Okay–just a few thoughts. If it was up to me, I’d probably be content to write my books and do nothing more than that. Those of you who have met me “hawking my wares” at a booksigning might disagree, but seriously, I’d rather have fun writing and leave the marketing up to people who do that for a living.
But you see–this writing thing of mine isn’t just a hobby. It’s my business. I’m in the Travis Thrasher business (buy stock now–it’s ten cents and going up!). My sole job is to write the best book possible. But I’m also supposed to help the publisher sell copies. So I’m trying to do everything possible to let people know about my books.
Will being on Twitter help me sell books?
To be honest, I have no idea. I just started to Twit.
Neither do I know if being on Facebook or MySpace or any of the social networking sites will actually help sell books. I think some of them might. There might be former friends or classmates that discover I’ve published some books and will decide to check them out. There are fans out there (whenever I say that, it sounds so corny). I want these “fans” to get to know me, so hence my Facebook page or my silly videos on Youtube are a way to do this. (And yes, watching me driving cross country eating bad food surely won’t help sell many books, but will at least let people know I don’t take myself too seriously!).
I do take my writing seriously, however. And every day or two, I hear from readers that don’t know me that say they like the book of mine they just finished. That motivates me to let others know.
The other thing about social networking for me is that it is a way for me to connect with others. To connect with PEOPLE. I used to have a community of people I’d interact with every day, talking about sports and politics and television and life. But outside of my wife and two-year-old daughter, I don’t have much human interaction. So it’s a good way to connect.
So if you wonder about why I’m on Shelfari and all of these other networks, it’s because I want to be AS BIG AS STEPHEN KING. I mean, no, I want to connect. And be big. And keep the dream alive (okay, I’m rambling–back to work).
I wasn’t warm on Twitter either to begin with, but I’ve learned so much that I consider it an asset. Those in the know too say that social networking is THE marketing strategy of 2009. It behooves anyone who needs to market to dive in and see what it’s all about.
I agree, Chris. Even though I don’t fully understand all the benefits, I have to agree with those out there. And in my mind, every little bit helps!