Social networking for writers

The dreaded word- platform.

How important is it, really?  I'm not going into that portion of the argument today.  Maybe another day, but not today.

"For many writers marketing is almost a dirty word--an ugly truth that must be dealt with in order to make money as a writer."  (Novel Writing a Writer's Digest Yearbook publication from sometime over the summer, page 60.)

Several social networking sites exist which can help us build a platform, connect with an audience, and interact with our peers.  And it's not just for non-fiction writers.  The same magazine I quoted above also had a feature on why novelists need platforms.  But there are different ways fiction writers can build a platform.  You build it through critique groups, memberships in professional organizations, interactions in the local literary community, named connections that you could use discreetly to your advantage, and the stuff you write about.

There are many social networking sites to join and utilize in building your platform, be it fiction or non.

Marketing and Branding

Every company has their brand.  They have their logo and their signature.  They have something that is instantly recognizable as theirs.

iPod.  iMac.  iWork.  The list goes on.  Add that little "i" to something and you know exactly who made the product and what technologies it works with.

It should be something similar with our brand that we develop as authors.  With each book we build that brand.  Every interview furthers the idea that is our brand.

I'm still not sure that I'm developing the right kind of brand.  I don't know that my blog is really fitting with my vision that I had when I began.  Scratch that, I know it doesn't.  I didn't have a vision for the blog when I started out.  I never thought the blog would be read by anyone.  I had no reason to think it would.  And yet, here I sit with an audience.

And that audience expects something.  What have they come to expect?  What will our readers come to expect from us?

It's something to think about.

Q4U: What do you think readers think about when they think about your blog?  What do you expect to find when you come to my blog?  How well do you think you're doing at keeping a consistent brand?