To market, to market...

With the current state of the market and the economy, first time authors are having to get creative about marketing and promoting their own books. I am still a long way from seeing my novel in print, and have become quite adept at typing with my fingers crossed in hopes that it will indeed happen. Yet, I do not think I am being premature in starting to build a network now onto which to launch publication news if and when it does happen.

Networking and building a following online are the easiest routes to self promotion, and there are many sites and forums that can help you accomplish just that. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are just a few, making it quite easy to reach a large amount of people. Coupled with a personal website,a blog and participation in online forums, it becomes quite easy to build an online presence.

I do think it is vital, and feel it will give me a head start when the time comes, and yet I often find myself networking rather than writing, and have found that maintaining a balance has been difficult at times. I am still active on Twitter and the writer's forum I frequent, yet have let some of the other forums and Facebook fall to the side. As is evident even here on my own blog, I unfortunately do not post as often as I would like.

I have no idea if all this networking will indeed make a difference when the time comes. However, it certainly cannot hurt and I'd rather start now and take my time in building a following, rather than panic and attempt to build it overnight.

With all that said, check out my new website!

So, do you have a strategy, and if so, what is it? I'd love to hear!

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A Little Bird Twittered Outside My Window Calling Me With His Sweet Song

I guess it had to happen sooner or later, and I'll admit I had been trying to avoid the fact that it even existed, knowing it would only offer another distraction in a world filled with many. But when a friend decided he would try a new style of writing using the ever popular site, I cringed as I read his request for others to join him, knowing I could no longer avoid the inevitable.

I speak of course of twitter. His proposal was a simple one. Write within the constraints of 140 keystrokes, no abbreviations allowed. Flash fiction, prose, non-fiction. Just write.

And I must confess, I have found it delicious to write something so confining.

So will you join me and my friend, Maxwell Cynn? This is a call to all the writers out there. One hundred and forty sweet little keystrokes. Do you think you can do it?

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