Market Yourself BEFORE the Contract:

Social Networking

By Suzanne Hartmann

The quickest way to start building name recognition and let people know you are an author is to use social networking. It’s easy to join and to find friends, family, and other writers.

The first thing you need to do (after you set up your account and profile) is to get past the term “friend.” In the world of social networking, “friend” simply means a connection to someone. So to build your network of “friends,” you need to think beyond the people you actually know.

Start building your network by finding and sending friend invitations to:
1) personal friends
2) family members
3) neighbors
4) fellow church members
5) fellow members of organizations you belong to
6) critique partners
7) co-workers

Next, dig a little deeper. Look for the following
1) friends from churches you used to attend
2) friends and neighbors from communities where you used to live
3) former co-workers.
4) people you’ve lost touch with
5) former classmates (yes, even go back to grade school

Now you can move into networking mode
Find and join groups set up on each social media. Then start sending friend invitations to the other members of the group. Send a message with the invitation that tells the person how you are connected (e.g. Hi, NAME. We are both members of GROUP, so I thought we might want to be Facebook friends.) Don’t join groups willy-nilly just to say you’re a member. Look for groups that match your interest.

Here are some examples:
1) Writing groups (Christian writers, genre writing groups)
2) Hobbies (collecting something, quilting, scrapbooking)
3) Sports (your favorite team or the sport in general)
4) Favorite activities (camping, hunting, fishing, barbecuing, cooking, etc.)
5) Religious affiliations
6) Favorite charities
7) Political groups
8) Work related (associations for accountants, computer programmers, teachers, etc.)
9) Any other major activity or interest in your life (homeschooling, MOPS, etc.)

Before you know it, your number of networking friends burgeon and you will have a ready made way to easily reach out to hundreds of people.

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Suzanne Hartmann is the author of the novels Peril and Conspiracy, Christian suspense she calls fiction with a twist of the unexpected. For the last several years, she has also stepped into the editorial side of writing, with her work at Port Yonder Press and now Castle Gate Press. She offers a plethora of easy-to-understand writing advice on her blog, Write This Way, which she has compiled into a book of the same name (available at her blog). When not writing, editing, or homeschooling, she enjoys scrapbooking, Bible study, and scouring local library sales for good deals. She loves to encourage fellow authors, so stop by her Facebook Page and drop her a note.

LINK for Write This Way: Write This Way Blog: http://suzanne-hartmann2.blogspot.com/2007/01/write-this-way-take-your-writing-to-new.html

LINKS for Suzanne:

Facebook – Suzanne Hartmann – Author

Twitter – @SuzInIL

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