Social Media Isn’t a Waste of Time
So two things happened:
A friend told me, the other day, that he came THIS close to signing with a publisher for his non-fiction book when the publisher decided to back out because my friend didn’t have enough of a “platform”.
I read on an online message board recently, a consultant advising a writer not to waste time on Twitter or Facebook.
I couldn’t disagree more with that piece of advice. But first, let’s back up.
So – what is a “platform” and do you need one? A platform refers to how well known you are online. In other words, do you have a Facebook following? Do you have a lot of Twitter followers? Do you use Tumblr? Do you blog?
As we have discussed here before, as with all things, the publishing industry has tightened its belt (in no small part owing to the advent of the under-estimated ebook) and publishers no longer provide the PR, marketing and god knows, coaching and editorial support that signed authors need. No, mostly that comes out of your pocket now. But here’s the thing – a publisher would like to know that you have some kind of public profile. A guaranteed buyer base, in other words. A presence online. A conduit for marketing the brand of YOU and the output which results from that.
My friend, who is extraordinarily talented and will publish his book one way or another (self! self!), does not, however, have a “platform”. Nobody knows who he is, in other words. GAH! He groaned the other day. Now what? It takes awhile to build a platform!
Yes. Yes it does. But you can start now.
I’ll make an admission to you. Two years ago, I thought Twitter was too silly as to warrant a second thought.
Facebook I posted to grudgingly, mostly logging on to look at the pictures of vacationing friends. For the first half a year I used Twitter I used some automated thinga-ma-jiggy to post in this silly, computer like voice things like “Tip of the Day! The number one mistake in #screenwriting is bad action lines!”
I didn’t have a lot of followers. Until I decided to unautomate Twitter and just really interact with it. I’ve had fun, I’ve “met” a lot of really great people all over the world, I have made introductions between real-life people I know, I have come upon clients or students out of the blue…I could go on. And my following grows steadily every day. Because that’s actually ME on the other end of that tweet.
What am I always saying here on Just Effing? Authenticity. Heart. These are the only tools you really need to have fun and create success in whatever you do.
But I digress. I have a lot of FB friends, I have a growing number of Twitter followers, I have been blogging for six years now and have written a book. I have an online profile. I have a platform. It came about quite organically but there it is. And I can use it as a springboard.
My platform is my resume, it is my personality quiz, it is my “hey how are ya?” and more than any of that – it is my brand.
So where’s your platform? What’s your brand?
Now, I know it sounds super silly to think of “branding” yourself as a writer – but guess what, guys? You need to do it. And it needn’t feel weird. Let your online self BE the brand of YOU.
It’s okay to be silly on FB or Twitter and post funny articles or retweet things. As long as you remember that this is the PUBLIC you that you want people to remember. The real you. The you who #writes #scripts and #rescuesdogs. Do you catch my drift? You not only want followers, you want quality followers. People who are really interacting with you. Because you have fun online. Because you have a lot of followers. Because YOUR tweets are always fun, funny, provocative and interesting. Because you are that guy who is an #interesting #funny #film #fan #writer – which gets you more followers.
So that, in the end, when you are pitching a script or manuscript you can walk into that room with a platform. A public profile. YES. People have heard of me. I blog a lot about my love of horror films, how I’m writing a novel and I love to travel to Turkey. For the person you are meeting with, you just became completely 3D. You have a platform.
So don’t feel that being on Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook is a waste of time. Nein!
Have fun online, have fun in everything that you do. Think about the “brand of you” that you really want put out there to the world. Have a specific point of view. Add value to social media by sharing and appreciating interesting material related to the “brand of you”. In doing this, you are being a beneficial presence online and gifting yourself with a growing platform.
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It seems that I’ve replaced my morning toast with a couple of Advil. No joke; waking up every morning with a pounding headache from staring at my computer for much longer than the god Digitus intended, I’m sure. Maybe I’m intense, they say I can be obsessive compulsive, ‘but in a good way’ for when I get my teeth into something I really am like a dingo with a baby in its mouth, striving to be the best I can be.
I’ve been studying the art of branding, marketing myself for some time now, for I’ve come to realise the importance of this, having hitherto, like you say here, rejected all forms of online social media for I’m more intimate than that by nature. And talking of savage dogs, I’m a lone wolf by choice, nocturnal, coming out of my den to prowl that hushed inspired time of night, somehow my ego metamorphosing, my inner werewolf surfacing, insisting that the reticent me by day, in that deadly silence, become a force to be reckoned with, happily ingratiating itself all over the place in a style that I’d never contemplate in the harsh reality of a mid morn when I’ve nearly woken up and when somehow my confidence levels have succumbed to that of Jeckyll; often going back and ‘Hyding’ the brilliant things I’ve shared before breaking dawn, the secret me, that I feel is brandable (that’s a word) but the private me that I don’t like to be spread on a slice of toast.
I have every admiration for many writers, bloggers etc; who can do this effectively, but I can’t help but wonder where they get the time, and even the inclination to host competitions, to promote the way they do, organise thousands of followers, who’ve scaled their own platforms. They’re very clever indeed, I’ve noticed, often having fun, simply posting light-hearted comments and quotes and the like to keep their name out there. I’ve tried it, but something, something, inside me gets annoyed with myself, for its not the real me – not to say I’m not affable, for I think I am when my claws by their very nature retract even if I do tend to be incommunicado. So I think my next lesson is to disassociate my true, private self and consider my alter ego an entirely different entity, me in no way its zookeeper.
That said though, the Advil would be far better company with my morning pot o’ coffee if they were being employed because of the amount of creative writing that’d brought their nemesis about. But oh-no, nothing’s effing getting done in terms of why I’m spending so much time marketing and then unmarketing (that’s also a word) myself in the first place, the genesis of many an idea stillborn.
I have a real job during the day, but I do spend more time at this writing and promoting malarkey than even that, but thus far only gaining the ‘friendships’ of other authors all doing the same thing as me, and as I said, some highly efficient at it. But as insightful as those can be (and wondering where they get the time) I’ve come to realise that I now need to appeal more to the reader and not just other writers… a harder thing methinks, and time to go the pharmacy, but I guess with that realisation I might at least have scaled rung two of that socioeconomic ladder to the lofty heights of my own platform. Thanks for another interesting article; they’re inspiring and motivating.
I’ve been looking into self-publishing the last year and come across dozens of fun, informative,sincere platforms by a vast array of authors.
They have one thing in common; they’re fascinating to other writers or writer wannabees. But readers, or even those elusive self-professed fans, tend to post on the author’s FB-page or via Twitter.
There are exceptions. Neil Gaiman does a brilliant job on the social platforms he uses.
Julie is a funny, great teacher, editor and mentor. Her blog works so phenomenally because it reaches exactly the people in need of those services (and pep talks!): writers.
So, while I’m all for creating an online brand, I’m going to stick my head out and claim that a blog might not be the most efficient use of a writer’s time if the goal is to build a relationship with and interact with potential readers.