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.