How much time should an author spend tweeting, Facebook-ing and MySpace-ing?

So how much time SHOULD a writer spend on online social networks?

The quick answer: Not so much time that your manuscript is piling up around you--unedited or unfinished.

All writers need to find ways to use social networks; it doesn't have to be time consuming. Only you can determine how much time you spend on your social networks. I recommend an average of 15-30 minutes each for MySpace and Facebook, 2-5 times a week, depending on your schedule. This would include reading and responding to emails, contacting friends with requests (especially reviewers), leaving comments on your friends' pages (socializing), sending invites to events or a bulletin (MySpace) announcing your new article, book, event etc. It all boils down to time management. 3-5 hours a week is a good goal.

Twitter requires less time. 5-10 minutes a day is all that's needed to make an impact on sales, word of mouth, and opportunities. One book marketing expert, John Kremer, likes to send out about 10 tweets (messages) a day. Mine will vary, but on average, I probably send out 5-10 messages every other day. More lately because I'm promoting a contest that is bringing new followers in by the hour. :-) I suggest people set small goals. Use a timer if you have to so you won't go over--or stick to one thing a day. Start small, working up to your goals.

As I mentioned in my presentation at the recent Get Publishing conference, all authors will have various needs. The first thing you need to do is determine WHO you need to connect to and WHY. Who can help you move forward in your career? Publishers? An agent? Bookstores? Magazine editors? Readers? Book Clubs? Book reviewers? Newspaper reporters? TV talk show hosts? Radio hosts? etc. This is the first step--target your network.

In the past I have been reviewed by a New York Times bestselling author because of my friendship with her on MySpace. It happened very quickly after connecting with her. I also have 5 other known authors who will be blurbing my new novel once my agent finds a publisher.

I have found numerous book reviewers through all social networks, and through them found other marketing opportunities, like guest blogging on their blog and using them as hosts for a VBT.

I have had film producers and directors contact me through these networks. Some have read my novels and my screenplay for Whale Song.

I have been interviewed as a result of online networking. I've had book clubs pick up my books; schools have too--which means I'm selling books.

The main thing is by being on these networks it becomes a "viral" form of marketing. Like a virus, word spreads and we all know how vital word-of-mouth advertising is. Twitter is perfect for this. Just add "RT" to your tweet and others will re-tweet your message to all their friends. And so on...and so on...

The bottom line is this: if you want to be a successful writer who is able to continuously bring forth new works and get paid for them, you will want to spend time marketing your books EVERY DAY.

I always try to do at least 3 things a day that will move me forward in some way--even if it's giving someone a bookmark at Starbucks. As with any kind of marketing, it has to be balanced with your writing and other life. If you're spending more than an hour a day maintaining the top 3 social networks (MySpace, Facebook and Twitter), then you might want to look at how you're spending that time. It's totally up to you though.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif, author and book marketing coach

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The Two Smartest Promotion Things I've Done So Far

The promotion game is slowly starting to gel. I'm beginning to see the logic of spending nearly every evening (and some days) on this part of the writing biz, even though it takes a chunk out of actual writing time. But then, I don't write much in the evenings. When it comes to being creative, I'm definitely a morning person. Nights are reserved for the bookkeeping, promotion, market searches and other necessities in the writing life. So, here's what I've done this week:

- added two PayPal 'buy me' buttons to my website, one for each book. My 19-year-old daughter, Elida, watched over my shoulder and steered me in the right direction, which was a good thing because I was about to click the wrong button a couple of times. Sadly, I do that a lot.

- Found six more people who are willing to review my book, and this is a big thing for me, because I'm a little shy about asking, but I keep looking.

- Joined AuthorsDen and set up a profile page. I'm also about to launch a new blog that focuses on all things to do with white-collar crime, which is what my mysteries are about. It's a subject that interested me long before Enron, BriX and Conrad Black made the front pages.

-Sent out more flyers to libraries, who were great about buying my first book, Taxed to Death.

BUT HERE'S THE TWO SMARTEST THINGS I DID:

I bought and started reading Steve Weber's amazing how-to promotion book called Plug Your Book. Thanks to Cheryl K. Tardif for recommending it.

Second, I decided to have more fun with promotion because, frankly, searching for reviewers and mailing out flyers just doesn't cut it. Last weekend, I was talking about this blog to Elida as she was finishing her own blog entry. And that's when the idea came. Wouldn't it be fun if we blogged together and discussed all sorts of topics from our different perspectives? Elida thought it was a great idea, so we posted our first entry on MySpace on Wednesday. I don't know if it will be an effective promotion strategy because few entries will be devoted to writing or my books, but the main point is that it's a fun thing to do with my daughter (she's a great writer herself) that we can actually fit into our busy lives, and that's important to me.

If anyone's interested in reading it, visit www.MySpace.com/debrapurdykong.

Alas, the newspaper article about me has yet to appear. Hmm. I've asked about it, but haven't heard back yet. In the grand scheme of things, though, I'm not going to sweat the stuff I have no control over.

Debra_Kong@telus.net
Excerpts of Fatal Encryption can be read at www.debrapurdykong.com
Available at amazon.com or from my website, provided the buttons work.

What I've Learned About Promoting

I haven't done nearly as much promoting as other savvy writers on our Write Type team, but I'm trying to do something everyday to let people know about my books. I've been part of Goodreads and MySpace for a little over a week now, and had feared I'd be languishing there for weeks or even months alone but, to my surprise, such is not the case.

I find I'm "adopting" new friends on a daily basis, especially on MySpace. While many of them are writers, others are not, and it's great fun to talk to people from other backgrounds and other parts of the world. Some of them actually think it's cool I'm a writer. Hmm. MySpace is an interesting place, but I have to admit I've had trouble creating an attractive page with all the bells and whistles. For people like me, who aren't technical wizards--or even technically competent--it's been tough to figure out how to do some of the fancier things. Still, I'll get there, eventually.

I've also joined John Kremer's Book Marketing Network and Bestsellers, and again, am meeting more people. I have more sites to join, more work to do, but I figure I'm on my way. Whether all this networking translates into sales remains to be seen, but I've come to realize that networking isn't always about selling books. It's about being part of an enormous community of terrific people I wouldn't have met if I hadn't made the effort. Sometimes, I don't want to sell anything to anyone. I just want to talk . . . see how someone else's day is going.

So, I'll keep putting myself out there to the world, and to see what the world brings back.

For excerpts of FATAL ENCRYPTION and TAXED TO DEATH visit:
www.debrapurdykong.com