Writing « Robin Writes

Do you get those invites? To virtual book events, on Facebook? I’m not a fan, maybe because I have too much else going to spend more time on Facebook “attending” an event. Just don’t like them. If you do, that’s okay, I won’t hold it against you—but I doubt I’ll accept, either. Nothing personal.

Another event I’ve seen cropping up a lot lately, and ‘tis the season, and all that, is multiple invites for the very same event. Now, I usually don’t post an “event” unless I’m the only author attending, or unless I’m attending as a publisher.

First, Facebook lists the poster as the “host.” If I’m going to an event, the venue is usually the host. Like a library or bookstore. Festivals, on the other hand, have multiple items and vendors, like farmers’ markets and toy festivals or horror conventions, etc.

Typically, the venue posts the event, and I’ll share it; sometimes they’ll send me a .pdf flyer and I’ll post that as a photo. All the information is there, without the hassle of creating an event.

The problem comes when EVERYONE involved creates an event and invites EVERYONE to said event. Of course I’m going to that event, my name is listed there! Why should I respond, or how should I respond, to the invite? There’s no “um, yes, I’ll be there, I’m on the program” option.

Second, when I do create an event, I invite people who actually live in the area and/or who may be in town at that time. It’s a little irksome to see, when inviting willy-nilly from a friends’ list, people who live 1000 miles away and who click “going.” I mean, really?? Often, they add “will be there in spirit!” or something like that. Or maybe they click “going” because they’d like to go, or like the event itself. Hard to say.

Imagine that you and a friend are hosting a party. A real-life one. Would you send each other invitations? No. Would you like getting RSVPs from people who obviously aren’t going to be able to come because, say, they live in another country? No again.

So what’s the difference? Nothing that I can see.

This kind of goes along with the “like for like” events and invitation to “like” Facebook pages. I don’t like that either.

Why?

Because those aren’t “real” likes. If someone likes your page because you like his, is it much different than trading book reviews? Nothing unethical about it, really, but it can quickly become tiresome. And when those people who are liking you only for a kickback get tired of seeing your feed or decide to cull their list a bit, off you go, because they have no idea who you are or what you wrote. And they aren’t interested. They’re only interested in numbers.

Let’s say you have a thousand likes on your author page. Great! Has it helped sales? How many of those 1000 people have bought your book? It’s hard to tell, right? But let’s play numbers. Have you sold to 10% of them? That’s 100 books. Maybe some you sold to directly, maybe they bought online somewhere. That’s pretty good. Then again, maybe at an event, you sell two books. Maybe the attendance is 200 at a multi-author event, which comes to 1%. Maybe it’s an individual signing and you sell four books out of the 25 that you brought along. That’s about 20%.

As a side note: often, people will TELL you that they bought the book. But they didn’t. Really.

Sales is just a number—it’s the percentage that counts. But those doing like-for-like want to gain likes and sell their own books. They aren’t interested in selling yours, unless they read it and loved it. In that case, they might actually read your posts and share them. And that is exposure. The liking itself is nothing.

Now, anyone at all can like my pages or follow me on Twitter. Any exposure is good, right? But I have particular rules for following back on Twitter, and on Facebook, I’ll like a page only if it’s interesting to me. Or, well, okay, a close friend or colleague.

Look at your shares—how are those doing? Because that’s where the exposure comes from. Be honest. Like what you like, because you like it. It’s the same thing as going to a conference, planning to sell books, and doing “trades,” where you buy someone’s book because he bought yours. A neverending circle.

I get invites every day to like pages, but I seldom do, simply because I can’t keep up with I’ve got now—particularly those pages whose owners still think that social media is real time and they can check in a post and comment once a week, if that. You know the ones, who comment on a week-old post that everyone else has long forgotten about. And, too, the ones that I’m simply not interested in; why would I care about a “local business” in Timbuktu? My liking them, virtually, will do little to nothing for that business.

So be selective with invites, events, and likes. You’ll cut down clutter on your newsfeed and shave off some time in your social media promotions. Remember, all the marketing you do, particularly online, should be aimed at the ONE reader. Narrow it down and do everything you can to pull in that ONE reader. Like the pages they like, post about the things they like and are interested in—this is what will increase your sales and the effectiveness of your online promotion.

What are good ways to increase interest and membership in a writers’ group?

This week’s question is going to require audience participation—and that means YOU! Keep reading . . .

A writers’ group needs to have several things:

At least four writers who are serious about their writing.
A regular meeting day/time that is convenient for most members, most of the time.
An agenda for each meeting.
Rules.

Let’s start with Number 1—size of the group. Two is not “a group;” with three members, if one is absent, two is still not a group.

Number 2—a regular day and time makes it easier for members to schedule and remember.

Number 3—an agenda of some sort promotes continuity and is a time-saver. If you always start with chit-chat, followed by any announcements or business, then move on to reading and discussion, a late-comer will know exactly how and where to jump in. You won’t have to start all over with the greetings, etc.

And Number 4: Rules. You have to have some sort of timetable or you’ll be sitting there all night. You could have folks email their WIP to everyone a week ahead of time; you could limit the reading time; and whoever is in charge needs to be able to gracefully cut off the critique time or, again, you could be there all night.

Speaking for myself, I don’t like to be read to—never have. You know, when you go to a meeting and someone hands out information, then proceeds to read it to you? I stopped enjoying being read to when I was about six, maybe. I like to read for myself, and absorb it, and then I can better critique the piece.

I also prefer limits to reading time, if reading aloud is included. Two pages, tops. After that, I tend to drift.

Now, that said, back to the question: What are good ways to increase interest and membership in a writers’ group?

When we had our AOTSP writers’ group at the bookstore, we usually had food. And often, wine. Those are both good things to have at a writers’ group, plus coffee. Duh. Of course, it depends on when and where you meet—currently the AOTSP writers’ group meets at a local Starbucks. Food and coffee, right there! Several groups I know of meet on Saturday mornings; wine might not be a good idea. Might not.

Advertising works. Get the word out on social media. Create a Facebook page or group—people can join, get to know others, and writers, being a generally introverted bunch, will be more likely to come to a meeting if they’ve already “met” a few people.

Just like doing an elevator pitch for your book, create one for your writers’ group. “This is what we do, when we meet, would love to have you!” Heck, you could even make up postcards for current members to hand out when they’re in line at the grocery store. Or leave some at the grocery store. Or the library, the bookstore, the coffee shop . . .

Fliers, too, can be helpful, just like the postcards. Same info.

And now, it’s YOUR turn—go ahead, don’t be shy. Brainstorm in the comments and let’s see how many ideas we can generate!