Glenda Larke on Authors and Social Media

Welcome to the 12th interview in the Authors and Social Media series; where I interview some of Australia’s most acclaimed speculative fiction authors and some rising stars.

This week we have Glenda Larke (who has also written as Glenda Noramly), who seems to me to be somewhat of a quiet achiever, having amassed 3 trilogies to her name.  

I thank Glenda for taking time out of her busy schedule to answer some questions on Authors and Social Media.

Sean:

How important do you view social media to selling your books or interacting with fans?

Glenda:

From my personal point of view, very important. Living in a place where I don't have much real-time contact  with other writers and none at all with fans, I find social media has been huge for me. But when it comes to attracting large numbers of fans or readers? -- Not so much.

 
I have a Twitter account (love twitter!) and 2 Facebook accounts (personal and group). I love the immediacy of both. I've had a blog for over 5 years and a website for ten or more, and yet the numbers have not been growing. I get a little less than 2,000 hits a month on the website and about 50-60 a day on the blog. So I suppose I'd have to say I love the intimacy of the contacts I have, I adore the feedback, I love the way it keeps me in contact with what's happening in the writing/publishing/genre world but I doubt I sell huge numbers of books as a result.

Sean:

Do you or would you want to receive any guidance from your publisher/agent on interacting via social media, both in a technical sense or in a 'professional presentation' sense?

Glenda:

The only advice I had from a publisher was "use the internet". My agent is actually much less savvy than I am!!I am blessed with a wonderful webmaster. I don't know what I would do without him, I really don't. Because he's there, I already have the help if I need it.

Sean:

There have been some recent examples of inexperienced authors reacting badly on the Internet in response to blog reviews etc., what are your thoughts on being social media savvy? What advice would you give to new authors?

Glenda:

I'm puzzled by the naivety of people who grew up with social media. I didn't (when I was born there was no such thing as a plastic bag, let alone social media!) Any social setting requires learning the manners and mores, preferably before entering the situation. So my advice would be take a look around first before you plunge in...and of course, the glory of the internet is that you can do just that.

 
Every parent should teach every kid that what they put up on the internet is probably going to be accessible there forever, and teach them that taking a moment before pressing the send button is a good rule to have.

Sean:

In my experience Social media breaks down normal communication conventions.  People can be more familiar and 'take liberties'.  Have you experienced problems where this ease of communication has lead to followers/fans 'crossing the line' or has your experience been entirely positive?

Glenda:

I've had almost no problems in the sense that you mean. I think I've more trouble with being misunderstood, especially in chat rooms where people type quickly. In fact, I've stopped using chat rooms as a result. Face to face, it's easy to take cues from tone, facial expression, etc.  With the internet there is so much more room for misunderstanding.

 

I have had people misinterpret what I've written, sometimes because I said it badly, sometimes because they understood it badly. (I have to say that I do hate the anonymity of the internet -- I loathe comments that hide behind "anonymous". If you have something to say, then please attach a name to it, even if it has to be a pseudonym -- one that you stick to.)

Sean:

How vital is social media to the genre in which you write and how do you think social media will affect the way you write and interact in the future?

Glenda:

It's already a major force in marketing. I wonder, though, if we are all going to sink under the information. Already people are having trouble winnowing the gems from the chaff for eBooks because there are so many self-published things out there, a lot of them terrible or just scams, and they are all being marketed via the web. People are proud of following and being followed by X number of people on Twitter - yet how many tweets can you read in day and still have a life?

I'm not very good at predicting the future. At the moment I love the recommendations and the contacts and the information -- and yet the proportion that actually has an impact is small. For example, in a week I may have 50+ recommendations of fantasy books in the tweets I read. But I can barely buy or read 25 books in six months, let alone in a week!

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Glenda was born in Western Australia, the daughter of a farmer. She was educated at government state schools and the University of Western Australia, where she obtained a degree in history and a diploma in education. Married to a Malaysian scientist, she has grown-up children, and now lives in Malaysia, where she is actively involved in rainforest conservation.

Check out her blog here (the photo’s from Cambodia especially).

You should be able to find Glenda in most good bookstores.  Her most recent book is Stormlord’s Exile the last in the Watergiver’s Triliogy.

You can listen to an interview with Glenda conducted by the Galactic Chat crew below:

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Peruse Booktopia’s selection of Glenda’s books.

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Patty Jansen on Authors and Social Media

Welcome to the 11th interview in the Authors and Social Media series; where I interview some of Australia’s most acclaimed speculative fiction authors and some rising stars.

This week we have Patty Jansen, who funnily enough, I discovered through social media.  Regular readers might remember the review of her novellete, His Name in Lights,  I posted in April.

Sean:

How important do you view social media to selling your books or interacting with fans?

Patty:

I don’t know about selling books, but social media is vital for interacting with people, because it expands your reach. Not only does it allow you to talk to a potentially larger interest group (note that I avoid the word ‘audience’ because it’s not a one-way interaction), but there are pearls of wisdom you can learn, and submission opportunities you would never have found out about otherwise. Your ‘friends’ will be readers, other writers, editors or book buyers, or—very often—a couple of these functions rolled into one person. The important part of the term social networking is the word networking, and we all know this is vital if you want to get the good gigs in many professions, so why not writing? It’s not so much a question of who you know, but how those people know you.

Since the question was about selling: Readers feel good if their favourite author is open to interacting with. How cool is it to receive an email from Facebook saying ‘C.J. Cherryh has accepted your friend request’. Translate that fangirl moment into the feelings your readers will have. People like to be made to feel special, even if only for a few seconds. Interact with these people in a nice way. They have lots of real life friends, and they will say ‘this author Sean is such a nice guy, and he writes damn good books, too. You have to buy them.’ And in the long term, people will. But, you don’t go into social networking to sell books. You go into it to connect with your friends and your audience all mashed into one great interwoven network.

 

Sean:

Do you or would you want to receive any guidance from your publisher/agent on interacting via social media, both in a technical sense or in a 'professional presentation' sense?

Patty:

I am unlikely to be impressed if a publisher dictates what I can and cannot do online. That said, if a publisher encounters a writer who is new to social media, I think it would be nice of them to give the writer tips and warnings about things most of the rest of us have learned the hard way, by making the mistakes and having them fly back into our faces. So: publishers and social networking: tips on using FB, Twitter, etc.—fine, rigid rules—no.

 

Sean:

There have been some recent examples of inexperienced authors reacting badly on the Internet in response to blog reviews etc., what are your thoughts on being social media savvy? What advice would you give to new authors?

Patty:

Just one piece of advice: don’t be a dickhead. If you’re unsure what constitutes a dickhead, sit back and watch at any time some sort of conflict blows up. Analyse what happens. Some people get abusive (and everyone defriends them). Some people make hyper-long responses (which no one reads). Some people try to play mother hen and try keep an increasing divide together. Do you really want to be involved and risk being dragged to either side of an argument, quoted as proof for the reincarnation of the Evil Overlord, and re-tweeted six thousand times?

Consider for yourself how you want the world to perceive you. If you’re fine with being seen as an opinionated right/left/sexist/ulta-feminist/commie/religious/and-so-on-and-so-forth pedant, if those opinions are what you stand for, then fine, go ahead. Opinion writers and social commentators make a living out of doing just this. But this also means that you will receive a lot of wind from the opposite direction. Sometimes, the wind will be smelly. It may be beneficial to your fiction sales. Then again, it may not. It will certainly distract you from writing.

So I guess my point of advice would be: before you wade into the fray, consider how you want the world to perceive you, and act accordingly. I know it sounds horrible, but you are the product, and you have to craft an image. Hint: images that are close to your real personality work best.

Something I do when I feel compelled to say something in a discussion that is clearly going to blow up, is to state my opinion once and don’t visit that discussion site again. It is often in replies and replies to replies that the damage is done. And a discussion where everyone finds continual re-wordings for the same argument wastes everyone’s time. If people get angry, no one listens.

 

Sean:

In my experience Social media breaks down normal communication conventions.  People can be more familiar and 'take liberties'.  Have you experienced problems where this ease of communication has lead to followers/fans 'crossing the line' or has your experience been entirely positive?

Patty:

 

I think it is important that you realise that the one who sets ‘the line’ is you. ‘The line’ is how you differentiate your personal and professional (writing) networks. I use my Facebook account solely for writing. If people from real life want to friend me, I warn them, and then leave it up to them. The same with Twitter and my blog. My private communication is all conducted through completely separate channels. Except my brother who follows me on Twitter because he reads SFF and probably reads this (hi, bro!*)

In the writersphere: I am very informal and am not easily shocked. It’s probably safe to say that I keep my ‘line’ very close around me, but that doesn’t mean I’ll discuss any subject in the open, or answer any question. If the subject is controversial, candid or not-yet widely known, I take the discussion to email or private messages. That said, I don’t mention people’s names online unless they’re in their professional capacity. For example, I will mention the names of writers I meet when I’m talking to them as writers, but my family always go under the names husband, daughter #1, daughter #2 and son.

In the time I’ve used social networking, I’ve had some ‘interesting’ interactions, but none that gave me pause about my use of the internet. It’s positive. Full stop.

 

Sean:

How vital is social media to the genre in which you write and how do you think social media will effect affect the way you write and interact in the future?

Patty:

I have never written without social media. I’ve been on the internet since 1994, when I wrote non-fiction. I couldn’t imagine being without it. I think it’s vital regardless of genre. Genre-specific? I don’t know. If I’d been a crime writer, I still would have been writing in isolation had it not been for the internet. There are big geographical distances between writers full stop, never mind the genre. Social networking allows us to connect.

 

*My brother and I have this game of sending each other weird greeting messages. He sent me a ‘hi’ through the google search terms that come up on my blog’s stats.

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Patty Jansen is a writer of primarily hard Science Fiction, Space Opera and Dark Fantasy. She is a winner in the Writers of the Future contest, and her story This Peaceful State of War has been published in their 27^thanthology.

Patty has also published stories in the Universe Annex of the Grantville Gazette and Redstone SF, and local anthologies and magazines, such as Dead Red Heart, Tales for Canterbury, and Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine.

Patty blogs at Must Use Bigger Elephants, about science, writing and about why elephants aren’t big enough. You can also sample some of Patty’s fiction at Smashwords or Amazon.

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Colin Taber on Authors and Social Media

Welcome to the tenth interview in the Authors and Social Media series; where I interview some of Australia’s most acclaimed speculative fiction authors and some rising stars.

Colin Taber, author of The Fall of Ossard  will be answering 5 questions on Authors and Social Media.

 

Sean:

How important do you view social media to selling your books or interacting with fans?

Colin:

Simply, it’s vital.

While there are other ways and venues for interacting with fans (such as old fashioned snail mail and face to face meets at signings and the like), social media makes interactions not only more immediate, but more likely. That’s a bonus for both parties.

Social media also gives me exposure to thousands of potential readers everyday. Unlike most writers, over half my readership has found me through the medium, whether from their friends’ recommends, shared posts, or carefully targeted advertising. Social media has given me thousands of readers scattered around the world. I love it.

Sean:

Do you or would you want to receive any guidance from your publisher/agent on interacting via social media, both in a technical sense or in a 'professional presentation' sense.

Colin:

I’ve received little guidance other than cautioning about what I might say. Of course, that leaves huge scope for me to put my foot in it. I try to be careful. Sometimes I post something and then remove it, more because I’m fishing for a reaction. I rarely swear on social media. I never post anything that I’m not prepared to wear, regardless of whether I’m planning on posting and deleting it later.

 

Sean:

There have been some recent examples of inexperienced authors reacting badly on the Internet in response to blog reviews etc., what are your thoughts on being social media savvy? What advice would you give to new authors?

Colin:

I imagine it’s something that has always happened, but now such incidents have the capacity to go viral with social media. Authors just need to put on their work face and be professional. In regards to people posting their own opinions about your work, whether as comments or reviews; you win some and you lose some. You can’t control what other people think, so ignore it.

If you post something, even if you plan on deleting it, you have to accept that it’s going to be ‘kept’ somewhere in the digital ether. Aside from always thinking twice about posting, also think about the nature of what you’re going to say. If you’re posting reviews of books and wanting to be a bit out there, you’ll need to consider that one day you might very well be sitting in a con’s green room with an author you had a go at years before on your blog or that a potential publisher might be turned off by your vitriol. What you post cuts both ways.

Sean:

In my experience Social media breaks down normal communication conventions. People can be more familiar and 'take liberties'.  Have you experienced problems where this ease of communication has lead to followers/fans 'crossing the line' or has your experience been entirely positive?

Colin:

Mostly my experience has been great. I love getting messages, feedback and ‘likes’ from readers. Such interactions help soften what is ultimately one of the loneliest trades. Having said that, I have had to modify some of my online availability because otherwise I’d never get anything done. There is scope for people crossing the line. I’ve seen it happen elsewhere, but so far it hasn’t happened to me, not in a big way.

I also get a lot of emails and messages (via Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads) asking how I’ve managed to do what I’ve done in regards to online marketing. Those always take me by surprise. I try and deal with some of that sort of stuff in my blog (or, more so, will soon be). The second most common email or message I get asks when the next book is coming out; thankfully, with Ossard’s Hope now released, that issue is behind me – until my readers finish reading.

 

Sean:

How vital is social media to the genre in which you write and how do you think social media will effect the way you write and interact in the future?

Colin:

These days social media is a huge part of how people communicate and find out about new books and share ideas. Everyday it brings new readers into my genre, educates people already reading within it about new titles and authors, and adds to the growing breadth and depth of that community. To say it doesn’t impact me would be to put my head in the sand. For now (until something better comes along) it’s a very real force.

Likewise, to say that the contacts that social media enables doesn’t impact my writing would again be to delude myself. While my storylines are pretty much set when I start out on a project there’s always opportunity for some elements to be shaped by external input. If I wasn’t influenced by reader feedback I wouldn’t be human.

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Colin’s first book The Fall of Ossard, complete with Shaun Tan cover art has been out for some time.  He’s just recently released it’s sequel, Ossard’s hope.

 

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Margo Lanagan on Authors and Social Media

Welcome to the ninth interview in the Authors and Social Media series; where I interview some of Australia’s most acclaimed speculative fiction authors. 

Today’s interviewee really shouldn’t need an introduction - Margo Lanagan will be answering 5 questions on Authors and Social Media.

Sean:

How important do you view social media to selling your books or interacting with fans?

Margo: 

Very important for interacting with fans and the curious; less important for generating sales. Extremely important for interacting with colleagues.

 

Sean:

Do you or would you want to receive any guidance from your publisher/agent on interacting via social media, both in a technical sense or in a 'professional presentation' sense?

Margo: 

I don't receive any such guidance, and I wouldn't want to, really; I feel it's up to me to create the impression I want to present. I don't use social media in 'professional presentation' mode. My online persona sits somewhere between professional writer and complete goose, and I enjoy best other writers' use of social media that does more than just alert you to their new books, workshops and upcoming appearances. I like a chat, and every now and then I want some meme like #lessambitiousbooks and #crapfantasyswords to reduce me to tears of laughter.

Sean:

There have been some recent examples of inexperienced authors reacting badly on the Internet in response to blog reviews e.t.c., what are your thoughts on being social media savvy? What advice would you give to new authors?

Margo: 

Remember you're out. It's a public forum and a permanent one (although Twitter FEELS very fluid and inconsequential). Think about how much embarrassment you can stand. I don't think social media rules are all that different from general social rules. Or general writerly rules (e.g. don't answer reviews - but opinion pieces are fair game, and personal slights are there to be pointed and laughed at :) ). Also, remember that there is a Delete button on Twitter, for when you mistype something, or decide, 'No, that was just a bit hotheaded.' And, sometimes it's just healthier to walk away from all forms of social media for a while. As with all non-writing activities, you need to be able to recognise when you're doing it for purposes of avoidance.

Sean:

In my experience Social media breaks down normal communication conventions. People can be more familiar and 'take liberties'. Have you experienced problems where this ease of communication has lead to followers/fans 'crossing the line' or has your experience been entirely positive?

Margo: 

No, no one's crossed the line. The odd rude comment has turned up on the blog, the odd bit of spam on Twitter, but that's about the extent of it. Balanced against the amount of fun I've had, and the people I've e-met, and the knowledge I've gleaned, that's nothing.

Sean:

How vital is social media to the genre in which you write and how do you think social media will affect the way you write and interact in the future?

Margo: 

Social media are pretty much the oil that keeps the big machines of speculative fiction working. I mean, of course people organised conventions and awards nights and magazines and book publication before Twitter and FB came along, but all that is so much easier now. Not to mention just general networking and gasbagging. The online community for spec fiction is extremely lively. I've been blogging for 6 years, tweeting for 2 and on FB for about a month. I wouldn't say it's changed the way I write my fiction, but it's certainly meant that I'm a much more social person than I was in the 90s—I had small children then, and I think I would have been a lot less lonely if I could have vented a bit of 3am misery on Twitter! (You yoong people, so lucky.) I have no idea how social media will affect the way I interact in the future; at this stage, I just hope it sticks around in some form or another.

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Margo has a series of great books out.  She’s a prolific short story writer and produces distinctive, offbeat work that weaves easily between fantasy, myth and the everyday.  I never know what to expect when I read a Lanagan short story, other than she will suck me in, surprise me, and leave me with a pleasant uneasiness.

Her latest short story collection is Yellowcake, but she has several, each being an absolute gem.  You can find her other collections  here .

 

 

 

 

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Kirstyn McDermott on Authors and Social Media

Welcome to the eighth interview in the Authors and Social Media series; where I interview some of Australia’s most acclaimed speculative fiction authors.  Today we have Kirstyn McDermott answering 5 questions on Authors and Social Media.

Sean:

1. How important do you view social media to selling your books or interacting with fans?

Kirstyn:

Social media is playing an increasingly important role in word-of-mouth book sales and general publicity and it’s not something that authors and publishers can afford to overlook. That said, I don’t think it’s vital for each and every author to become a social media ninja, especially if it’s not an arena they feel comfortable playing in. (Bad social media skills can be worse than having no social media presence at all.) The exciting thing about the way social media works is that you don’t have to be on Twitter or Facebook or even blog regularly – you simply have to come to the attention of those who do. And I do think that good work will eventually get the right sort of attention even if the author isn’t out there every day aggressively promoting themselves online. Because quality still counts.

When it comes to interacting with fans, social media is awesome for direct, immediate and easy contact. That comes with its own problems relating to personal space and time management, of course, but for me these are definitely outweighed by the advantages.

 

Sean:

2. Do you or would you want to receive any guidance from your publisher/agent on interacting via social media, both in a technical sense or in a 'professional presentation' sense?

Kirstyn:

I haven’t received any guidance from my publisher – although my agent has despairingly warned me about the timesucking perils of Facebook – and I’m not sure it’s the sort of advice I’d want. I’m careful in the way I use social media, from a personal perspective, but also very casual about it. Official “guidelines” wouldn’t really sit well with me but then I have made my own unofficial ones which I try to follow. I know some authors who have harnessed social media in a big way and have really take advantage of the promotional capabilities of various platforms. I don’t really have the time to do that and I also don’t feel it’s something I want to do just yet. Right now I’m happy just interacting with people on a personal level and allowing the professional stuff to bleed in when necessary. I’m probably a lot more “professional” about my blog/website these days whereas Twitter is still somewhere I get to play around and goof off a lot more.

 

Sean:

3. There have been some recent examples of inexperienced authors reacting badly on the Internet in response to blog reviews e.t.c., what are your thoughts on being social media savvy? What advice would you give to new authors?

Kirstyn:

It’s really important to remember that social media is, quite simply, people. So you have to behave online pretty much the same way you might behave when interacting with people offline. Be nice. Be polite. Be helpful. Don’t run around in circles tearing your hair out and screaming loudly. That will get you noticed, sure, but in all the wrong ways. Face to face, people tend to be fairly good in their dealings with each other. Put an interface between us – be that a car, a letter, a uniform, a computer screen – and it appears to give us license to be awful. Add anonymity into the equation and that license becomes unlimited.

So my advice would be to remember that behind every computer screen sits another human being, and you should treat them as such. In short, don’t be a dick on the internet. And if you think someone else is being a dick, then walk away and take a few deep breaths before you respond. Lastly – and this is really important – keep in mind that the internet is public and forever. So don’t put anything online that you wouldn’t be happy for anyone to see or read. That includes your mother. And your stalker.

 

Sean:

4. In my experience Social media breaks down normal communication conventions.  People can be more familiar and 'take liberties'.  Have you experienced problems where this ease of communication has lead to followers/fans 'crossing the line' or has your experience been entirely positive?

Kirstyn:

I haven’t really experienced any problems of this nature, but then I don’t think I have a high enough profile to attract this sort of attention. Actually, one of the best random online experiences I’ve had happened a few years ago when I sold something on eBay and the person who bought it later enquired if I was the Kirstyn McDermott who had written a particular short story they’d read a couple of years previous. They’d liked it so much that my name had stuck with them – this was well before I had a website or any real social media presence – and I was pretty well chuffed to have them mention it.

 

Sean:

5. How vital is social media to the genre in which you write and how do you think social media will effect the way you write and interact in the future?

Kirstyn:

I work in the speculative fiction genre, and within that in the smaller subgenre of dark fantasy/horror. From the perspective of both professional networking and building a community of readers, critics, writers and other creatives, social media is a powerful and as yet unrivalled tool. One of the downsides, however, is the tribe mentality it can foster. Communities are awesome; tribes not so much. I feel highly uncomfortable whenever an “Us vs Them” dichotomy raises its head, and there’s been a lot of Genre vs Literary and even Genre vs Genre talk going on in recent years. There always has been of course, but social media amplifies it. On the other hand, social media also helps break down literary barriers and bleed genres into one another, creating exposure for a variety of work outside of traditional bookstore shelving systems. Once again, it’s very much a game of swings and roundabouts.

In terms of affecting the way I write, I’m not sure. I see great potential in using the internet and social media for different types of storytelling but it’s not an area I’ve yet had time to explore in any great depth. Social interaction is actually a problem for me. I really need to hone my time management skills and learn to carve out quality time away from the internet. Not just to write, but to think creatively. That’s vitally important to me as a writer and I feel it’s something I’m allowing social media to displace to a certain extent right now.

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I’d like to thank Kirstyn for taking the time to answer my questions.  I hope you enjoyed her answers as much as I did. If you’re interested in checking out her work Kirstyn has been very busy this year:

She’s taken home a Ditmar for the short story "She Said" and was nominated for best novel for  Madigan Mine.  Madigan Mine also took out best horror novel at the Aurealis Awards.

You mustn't forget the rather extraordinary podcast she co-hosts with noted critic and writer Ian Mond at The Writer and the Critic.

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Marianne de Pierres on Authors and Social Media

Welcome to the seventh interview in the Authors and Social Media series; where I interview some of Australia’s most acclaimed speculative fiction authors as well as some rising stars.  Today we have Marianne de Pierres, who really needs no introduction, answering  5 questions on Authors and Social Media.

Sean:

How important do you view social media to selling your books or interacting with fans?

 

Marianne:

It’s a large piece of the puzzle, but ultimately we don’t know really what makes one book sell over another. I think the important thing is to be yourself when using social media – don’t try and cater to a market. Let your own personality shine through in your posts and interactions. I treat it as a tool for self-expression and communication more than “selling”.

Sean:

Do you or would you want to receive any guidance from your publisher/agent on interacting via social media, both in a technical sense or in a 'professional presentation' sense?

Marianne:

Generally publishers encourage their authors to use social media, and will give rudimentary guidelines to those who are inexperienced. (Not every author knows about or wants to know about the ins and outs of twitter, FB, and tumblr and goodreads). However, the publisher only has so much time they can spend with any one author, so a lot depends on your interest and commitment. Of course books that sell well often have their own publisher-built and maintained website, which helps, because those kind tend to look very professional.

Sean:

There have been some recent examples of inexperienced authors reacting badly on the Internet in response to blog reviews e.t.c., what are your thoughts on being social media savvy? What advice would you give to new authors?

Marianne:

Getting into an argument online with anyone is a negative experience and I wouldn’t recommend it at all. The reality is that once you put your work in the public domain, you’re exposed. You have to think about how you will handle that, and each of us have different methods. Foremost though, you need to accept that you can’t control readers’ opinions. Having said that, no one has the right to contact you and be abusive. My advice is to be very careful who you enter into a dialogue with in these circumstances, usually nothing is gained from it. If you must reply, keep it simple and don’t encourage a second reply.

 

Sean:

In my experience Social media breaks down normal communication conventions. People can be more familiar and 'take liberties'.  Have you experienced problems where this ease of communication has lead to followers/fans 'crossing the line' or has your experience been entirely positive?

Marianne:

The most common thing I encounter is that people can be quite insensitive to your time/availability and  expect you to drop everything to read their manuscript. This pre-supposes that firstly, you want to do it, and secondly, you have the time. Nothing gets me crosser than this assumption. By and large though people are pretty cool when they contact me. I love the easy familiarity, it suits my nature. If anyone crosses the line, I just don’t reply.

 

Sean:

How vital is social media to the genre in which you write and how do you think social media will effect the way you write and interact in the future?

 

Marianne:

I think SM is its own kind of publisher already and that it will only continue to solidify its role as a medium for expressing creativity, and a vehicle from which to disseminate it as well. it’s quite an exciting thought really. I’m not sure what form this will take in the future, but it will affect everything in our lives, especially the way we think and how we form relationships.

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I’d like to extend extra thanks Marianne for taking time to answer my questions while suffering from a temporary injury. 

Marianne is a prolific Australian writer, writing across genre’s as well.  Her latest is Burn Bright, a YA novel that’s part sci-fi, part steampunk, part paranormal but all 100% original de Pierres. A review from myself will be forth coming (Hint: I thought it rocked). 

You can find her work here or at most brick and mortar stores. The book depository also carries the Sentients of Orion Series the last of which(Transformation Space) won her this year’s Aurealis Award for best Sci-Fi novel.

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Trent Jamieson on Authors and Social Media

Welcome to the fifth interview in the Authors and Social Media series; where I interview some of Australia’s most acclaimed speculative fiction authors.  Today we have Trent Jamieson, Brisbane Urban Fantasy novelist answering 5 questions on Authors and Social Media.

Sean:

How important do you view social media to selling your books or interacting with fans?

Trent:

Well, it is important as a selling tool, I guess, though I've always been cautious about that. I'm sure there are plenty of people that use it more effectively than me. Let's face it, I'm not that slick. And as a consumer of Social Media I quickly tire of being hit over the head by an author's constant tweets, or facebook updates, when they're all about the book.

There's this idea of authenticity, a term that I hate because it actually sounds, well, it doesn't sound that authentic. Churning out what is essentially book spam certainly doesn't make for good reading. Maybe it works, but not for me.

What I want is the excitement of sharing ideas. I want to know what people are reading, watching, and experiencing because for me that's what I find exciting. And that's what social media at its best does.

And as a writer, and a user of Social Media, I really have to ask not so much what I'm getting out of it, but what I'm putting in. That's the important bit. Social Media is all about community, and being a good member of that community means giving not taking. Not sure that I'm doing enough of that yet, but you've caught me at a time when I'm really trying to get my head around these sorts of things.

 

Sean:

Do you or would you want to receive any guidance from your publisher/agent on interacting via social media, both in a technical sense or in a 'professional presentation' sense?

Trent:

Not really. I kind of like the ready-made nature of my blogging, tweeting and facebooking. I'm a bit suspicious of things that are too perfect, or directed. Part of me likes a bit of mess, and chaos. Like my lame Book Corner videocasts, I'm not sure I'd have had any advice to do my "book corners" but I've found them to be a lot of fun, and I think they're (oddly enough) a pretty honest representation of me.

Perhaps I should be more strategic, but yet again there's that question of authenticity.

 

Sean:

There have been some recent examples of inexperienced authors reacting badly on the Internet in response to blog reviews e.t.c., what are your thoughts on being social media savvy? What advice would you give to new authors?

Trent:

You've just gotta roll with the punches. You can't expect everyone to like what you write. Enjoy the good reviews, accept the bad ones and move on. It never looks good if you go slugging it out with a reviewer.

Let people have their opinions.

 

Sean:

In my experience Social media breaks down normal communication conventions.  People can be more familiar and 'take liberties'.  Have you experienced problems where this ease of communication has lead to followers/fans 'crossing the line' or has your experience been entirely positive?

Trent:

So far it's been pretty positive, and that's with a good six years of blogging - which isn't that long, and a year or so of tweeting.

Still, I'm a rather small fish in a very big sea - most of us are.

I'm not really different to the people that contact me, I just happen to have written a couple of books that they may have liked. Everyone I've encountered has been passionate, interested and patient - maybe I've been lucky.

I've worked as a bookseller for a decade and a half, talking about books has been what I do for a very long time, I just see it as an extension of that.

 

Sean:

How vital is social media to the genre in which you write and how do you think social media will effect the way you write and interact in the future?

Trent:

It's already vital as source of contact, and a way of seeing what's going on. It always has been in SF, just much slower. Any genre's a conversation after all, isn't?

I don't know how it will affect the way I write. The writing I do still comes from a deep and non-social place for me, it's the public expression of a private process. I don't think that's going to change for a while yet.

But, and here's the thing, when the book is written, that's when Social Media is so important. It's certainly changing the way I interact with readers. OK, I'm going to ramble on a bit here.

The book is one thing, but the point where that book ends and begins, the scaffolding around that book, how I find readers, how I let them know what the book is about, that's where Social Media is all important. Maybe we shouldn't call it Social Media, maybe something like the Conversation (Narrative is too linear and fixed, Dialogue to formal).

I've really been thinking about the permeability of a published book, particularly now they're increasingly electronic. For one thing, where the author and the reader sit in relation to each other and the book is changing. I firmly believe that a book stops being the writer's when it is published, certainly when it is purchased/borrowed whatever. It becomes the reader's. That's always been the way, of course, my Lord of the Rings is different to another reader's. The text is the same, but our experience of it will be different. But now, those experiences are vociferously and enthusiastically expressed, and there's SO many of them. Even just looking at LOTR, you've the TORN site, you have this active engagement with Tolkien's work, with the films, the books. It's part of what is keeping a brilliant book alive and vital (it helps that the book is brilliant, of course).

When I first started writing you were lucky if you got a letter of comment in the next ed of whatever mag you had sold to. Then in the years after you were lucky if you got an email. I've been so used to writing to silence.

Now that's not the case, people are happy to tell you what they think, and even if it's that they didn't like the book, well, that's healthy for the ego, innit?

Social media really lets the writer connect with that reader in a new way. A faster more vivid and scarier way, but one that's utterly thrilling. This is more than talking about word counts or dinner, this is taking the book as a conversation into new directions.

I want as many people as possible to read and engage with the ideas in my books, because I think they're important (certainly felt that enough to write them). I want them to enjoy them, I want my books to live on as arguments as a conversation.

Whether or not they do is largely beyond my control, I can only write as well as I can write, but, now, there's more chance that they will live on. As we enter an age where books are potentially never out of print, it's the ones that are vital and exciting that people can gather round and engage in/with that are going to live on.

I don't want to be closed to that. I'd like to offer my voice to that conversation too.

Yeah, you can see I'm still getting my head around all this. How I respond to social media is going be as personal as all the other choices I make in my life. But that's going to be the same for everyone. I think we're going to see a whole host of different and equally valid ways of negotiating the new world of the book, of making it both a narrative and a conversation.

There's interesting times ahead. Time to dive in, I reckon.

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I’d like to thank Trent  for answering my questions.  You can find Trent at his site. Or he goes by @trentonomicon on twitter.  I would also suggest that you check out his Book Corner videocasts, comedy gold that will give you a real sense of Trent’s playful nature.

I have also reviewed the first two books in Trent’s Deathworks series, Death Most Definite and Managing Death.

Keep your eye out for the Business of Death the next in the Deathworks Series as wells as Roil, his steampunk novel from Angry Robot.

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If you would like to see more in this series you can bookmark this page.  If you can’t bare to miss out on my adventures you can subscribe to the blog through a reader or Follow me on twitter.

Nansi Kunze on Authors and Social Media

Welcome to the sixth interview in the Authors and Social Media series; where I interview some of Australia’s most acclaimed speculative fiction authors as well as some rising stars.  Today we have Nansi Kunze, Victorian based YA novelist answering 5 questions on Authors and Social Media.


Sean:
How important do you view social media to selling your books or interacting with fans?

Nansi:
In terms of selling books, I think it can be quite important. I write YA, so the ability to link to reviews and ratings of my novels on my blog or Facebook page means potentially reaching a lot of people in my target demographic. I’ve also seen quite a few readers of other people’s blogs comment that they’ll go out and buy a book that’s been favourably reviewed there – it can extend the concept of ‘word of mouth’ considerably.
As far as interacting with fans goes, I haven’t experienced a lot of that, but then I don’t really write the kinds of things that make readers want to tell me how my book changed their life! I’m not sure that I’d want a lot of fan interaction on social media, though. I think an author’s books should remain by far the most important thing about them.



Sean:
Do you or would you want to receive any guidance from your publisher/agent on interacting via social media, both in a technical sense or in a 'professional presentation' sense?

Nansi:
The main reason I’ve been using social media in my author persona for the past year or so is because I’d seen my editors’ discussions on the importance of having a web presence as an author. While I didn’t feel the need for technical guidance when I set up my social media accounts, I’ve been glad of the snippets of advice on professional presentation I’ve gleaned from editors and other people in the biz. I think there’s probably a level of guidance that would just feel restrictive; nobody wants to be told how to behave all the time. But I can’t imagine any of the agents or editors I know ever getting anywhere near that level!



Sean:
There have been some recent examples of inexperienced authors reacting badly on the Internet in response to blog reviews e.t.c., what are your thoughts on being social media savvy? What advice would you give to new authors?

Nansi:
   
Well, obviously common sense has a big part to play there! Personally, I think it’s usually as simple as reminding yourself that every time you post something on a social media site, many, many people could see it. You might be alone at your computer when you type it, but in terms of potential audience, it’s the same as addressing a packed lecture hall or discussing something at a large dinner party: you need to consider the breadth of views and backgrounds that your audience might encompass. If you’re a new author, I’d suggest asking yourself if what you’re typing seems too offensive, too personal or too revealing to say to a crowd of strangers in a lecture hall. If it is, maybe you should hit Delete instead.

Sean:
In my experience Social media breaks down normal communication conventions.  People can be more familiar and 'take liberties'.  Have you experienced problems where this ease of communication has lead to followers/fans 'crossing the line' or has your experience been entirely positive?


Nansi:I’m certainly aware of instances where that’s happened: emerging writers sending direct messages to editors and authors telling them to buy their book and the like. I’ve been very lucky, though. I’ve found Twitter in particular a wonderful way to interact with other authors, editors, bloggers and so on. That familiarity helps me feel that I’m not alone in my field, even though I live in a relatively isolated rural area (so in a literal sense I actually am alone in a field …) The one instance I’ve encountered of someone ‘crossing the line’ came about through a charity event I was involved in, rather than through social media. No real harm was done, but I learned the importance of making sure my personal email addresses aren’t made available to people I don’t know.



Sean:
How vital is social media to the genre in which you write and how do you think social media will effect the way you write and interact in the future?
Nansi:
Given that the vast majority of teenagers use social media sites, they’re clearly of considerable importance to YA writers, but good writing is still more crucial. I’d like to think that the existence of social media will mainly affect the way I write by teaching me things: how to improve my writing technique, how the strange things that happen in life change us, what makes different people tick. I don’t envisage that I’ll be writing in a way that’s calculated to work well for social media purposes or anything like that! Hopefully, what Facebook, blogs and so on will continue to offer is a way for YA readers to become aware of books and writers that appeal to them, and to keep reading on their agenda.

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I’d like to thank Nansi for taking time out of her busy day to answer my questions.  You can find Nansi at her blog. Or on twitter under @NansiKunze on twitter. 
Nansi’s latest book is Dangerously Placed available from Amazon in paperback and kindle format and from all good Australian book stores.

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If you would like to see more in this series you can subscribe to the blog through a reader or Follow me on twitter.

Kate Gordon on Authors and Social Media

Welcome to the fourth interview in the Authors and Social Media series; where I interview some of Australia’s most acclaimed speculative fiction authors.  Today we have Kate Gordon an Australian YA novelist  answering 5 questions on Authors and Social Media.

Sean:

How important do you view social media to selling your books or interacting with fans?

Kate:

I don't know that it is that important at the moment, to be honest. Fingers crossed, in a couple of years (if I'm lucky enough to still be doing this writing-as-a-job thing), it will be very important indeed. I see how well writers like Cassie Clare and Gail Carriger use social media to converse with their “fans”. I'm not sure I actually have “fans” yet! I mostly use social media to interact with peers and fellow book-lovers. If they happen to buy my book because of this interaction, that's an awesome bonus!

Sean:

Do you or would you want to receive any guidance from your publisher/agent on interacting via social media, both in a technical sense or in a 'professional presentation' sense?

Kate:

I've been social-networking and blogging for an awful lot longer than I've been “authoring” so, from a technical point of view I think I'm okay. I know that sometimes I might say silly stuff on social network sites, but I've received feedback that the people who follow me want this to continue. It's part of what makes me who I am and thus is part of my online “persona”. As a “follower” I tend to delete “tweeps” who are too professional, dry or self-promotional in their tweets, and I assume people would do the same to me. I am very conscious, though, of not saying anything too out-there, negative or in any way “adult” in my tweets and Facebook status updates. I'm aware I write for minors and it would be career suicide to write anything online that was inappropriate for them. I guess that's a long-winded way of saying, “No, I don't believe I need input into the way I handle myself on social media”. However, if a publisher wanted to offer me advice, I would gladly take it!

Sean:

There have been some recent examples of inexperienced authors reacting badly on the Internet in response to blog reviews e.t.c., what are your thoughts on being social media savvy? What advice would you give to new authors?

Kate:

Hmm, I think I sort of answered this in the previous section! My main advice to new authors (of which I still consider myself to be included) would probably be: Stuff on the internet is public. Stuff on the internet sticks around. Don't write anything on the internet that you wouldn't say to your grandmother! And try not to say anything negative. Not just about writing stuff, but about anything. People who complain too much on social media are irritating! Also, be yourself, not a walking billboard. If you only use social media to promote your work, people will get bored very quickly!

Sean:

In my experience Social media breaks down normal communication conventions. People can be more familiar and 'take liberties'. Have you experienced problems where this ease of communication has lead to followers/fans 'crossing the line' or has your experience been entirely positive?

Kate:

As I said before, I'm not sure I have “fans” but I have had a few aspiring writers “cross the line” a little bit. I'm really new to this writing gig, and I vividly remember what it was like to be really really new. I remember what it was like to be desperate for any and all advice you can get! I am really happy to pass on what tiny advice and knowledge I now have about writing or publishing. It's nice to be on that side of things now! The only trouble is I don't have a heap of time, so it means I just can't respond in detail to lots of queries. I worry this makes me sound rude or stand-offish and I always end up feeling really guilty if my answers are brief or not as in-depth as the person requesting them would like. Most people are really understanding of my lack of time, but some have, well, not been. I hope this doesn't make me sound like a horrible person!

 

Sean:

How vital is social media to the genre in which you write and how do you think social media will effect the way you write and interact in the future?

Kate:

It's so wonderful to feel like part of a community. Down here in Tassie, there aren't too many YA writers, or speculative fiction writers – I'm lucky that the couple there are happen to be people I count as friends. Social media helps me feel like I'm a part of a community. I am always in awe of the fact that Twitter and Facebook allow me to communicate with people I consider my idols. When Nick Earls first responded to one of my tweets, I nearly cried and when Ann M Martin followed me, I think it was just about the happiest day of my life (yes, I was a huge Babysitter's Club fan. Obsessed. Rabid. Insatiable). I can't imagine life without Twitter. As far as my development as a writer goes, it's been invaluable, and I have met some brilliant people, some of whom I've been able to meet in the “real world” but many who I only communicate with online. Three of these people co-organised the “Writers for Queensland” auction a couple of months ago, which raised over $20,000, so that's a real example of the good that social media can do! The whole thing was entirely organised on Twitter, email and blogs. I do love blogging, too. I only wish I had more time for it! I also pore over the blogs of other YA and Spec Fic authors and it allows me to keep up-to-date with what's going on in my genre. I couldn't do without it!

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I’d like to thank Kate for answering my questions.  You can find Kate at her site. Or she goes by @misscackle on twitter.

You should be able to purchase Thyla in all good Aussie bookstores and it’s available from Amazon as a Kindle download.

Keep your eye out for her next book, Vulpi as well.

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.  If you can’t bare to miss out on my adventures you can subscribe to the blog through a reader or Follow me on twitter.

Nicole R. Murphy on Authors and Social Media

Welcome to the second interview in the Authors and Social Media series; where I interview some of Australia’s most acclaimed speculative fiction authors.  Today we have Nicole R Murphy answering 5 questions on Authors and Social Media.

Sean:
1. How important do you view social media to selling your books or interacting with fans?
Nicole:
It’s incredibly important – readers are generally savvy, well educated folks and they tend to be early adopters and enthusiastic users of social media, so it’s vital to be on social media. I think nowadays, the relationship between author and reader is an important part of the book-buying cycle – I know that if I meet someone, and I like them, I’ll buy their books and I can’t imagine I’m alone in feeling this way.
Social media enables me to interact with more people, and with readers in far-flung parts of the world. This is particularly important to me because my books are currently only available in print in Australia. In the US and UK, they’re electronic and folks who read electronically are PARTICULARLY online and involved in social media.

Sean:
2. Do you or would you want to recieve any guidance from your publisher/agent on interacting via social media, both in a technical sense or in a 'professional presentation' sense?

Nicole:
I feel pretty good about how I’m using social media myself, but I can see that it would be a valuable thing for publishers/agents to provide guidelines, how-tos and ideas for authors when they’re starting out. But not in a restrictive way – I don’t think it’s the place of publishers particularly to be telling authors how to behave, what they can say and so on. But provide maybe examples of authors who are doing it well, and pointing out some of the pitfalls of doing it wrong. Authors are being asked to do a lot in terms of marketing and promotion nowadays and it’s not necessarily something we’re naturally good at, so any guidance and advice would be welcome.

Sean:
3. There have been some recent examples of inexperienced authors reacting badly on the Internet in response to blog reviews e.t.c., what are your thoughts on being social media savvy? What advice would you give to new authors?
Nicole:
I take the Wil Wheaton line on this – ‘Don’t be a dick’. Treat people in the manner you’d like to be treated and all will be well. You also need to understand how the internet works. First, while it might seem ephemerate because each time you go on things have changed, it’s not. Things stay available via caches and so on for a very long time, if not forever. So you need to think about what you’re doing long-term, not just in the here and now. Also, understand that with the sort of anonymity of the internet comes a certain freedom (for some folks) for social boundaries. Where they wouldn’t comment, or would stay away from a mob situation in real life, they’re happy to jump on board online. One mistake and you can have folks dive-bombing you like you’ve committed a major crime. But the other side of that coin – don’t be scared. Experiment. Try things. Be yourself. As Bill and Ted said – Be excellent to each other.

Sean:
4. In my experience Social media breaks down normal communication conventions. People can be more familiar and 'take liberties'. Have you experienced problems where this ease of communication has lead to followers/fans 'crossing the line' or has your experience been entirely positive?
Nicole:
Not sure I’m big enough/well-known enough to really experience this. So far, it’s just the occasional person on Facebook (not Twitter, interestingly) who’s obviously trying to make themselves my best friend for later nefarious purposes. I was chatting about this just last night with some writer friends, and I think this isn’t as much a social media thing as a human thing.
Here’s how I see the progression going – writer finally gets published, gets some notoriety, is in a position to ‘pay-back’ and does so (cause we’re generally nice folks), starts to get burned by the occasional idiot, realises it isn’t worth it and so pulls out of helping strangers at all. Social media may well make this progression happen faster, and more people of low to middling fame may experience it than used to happen, but I don’t think it’s invented a new paradigm of how followers/fans react to writers. We’ve all heard the stories of things like Stephen King having manuscripts thrust under the toilet door at him at cons. It comes back a bit to what I was saying before about considering who you are and what you portray online. Be clear within yourself where you boundaries are, and then you can make them clear to others. In my experience, most people will adjust to expectations as long as they know what they are going in. And there’s gonna be crazies – that’s just the way of the world.

Sean:
5. How vital is social media to the genre in which you write and how do you think social media will effect the way you write and interact in the future?
Nicole:
I think social media is becoming vital to all writers, regardless of genre because publishing is becoming more and more a global phenomenon and it’s the easiest way to reach the folks on the other side of the world. It’s also great in that you can do the things you need to do within your own timeframe and the comfort of your own home and not have to go on book tours and so on, which were the established way of meeting and interacting with readers.
The impact of electronic publishing is part of this as well. I’m sure that as the years roll on, the way we publish and interact with our readers is going to change enormously and the instant feedback of social media is going to play an important role in all that. In my case, I write books that straddle fantasy and romance – two genres where readers are really involved online so it’s really hard to be a new writer in those genres and NOT have a strong social media presence. It’s the way the world is nowadays.

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I’d like to thank Nicole for answering my questions amidst the flurry of action that was SWANCON preparation.  You can find Nicole at her site.
The The Dream of Asarlai trilogy can be found in good bookstores and on Amazon  .
If you can’t bare to miss out on my adventures you can subscribe to the blog through a reader or Follow me on twitter.

Thoraiya Dyer on Authors and Social Media

Welcome to the third interview in the Authors and Social Media series; where I interview some of Australia’s most acclaimed speculative fiction authors.  Today we have Thoraiya Dyer a rising talent in the Australian Speculative Fiction scene, answering 5 questions on Authors and Social Media.

Sean:

1.How important do you view social media to selling your books or interacting with fans?

Thoraiya:
At this stage, with the short fiction I have out, I find the social media activities of my publishers, Twelfth Planet Press, Fablecroft, Aurealis, ASIM and others to be the vital ingredient in the sale of my stories. I think most people who buy TPP books are people who have encountered Alisa Krasnostein's personal blog, twitterstream, or business blog and who trust her taste in speculative fiction, so social media is obviously vital for Australian small press.

I have a website which I maintain, but no personal blog, Twitter or Facebook presence. I comment on other people's blogs and potential fans can sometimes get to know me that way, but more often I will get emails via my website and respond to those.

 

Sean:

  2. Do you or would you want to receive any guidance from your publisher/agent on interacting via social media, both in a technical sense or in a 'professional presentation' sense?

Thoraiya:

I haven't so far. Guidance would be fine, obligations would be not so fine. I think any agent or editor who instructed me to get on Facebook would be shocked by the vehemence of my reply. People are too careless with their personal information on social networks. I have only grudgingly recently joined Goodreads because books are one of my greatest joys and I can't
resist the site's usefulness.

 

Sean:

  3. There have been some recent examples of inexperienced authors reacting badly on the Internet in response to blog reviews e.t.c., what are your thoughts on being social media savvy? What advice would you give to new authors?

Thoraiya:

Remember that the internet is forever, and know your self. If you are an easy-going extrovert, an interesting blog with frequent updates can garner you an enormous audience and it would be crazy not to build yourself a Scalzi-like internet presence. If you are an introvert who lets your anger build slowly and then explodes in a fury at innocent onlookers, well. It is not helpful to a writing career.

There are lots of passionate people on the web, and Cat Valente is a good example of someone able to articulate very personal views so they are not offensive generalisations, but that is not my superpower. I am one of the people who, if they were on Twitter, might get wound up about climate change and the logging of old growth forests in Tasmania and suddenly screech, "EVERYONE WHO DIDN'T VOTE GREEN MIGHT AS WELL JUST STRANGLE MY BABY WITH THEIR BARE HANDS!", and then, hooray, I've alienated 90% of the planet who will never buy my work. Even if I try and delete it later, with RSS feeds, your one blog post can have hundreds of duplicates everywhere within seconds and you can never get rid of them all.

A tweet like that is patently not even true, because I didn't vote green in '07. Plus I have dearly beloved family members in Tasmania who are farmers and loggers and spit on the ground when a Greens politician walks past, but have clearly never tried to strangle a baby. The key is recognising my irrational outburst-type personality and not setting it amongst the pigeons. Blogging is not for me, but it probably is perfectly fine for you!

 

Sean:
  4. In my experience Social media breaks down normal communication conventions. People can be more familiar and 'take liberties'.  Have you experienced problems where this ease of communication has lead to followers/fans 'crossing the line' or has your experience been entirely positive?

Thoraiya:

I'm too new and unfamous for my own line to have been crossed, but I have been guilty of making others uncomfortable by being too familiar. You follow a person's blog, you start to believe that you know them. In some cases, it is just a person's facade that you know and sometimes they pour so much of their heart into it that you really do know them, but whichever one it is, they still don't know you.

Please allow me to publicly apologise to Richard Harland for running up to him at Worldcon with an excited grin, bellowing, "Hi, Richard, how are you?" with no explanation of who I was. I may even have said something like, "have you brought your Steampunk outfit that you wore at your London book signing?" which is something a stalker would say ("I KNOW WHAT YOU WEAR AND WHERE YOU GO!") But in my defence, it's not like it wasn't there on his website for everyone to see (I am still SO, SO sorry!), and people who put their home address and date of birth on their Facebook page might want to consider that the national imprisonment rate in Australia is 170 per 100 000 adults, and if you are a bestselling author with a million fans your chances of getting at least one felon are pretty good.

 

Sean:
  5. How vital is social media to the genre in which you write and how do you think social media will effect the way you write and interact in the future?

Thoraiya:

Oh, it's vital now for small publishers (See question (1)) and in the future, as e-books become the norm and more and more speculative fiction is bought on the basis of recommendations from social networks, the bigger a person's social media presence, the more searches they are going to turn up in and the more sales they will generate. To me, the more important thing for is that I not look back on the legion of potentially uninformed opinions I have splashed over the internet and cringe. I'm aware of the drawbacks of having my own website (which is under my control and not particularly easy to update); it is like holding up a business card on a park bench while everyone else has a skyscraper blazing with neon lights. But I hope that my fiction will speak for itself. I hope that anyone who is touched by my stories will come and sit on that park bench beside me.

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I’d like to thank Thoraiya for answering my questions and congratulate her on winning Best New Talent at the Ditmar Awards.  You can find Thoraiya at her site.

Her award winning novelette The Company Articles of Edward Teach, can also be found paired with The Angaelien Apocalypse by Matthew Chrulew in a Twelfth Planet Press Double, in both printed and ebook form -here.

You can also purchase other titles including Thoraiya’s work via Smashwords.

If you would like to see more in this series you can bookmark this page.  If you can’t bare to miss out on my adventures you can subscribe to the blog through a reader or Follow me on twitter.

While I have your attention : It’s Aussie Author Month and the folks at Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy News Site are doing some fundraising for Indigenous Literacy, check out their competition and donation pages.