Saturday, December 3, 2011

A complete idiot's guide to social media

Posted by: Angela Campbell
One of the things I've loved most about being a published author is connecting with readers and other authors. No, I haven't done any in-person book signings yet or been to any conventions since my book released, but I have taken full advantage of social media to make new friends out of readers and authors.

Do I know what I'm doing? Bwhahahahaha! I mean, er, of course I do. Well, I'm learning anyway. I have a blog on my website. I have a Facebook page. I'm on Twitter. That's all good, right?

I have to admit that of the three, I've grown quite fond of Twitter, which is strange because once upon a time I was addicted to Facebook and declared Twitter "a ridiculous gimmick" that I would never use. I think that was mostly because I was too dumb to understand it or how to use it. OK, so I'm still too dumb to understand it or how to use it, but hey, I've finally figured out what hashtags are and stopped thinking I needed to call the police every time I opened my email inbox to find a message stating that so-and-so is now following me. These days I'm on Twitter a lot more than I'm on Facebook, that's for sure. Pretty soon I will be Mayor of Twitter, you mark my words, or...oh wait, I think I'm mixing my social media again. That's Four Square or something or other, isn't it? Uh, nevermind.

For those readers out there, the point of this silly post is to remind you that us authors might not always be as smart as some of you are when it comes to such things, but that doesn't mean we don't appreciate connecting with you. In fact, our group of authors here at Here Be Magic has been secretly conspiring up ways to reward one very lucky reader of this blog, or two or maybe three, with something good. Something really good! I can't tell you what we're up to - you'll find out soon enough (he he) - but trust me, you're gonna love it!

In the meantime, if you see any of us on Twitter (check out our widget on the right bottom of this page for a listing of recent tweets by participating authors) or notice one of our fan pages on Facebook, don't be shy. We love hearing from you. Without your feedback on our books, none of us would grow as writers, after all. And I'm of the opinion that one can never have too many friends.

Oh, and remember, you can follow Here Be Magic on twitter to stay connected with the blog itself. We're @HereBeMagic .

**
Angela Campbell is the author of "Cry Wolf," now available from Carina Press. You can follow her on twitter @angelacampbel or find her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AngelaCampbellBooks . Visit her website at www.angelacampbellonline.com

5 comments:

  1. I love twitter, so many engaging conversations going on all at once! Enjoyed the post, best wishes!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I adore twitter. So many good conversations, a quick and informal way to connect with readers and friends, and you don't really need to keep up. If something important comes up and you miss it, it'll probably come up again later.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love twitter, too. But such a good point about authors not always knowing what they're doing (with social media) but loving the conversations. Absolutely!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm beginning to like Twitter, but there are so many tweets, it's a bit hard to follow at times. Sooner or later, I will get the hang of it. I will win this social media bonanza :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I haven't really invested the time and energy into my FB author page that I need to. A big part of that is because I'll post something to my author page but friends and family will talk to me about it on my personal account's wall.
    Twitter has been the best for meeting other authors and for keeping up on publishing news as it happens.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...