Total Read Time: 2 minutes
 |
| ["MANY HANDS" by Kuelcue] |
I read this great blog post the other day by Jeff Goins about finding your tribe, which really resonated with me. As a writer, I’ve felt driven to make as many connections as possible to bump up my follower numbers and hypothetically increase my reach.
At the same time, I’ve struggled with this because I’m not a super social person and to seek followers so aggressively feels fake to me. Plus, that never ending hamster wheel of looking for more followers is exhausting and takes valuable time away from writing.
I don’t want a bunch of numbers. I want to make genuine connections with people who share my interests. So, I’ve decided to shift my focus from quantity to quality. Here’s my plan of attack:
I’ve focused a lot of my posts on the technical side of indie writing. I like doing this because I enjoy helping other people and I’m good at tech stuff. At the same time, that kind of writing doesn’t give me much of an opportunity to express my voice or connect with people who love to read fantasy, which is also important to me as a fantasy author.
That being said, I plan to start increasing my posts to twice a week (assuming I have enough to say). Tip Tuesdays will be for focusing on writing and self-publishing (including the usual 'how to' posts) and Fantasy Thursdays will be for book news or fantasy-related posts. Sometimes the posts will mirror each other, covering the same topic, but from a reader’s perspective on Thursday and explaining how to execute from a writer’s perspective on Tuesday.
As of October 18, 2011, Tuesday's writing tips will be posted at Ebook Formatting Made Simple while Thursday fantasy content/book news will continue to be posted at WaywardScribe.com.
I’ve cleaned out the list of people I’m following to just those who are either friends or book-related people (readers, writers, etc.). I’m sure my follower numbers will go down over the next few days as the people I’ve unfollowed realize this... My account wasn’t too bloated, but there was definitely fat to cut.
I’m going to stick with Writer Wednesday (#WW) and avoid Follow Friday (#FF) going forward. Even then, I might not suggest people every week. I want to get away from feeling obligated to participate and keep my recommendations genuine. I’m pretty good about this already, but I want to be even better.
I also want to start posting more spontaneous and interactive tweets. I usually do a lot of retweeting links I think are insightful or worth reading, which I still plan to do, but I want to show more of who I am so I can make more real connections. This one is going to be hard for me because I’m such an introvert, but I’m really going to work at it.
I don’t want social networking to feel like a stressful obligation. I want it to be a way to meet and chat with like-minded writers and readers, who are positive and supportive. I want to find my tribe.
Have you found yours? What’s your networking strategy?
Hi, I recently read a book on how to build an author platform. There was a great point in it, namely that the biggest majority of people are self-professed non-readers, and it is this part of the population that you want to target, to really see an increase in sales.
ReplyDeleteSo it's best to follow not just known readers, but also people who might have an interest in your book, based on what they like. Movies, games, stuff like that. Just though I'd mention it.
Good luck with your new book!
- Vanna
@Vanna Smythe
ReplyDeleteWell that's something to think about... It can definitely be difficult to target readers directly. Good tip!
Thanks :)