Web Strategies For Writers (Part 01)

An Overview And Invitation

 

In preparation for the "Web Strategies For Writers" workshop I'll be leading at the upcoming Southern California Writers Conference in San Diego, I thought I'd write a series of posts sharing roughly the same theme.

Consider this series a "value-add" to the experience of actually being there (one aspect of strategy I'll be presenting, by the way).

It's also an invitation to share your thoughts on web strategy for writers, and any online experiences that others may benefit from. Just share your insights (or questions) in the comments and add to what I hope will be an ongoing conversation (if you have a website, it will be linked to--another tactic I'll talk about at the conference and in this series). If you have a considerable amount of material you'd like to share, shoot me an email, and we'll see about doing an interview, or having you write a guest post to appear in the series.

Below is a tentative, off-the-top-of-my-head summary of concepts, resources, and case studies I'm planning to write about here and present at the conference. If there's something you think is missing, by all means, let me know by posting in the comments. One thing blogging has taught me is that my readers are far brighter than I am, so I'm counting on you to pitch in and help me make this as useful as it can be to you and other writers. 

 

Overview 

BASIC THRUST:

• There's a difference between tactics and strategy.
  
  Starting a blog is a tactic. Sharing excerpts of your work online is a tactic. Joining online communities interested in your genre is a tactic. But committing to writing the best stories you can, to sharing these stories with as many readers as possible, and to developing a long-term relationship with readers who enjoy your work… That's a strategy--a strategy the web is tailor-made to enhance.
• As a writer, your dominant strategy for the web will depend largely on the stage of your career.
  
  Unpublished writers need to emphasize different aspects of online strategy than bestselling authors. Authors with a book about to be released in a couple months need to focus on different tactics to promote that book than authors whose books have already hit the shelves. Etcetera.
• But regardless of what stage you find yourself in your writing career, all writers participate (to varying degrees) in three main processes in the lifecycle of their work: 1) Creation, 2) Sharing / Promotion, 3) Interaction With The Reader.
  
  Each of these cycles can be enhanced with web-based tools.
  

APPLICATION:

Web tools that can help you in the Creation Cycle:

• Research: A) Resources "everyone" already knows about (wikipedia, google, etcetera). B) Research tools some folks might not know about (Visual Thesaurus, del.icio.us, google alerts, google notebook, rss & feed readers, Scribd.com, and so on).
• Word processing / backup: Zoho, google apps
• Critique groups / online workshops: Like this one for Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror
• In progress feedback. Using popular blog creation / content management software, like Word Press, TypePad, Blogger, or Expression Engine, you can post your work-in-progress in a serialized format and receive ongoing feedback from readers who subscribe to your feed and leave comments on your blog. 

Web tools to enhance the Sharing / Promotion Cycle:

• Word of mouse: Digg, Reddit, del.icio.us, trackbacks on your blog, that kind of thing.
• Social Networking: Facebook, MySpace, Ning, among others.
• Producing a podcast / podiobook / podnovel: PodShow, Podiobooks, Variant Frequencies, and many more.
• As of yet untapped / unsaturated digital mediums: cell phone novels, Amazon Kindle, the Apple iPhone (am I missing anything here?)
• Your Media kit.
  

Web tools for interacting with readers:

• Basic principles of web site design. Required information, like an "about" page, contact information, bibliography, etcetera; navigation structure; using CRAP (consistency, repetition, alignment, and proximity) for better visual impact
• Blogging tools: comments, polls, hosted forums, contests, propoganda campaigns
  
• Virtual book tours.
• Email newsletters.
• Twitter.
• Value added content related to published work. Story bibles, "the making of" / rough drafts, podcasts, author interviews (other ideas?)
• Reader contributed content. Fanfic, alternative cover art.

CASE STUDIES:

• Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff. Mark started out as a musician, then a screenwriter, and after producing some of the most successful serialized audiobooks and podcasts on the web, now sits as the Director of Content Development for Podshow and the Editor in Chief of Podshow Press.
• JC Hutchins. One of the most well known pioneers of the podiobook (and someone who comes off as extremely humble and friendly despite his success), "Hutch" is the author of the extremely popular 7th SON TRILOGY podcast. Word has it that Hutchins has leveraged the success of these podnovels to land a five-figure book deal with St. Martins.
• Scott Sigler. Like JC Hutchins, Sigler was one of the early pioneers of the podiobook format. The more than 30,000 "junkies" addicted to his work probably had something to do with the $500K+ book deal he landed with Crown.
• JA Konrath. This author of the very popular Jack Daniels mystery / thriller series has integrated the power of the web with offline promotional tactics better than almost anyone. And his excellent blog, A Newbies Guide To Publishing, is an amazingly rich resource for authors interested in doing likewise.
• Chuck Palahniuk. Author of the novel FIGHT CLUB (the novel which inspired Brad Pitt and Edward Norton to star in the movie of the same name), Chuck allowed a dedicated fan to create a web presence devoted to his work, and watched it grow into one of the best author web sites on the net.
• Barry Eisler. A forward-thinking, web savvy author of the amazing John Rain series (Rain is a single-malt-scotch sipping, jazz-jamming assassin who specializes in making his hits look "natural").
  
• (Anyone else I should be profiling? Volunteers?)
  

QUESTION AND ANSWER:

(to be determined) 

Let's Wrap This Up

For now, that's what I've got. Hopefully you'll share some of your ideas or questions in the comments, and point out interesting topics / people I've missed.

Not all of these topics will receive equal billing in this series. And in all likelihood, the more "advanced" topics will be covered better here on the blog than they will at the conference. Based on a similar talk I witnessed at last year's event, the average conference attendee is less familiar with tools available on the web than readers of this blog. Makes sense. But if there's something in particular you'd like me to emphasize, please let me know. I'd be happy to oblige.

Thanks, and enjoy the posts to follow!