A burst of enthusiasm

After the marketing man never got back to me, despite florid promises, I decided "What the helll, I shall do it myself."   I opened my list of "agents qualified to be, attendant on my lovely book..." and found some.  The first agent wanted something different in the subs letter, which was fun to write.   Even more fun, he got back to me 10 minutes later and said "it was the sort of thing he liked" and asked me to be patient.   A few days later he asked for the whole MS, and asked me to be patient.   He's brief, businesslike and un-gushing, which I like (shades of the lamented lost agent, JM).

I have changed the title for subs, it's now going out as "The Road through the Woods" and this may have made all the difference.  That, and removing the Sioga elements from chapter 3 and leaving them until later in the book.

On Thursday, when I got the request for the full MS, I was smiling for about 2 hours.   The smile shifted slightly when I remembered that I had left a half-finished acknowledgements and glossary at the end of the text, there is something hubristic about thanking everyone before you are published, looks a bit babyish... no matter.  I was preparing for self-publishing.  I may still have to do this.

But I am so Relieved that finally an agent has taken some notice of it!  And Delighted that it is someone I think has a good reputation.  

Daniel Adorno's advice on Tweeting

This is a bit of a break with the blog style to date.  I need somewhere to keep my bits of useful information about book marketing (whether I'm conventionally published or indie, I need this sort of advice) and I thought, put it on the blog - share it with my readers.  It may or may not be of interest, but it has rather more general appeal than my struggles to get published!

So, this is an email I received from blogger Daniel Adorno.

Ask any writer and they'll tell you that writing is meant to be a solitary experience. Writers do their best work when no one is around and when distractions are minimal. Unfortunately, many aspiring authors are unaware that this rule of solitude should never apply to their social media platform.

Too often I've seen authors who have either neglected their Twitter accounts or are completely oblivious to the rules of social media. I'm sure many authors would like followers on Twitter in the thousands because it'll probably lead to more sales of their books, more reader engagement, and more visibility in a crowded industry. And yet, most indie authors on Twitter have follower counts in the teens and tweets with no engagement.

Did I just describe your Twitter account? It's frustrating isn't it? You've written an amazing novel or non-fiction work and no one knows it exists! I understand how you feel because I was in the same boat.

When I first signed up on Twitter, I was excited for the possibilities of building a platform and an audience for my writing. I was confident that after a few tweets about my book and short stories, people would flock to my book page and click the buy button. Reality set in pretty quick. For weeks, my Twitter page languished with a meager 20 followers (most of them friends and family) and a dozen pathetic tweets from yours truly about writing.

I didn't realize at the time that there were two problems with my Twitter approach.

1. Not searching for my audience

For some strange reason, writers throw out all logic when it comes to their own writing. I thought my stories would be good enough to garner some attention and I'd gain an organic following. Well, unless you're a celebrity, don't expect people to find you on Twitter and start following you. You, the author, need to find your audience, not the other way around.

How do you go about doing this?

It's really simple. Find people on Twitter who like the same books, movies, TV shows as you do and start following them. Search for fans of Harry Potter, Dr. Who, Downton Abbey or whatever franchise you're into and connect with them. Retweet their posts, read and comment on their blogs, and engage in conversation.

Remember these are people who are into the same things as you so connecting will be really easy and even fun! Twitter is about socializing, not just marketing. If you take the time to connect with potential readers, you will naturally grow your audience and interest in your work. Not understanding this concept was the cause of most of my frustration when it came to gaining more followers and once I remedied the problem things started to turn around. But there's one more gap that kept me from gaining traction on Twitter...

2. Not following the "rules" of Twitter

When I say rules, I don't mean the terms and conditions when you sign up for Twitter or any other social media platform. I'm talking about the norms people follow when they tweet, retweet, and follow others. You'll quickly realize that once you start following potential readers and like-minded folks on Twitter, you'll get them to follow back.

I've learned that it's good Twitter etiquette to follow someone back who's followed you first. Initially, I didn't want to follow people who I didn't know because most of my experience with social media came from Facebook, where I avoid friend requests from strangers and do my best to keep privacy settings pretty strict. This approach is counter-intuitive on Twitter if you want to gain a following and reach an audience.

Will your Twitter feed be flooded by tweets from strangers? Yes, but you can manage this with apps like TweetDeck or by creating Lists to filter out the tweets you don't want to see. But within the flurry of tweeting there are informative posts and tips you can respond to, which brings me to the next "rule".

Retweet like crazy!

Well, don't go completely nuts with it, but try to help your followers and those you follow by sharing their content. As an author or writer, you're also bound to gain fellow authors as followers--retweet their content too! Don't see the other authors as competition. They're trying to build their brand, platform, and following just like you. Help them out with their marketing and you may help yourself out as well, either by gaining some followers from their audience or landing a guest post on their blog. Twitter can be very reciprocal that way. Be generous and treat others as you'd like to be treated. You'll be surprised how far you can get!

In the spirit of tweeting and retweeting, if you're on Twitter and I'm not a follower of yours, click below to tweet me and I'll follow you! I'll do my best to retweet your latest writing success so your marketing efforts are just a little easier ;-)

Click here to tweet me!

See you on the Twittersphere,
Daniel