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Spotlight Newsletter: Social Media for Writers  

In this issue:
Article: 4 Ways to Use Twitter to Promote Your Writing
Spotlight Course: Social Networking for Writers: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and More!
Instructors @ The Muffin
Upcoming Classes & Workshops
Greetings!

Are you effectively using social media to promote your writing? If you're not, you could be missing out on numerous opportunities and potential customers.

In a recent blog post, I wrote about Amanda Hocking, the twenty-six-year-old wunderkind who became a millionaire in less than a year by selling her YA novels as ebooks. (I'm sure you heard the story, and the more recent $2 million book deal with St. Martin's Press.) So, how did she do it? By social media, of course! It's an amazing success story, and it goes to show you that with social media the possibilities are endless.

You can connect with people you'd never run into in real life, whether across the globe or in the next town. You can build a network of peers to share resources with, as well as testimonials and recommendations. You can get to know agents and editors, both personally and professionally, and pitch them ideas when appropriate. You can build a platform for your book, stand on it, and sell from it! You can attract an audience of readers. And, ultimately, you can have a list of loyal customers at your fingertips who will buy your product or service.

Want to learn how to build your own tribe? We invite you to take a look at Social Networking for Writers: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and More! It starts Wednesday, April 13th and is limited to 20 students.

This class is taught by WOW!'s editor, Margo L. Dill, who also manages WOW!'s Facebook Fan Group and Twitter accounts. Margo is one of my favorite people and a wonderful instructor. In the article below, Margo shares some tips on how to use Twitter to promote your writing, as well as a fabulous resource to find hashtag chats. Enjoy!

To view all of our upcoming courses click here.

Happy writing!

 

Angela & Marcia 


Angela and Marcia
Angela & Marcia
Classroom Managers
WOW! Classes & Workshops

[email protected] 

Tweety Birds
4 Ways to Use Twitter to Promote Your Writing

By Margo L. Dill

Everybody's tweeting and for all sorts of reasons--if you are a writer, here's a free marketing tool you can use on a daily basis to promote you and your writing. Whether you have a book, a blog, or a business, you can use Twitter to work for you. Here are four ways to promote yourself on Twitter:

1. Create a headline with a link

2. Ask a question and start a dialogue

3. Hold a contest on Twitter

4. Participate in a hashtag chat



Create a headline with a link
Millions of tweets are sent and read each day. You have to make yours stand out. So, instead of just putting a link to your book or your blog post, write a headline with it. Think about the headlines you read on the front page of the newspaper. They make you want to read the article. This is what you want your Twitter headline to do. You write it, so that it captures your followers' attention, and they click on your link to check out your work. Better yet, they retweet it and put your work in front of their followers.

Here's an example. Let's say you are teaching a class on finding an agent for children's writers, and you wrote a blog post about five new literary agents. At the end of the post, you put a link to the class you are teaching. So, a perfect headline would be: "Five new agents seeking authors. Check them out: LINK". With a good headline, you will get more people to see your work.

Ask a question and start a dialogue
One way to use Twitter is to find readers for your work. You hope that people who follow you will like your book or your blog. In order to find followers and keep them, interact with them. Ask questions! Respond to answers. For example, if you are writing a book about vegan cooking, ask your followers for their favorite vegan dishes. Ask them how they tackle going out to eat. Ask them what a book would need in order to capture their interest.

As they answer you, respond to them. This will do two things. One, it will make you more personable to them. Two, their followers will see your Twitter name on their responses. Your conversation may intrigue them, and they decide to follow you. Thus, you are building more potential readers.

Hold a contest with Twitter
Twitter is full of contests. People use tweets to announce book and product giveaways every day. Why not start a Twitter contest for your book, blog or business? It's easy. On your blog, create a contest, such as giving away an ARC of your book if people comment on the post. They get extra entries if they follow you on Twitter. They get even more extra entries if they tweet about your contest. Each tweet that goes out into the Twitter-verse has a URL, so you can ask people to copy and paste that into a comment for an easy contest entry.

Participate in a hashtag chat
Hashtag chats are happening in the Twitter-verse every day. If you've ever been on Twitter, you've probably seen people's tweets end with things, such as: #amwriting, #YSLitchat, or #blogchat. Everyone in the world can get in on it, no matter if you follow each other or not. If you put that special hashtag at the end of your tweet, anyone else who has set up their Twitter account to see those hashtags can see your tweet and respond to it. So, you can meet people who share similar interests and who might love to read your work. It's a new way to network!

See this link for a list of some of the hashtag chats on Twitter:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AhisaMy5TGiwcnVhejNHWnZlT3NvWFVPT3Q4NkIzQVE&hl=en#gid=0

With a little creativity, you can use Twitter as a free marketing tool and find more fans or clients for you and your work! 


Social Networking for Writers: Margo L. DillTwitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and More! 
Instructor: Margo L. Dill

Workshop Length
: 4 Weeks
Price: $100
Start Date: April 13, 2011
Limit
20 Students

This class will teach writers how to use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social networking sites such as Shelfari or Jacket Flap (students' choice) to network; to build a following of fans; to start working on a brand/image; and to promote books, articles, magazines, and blogs. Instead of using Facebook and Twitter to write about your fabulous dinner or disastrous day at the grocery store, you will learn to sell yourself and your writing!

Visit the Classroom Page for a complete listing, testimonials, and what you'll be learning week by week.  

 

Register 

 

 

 

About the Instructor: Margo Dill has been active in social networking since she came back from the SCBWI L.A. Conference in 2008. Her love of social networking landed her as the social media coordinator for WOW! Women On Writing where she runs the WOW! Facebook Fan group and WOW!'s Twitter account. She uses her own social networking accounts to connect with other writers, promote her blog and online articles, and learn as much as she can about the publishing world. When she's not social networking, she works as a contributing editor and columnist for WOW! Women On Writing, a news correspondent and book reviewer for The News-Gazette, and a regular contributor to Bright Hub and Demand Studios. Her first book for middle-grade students, Finding My Place, will be published by White Mane Kids in 2012.

 

 


The MuffinInstructors' Posts @ The Muffin

Have you checked out what's cookin' at The Muffin? Our instructors are stopping by and sharing their words of wisdom!

If you're too busy to stop by but don't want to miss out, you can always sign up to get blog posts via e-mail here.
 
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ClapboardInterviews in the Movies
By Jodi Webb
The other night I was watching a movie--a reporter, a scandal...the standard stuff. Except whomever wrote this movie never went on an interview with me. So I thought I'd tell you what they got wrong about interviewing and what it's like in real life. Or at least in my life!

Meet me at the corner diner - Yes, it's the standard interview spot if you believe movies. Restaurants are terrible interview spots. First, they're noisy. Second, some people feel awkward talking when others can overhear. Third, too many distractions...food, waitresses, crying babies...can interrupt a person's train of thought...MORE

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Spring Poetry Spring Forward! 5 Writing Exercises to Season the Poetic Muse
By Melanie Faith
With a renewal of vegetation and the lengthening of sunnier days, April and National Poetry Month are just around the corner. What better time to set pen to page in poesy? As Violet Gartenlicht said: "Spring in verses,/Verses in spring." Follow these five tips to inspire your own poetic regeneration...MORE



 


Upcoming Classes & Workshops
WOW! Classes
Below are some classes and workshops that are starting soon. Click on the links to be taken to a full listing that includes a week-by-week curriculum, testimonials, instructor bio, and more. Keep in mind that most class sizes are limited, so the earlier you register the better.

All the classes operate online--whether through email, website, chat room, or group listserv, depending on the instructor's preferences--so you do not need to be present at any particular time (unless a phone chat is scheduled and arranged with your instructor). You can work at your own pace in the comfort of your own home. If you have any questions, please reply to this email or email us at: [email protected]  Enjoy!



April 8 - Starts this week!
Spring Forward! Poetic Line, Breath, & Vision | 5 Weeks | $160 | Limit: 8-10 Students

April 13
Social Networking for Writers: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and More! | 4 Weeks | $100 | Limit: 20 Students

April 25
The Gatekeepers: All About Agents and Editors | 4 Weeks | $179 | Limit: 10 Students

April 29
Blogging 101 and More: Start a Blog, Make it Unique, and Keep it Going | 5 Weeks | $125 | Limit: 20 Students

May 2
Short Fiction Writing | 8 Weeks | $175 | Limit: 8-10 Students

Introduction to the Craft of Screenwriting | 6 Weeks | $150 | Limit: 10 Students

All the World's a Stage: An Introduction to Playwriting | 6 Weeks | $175 | Limit: 10 Students

May 11
Finding Experts and Interviewing Them | 6 Weeks | $150 | Limit: 10 Students

Bring Out the Story-Teller in You | 6 Weeks | $140 | Limit: 10 Students

Writing a Middle-Grade Novel | 6 Weeks | $150 | Limit: 20 Students

May 23
Writing for Children: Everything You Need to Know About Short Stories, Articles, and Fillers | 7 Weeks | $200 | Limit: 15 Students

May 25
The Unwilling Grammarian | 4 Weeks | $140 | Limit: 10 Students

June 6
Empower Your Muse, Empower Your Writing Self | 4 Weeks | $125 | Limit: 25 Students

June 10
Intro to Book Reviewing | 4 Weeks | $100 | Limit: 16 Students

Click here to see all of our upcoming workshops 

 

 


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