And the Little Writer Went Tweet, Tweet, Tweet
And today, a blog edition on all things social media.
My short story, Coffee with Satan, was the featured piece on CellStories today. This nifty service brings a different short story to your mobile device daily. I love the idea of writing getting out there in new and interesting ways. Cracking into the literary magazine market can be tough and demoralizing. Kudos to Paul Davis at >isgreaterthan.net for this ingenious way to share great writing.
WriteOnCon
This week, I attended an online writers’ conference that was COMPLETELY FREE. Sessions have been live chats, guest blog posts, and vblogs. Although the conference is targeted to the young adult/children’s book market, the concept is what’s truly brilliant. Literary agents and authors volunteered their time to give great advice to writers in a solely online environment. From 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern Time, WriteOnCon has been chocked full of good information. You don’t have to watch or read live because everything is archived. In fact, that’s how I’ve attended – during lunch and after hours. If you have an interest in writing for the YA or children’s market – or just want general advice on the publishing industry, check it out.
And the Dinosaur Goes the Way of…the Dinosaurs
In what ways have you used social media or are you still resisting the leap into that realm?
Oh man… The Question.
As a musician who has a day job he loves, I’m not out gigging. I just write and record when I have the chance, and then put the music ‘out there’. So, if bandcamp.com and cdbaby.com count as social media, then I use those. (With bandcamp.com, it’s very easy to do updates to your pages, and I’m always fiddling with them in an attempt to keep them pertinent.)
But true social media, like Facebook… that’s a tricky one for me. I actually used to have a Facebook account, and more than 100 ‘friends’. Then I bailed, just before releasing my latest cd. (Smart move? Not sure…) I finally jumped off that bandwagon because, in my mind, the definition of “friend” kept getting blurrier and blurrier… People I feel closely connected to, people I know casually, people I met on a train in another country, people I knew 25 years ago, people I’ve never met in my life… all in my “friends” list. I realized I needed something a little more solid to grab on to. (When the ‘facebook privacy’ issues hit the news, that pushed me over the edge.)
These days, I check my ‘stats’ on my music sites and blog, and I check my e-mail. I know I’m probably shooting myself in the foot by not taking advantage of facebook for promoting my music, but that opens up a whole other discussion about why I’m writing and recording music.
Thanks for the great blog, Mandy! I always look forward to reading your stuff!
Tim