Have you heard? “We Are Not Alone” – by Kristen Lamb
0
0
Welcome to Writers’ Uni-Verse-City (or WUVC for short because every university has an acronym), a place where writers/bloggers can meet to discuss the craft of writing in the Internet age. I want to learn what it takes to make it in the world of writing and publishing and nowadays there is a wealth of information on the web. WUVC will involve independent research, setting a curriculum and hopefully finding other participants (like you – readers/bloggers/writers) to: chip in, give tips, suggest books and other materials for study, teach me the ways of the warrior writer, and offer to guest post here at Uni-Verse-City.
Where to start? I was nervous to write this post because I’m essentially blogging on a book written by the Internet’s equivalent of……I don’t even know which famous person to compare her to.
Kristen Lamb wrote the book “We Are Not Alone: A writer’s guide to social media” and the title couldn’t be more explanatory. This book is essentially a guide for writers on how to set up social media accounts so that they are not alone in their writing.
All writers know that this career path, wannabe-career path, hobby or whatever you prefer to call it can be lonely. We must lock ourselves away in a quiet room not to be disturbed. We are constantly pulling out a notebook to jot something down while in the middle of the street or while sitting in a restaurant, to the point where your friends and family think you’re loosing it.
In this book, Kristen guides you through four major social media platforms: MySpace, Facebook, WordPress (blog) and Twitter. She tells you how to set up an account, create an author-worthy profile with biography, photo, groups, tags, etc. Not only does she give you the step-by-step process (social media for “writer dummies”), but she explains it to you in an easy-to-understand way and she miraculously keeps your interest in what could be a rather technical book.
She gives you tips on how to connect with your readers, how to strategically expand your network and why social media is well worth the effort in the long run. Using her savvy social media skills and her background in sales, Kristen gives you the tools to create a brand and an online presence.
I won’t give away anymore of what her book is about, but I will give myself (and any other willing participants) a homework assignment from her book:
1) Write a 100, 300 and 500 word biography for the various social media sites.
I already have this blog, a Facebook page and Twitter, so if you don’t have these, you can refer to Kristen’s book for advice on how to set these up in a cohesive way.
I was humming and hawing over setting up a MySpace account because I’ve never been too attracted to it and I don’t have any friends currently using this social media platform. The second part of today’s homework assignment was going to be: set up a MySpace account. But this just in: Kristen Lamb’s post, which happened to be posted today, says that we can skip MySpace now. Read more about this update on her blog. I’d have to say I’m relieved that I don’t have to figure out this platform now.
Next WUVC Wednesday the lovely Marcia Richards will be here with a post on writing and she will be the very first guest poster here at Uni-Verse-City! In the meantime, check out Marcia’s blog.
So what have you learned from Kristen’s book? Blog? Or her newest book “Are you there blog? Its me writer?” I’d love to hear from you.
The career path of a writer is definitely a hard one but I agree that social media is our saving grace. Nice post.
It really does make the writing world less lonely. 🙂 Thanks for the comment.
OK I give up! I shall go and purchase the book! It is one of many that I have on my’when I’ve read these others’ list, it’s actaully getting to the point where there will be a list for when the list has been purchased. Tut Tut, you know that means i’m not reading enough!
Ahh don’t worry, I have a “to purchase” list as well. I will need to start staying up later in the evenings or something to get the reading time in. I’ve also been slacking a bit.
My problem of late has been me staying up on the computer, blogging. Well, actually more often than not I haven’t even actaully be contributing, just reading others post, and very rarely commenting.
I never actually thought that my reading time would be dissolved because of other activities. I always read. teh fact that I am not actually sacrificing this time to get some quality writing achieved breaks my heart. Time for a shift in priorities I think.
The same thing happened to me! I was reading sooooo many blogs that it took up a few hours of each evening. Now that I joined ROW80 it kind of forces me to stop reading the blogs and start writing. It really does help because you are publicly accountable for what you produce…..or don’t produce. I will probably catch up on the blog reading on the weekends because there is more time. 🙂
Nicole, great review of Kristen’s book. It really is a helpful guide. Thanks for shout out! Looking forward to posting next Wednesday, and so honored to be your first guest. You’re a wonderful host!
[…] As mentioned on my WUVC post two weeks ago, Kristen Lamb has annouced that we can skip MySpace now. Good thing I waited on that one. Although […]
[…] Lamb, Kristen – We Are Not Alone […]
[…] We Are Not Alone: A Writers’ Guide to Social Media by Kristen Lamb […]