The Rules of Social Networking

All right, I don't know why this white boxy thing is happening. I'm sorry guys :( Moving on to the awesome post....

Kela McClelland is the guest blogger today, and needless to say, we call her the queen of social media over at AQC (and also the queen of critiques). She LOVES social media (as you can see below).

From the growing need for writers to take part in their own networking, leaning how to use social media websites is a MUST. So why not learn it from an expert? :)

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Thanks, SC, for the opportunity to take over your blog for a day. :D

This is my first guest post, which is slightly ironic considering I’m about to talk to y’all about social media. :p  I’m Kela McClelland, a paranormal romance writer and a mom of two. I blog over at Teardrops On My Book, I’m on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Pinterest, and Google+.

Anyway, on with the post...

As writers we need as many people as possible to know us, that’s how we get the sales, right? So, the best way (In my opinion, and from things I've witnessed) is to use social media outlets.

Twitter:

Don’t, use your Twitter (or any other site) just to push your books, PLEASE don’t. I hate when my Twitter feed is full of: Hey, buy my book! So don’t do that. You can tweet about your work sometimes, sure…Just don’t make it a constant occurrence. Twitter is great for keeping up with agents/publishers, friends, other writers, and things that you like. Tweet about what you’re doing, how your writing is going, and shout out other folks. It’ll do so much more for you than if you were constantly telling people to buy your book.

Facebook:

Fan pages or even regular author/writer pages are good for keeping people updated with your writerly things too. But like Twitter, don’t use it for promotion only, please.

Blogging:

YES! I love blogging. I’ve met SO MANY AWESOME people. I’ve found great writers, blogs that hand out great advice for writers who are/aren’t published, GREAT books, and awesome people who follow my blog too. What does that mean? I’m building something for myself that will come in handy when I publish. I have followers who come to my blog and read what I have to say. They’re awesome people who actually care about what I’m saying. So, they’ll be awesome people who will (hopefully) buy my book w/o me having to constantly push it.

Goodreads:

This is a great site to connect with READERS, which is a big part of an author’s fanbase, right? Of course. It also helps you find great books to read and keep up with books to read/or those you’ve already read.

Pinterest:

I’m new to Pinterest, but I’ve discovered many people pin great books. So, that’s another way to get out there in the social networking world. Plus, you can find great ‘pins’ in general.

One more that I’m new to, and don’t use much yet, is Google+. It’s also another good place to interact with both writers and readers, and people in general.

(Agent Query Connect is great for learning and mingling with other writers, btw.)

Get out there. Join some sites, meet people and let them know who you are. Without being known, people won’t know to look for your book. They may stumble upon it, yes, but you want people to KNOW it’s there. You want them to look for it and spread the word. So, jump into the social media scene and make yourself known. Find some AWESOME people and be AWESOME right back.

Happy Social Networking. :)

What social networking sites do YOU love the most? Which ones do you use? Feel free to post links in the comments below :)

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Kela McClelland blogs at Teardrops On My Book, is on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Pinterest, and Google+. She is a paranormal romance writer, and an AWESOME writer at that (I've seen her work). Her blog is FILLED with amazing writerly advice and interviews with other writers. Make sure you do check it out :) You will NOT regret it.