WordServe Water Cooler

Don’t you love Saturdays? I do. And today, because it’s the weekend and I thought we could all use a little good news, I’ve got a treat for you. If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably a writer. You may already be published or still waiting for that day, but you’re writing away, studying your craft and just hoping that soon and very soon, all your hard work will pay off in a nice three-book deal.

Will you be ready?

How many of you, (ahem, like me), were so focussed on reaching the almighty goal of becoming a published author that you gave little thought to what you were going to do when you got there?

Shortly after my first novel, Yesterday’s Tomorrow released, once the bubbles in the champagne fizzed away and I stopped grinning and pinching myself, I admit to being completely overwhelmed and hiding under the covers for several days once I realized Oprah wasn’t going to call  reality set in.

Oh, I know. That won’t be your story. Your book will skyrocket to #1 on the NYT Bestseller List. Of course it will. But, just incase it doesn’t, at least not right away, you’re probably going to need a little help getting it into the right hands.

SO I’m really excited to introduce you to Kristen Lamb, the author of two books every published or not quite published author should rush out and buy – We Are Not Alone – The Writer’s Guide to Social Media, and, Are You There Blog? It’s Me, Writer.

If you’ve been at this gig for a while, I’m sure you know Kristen. If not, I hope you enjoy meeting her today. Watch Read and learn.

Kristen, I love your tag line, We Are Not Alone… Tell us what this means to you and how you came up with it.

I didn’t start out wanting to be a social media expert. In fact, the words “social media expert” made me feel a tad queasy and overwhelmed. Yet, I kept going to conferences where “gurus” were teaching what I felt was a bunch of garbage. I was a writer first and knew that one couldn’t treat books like toothpaste and writers like tacos. So after a bunch of griping, I decided to own up and write a book. I wanted my book to be different. I wanted it to reflect what social media was really about—people and human relationships.

Too many writers couldn’t see the real advantage. We finally had control over our writing futures. We had help! So when it came time to NAME my book, the publisher wanted to call it something like  “Social Marketing for Writers” and I was like, “Why not just punch them in the face?”

I argued that my demographic played World of Warcraft and collected action figures and had season passes to Renaissance festivals and Trekkie conventions…like me. I knew if I named my book “Marketing for Writers” that writers would be more likely to power drink than buy my book. So, when I told this to my editor Jen Talty, she said, “Well, then what do you want writers to feel  when reading your book?”

And I said, “I don’t know *pout face.* Maybe, um. Hell, I want them to know that they aren’t alone.”

Then Jen said, “Why Not, ‘We Are Not Alone’?”

 I would love to claim that I came up with this brilliant title, but the credit goes to Jen.

You have certainly carved out quite a niche for yourself as a “social-media guru” and your books are extremely popular (and invaluable, I might add) within the writing community and beyond. Give us a glimpse of the journey you took to get here.

I spent way too much time on Twitter than is healthy for any sane person.

Wait…oh yeah. Inside words stay inside.

I hit a lot of buttons and made a lot of stupid mistakes. Then I figured out how to correct those mistakes and do things better and faster. I thank God every day that New York Times Best-Selling Author Bob Mayer let me have carte blanche to experiment on him…um, his platform.  In retrospect it was probably a good thing Bob had no idea what he was signing up for.

Bob was a unique challenge because he had been a best-selling author in FIVE genres and he had more personalities (pen names) than Sybil running around unattended.  It was a real challenge to figure out a way to balance all of Bob’s identities, genres and roles (fiction author, NF writer, teacher, speaker, publisher) without having him spread so thinly that social media was either a time-suck or a time-waste. I leaned A LOT from that experience. ..first and foremost that pen names are evil.

Bob got free social media help so long as he was willing to define “help” loosely…very loosely. Once I really got good at what I was doing, Bob asked me to write a book for Who Dares Wins Publishing and We Are Not Alone was born.

…and I sold ten copies the first month. Most of them to my mother.

I had spent so much time helping Bob build his platform, I kinda forgot my own. I had to buckle down and get to work building a platform and defining myself as a social media expert.

So when I tell you guys I made all the dumb mistakes so you don’t have to, I am really being serious.

What was the one thing you most hoped to accomplish through your book, and would you say you’ve succeeded in doing so?

I wanted writers to become a team, to love each other and support each other. Historically we have worked in isolation. Most people assume it’s because we are loners, weird or socially awkward. The real reason is we don’t want to share our Star Wars t-shirts. There, the truth is out.

I think many writers worked in isolation because, what was the alternative? Now, we have a way to combine our creative energies for good. We are like superheroes who have mad grammar skillz.

Do I think I’ve succeeded? WOW YES! By my calculations, writers WILL rule the world by sometime next year…which might explain why the Mayans predicted it would end.

How important is it for the author not yet published to create an online presence/platform?

Writing a great book is ALWAYS FIRST. But when you land that agent and the three-book deal, you DON’T want to be pulling a social platform out of your…ear. Start early. Slow and steady wins the race. I think a writer with a viable social platform is going to be the new norm in two years. Start now while it is still an advantage.

Fiction authors have a staggering failure rate. According to BEA statistics, in 2004, 93% of books sold less than 1000 copies (traditionally and non-traditionally published). This isn’t to scare anyone as much as it is to give you guys hope that we can finally beat those hellish odds.

There are only two ways to sell books—good book and word of mouth. We always had control over a good book, and had a 93% FAILURE rate. Oh, and those stats are from 2004, before my cat could get published. Lots more competition these days, so we are wise to do what we can to get an edge.

If you think you might want to self-publish or go indie, then you don’t have a choice. You MUST be on social media and do it well (For those who doubt, refer to  Kristen’s first book sales in question above).

What marketing advice would you give to a newly published author?

Don’t. Write more books. Write better and better books. Talk to people. Be authentic. Self-promote too much on social media and we call that spam.

Traditional marketing doesn’t sell books. Total waste of time. Bookmarks and book plates and giveaways might drive a handful of sales, but they are really tactics that make writers “feel” productive. Writers are better off spending that time on writing more books and better books. Spend the money on a massage and wine instead of a book trailer. The massage will do more for your writing career and the wine is wine…HELLO!

What is the best piece of advice anybody ever gave you?

You can have anything you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want. ~ Zig Ziglar. Serve others first. Don’t worry about you. Focus on others and it comes back.

If you HAD to give up one area of Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc…), which one would you let go, and why?

I don’t care for G+. Maybe it is new, but I don’t see any advantages. Sure it has circles, but Facebook has lists. And I wouldn’t get all giddy about circles anyway. I don’t like sectioning people off based off what I think they might want to know. Hey, I’m a writer and if you don’t want to hear about writing don’t let the digital door hit you in the digital butt.

Thing is, we never know who is watching us. Some of those people you think don’t want to hear about all your writing crap are actually gonna be your biggest fans. The receptionist at my son’s pediatrician has bought three books off me and talks about me to anyone she meets.

I’m the only writer she’s ever met. To her, I’m a celebrity. Okay, so maybe she needs to get out more. But my point is, what if I had put her in a circle of people I thought didn’t want to hear about my writing?

Also, if your mother can’t read what you are posting, don’t post it.

Anything else you’d like to share, personally or professionally?

Learn to have a healthy relationship with failure. If we aren’t failing then we aren’t doing anything interesting. I would love to tell you guys that my books and blogging classes will make you a perfect blogger on Day One, but that would be awesome marketing a lie.

Just Do It

The more we write, the better we get at blogging and writing novels. We try, we fail, we reflect, we try again. The better we get at failing, the faster we will meet with success.

It’s been great having Kristen with us today! So let’s talk.

Do you have any burning questions about social marketing? Do you feel you’ve got a good handle on it or does the whole thing still scare the beejeebers out of you?

About Kristen Lamb:

Kristen worked in international sales before transitioning into a career as an author, freelance editor and speaker, and she takes her years of experience in sales & promotion and merges it with almost a decade as a writer to create a program designed to help authors construct a platform in the new paradigm of publishing. Kristen has guided writers of all levels, from unpublished green peas to NY Times best-selling big fish, how to use social media to create a solid platform and brand. Most importantly, Kristen helps authors of all levels connect to their READERS and then maintain a relationship that grows into a long-term fanbase.

Currently Kristen is teaching workshops based off her best-selling book We Are Not Alone–The Writer’s Guide to Social Media at various writer conferences across the country. Stay tuned for a workshop in your area.

Kristen is represented by Russell Galen at Scovil, Galen and Ghosh Literary, Inc in NYC.