Writing
is a business, and every writer should know this. For clarification, if one
plans on making money writing then it becomes more than just a hobby or past
time. That doesn’t mean writers aren’t supposed to enjoy their word or find a
deeper meaning in it, it just means we need to look at things with a different eye.
I am
reminded daily just what it means to be a selling writer. Every day, I try to
move books that I wrote and it’s a very hard thing to do. Most of the time, I
just rely on word of mouth as that is the best technique to get readers to pick
up your stories. When one reader picks up your book and shares it with another,
a writer knows there is no higher praise.
Yet,
there are writers who don’t maximize their efforts by using the tools they have
available. And all writers need to have those tools at their disposal whenever necessary.
Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and more can make a writers
life easier without being overbearing toward readers.
Yes,
it’s true that a reader doesn’t want to be pummeled with information about your
book. However, it does take at least a week of seeing something before they
might check it out. Most of the time, I will do a week or two of intense
information on a release then back off to a more leisurely pace when letting
folks know about new books.
One
of the items that writers do have at their disposal are the share buttons on
their website or blog. Every author should use them to share their books at
least once a week or whenever they are doing events such as blog hops. It
saddens me when I see writers not using those very simple social media buttons
to share their stories with the world. It saddens me even more when those
buttons aren’t available at their website.
For
those of us who do participate in event blogs, it makes it harder to do our bit
in sharing other writers when those options are available to us. Now that doesn’t
mean we can’t share your work, it means it’s less convenient to do so. In this
day and age, convenience is everything.
I
will go through a whole blog list to share those who are easy to share first
and schedule that informaton. Those with no share options will get done second
as I have to compose the tweet or Facebook share from scratch before I can
schedule it. Once all those items have been shared, I will then go back and
comment on all the posts. Doing this takes a lot of time for me. If it takes a
lot of time for me, it does for other writers and most of us see it as time
spent away from writing.
None
of us want to spend time away from our writing, so many times the things we
should do become a burden and don’t get done at all. Things like sharing
another writers post. Those are things we should be doing for each other
because when one of us wins, we all win because writers have long memories like
an elephant. We won’t forget those who help us along our way.
Most
of us are lifelong readers and will read an author’s work to help them. If we
like it, we’ll come back for more just like any other reader. Most of our
readers will get a first book then the rest of the series because they love it.
I’ll do that as well. Sometimes I will wait until the whole series is out
before I start. Others I’ll just grumble during the months between books.
But
it all comes back to writing is a business. Part of that business is sharing
our work and the work of others. It’s called the rule of reciprocity and it’s
something we all should be practicing especially in the romance markets along
with all it’s subgenres. There’s enough for each of us out there and we need to
remember that as we move along our journey, our quest for a set number of
readers.
Share
for yourself, share for others and share because it’s the right thing to do.
People remember kindness and the way you make them feel.
Until
next week…
Lynn
