Fantasy, Magic, and Sci-fi → Advice for now and later
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I've found this advice from one of my conferences quite helpful:
Join Twitter and reserve your pen name. Don't use it to follow anyone or as a time waster. Go to #mswl (manuscript wish list). Follow publishers and assemble a list of potential receptive submission options. When your book is done, then use this list, read up the websites and find out about current projects. Then submit to one publisher at a time.
Join any form of media. Pick one and do it really well. Facebook is a perfect media. We're writers. We have original material. Nobody on Facebook does anything but share.
I just joined Tumlr. It is like Facebook so I'm testing out new angles of what is appropriate to post. I want original material that isn't replicated on Facebook.not many views there, but I'm still learning.
There is a great writers podcast that I was able to attend today, it's called Writing Excuses. The four main members are Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Taylor. Every podcast is a mini writing panel with advice for authors. These are some amazing pointers and ideas and they pretty much sum up the conference I attended this weekend. Look it up in the iTunes store, it's free and wonderful. As I go through my notes I will add some of the best advice I received. One of the best sessions I attended this weekend was by John D. Brown, to sum up, he said that as writers, you don’t have to explain every little detail, people will visualize what they want to. You can’t show the reader anything, it is impossible. We tell them things and we engage their own imaginations to show them those things. We give the reader the triggers and let them fill in the blanks. I was blown away by the authors, editors, publishers, artists, screenwriters, puppeteers, and cosplayers that were willing to share their ideas and hard earned knowledge with us. I will definitely be attending LtUE again next year!
Great advice here. I've tried various social media networks. My favorite is Facebook; it's the place where I feel I can engage with people the most. Twitter seems good for getting the word out, and for finding useful tips on writing and publishing, but not so much for actually interacting. Twitter does host some fun pitch contests, PittMad and SFFPit are two that I've participated in. These can get you connected to agents, authors, and other writers as well.
My blog is hosted on wordpress, which is nicely set up for making new connections across the board.
Anyone have any advice on a good program for setting up a website?
Anyone have any advice on a good program for setting up a website?
Not an expert on this, but I've found wordpress very user friendly, and there are a variety of templates to choose from, so you're pretty likely to find one that suits your needs.
If you're looking to build a site from scratch, I wouldn't know what to recommend. I'm a template person myself; couldn't manage a web site without them.
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Fantasy, Magic, and Sci-fi → Advice for now and later
