NETWORKING - Not for the faint at heart - Part 1

Several years ago I was part of The Writers forum on AOL. I was HOSTWRTRRmAngel and hosted a workshop on Wednesday nights called The Writers Zone. We had topics for new and seasoned authors. I was blessed to have veteran authors like Vicki Lewis Thompson, Shirley Jump, Stella Cameron and the late Charlotte Maclay share their wisdom from the trenches. With all of their experience the one thing hard for some of our workshop participants to grasp was dealing with the act of selling their book to readers.

Apparently, many of these want-to-be authors wrote then assumed someone else would do all the publicity work. They could hide away in their jammies and write. Um... NO! Even back then, the author still needed to do some jaw work. With the dwindling number of hard publishers and the explosion of eBook, the ability to market yourself and your book is even more important. So how do we do this?

First off, in the words shared to me by Boroughs Publishing CEO, Chris Keesler (years ago when he was with Dorchester), "Don't be nervous." I equate that statement to "don't be afraid." Don't be afraid to put yourself out there. You have to let your DESIRE to live your dream to override your FEAR of rejection.

People do not bite. Really? What bites us in the ass is our own fear of rejection. But more on that later.

In today's publishing world, our marketing begins long before we ever sell a book.
In real life, you have to attend writer functions such as local groups, workshops and conferences. You have to put your hand out and introduce yourself. Be prepared with a very short blurb about what you write.
"Hi, I'm Angela Drake. I write sub-genres of romance. My characters tell me what they're up to. What do you write?"

Then be prepared to LISTEN. Show them the same courtesy you expect. Have business cards handy that will direct them to your website/ blog. You might even choose to have the QR Code Graphic on your business card they can just scan if they choose that will take them directly to your website/ blog. The one below is from a blog called 'Readers are Leaders'. The link will take you to an post Kara wrote on QR Codes.

Another blog full of information, including apps for creating your own in 4 easy steps, is from BlogHubspot 

I plan to redo my business cards with a QR code link to my blog. That will never change. When my book, Somewhere Down the Line, is released in a few months, I'll create the QR code that will link to my Amazon author page. 

So now, I have you meeting people in person. Next Thursday we'll talk about networking opportunities on the net - and I'm NOT talking about social media... okay a little bit. But that is not the focus.. just one of the avenues. 

Until next week!

Keep taking the dictation! 

Angela