Introduction to social media for the writer and illustrator Austin SCBWI members.

1. NICHOLAS ALTER
...AND I AM NOT A
SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERT
Saturday, June 11, 2011

2. IF SOMEONE DOES CALL
THEMSELVES AN EXPERT,
THEN DO TWO THINGS
&
Saturday, June 11, 2011

3. SOCIAL MEDIA
PROFESSIONAL
Which means I’m payed to get to know Social Media and I help
guide businesses to grow their presence online.
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4. MY COMPANY
ALTERENDEAVORS.COM
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5. SOCIAL MEDIA
It’s not a magic wand
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6. NO SOCIAL MEDIA?
In a way it’s kinda like marriage. If you aren’t in it to win it, then
don’t do it.
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7. ...AND DON’T TRY TO DO
EVERYTHING
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8. SET YOUR GOALS
What do you hope to accomplish?
Make them realistic.
Set a timeline
Evaluate and adjust regularly
You cannot force it. If it’s not happening, do not
get discouraged.
Who are you targeting?
Don’t try to do them alone.
Saturday, June 11, 2011

9. WHAT SHOULD YOU BE?
Be interested
Be interesting
Be confident
Be bold
Be nice
Be flexible
Be thoughtful
Be funny
Be creative
Be patient
Be careful
Be REAL
Saturday, June 11, 2011

10. START WITH THE BASICS
Saturday, June 11, 2011

11. WHAT ABOUT A BLOG?
Authors/illustrators should have one
Start with the basic setup
Wordpress.com
It does not have to cost a dime, but creating a more professional presence is
not difficult and inexpensive if done correctly.
Plan ahead
Choose what you are going to write about in advance
Remember your online audience, so develop your voice
accordingly
Develop a theme for your blog and stick with it.
Embed images and videos
Be aware of copyrights and give credit with a link back to where the image
originally comes from
Keywords:
What do you want people to be searching for when they find you?
Saturday, June 11, 2011

12. WHAT ELSE ABOUT A BLOG?
Star with one post a week
Don’t over-commit, because that will be what people will start to expect.
There are no rules about length, but...
Try not to go overboard. Most blog posts tend to be anywhere from 150 -
600 words.
If you get into the 700+ word range, consider splitting the post into two
pieces
Have links to any other social media platform you use actively
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, etc.
Find other bloggers who relate to you and follow them (RSS)
Comment on their walls, but do not SPAM
Saturday, June 11, 2011

13. RSS for blogs
Real Simple Syndication...it’s
Use it to follow other bloggers
Look up Google Reader as an aggregate tool for other blogs
Get an RSS reader on your mobile device
I like FeedlerRSS for the iPhone and iPad
Android users should look at Pulse News Reader,
FeedSquares & gReader
iPad users should look at getting FlipBook
Saturday, June 11, 2011

14. FACEBOOK
Public Versus Personal
Create a complete profile in both cases
Consider what you can maintain, what you cannot
You have to have a personal account in order to have a public page
Personal = Friends & Some Personal Stuff
5,000 friend cap
This is the real you, not the public you, but still be aware of what you are
posting
Don’t try to sell yourself on your personal account, that is not what this is
about
This is your space to share with friends, some who don’t know you as well as
others
There is no such thing as true privacy, so do pay attention to what you post
here.
Saturday, June 11, 2011

15. FACEBOOK...OF COURSE THERE IS MORE
Public = Facebook Page
This is the space you want to create if you are looking to gain an audience and
offer something of value (Entertainment is a value by the way)
Have to maintain daily
Should be all about you as an author/illustrator, your books, your expertise,
your public persona
Can advertise and track
No cap on followers
Published authors should especially consider having a Facebook Page
This is where the “Like” button comes into play
Vanity URL after 25 Likes
Look at http://facebook.com/neilgaiman as an example
More flexible and can be manipulated to brand oneself better
No Spamming
Saturday, June 11, 2011

16. FACEBOOK...AND MORE
How to Promote Yourself on Facebook
Comment on other people’s walls
Tag people in photos
@ mention them in posts
Add links to your email signature
Add to your blog and website
Have a link back to it from your tweets if you use Twitter (do regularly, but
sparingly)
Facebook Advertising (If you have a public page)
Saturday, June 11, 2011

17. TWITTER
The most powerful discovery tool in social media
...Use it wisely
Understand the lingo:
The “@” symbol: Used to “mention” other Twitter profiles in a public way. Place it in front
of a Twitter handle you want to mention (ex: @abiferrin) so as to tag that profile in a
tweet. A tweet with @(a profile) will show up on that persons Twitter wall and also land
in their “mentions” stream so they are aware of everyone who has pinged them.
The “#” symbol: The hashtag or “#” symbol is used to easily track certain elements of a
conversation across the Twittersphere. Use #fashion in a tweet for example and it will
become a clickable entity on a twitter platform. When clicked, a list of all tweets using
that # will appear, allowing you to easily discover other Twitter users focused on that
topic as well.
Lists - Create lists to categorize people you follow. Lists show only the tweets from the
people in the list. This is valuable when you are looking for tweets from specific interest
groups
DM - Direct Messaging is only allowable when someone follows you or visa-versa
RT - Retweets are tweets others have posted that you repost
Saturday, June 11, 2011

18. TWITTER
Get Organized
Make Lists
Know your hashtags
Tweet well, meaning don’t just...
Don’t just RT what other people have to say
Don’t just talk about what you are doing at the moment
Note: Actually if you are talking about what you are doing at the moment,
make it valuable
Example that everyone uses is the sandwich. Don’t just say “eating a
sandwich”, say “Eating a cuban panini of heaven @thegrove in Bee Caves.
Good lord it’s so good. #austinfood”
Don’t just link back to your Facebook page or your blog
Don’t just talk about yourself, as a matter of fact, limit this
Don’t just talk about one other person or profile
Keep it under control
Post 1- 3 unique tweets
RT a couple of time
Keep hashtags to 2-3 per post - too much of anything, well, you know.
Saturday, June 11, 2011

19. AUSTIN SCBWI
The power of this community
Saturday, June 11, 2011

20. AUSTIN SCBWI
Follow Austin SCBWI on Facebook and Twitter
Take the conversation y’all are having about children’s and YA
literature onto these public spaces, where it can be shared,
commented upon and followed.
Invite librarians, schools, parents, kids to follow this space
because a larger community can then get involved and multiple
sources are creating valuable content that folks will keep coming
back to.
Also, it is easier to build up a personal following for your SM
presence when you are fully engaged with a larger, better
established community like SCBWI in Austin.
Saturday, June 11, 2011