Social Media and Writers: Tips for a Harmonious Relationship

Last night, I had the honor of participating in a panel for ASJA—the American Society of Journalists and Authors—on social media. Also on the panel:
Rob Gokee @robgokee (author, In the Belly of the Fail Whale: How Twitter Changed My Life in One Year)
Penny Sansevieri @bookgal (Author Marketing Experts, Inc.)
Tina Tessina, PhD, @tinatessina (appeared on Oprah and Larry King Live)
Cherie Twohy, @chezcherie (owner, Chez Cherie cooking school and author, The I Love Trader Joe’s Cookbook)

The panel was moderated by ASJA member Kathy Sena (@kathysena), who is, among many other things writerly, the social-media reporter for Consumer Reports (@CReporter).

Check out my fellow panelists for more about how they use social media—and why it works.

♦

Each panelist was asked to create a tip sheet. Here’s mine (along with a few quotes from some writers I admire):

Go organic, follow your truth, dig inside and find what interests you. Be yourself online and offline.

Reach out to others; link to their sites. Applaud what they are doing. Tame your jealousy and fear.

Keep your eyes on your own blog. Don’t compare your site to another. If you get jealous, think about linking to that site (or another) and complimenting the blogger/twitter/etc.

Nurture what you have: your expertise in a certain area, existing relationships, your skill as a writer..

Ask for help, receive it, say thanks. Tell everyone how the person lent a hand.

Get a designer to design and help you maintain your blog*, ask people to write a guest post (and offer to return the favor), run an interview to relieve the stress of coming up with something new.

Help someone else. Be on the “you’re welcome” end of the relationship. Offer to gently critique their work, provide feedback, introduce someone to someone else; give a compliment.

Promote other people. Feature a book, a site, a tv show, a radio show, whatever you like. It’s fun.

Alisa Bowman told me: Don’t worry about writing to everyone—write what you want, in your voice, about what you want to learn about. Author: “Project: Happily Ever After” (Running Press, 2011)

Christine Gross-Loh told me: “Keep in mind that with a successful, solid platform, promoting yourself down the line will be easier.” Author, The Diaper-Free Baby (Regan/Harper, 2007)

Ruth Pennebaker told me: “Platform is a big help in selling fiction, too.” Author, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough (Berkley, 2011)

*Though I already had a designer who created my website design/theme, he didn’t do blog maintenance. That’s where RON S. DOYLE – Creative Professional for Hire – came in. Check him out!

Tagged as: social media, writing ritual

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