AUTHOR'S CORNER:

MANY A MICKLE MAKES A MUCKLE!

 

Somewhere within the psyche of a writer, there lingers the overwhelming perception that life is not unfolding in the way they would have envisaged that it would!  There was a time when the word 'Writer' would send shivers of excitement down the spines of many, and make even royalty sit up in amusement!  Gone are the days of Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Lady Agatha Christie, THEY WERE LUCKY, TELEVISION WAS NOT INVENTED YET!







It seems somewhat pointless to the modern day, disheartened writer, and very time consuming, to say the least!  All the time and effort one has to put in nowadays into endless blogging to God knows who, and twittering away like some demented bird stuck on a frozen tree branch!  The facebooking, and who may I ask are we facebooking?  Worse, what the hell is facebook, and who is interested anyway?  And why the need to appease and prove ourselves to a bunch of strangers?  Surely it isn't even enough, facebooking and twittering and blogging and tumbling your time away, it's not as if people will immediately buy your book, right?  After all, I personally am a 'To be or not to be' kind of writer, I am not the blogging type!  I can't really twitter because I am not a bird, and as for facebooking, I don't really like showing my face to others!

AND EVEN IF I WAS UP FOR IT; WHICH WAY DO I TURN, HOW DO I START AND WHO ON EARTH IS GOING TO NOTICE ME?








I think I'd rather go have a hot bath and an early night!

let's not be disheartened, it may seem like very little for very much time; but a little amount many times over amounts to a large amount in the end!  

Never underestimate the power of the media, the web and most importantly, the power of social interaction!  We live in a 'Big Brother' world.  People like to have a window into your life and like to feel that they can interact with you at the click of a button!  So much is this voyeur attitude that unless you are out there getting your face known, the chances are, no one will bother to venture into the bookshop to buy your book!  IF THEY AIN'T SEEN YOU, THEY WON'T READ YOU!

WHAT DOES ONE DO?  HOW DOES ONE GET THEIR FACE OUT THERE AND TURN INTO CELEBRITY?  AND MOST IMPORTANTLY WILL I EVER MAKE A NAME FOR MYSELF?

WELL, ONE GETS PUBLICITY, THE MORE ONE IS KNOWN THE MORE CELEBRITY LIKE ONE WILL BE.  AND YES, WITH PERSISTENCE YOU WILL MAKE A NAME FOR YOURSELF!

Hence as the saying goes, 'Many a mickle makes a muckle' means that small things add to a big thing!  

TIPS ON OBTAINING THOSE PESKY MICKLES......

1.  Obviously, write and publish your book!

2.  Ascertain who will read your book and target your market.

3.  Duh, um GET FACEBOOK!

4.  Proceed to Twitter, Blogs, Tumblr and Google+ and any other cyber fad you think might help your work!

5.  Create an audience, they won't just come, you have to attract their attention; be nice, be witty be wonderful!

6.   Use word of mouth; you've got friends and family, right?  Get them to tell their friends and relatives about you, and get them to get them to tell their friends and families!

7.   Approach bookshops, try to get a book signing or at least your book on the shelf.  

8.   Advertise about where your book is stocked on the net!

9.   Try to approach local newspapers, see if they can give you a mention.

10.  Advertise where you maybe mentioned in the local paper on the net!

11.  Join forums and discussions and take part, that is another way to get your name out there.

12.  Give the public what they want!  And what they want is to be interested by you, they want to click on their social site and be able to look forward to a post or blog or words or joke from you!

13.  If you are lucky enough to get book reviews, copy and paste to show on your blog, or direct people to them!

14.  Flood the cyber market, be a presence, make videos, blogs, adverts, photos, whatever it takes, just make sure you make a name for yourself! 

15.  You should get yourself so well known, and so looked forward to, that as soon as you advertise an upcoming book your audience would be eager to buy it!  

16.   Always reinvent yourself, in today's fast moving age, staleness is not allowed!