Tag Archives: social networking

Twitter Basics and Best Practices for Writers

This year I switched the focus of my social media efforts to Twitter, because it seemed to me Facebook was an increasingly ineffectual way to reach fans. Because of that, I’ve been spending a lot more time looking at the people following me on there as well as thinking about Twitter, its philosophy, and its uses overall.

Why does a writer want to be on Twitter? The reason is more than just “sell books”. It’s often a way to network with existing fans (who will buy more books in the future), cultivate new fans, connect with peers and other industry professionals, to find out industry and writing news and yes, of course, to procrastinate in a thousand different ways.
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Social Media: Amazon Affiliate Program Changes and A Fresh Crop of Social Media Links

A discussion of changes to the Amazon Affiliate program and some links about social media and electronic publishing.
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Who’s the Mayor of Your Data?: What You Do When You Like Something on Facebook

But the other hand is more sinister. You’re providing marketers with your data, telling them how to most effectively sell to you, letting them know what images, what songs, what memes have resonance for you. Talk about the ultimate consumer survey – this one’s as long and exhaustive as you care to make it. Everyone who uses Gmail (and I’m one of them) has more than once been spooked at how the ad in the sidebar seems to target exactly what you’re thinking of with a precision worthy of a Twilight Zone episode. Imagine if every ad getting served to you is precisely tailored to convince you that you need that particular thneed.
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Keeping Track of Social Media – for the Blogging 101 Class

One of the things I really find interesting about the class is that social media changes so rapidly that every time I teach it, I have to add new information. For example, last time I taught, no one had heard of Pinterest, so I’m adding a new section about it and how to use it. One of the questions that often comes up in the Blogging class is where I get my news and information about social media. This list provides the ones I’ve found most useful. Continue reading

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StumbleUpon Resources (For the Spring 2012 Blogging Class)

I’ll be posting several pieces over the next week with information gathered for the Bellevue College blogging class, whose second session takes place this Saturday. I teach\an online class for writers interested in building an online presence; the next one is July 23, 2012.

In this Saturday’s class, we’ll be talking about social networking and social bookmarking, which are two related but different concepts. Social bookmarking sites include Delicious, Digg, and Reddit along with the largest one of them all: StumbleUpon. Here I talk about what StumbleUpon is, why you might be interested in it, how to use it effectively to drive traffic, and what to watch out for. Continue reading

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Social Networking: How Much Is Not Enough?

So one of my resolutions, post-Confusion, was to be better about social networking and spreading word of my projects. Towards that end I’ve been posting scraps of the WIP on a daily basis (and plan to do so until it’s … Continue reading

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Links From Blogging 101 Class – Facebook and Twitter Resources

More links from the Blogging 101 class, this time dealing with Facebook and Twitter. Continue reading

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Links from Blogging 101 Class – General Social Media Links

As part of the Blogging 101 class I just finished up teaching for Bellevue College, I organized a bunch of my links into a handout. Here is the General Social Media Resources section. Continue reading

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What I’m Teaching At Bellevue College, Summer 2011

I’ll be teaching two classes at Bellevue College this summer. The first is a one day workshop called Sudden Fiction, in which we’ll be talking about and writing several examples of flash fiction. The second is the Blogging and Social Networking 101 class, which runs two sessions. Continue reading

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Networking with Purpose and Sincerity

It’s natural for writers to want to spread word of our work. We all realize that, short of hiring a publicist, we’re our own best champions. But if we go too far, or are too single-minded in that pursuit, we can come off as boorish and arrogant. Here’s five pointers on how to avoid this. Continue reading

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