A few months ago, I was chatting with an established writer about my interest in acquiring and agent. She has a great agent and she is published. For clarification, she is not just published, but published by one of the very best children’s publishing houses in the industry. As our conversation unfolded, my friend shared something so valuable with me that it would permanently change the way I look at the world. It would also permanently change the way the world looks at me. She announced that ALL writers should have an internet presence.
I’m a marketing machine. I know the importance of reach and frequency, media distribution outlets and the good old fashion KISS advertising method. Although I can sell and promote doodads and gadgets with the best of them, I had totally avoided the concept of selling my biggest asset. Myself. Why was I avoiding the idea of establishing an internet presence? Simply put, I didn’t feel it was necessary until I was published AND I didn’t feel worthy until I was published.
Within a few short minutes of chatting with my friend, I had an epiphany. How can I ever expect publishers and agents to take me seriously, if I’m not prepared to do so myself? So after lunch that day, I went home to build. I will refer to this special time as my Field of Dreams era. I could almost hear the words “If you build it, they will come” humming in my ear as I single-handedly developed a website, recharged my Facebook and LinkedIn profiles and hatched on Twitter.
Within the first few weeks of launching The Write Place website, I connected with more writers and reconnected with old friends. I believe the publishers and agents will eventually follow. How can they possibly resist a peek at The Write Place?
My fellow writers, if you're not visible on the internet, I strongly suggest you start building. In this day of tightened budgets and digital media, writers must not only write well, we must also be eager to promote ourselves and our books.
I’m a marketing machine. I know the importance of reach and frequency, media distribution outlets and the good old fashion KISS advertising method. Although I can sell and promote doodads and gadgets with the best of them, I had totally avoided the concept of selling my biggest asset. Myself. Why was I avoiding the idea of establishing an internet presence? Simply put, I didn’t feel it was necessary until I was published AND I didn’t feel worthy until I was published.
Within a few short minutes of chatting with my friend, I had an epiphany. How can I ever expect publishers and agents to take me seriously, if I’m not prepared to do so myself? So after lunch that day, I went home to build. I will refer to this special time as my Field of Dreams era. I could almost hear the words “If you build it, they will come” humming in my ear as I single-handedly developed a website, recharged my Facebook and LinkedIn profiles and hatched on Twitter.
Within the first few weeks of launching The Write Place website, I connected with more writers and reconnected with old friends. I believe the publishers and agents will eventually follow. How can they possibly resist a peek at The Write Place?
My fellow writers, if you're not visible on the internet, I strongly suggest you start building. In this day of tightened budgets and digital media, writers must not only write well, we must also be eager to promote ourselves and our books.
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