Tweet. Tweet. Tweet.

So, I finally tackled Twitter. It was one of my goals for 2010. I put it off for almost 11 months, but I'm now an official Twitterer. Now, if I can only figure out how to get a link to my Twitter site on this blog. (Hey, I said I tackled Twitter. I didn't say I conquered it.) For now you can get to my profile page here. Please follow me so that I can follow you. Anyway, for today's Wednesday Website post, instead of sharing a new website with you, I'm hoping you will share your Twitter tips with me. I'm new to this game, and I haven't quite figured the whole thing out yet. Consider me Twitilliterate. Any advice, tips, secrets, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Happy Twittering!

As much as I'd like these to be my shoes, they aren't...

They are the shoes of the fabulous Shelli Johannes-Wells. She kindly agreed to an interview on my blog back in October, and I'm reposting that interview one question a day this week. 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. Shelli has given us all a lot to think about. Here are her parting words: 5. What is the best advice you can give in regards to using social networking as a marketing tool? Do it! Online Social networking is to writers what the after hours parties and team events are to businesses. You have to network to get noticed. Your writing should always come first, but you need to get out there if you want to be out there. :) Well, there you go. Did you read that? Writing comes first, but you need to get out there if you want to be out there. Great words of wisdom. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Will these shoes ever be mine?????

Probably not, because they are the shoes of the fabulous Shelli Johannes-Wells. She kindly agreed to an interview on my blog back in October, and I'm reposting that interview one question a day this week. 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, one thing I think about a lot is whether or not this whole blogging thing is worth it for the YA author. I mean, seriously, what teens read blogs? Well, I'm easy to prove wrong. Here's what Shelli had to say about that. (Again, I apologize for the formatting. Blogger is just not cooperating with me on this one.) 4. Since teenagers don't typically blog, how effective is blogging as a marketing tool for the YA author? Wait - who says teens don't blog??? According to Pew studies, in 2008, more than half (58%) of all teens maintain a profile on a social networking site such as Facebook or MySpace, 27% have an online journal or blog, and 11% maintain a personal website. Girls dominate the teen blogosphere and social networks. 66% of girls have a profile (compared with 50% of boys), and 34% of those girls (versus 20% of boys) keep an online journal or blog. A lot of teens also review books on their blogs. I follow a few, and they are amazingly knowledgeable about authors and books. Therefore, I say blogging is effective - if you do it well and often. Now are you blogging for the teen audience prior to being published? Probably not. In the beginning, your blog targets other writers, bloggers, editors and agents. But later, when you are published, that audience may change, and teens may follow. Just look at Meg Cabot's following! So, for all you YA authors out there, you may not have a teen following now, but eventually you will. Isn't that something to think about? I know it is for me. It makes me want to crank some Lady GaGa, put on my pink Converse, and take a picture of my feet. Come to think of it, maybe I should. You know, for the future when I'm published and all.

Nope, still not my shoes...

If you've stopped by recently, you know they are the shoes of the fabulous Shelli Johannes-Wells. She kindly agreed to an interview on my blog back in October, and I'm reposting that interview one question a day this week. 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. I have to say, she really knows what she's talking about. If you missed the first two questions, you will find them if you scroll down to the previous posts. As many of you know, the reposting of this interview was motivated by a discussion we had here last week about how blogging should take a backseat to writing, especially if you are not published yet. While, I still think writing should come first, I also feel that we should spend some time on social networking sites. What did Shelli have to say about this? Let's find out. 3. At what point do writers need to start considering the marketing aspects of social networking? Do unpublished, unagented writers need to worry about this yet? In my professional opinion, yes! I do think it is extremely important to build those relationships way before someone is selling books. It's no fun having someone push their book on you when they don't even know your name. Social networking relationships are like any business relationship. It is better to build them over time and with authenticity. Building a network has many advantages to unpublished authors: 1) You find out about other people's agents/journey, which can help your own 2) You have time to build up a relationship without jamming your book down people's throats. 3) It helps you stay connected in this crazy journey. It's nice to find like people who experience similar struggles and achievements. Many unpublished authors seem to think they cannot do a web site before they get published. That is not true - you can! Even if you don't have books published, you can pitch them on your web site. Why not? I am agented but not yet published. You can check out my web site and see how to do it. There you go. See, I told you she knows what she's talking about. Please come back tomorrow for question #4.

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.

These aren't my shoes!

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. In my post on Friday, I indicated that I'd be reposting the interview, one question a day, this week. I think you will find her answers enlightening. One thing, I've heard over and over again is that agents really do read potential clients' blogs. If this is the case, shouldn't we be careful about what we post? Well, let's see what Shelli had to say. 1. Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. I think my readers could benefit from your marketing knowledge. But first, everyone would like to know if agents really visit the blogs of potential clients. Based on your numerous interviews with agents and editors, do you think they do? If so, what do they look for? YES they do! First of all, if you go to my blog and read my weekly Monday interviews with agents and editors on marketing, you will see most of them Google writers online and expect writers to have an online presence. I also speak at many SCBWI conferences and end up hanging out with faculty. I can't tell you how many editors and agents goggle writers and scour the Internet looking for information on potential writers. I have at least 5 friends who got "found" on their blog. I think they look for voice, personality, good ideas, and optimism. They want to see if they can connect to this author and work with them. You can tell a lot about someone's personality by reading someone's blog. I think they are turned off by boring material, negativity, and detailed reports of submission rejection. Okay, so there you have it. Even if we don't have a book to sell yet, we need to keep our blogs positive and somewhat professional. You never know who might stop by for a peek. I'll be back tomorrow with question #2.

These Aren't My Shoes!

They are the shoes of the fabulous Shelli Johannes-Wells. And she has so kindly agreed to an interview on my blog. Please welcome her with lots of nice comments. Feel free to leave questions for her. She may stop by to answer if she has time. 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. 1. Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. I think my readers could benefit from your marketing knowledge. But first, everyone would like to know if agents really visit the blogs of potential clients. Based on your numerous interviews with agents and editors, do you think they do? If so, what do they look for? YES they do! First of all, if you go to my blog and read my weekly Monday interviews with agents and editors on marketing, you will see most of them Google writers online and expect writers to have an online presence. I also speak at many SCBWI conferences and end up hanging out with faculty. I can't tell you how many editors and agents goggle writers and scour the Internet looking for information on potential writers. I have at least 5 friends who got "found" on their blog. I think they look for voice, personality, good ideas, and optimism. They want to see if they can connect to this author and work with them. You can tell a lot about someone's personality by reading someone's blog. I think they are turned off by boring material, negativity, and detailed reports of submission rejection. 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. 3. At what point do writers need to start considering the marketing aspects of social networking? Do unpublished, unagented writers need to worry about this yet? In my professional opinion, yes! I do think it is extremely important to build those relationships way before someone is selling books. It's no fun having someone push their book on you when they don't even know your name. Social networking relationships are like any business relationship. It is better to build them over time and with authenticity. Building a network has many advantages to unpublished authors: 1) You find out about other people's agents/journey, which can help your own 2) You have time to build up a relationship without jamming your book down people's throats. 3) It helps you stay connected in this crazy journey. It's nice to find like people who experience similar struggles and achievements. Many unpublished authors seem to think they cannot do a web site before they get published. That is not true - you can! Even if you don't have books published, you can pitch them on your web site. Why not? I am agented but not yet published. You can check out my web site and see how to do it. 4. Since teenagers don't typically blog, how effective is blogging as a marketing tool for the YA author? Wait - who says teens don't blog??? According to Pew studies, in 2008, more than half (58%) of all teens maintain a profile on a social networking site such as Facebook or MySpace, 27% have an online journal or blog, and 11% maintain a personal website. Girls dominate the teen blogosphere and social networks. 66% of girls have a profile (compared with 50% of boys), and 34% of those girls (versus 20% of boys) keep an online journal or blog. A lot of teens also review books on their blogs. I follow a few, and they are amazingly knowledgeable about authors and books. Therefore, I say blogging is effective - if you do it well and often. Now are you blogging for the teen audience prior to being published? Probably not. In the beginning, your blog targets other writers, bloggers, editors and agents. But later, when you are published, that audience may change, and teens may follow. Just look at Meg Cabot's following! 5. What is the best advice you can give in regards to using social networking as a marketing tool? Do it! Online Social networking is to writers what the after hours parties and team events are to businesses. You have to network to get noticed. Your writing should always come first, but you need to get out there if you want to be out there. :) Shelli, thank you so much for taking the time to visit with me. You've definitely given us all something to think about. Thanks for having me! Well, there you have it. Have a great weekend!

Marketing Madness

NIKE came up with one of the most memorable marketing slogans in the history of the shoe industry. When someone says, "Just Do It", we immediately think of NIKE. I've been talking about various aspects of blogging for the last couple of weeks, and you may be wondering what my sudden obsession is all about. Well, it isn't exactly sudden. I've been thinking about it for a while now. At some point, every writer is going to have to think about the marketing aspect of social networking. My blog has always been a means of connecting with other writers. I never considered it a marketing tool. And, why should I? I'm not published yet, so I have nothing to market, right? Well, according to a great number of people who know a lot more than I do, I've got it all wrong. It's never too early to start thinking about marketing. Just like we all recognize the NIKE slogan, we want people to recognize our name when we are finally published. I hope you all can join me tomorrow. I'll be interviewing fellow blogger and author, Shelli Johannes-Wells. Shelli is not only an author, but also a marketing consultant who has interviewed numerous editors and agents. She has spoken at conferences all across the country, and I'm sure she will have some great insight on this issue. What are your thoughts on marketing and social networking? Oh, and I want to thank you all for your input on my name dilemma. You guys are the best. I haven't decided what to do permanently, but for now, you will see the user name of Susan R. Mills in your comments. Good-bye, Lazy Writer!