Web Strategies For Writers (Part 06)

Case Study Matt Wallace

In part 06 of this series on web strategy for writers, I'm very pleased to feature Matt Wallace, author of THE FAILED CITY MONOLOGUES.

Matt is a good example of how it's possible to let other people help you with the techy side of promoting and sharing your work in digital mediums (see Variant Frequencies).

And when you read how many hours each week Matt devotes to writing new fiction, you'll grok why I respect this guy so much, and how embracing the web isn't necessarily counterproductive to the actual storytelling core of our art.

 

Hey, Jeremy. Here are my answers to your presentation queries. As for projects I'm involved with, my first short story collection in print will be coming out in a few months time. It's called THE NEXT FIX and it's being released by Apex Publications (apexbookcompany.com). I'll be launching TheNextFix.net in support of it soon. This collection came together as a direct result of the success of my stories on the Variant Frequencies podcast.

Q: What are the three most effective promotional strategies you've used to grow your audience?

MATT WALLACE: 

• Word-of-mouth. This is not only effective, but essential. Buying ad space of any kind is a useless and wasted gesture. Spikes in your numbers come directly from other people talking about your work. Other podcasters, fans, personalities in other forms of media. Encouraging this through networking and fan interaction is the best strategy to growing your base.
• Organizing your existing audience. Podcast listeners love to feel like members of an exclusive club. Make it official. Organize them into a marketing team and give them specific tasks to promote your podcast or podcast fiction.
• Guerilla and viral marketing. Promote both on-line and in three dimensions. Having your "street team" act locally in their own towns and cities rather than just spreading the word on-line can amass a collective awareness of your product in the same way viral marketing campaigns can.

Q: Over the course of an average week, how much time do you devote to the following activities: a) writing new fiction? b) podcasting your work? c) promoting your work? d) reading books? e) listening to podcasts? f) working a day job?, and g) sleeping?

MATT WALLACE: 

A) Between 50-60 hours.

B) Only a few hours. I have a producer that handles the majority of the technical details. A lot more podcasters are doing this, but it's still relatively uncommon.

C) Between 10-12 hours, including interviews, website updates, and coordinating my street team.

D) Lately I usually read an hour a day.

E) Probably between 6 and 8 hours.

F) Zero. Screenwriting has allowed me to write fulltime.

G) This varies. Generally 6-8 hours a night, but if I'm under deadline that number gets cut in half.

Q: In an age of podcasting, better e-book reading devices, and digital mediums yet to be invented, how do you think the business of publishing is likely to change, and how will these changes effect authors who want to make a living writing fiction?

MATT WALLACE: 

The most prevalent change for the author is access to the industry itself. We no longer have to bang our fists on doors or our heads against ceilings. By creating our own audience, demand for our own work, we are bringing the industry to us.

The publishing industry will have to embrace and learn to co-exist with open media. The consumer will continue to buy books. We are much farther away from seeing the end of print than some people think. But open and digital media will come to be integrated into the industry the way websites became integrated into corporate culture.

Q: What are your favorite tools and software for creating a podiobook?

MATT WALLACE: 

GarageBand, Audacity, and Levelator are podcasting software essentials. Software should never drain your podcasting budget; most of these programs are free.

Hardware is a different story. Microphones are as personal and individualistic a choice as a gunslinger's rig. Although I don't feel you should ever spend more than a hundred dollars for a good mic. And if you're just starting out, don't confuse yourself with big, expensive, complicated mixer boards. Keep it simple.

Q: What are the top three resources you recommend for writers interested in promoting their work online and getting started in pod-fiction?

MATT WALLACE: 

1) Podcasting for Dummies by Evo Terra and Tee Morris

2) Tricks of the Podcasting Masters by Mur Lafferty and Rob Walch

3) Podiobooks.com—Listen to as many existing podfic novels as possible. Everything you want to do and everything you don't want to do is there.

Thank you so much Matt!

In part 07, the Overlord of the Podnovel, J.C. Hutchins (and the nicest podcasting author I've ever had the pleasure to converse with) answers not one question, not two questions, but fourteen freakin' questions! to round out our case studies for this series.

Do. Not. Miss.