I have a confession to make: I love Twitter. I love all the cool people I meet on Twitter and I especially love interacting with them.

I love it so much, in fact, that it sometimes cuts into my word count.

But does that make it a timesink?

I say no and I say that because one of the important activities for a writer (in my opinion, of course) is to connect with people. You never know who you’re going to meet online and ultimately your success as a writer is dependent on the books you sell. To sell more books you need people to know about them. To get people to know about them you need something that makes people aware of your work.

What better way than to have people talk about it?

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t follow people on Twitter merely to shill my work. I follow people to make that connection with them. To trade ideas, converse and do all those things that people do when they talk. For example, JAHite and I are having some fun talking about being each other’s alter-egos.

JR Murdock and I connected and we are now collaborating on a book together. It is a story that we came up with together and I know is one that we are both having lots of fun with.

I have met many cool and interesting people who have increased my own understanding of the publishing industry (many have appeared on my podcast “Get Published”) and have pointed me towards information I would never have found otherwise. In fact, I met my publisher via Twitter.

You could say, Social Media has been very good to me. I know I would say that.

How else would I meet such a diverse group as all of you? From every continent on Earth, no less (well, maybe not Antarctica – ping me if I’m wrong). Using conventional methods that wouldn’t be possible. Getting all the different feedback and opinions can’t help but make me a more well-rounded person and improve my writing.

I’ve also discovered a huge body of work from my Social Media friends. Writing and art I may not have had the opportunity to experience otherwise. That can only be a great thing too.

So thank you everyone for being part of my online life. It is because of you that I have dared to reach as far as I have and do what I do.

I’ve put a lot of time into my writing, podcasting and networking. But what will I do when I actually get that elusive publishing contract? I have some ideas, but nothing concrete.

For example, I know I want to do signings, interviews (written, video and audio). I want to do readings at the local libraries, online, at schools and practically anywhere else I can think of.

What I don’t have a plan for or really understand is how these various activities will benefit the sales of my book(s) and that is where I think the plan falls way short. Without some sort of idea what will and will not work, how do I know where to put my energy?

For example, if I go to do a reading at the local library I might be able to get a couple sales to the library directly. But will I also be able to sell my books there? I don’t know. More investigation required.

And how about doing book store signings? I’ve seen too many authors sitting at a table looking bored to want to do that myself. How can I jazz up my own presentation? What will the bookstore actually allow? How much involvement can I ask for and expect from the book store and its employees? These are questions I need the answers to before I ever set foot into the store.

So far I’ve limited myself to local events. What about the online arena? We all know that the Internet gives us access to millions of perspective buyers. The question we must all ask ourselves is how do we get their attention? How do we make our work stand out and interest people enough that they want to buy what we’re selling? This is the holy grail we’re talking about now and I’ve heard of several different ways to handle the interaction. I’ve just never heard how best to involve and influence the Internet public.

To say I have to do more investigation here is a BIG understatement. I think what’s called for is some innovation too and that is what scares me the most. Innovation always means lots of hard work (and more than a little cleverness). I’m not afraid of work. I’m afraid I don’t have the right stuff to get it happening in the direction I want it to go.

I’d be very interested in what you have to say about this. How can I best connect with a potential audience? Please feel free to weigh in on this.

Personal Update

It has been a busy week. Just put out a new episode of ‘GalaxyBillies’ and I got another rejection on my fantasy novel. The rejection was an interesting one. The person who sent me the rejection letter gave me a few comments about where the story can be improved and then she said something that really struck a chord. She said (and I’m paraphrasing a little here) “What made this rejection so difficult is you can really write. I enjoyed reading your writing a great deal.”

WOW! You can probably imagine the smile that I had plastered to my face for the rest of the day.

I thanked her for her kind words and immediately sent my middle grade novel to her. We’ll see if that one is more to her liking.

On another note, this blog was nominated for an “Author Blog Award”. I don’t know much about this award other than the more nominations I get, the better. If you feel so inclined, please go to: http://bit.ly/90EVk1 and nominate the blog (www.irreverentmuse.com).  I understand that anyone who participates is entered into a draw too, so there’s some additional motivation for you (beyond your simple love for this blog, that is).