Posts like this give me more confidence. It's that non-Substack side of being visible and present I hate, and I love making connections here, hopefully which will lead to possibilities down the line. In fact, I just got a DM from someone who's interested in pooling resources and collaborating, so there you go 🤗
As someone who’s been working her way up the writing cliff for over 30 years, and is grateful for smatters of recognition along the way, this was a reassuring piece to read.
These are all wonderful reminders. Thank you. My book will be released Sept. 21 and I am actively talking about collaborations now. Happy to have conversations with other authors about stuff they've found valuable. But your list here is the perfect jumping off point.
This gives me hope. A few years ago I took a course on writing a book proposal, and the info about needing a huge following actually turned me off to the idea of going through with the proposal. Suddenly I felt like I needed more time to grow on IG. But to hell with it -- I'm writing it anyway! Life isn't waiting for me, but my book idea is. Your post was a little nudge for me, so thank you 🙏
Thank you for your very informative take on having a social media following. After being in education and curriculum writing for many years, I had between 20 and 30,000 followers on my social media. Unfortunately, with the algorithm and the pay to play logistics only a small handful of people even see your posts. I much prefer building relationships. and know that the people that I connect with are genuinely interested in what I’m writing about. I am writing my first book on the love I had for my firefighter husband and the loss that followed from occupational cancer. It is a love story, a personal look into the life of a first responder, and a call to action to protect the very people that protect us.
Great question. I haven't worked much with poetry personally, but I would imagine the best networking practices would be a mix of what I recommended for narrative nonfiction authors and fiction authors.
I want to offer some hope here. I signed my debut memoir, unagented with Simon & Schuster when I had 50 followers on Instagram. The path was a single article in Maclean's, which led to the book deal. It was deliberate. My debut is out May 26th, and I'm proof the back door exists. You don't have to build the audience first.
Networking can be a tough thing for the off-the-scale introverts. #askmehowIknow And yet, this advice is SPOT ON! Reaching out to runners and mental health advocates (for my first memoir), the writing teachers (for my second book - a writing journal), meditation teachers and meditators (for my memoir-ish third and fourth books), and grief counselors, golfers, and therapists (for my fifth memoir) have been huge sales boosts. For some introverts, social media can look and feel easier. We can hide behind the keyboard. But it definitely isn't the only game in town.
The tension is real—I’m 45k words into a thriller with a real path through the middle to THE END. Started a Substack a couple months ago to see if my style actually resonates. Good news is that it does — the publication is off and running — but the short term dopamine hit of content creation and an active reader community is a trap that distracts from the (thankless, glorious) slog of the manuscript. My protagonist is getting antsy…
Read this whole thing and was vigorously nodding my head the whole way thru. This is what authors need to be doing.
Posts like this give me more confidence. It's that non-Substack side of being visible and present I hate, and I love making connections here, hopefully which will lead to possibilities down the line. In fact, I just got a DM from someone who's interested in pooling resources and collaborating, so there you go 🤗
Whoohoo! That's awesome
As someone who’s been working her way up the writing cliff for over 30 years, and is grateful for smatters of recognition along the way, this was a reassuring piece to read.
Thanks for this piece. It’s reassuring…
That's right. Networking is so important, AND you get to meet lots of new and interesting people.
This industry is full of interesting people! It really is a win-win.
These are all wonderful reminders. Thank you. My book will be released Sept. 21 and I am actively talking about collaborations now. Happy to have conversations with other authors about stuff they've found valuable. But your list here is the perfect jumping off point.
This gives me hope. A few years ago I took a course on writing a book proposal, and the info about needing a huge following actually turned me off to the idea of going through with the proposal. Suddenly I felt like I needed more time to grow on IG. But to hell with it -- I'm writing it anyway! Life isn't waiting for me, but my book idea is. Your post was a little nudge for me, so thank you 🙏
Thank you for your very informative take on having a social media following. After being in education and curriculum writing for many years, I had between 20 and 30,000 followers on my social media. Unfortunately, with the algorithm and the pay to play logistics only a small handful of people even see your posts. I much prefer building relationships. and know that the people that I connect with are genuinely interested in what I’m writing about. I am writing my first book on the love I had for my firefighter husband and the loss that followed from occupational cancer. It is a love story, a personal look into the life of a first responder, and a call to action to protect the very people that protect us.
What about poetry?
Great question. I haven't worked much with poetry personally, but I would imagine the best networking practices would be a mix of what I recommended for narrative nonfiction authors and fiction authors.
I want to offer some hope here. I signed my debut memoir, unagented with Simon & Schuster when I had 50 followers on Instagram. The path was a single article in Maclean's, which led to the book deal. It was deliberate. My debut is out May 26th, and I'm proof the back door exists. You don't have to build the audience first.
Networking can be a tough thing for the off-the-scale introverts. #askmehowIknow And yet, this advice is SPOT ON! Reaching out to runners and mental health advocates (for my first memoir), the writing teachers (for my second book - a writing journal), meditation teachers and meditators (for my memoir-ish third and fourth books), and grief counselors, golfers, and therapists (for my fifth memoir) have been huge sales boosts. For some introverts, social media can look and feel easier. We can hide behind the keyboard. But it definitely isn't the only game in town.
The tension is real—I’m 45k words into a thriller with a real path through the middle to THE END. Started a Substack a couple months ago to see if my style actually resonates. Good news is that it does — the publication is off and running — but the short term dopamine hit of content creation and an active reader community is a trap that distracts from the (thankless, glorious) slog of the manuscript. My protagonist is getting antsy…
Very cool. Thank you for the advice. This is really helpful :)
Thank you to this article, it offered several good tips to try. I'm going to dive deep about literary magazines!
I’m an agented author who just self-published my debut, and I appreciate this so much
Saving this for author clients who ask how to network without a big social media presence.