibly accomplish with 140 spaces? The easy answer, of course, it that it teaches you to cram a lot of information into the smallest possible space. Brevity is good. But beyond that, I see Twitter as a conduit—the vital link between me and the huge world of the Internet.

At the moment I have around 800 followers on Twitter, and I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know many of them. We are strangers who have made a brief connection because of a third party who knows us both, or because we have a common involvement. They are simply people who have indicated an interest in what I might have to say. When they follow me, anything I post will automatically appear on each of their Twitter feeds. They may, or may not, ever see it. But when they do, they each have the option of passing it on to their own followers, giving my message access to untold numbers of readers. Twitter also has the ability to post automatic messages for me, and to re-post my messages to my other social media outlets.

Here’s how it works. Suppose I’ve finished a blog post announcing the publication of a new book and including a link to the book’s order page. I send it to my 800 followers, and Twitter also posts it on my Facebook page (+400 readers) and my LinkedIn profile (+300 readers.) Then a dear fellow writer in England retweets it to her whole list (+1000 readers), the president of a writers’ society to which I belong retweets it to her list (+1250), and three faithful blog followers in Missouri, California, and Colorado send it to all their followers (+1700 total). That one personal message reaches over 5000 people within minutes. That’s the best, and easiest, advertising I know.

Find more details in The Second Mouse Gets the Cheese: How to Avoid the Traps of Self-Publishing.

I've been working non-stop for the past couple of days on launching my new book on self-publishing.  In that process I discovered a new application that allows its members to create small, specialized websites for free. I've designed one for "The Second Mouse" that looks like this. The panel on the right side changes when you push one of the five buttons on the left. This picture of the cover is the HOME page.  

The WIX site provides a large selection of templates.  You choose the one whose appearance you like.  Then you can delete their pictures and add your own.  You can erase their text and add yours. You can add music, videos, new backgrounds, and special effects, if you're the type who likes to see things moving around on your site.

To create The Mouse page, I started with a site designed for a bakery.  Where they showed bread and piecrusts, I added mice. Where they had price lists, I inserted book descriptions and reviews.  The whole thing took several hours but was relatively pain-free.  Once you have your website finished, you can upload it to a Facebook Fan Page, for a really neat presentation. Mine is at www.facebook.com/TheSecondMouse .

The initial design account is free, but you can expect to be pressured to upgrade to a Premium account. So far, I don't see much of an advantage to doing the upgrade, especially since it costs $100 a year or more. I'm trying the premium settings for a month before I decide to commit to that kind of investment. Right now, I can't recommend anything but the free site. I suggest you try it out for yourself.  Design a page and put it up on your Facebook page for a unique presentation

If you'd like to build a page for yourself, the site is WixPages - Boost Your Facebook Page Design for FREE! 

Once I started working seriously on my Civil War novel, Beyond All Price, I also began looking for ways to publish it. Waiting until you have a finished product just does not work; you have to do your homework along the way. I started with the standard approaches. I found books written in my genre (in this case historical fiction set in 1860s) and checked on their publishers and the authors’ agents. These were names I could at least be sure would be open to the type of book I was writing. To that basic list, I added other publishing houses and literary agents I found listed in such resources as Writer’s Market. I looked up each one on the Internet to find out how they wanted submissions handled. Each one on the list received a hand-tailored written or e-mailed query letter.

Responses were spotty. Almost half never replied. Others sent canned messages: “Sorry. We are not accepting new clients.” “Sorry. We no longer consider unsolicited manuscripts.” Only a handful expressed any interest whatsoever, and they consistently asked for a full description of my platform before they would consider the book. At that stage, I had no idea what a “platform” looked like in the publishing world, so I had more research ahead of me.

Here’s what I found. If you are a household word—a politician, a celebrity, a sports figure, or a best-selling author already—you have a built-in platform: a fan base of people who will buy your book because of who you are. If you’re a hard-working writer, you have to build your own platform. Publishers and agents suggested that I needed the following:

 

Fortunately, I'm pretty adept at finding my way around a computer, but I had never bothered to become involved in social networking of this sort. I went to work, particularly at building my Internet resources. These outlets are not hard to use, but they take an enormous amount of time to develop their full potential. I've been working on this platform for about eighteen months now, and my numbers surprise me. I have almost 400 Facebook friends, some 800 Twitter followers, more than 290 connections on LinkedIn, and a website/blog that receives around 200 hits a day. To me, that’s amazing, but the figures are still not up to the five thousand guaranteed readers that most publishers want to see. At most, I have a little soapbox that serves as my platform. But for a self-publisher, that's enough.

Want to know more? See "The Second Mouse Gets the Cheese."

There are dozens of social media sites on the internet, and I am certainly no expert on all  of them. The big three--the ones most often used-- are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  They serve different purposes, and I've been surprised to see how different their audiences are. I'll try to show you how I use each one to  promote my work, and you can apply the same lessons to another site if you like.  

Let's start with Facebook, which now advertises that it has 500 million users. You probably even know a few of those yourself! I have no intention of telling you how to use Facebook.  As I write, the powers behind the scenes are still  re-organizing and tweaking what materials you can see, and what others can see about you.  If you're going to use Facebook, that's the first thing you'll  have to get used to.  it changes.  Sometimes it changes several times a day.  

On my own Facebook account I have discovered close to 400 "friends." They include a few family members; a neighbor or two (although that strikes me as silly); some long-lost high-school classmates; several former students, some dating back over twenty years; and a fairly large contingent of academics--mostly medievalists. The rest are members of Lions Clubs, both locally and around the world.  What can they possibly have in common?  I know them.  I'd recognize them on the street. I'd probably hug most of them. They are all people with whom I have common interests and common experiences.  We've worked together, struggled with the same problems, and shared our ideals and goals.  I care about them and how they are doing, and I hope they care about me.

When it comes to posting my status on Facebook, I try not to be boring or irritate friends unduly with efforts to sell my latest book. But if I've t had a wonderful day -- or a miserable one -- these are the people with whom I can share it.  I post pictures here, both of myself ( so they can watch me age) and of my current activities.  So it is on Facebook that I am most open about my personal activities and opinions. What good does that do for business, you may wonder? Many of them will buy my books; even more will be tickled for me when I win an award. I benefit when they talk about me or leave a congratulatory note on my wall. Facebook friends can form a virtual cheering section in your life.

There's another side to Facebook, too, one that is still evolving too rapidly to lay down strict guidelines here. Anyone with a personal Facebook account ought also to be aware that it is possible to build extra Facebook pages that advertise your business, or your favorite non-profit, or your club.  On those pages, you can reach beyond your personal circle of friends to tap into those mysterious 500 million users who are reportedly out there. If you're new at the game, develop your personal page first, and then think about expanding to these "fan pages."

My second social media outlet is Linked In.  As I indicated earlier, this site is much more business-like than Facebook.  I have close to 300 connections on Linked-In, and almost none of them are cross-overs to my list of Facebook Friends.  I know less than half of them personally. My LinkedIn connections are the power-brokers in my world. There are a few former students, but they are not the ones who just want to reminisce about college life.  There are graduate students, or lawyers, or business people who are making a difference in their world.  They've sought connections to bolster their resumes.  Many of my connections are members of Lions Clubs International, but, again, they are the leaders in that organization--former international officers, staff members, or CEOs of Lions-associated non-profit organizations.  They are people I can turn to when I need business-type advice. The rest are business figures with whom I have had some contact, and media and public relations people.

How can they help build my publishing platform?  Well, my financial advisor, my lawyer, and my accountant are on that list, along with public figures who can orchestrate newspaper or TV coverage when I have an announcement of a new book or an award. They are the people who can help set up book signings or public speaking engagements.  They are great contacts because they have their own contacts.  I try not to bury them beneath my sales pitches, and I don't overtly try to sell them anything, but I can trust them to help me make my name better known. Name recognition is a vitally important resource offered by LinkedIn. Another great advantage of LinkedIn is that it lets people with common interests form discussion lists, where they can connect with people who have similar interests or who are facing similar problems. I currently participate in several writers' groups, as well as one that discusses fund-raising ideas for non-profits.

And then there is Twitter. What can you possibly accomplish with 140 spaces? The easy answer, of course, it that it teaches you to cram a lot of information into the smallest possible space. Brevity is good. But beyond that, I see Twitter as a conduit -- the vital link between me and the huge world of the internet. At the moment I have around 800 followers on Twitter, and I'll be the first to admit that I don't know many of them.  We are strangers who have made a brief connection because of a third party who knows us both, or a shared common involvement.  They are simply people who have indicated an interest in what i might have to say.  When they follow me, anything I post will automatically appear  on each of their Twitter feeds. They may, or may not ever see it.  But when they do, they each have the option of passing it on to their own followers, giving my message access to untold numbers of readers. Twitter also has the ability to post automatic messages for me, and to re-post my messages to my other social media outlets.

Here's how it works.  Suppose I've just finished a blog post announcing the publication of a new book and including a link to the book's order page.  I send a tweet giving its URL to my 800 followers, and Twitter also posts it on my Facebook page (+400 readers) and my LinkedIn profile (+300 readers.) Then a dear fellow writer in England retweets it to her whole list (+1000 readers), the president of a writers' society to which I belong retweets it to her list (+1500), and three faithful blog followers in Missouri, Califormia, and Colorado send it to all their followers (+1700 total).  That one personal message reaches over 5000 people within minutes. That's the best, and easiest, advertising I know.

So there's an easy breakdown for you. Use Facebook to maintain your real friendships.  Let LinkedIn represent you in your most professional roles. And use Twitter to make pithy comments to the world at large.  Each part of your social Media network  plays a vital role in building your publishing platform.