Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Planning Ahead for Social Media Opportunities

by Pat Stoltey

If we all made plans and stuck to them, we'd not only read and write more, but we'd get more exposure for our blogs and books. Here are a few ideas for 2012.

The Blogging From A to Z April Challenge 2012


Not just for writers, this blog challenge has grown into a huge project in just three years. The brainchild of Arlee Bird who blogs at tossing it out, the A to Z Challenge now has its very own blog. If you stop by, you'll find posts from past participants describing the new online friends they've made and the new blog followers they've attracted with their A to Z April posts.

I plan to complete the challenge again in 2012, although I scheduled guest bloggers in April and now need to figure out a way to make their guest post titles conform to the demands of the challenge. I may need to get creative this year.

Sign-up for this challenge opens on January 30th, so mark your calendar. I know you won't regret it.


Chiseled in Rock's Author Features


For RMFW, we have a monthly announcement of new releases called What's New From Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers? Don't be left out. Make sure I know about your books. If you go to my personal blog, you'll find a link to my e-mail address in my Blogger Profile.

A new monthly feature called Three Authors, Three Questions is another opportunity for you. Membership in RMFW is not required to participate in this one, but I do hope to feature at least one RMFW member in each group of three.


Guest Blogging on Writerly Blogs


If you have a book coming out in 2012, you might want to pay attention to the RMFW members who have blogs and are open to featuring guest bloggers. On my own blog, I present a guest author every Thursday, and I'll also schedule Monday and Friday guests when necessary, especially for writers doing blog book tours.

I'm not the only RMFW author/blogger, so check out the blogroll in the Chiseled in Rock sidebar and see who hosts guest writers from time to time.

And if you're a book blogger who's open to guest authors, support RMFW by spreading the word. We invite you to post your blog's link below in the comments section.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pat - Thanks for these good ideas for increasing exposure and meeting lots of other good people. Social networking is increasingly the way to get the word out about one's work...

Li said...

The A to Z Challenge is a really great opportunity to find other writers and bloggers, as well as exercise a little writing discipline. I participated for the first time last year (with some trepidation) and enjoyed myself. Several of the stories I created were re-worked and submitted for publication, an added bonus. I would add that Twitter is also useful in connecting with other authors and platforms. Hashtags such as #amwriting, #nowreading, #writetips and #pubtips (among dozens of others) can help you connect with other readers and writers.

Jan Morrison said...

I love the A to Z - I do believe that there is no magic way to increase the comments made on one's blog. I found I'd gained many followers but I only increase the number of comments on my blog by going out and commenting on others in a specific and helpful way. That's good I think. When my comments are down it is because I've been slack in taking care of my blogging friends.

Patricia Stoltey said...

Margot, it really is a different world now that we have social media to help us.

Li -- I'm also a Twitter fan and sometimes find my potential guest bloggers there. Facebook is handy for that as well.

Jan, you are so right about commenting. When I run out of time and don't leave comments, it always shows up on my own blog's stats.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Glad you're participating again! Lee will appreciate the shout-out for the Challenge, Patricia.

Patricia Stoltey said...

Alex, I wouldn't miss it for the world. I'm a big A to Z fan.

Tamela said...

Fantastic tips!
Great use of the blogroll. Guest posts are a great way to increase your exposure to new readers.