January 2010 Newsletter Article Vol#1, Issue # 1
What’s your poison? Linked-In? Facebook? Twitter? What social network are you using to connect with others? Are you doing the network thing in hopes of creating a marketing base when it comes to publishing your work? What are the upsides of social networking? Etiquette? Precautions to consider? Here’s the scoop!
The very first thing to remember – anything that goes out into cyberspace is there to remain forever.
This is a concept not a lot of people understand. And yet we must. Think about it. The Internet is a network of computers. It’s always on. It’s always gathering information. If you delete a spiteful post, remove a rather questionable photograph, upload the rough draft of a manuscript then delete it when you realize you have a best seller – it’s all out there. It’s resident on someone’s computer, squirreled away on a server.
The purpose of this article is not to sell books. It’s not on how to market you, your novel, or even to make money using a blog. It’s about looking down the road, off into the future to that day that you finally sell your manuscript, it goes into publication and you’re ready to hit the circuit peddling your finest work.
No, you might not be going for a political position or that big corporate job or off to track down serial killers with the Behavioral Analyst Unit at Quantico. But yet what you say, what you do, how you react could potentially become your enemy down the line. So it’s important to keep in mind what your ultimate goal is here and now. Focus on that when you are interacting out in the public eye.
Pictures: Be very mindful of any picture you upload anywhere on the ‘net. Even if you’re in the biz of selling sex (erotica and the like), social media isn’t the place to be posting sexually explicit photographs. Suggestive, yes. Explicit? Absolutely not.
Leave the kids out of it. And family, too. Cherish their privacy and safety. In the public eye, it only takes one deranged person to bring your world crashing down upon you. Be mindful of this in the here and now.
Connecting with family: Again, privacy is imperative, especially when it comes to minors. You’re looking at a business proposition, a viable source of income, a money maker. Unless you are engaging your entire family in what you’re writing, say a non-fiction piece on the importance of volunteering within your community, leave your family at home and focus on your work. There’s no need to make them accessible to your public.
The dividing line: If you opt to use social media to keep in touch with family and personal friends, consider a secondary account and keep the two separate. Still be very careful of what you post. Even when your settings might initially be very private, remember, nothing is every a constant on the ‘net and anything that goes out, stays there. We saw this happen with the recent (12/09) changes in privacy at Facebook. Suddenly the personal, private information folks were putting on their pages was made public and very accessible to others. To those who forgot the golden rule of not putting personal, private information out on the ‘net, the fallback was tremendous.
Stay focused: Even if you don’t have a salable manuscript in the works, even if you don’t see yourself publishing anything in the next three to five years, it’s still important to maintain a social network profile that shows your head is in the game. Going off topic now and again is perfectly acceptable, even good practice. Remember that saying, all work and no play makes Jack a very dull boy? But keep the majority of your interactions about your writing, your intent to publish, making contacts and rubbing elbows with those in the industry and those that contribute to the industry by buying books, where your focus is at least 90% of the time.
Cheat Sheet:
- Do not publish pictures that you wouldn’t have on your jacket flap.
- Do not publish pictures of family members.
- Use a business or post office box address, not your personal residence. Same applies for phone, instant messaging, any other form of contact.
- Fudge on your location, especially when you live in a rural area. Select a larger area or omit it entirely.
- Never use your family member’s real names.
- Don’t say online what you wouldn’t say in person at a book signing.
- Keep your private life separate from your online business persona.
- Stay focused on the prize. At least 90% of the time.
- Write!
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