Tuesday, July 13, 2010

These still aren't my shoes!

If you were around here yesterday, you know they are the shoes of the fabulous Shelli Johannes-Wells. And she so kindly agreed to an interview on my blog back in October. Shelli writes children's, tween, and young adult, and is represented by Alyssa Eisner Henkin of Trident Media. She is also a marketing consultant for several large, well known businesses in the United States. To learn more about her, please visit her web site or her blog. So, I'm reposting this interview, one question a day. If you missed yesterday's question, (I posted really late in the day) scroll down and read it now. I think you'll find it to be informative. Oh, and by the way, I couldn't get the interview to format right the first time I ran it, and I can't do it now either. Weird, huh? Anyway, please excuse the odd spacing. I've always thought of blogging as something I enjoy doing. I never really considered it work, but according to Shelli, in a way, it is an important part of our jobs as authors. Check out her answer to my second question of the interview. 2. Okay, now on to marketing. How important is social networking to marketing? And what role does blogging play in this area? Social networking is very important. Especially online. You can control the marketing of your book, but you cannot control the PR you or your book gets. PR is free. And that word of mouth comes from readers, friends, and your professional network. Blogs are just one way to network. As you know, we bloggers find other blogs we connect with and then somehow in a strange way become friends. Sometimes, I feel like my blogger friends know me better than anyone and that they 100% support me in my writing and journey to publication. I think and hope my bloggie buddies feel the same way about me. If you do not like to blog, find another way to build a network. You can use Facebook, Myspace, Ning, Xanga, Good Reads, Shelftalker, message boards, listserve groups, Twitter, or others. There are so many ways to network, so find a couple that work for you and do them well. Go figure...something this much fun is actually good business, too! It doesn't get much better than that. See you tomorrow for question #3.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Cute boots!

Stephanie McGee said...

I love those boots. I want those boots.

I think there's a definite learning curve to social media as marketing. You have to experiment and figure out which ones are right for you. Then when you find the ones that click, you have to figure out what uses work best for you.

Still working on that one.

Diane said...

I've never heard of some of those sites. :O)

Nancy said...

Good to know that a fun activity actually is good for you and your career. Thanks for the encouragement in that area.

I have problems when I add pictures, as today. The spacing is strange. But it's the best I can do.

Suzanne Casamento said...

Shelli is so right. As bloggers, we do become friends and support each other. You can bet that as soon as your first comes out, I'll buy it. And that's simply because I like you (and your shoes).

Bogging is definitely good, fun business!

Corey Schwartz said...

Oh, are we all invited to send you pics of our shoes? :)

Shelli rocks. Of course, we feel the same way about you Shelli!

Carolyn V. said...

I love the one question a day thing! And I love what was said about networking. I really think you have to nowadays. =)

kah said...

I've seen those SAME boots in my friend's closet. That has to be her pic. :)

I love blogging. It's def not work to me. I just wish I had more time to read and comment. There aren't enough hours in the day!

Jennifer Shirk said...

That's good advice to pick a few that you're good at and stick with just that.
And yeah, I feel I've known my blogger friends all my life.

Jody Hedlund said...

I couldn't agree more. We have to pick our strengths and stick with them. I we HATE blogging, for example, our readers are going to pick up on it! Maybe we won't cut it out completely, but post only once a week and focus the rest of our social media time on the other things we like better.