Rachelle Gardner, a top literary agent (as I’m sure you know) stated on her blog recently, “I almost wanted to announce that I’d no longer accept queries from anyone who doesn’t already have a good solid head start on a platform. (I won’t draw such a clear line in the sand, but consider yourself informed.)”

This quote leads perfectly into the second part of my ‘platform’ series. To expand on a promise from last week, a great way to get exposure is to guest blog on your favorite sites. As I already mentioned, just send your stuff in. Simple enough. Don’t be afraid of rejection. In this business, those (dreaded) things should eventually just roll off our shoulders. Why not practice that move now? Not a big deal; there’s always another avenue, another opportunity.

Here’s one specific opportunity for you—write a blog (or blogs) in your genre or area of expertise, and find a way to slip your name into it. Go even further and put your name in the title and a link to your home page in the article somewhere. Then submit it to Ezine Articles.
Lisa Barone, from last week’s blog, states that Ezine is a “great place to establish authority and build your personal brand, as it’s arguably the most cited article directory on the Web.” There you go!

There are a couple of other things you can do to build your platform, but I’ll leave those for you to discover. I’m going to move on to the next crucial part of all this. Alysson Fergison from DirJournal Marketing Articles helped out here.

So, you have all these sites and networks set up. How do you know that all of the information on them, or information written about them (i.e. you) is correct? You don’t want to do all this work just to have your good name tarnished, right? Well, there’s a way to keep track of it all. Just consider me, Eden Tyler, your solution ‘girl.’ (See how I did that—link and all?! Of course you’ll do a better job. You won’t be quite so conspicuous.)

The first, and easiest, way to track involves Google, not surprisingly. They seem to do it all, don’t they? (Heck, I even use their phone!) Google Alerts take only seconds to set up—I know because I just did it—and it notifies you via email on any topic about which you’d like to monitor. You can control the width and frequency of the search quite easily. I just typed in Eden Tyler (that one was better—plus I got the chance to plug my second blog), and it will search for any updates throughout the day, including any potential negative content.
Yahoo! offers the same service — Yahoo! Alerts. Simple to use and simple to remember.
Here’s one last one I found. If you are a Twitter user, search your name regularly using Twitter Search.
Cake. The only drawback is that none of these systems are very in-depth as to the information they are able to give.

That leads us to another way to monitor your online reputation. RSS feeds. There are many options for this, such as Technorati, Google News, and Yahoo! News. Like Google and Yahoo! Search, these sites allow you to receive feeds about any topic you’d like. The shortcoming here is that you have to log in every day and check the results yourself.

There is a site that is simpler, though. BlogPulse offers something called “Search the Blogosphere,” which allows you to subscribe and receive daily updates via RSS. Much easier. And with all the information I’ve given you, simple seems to be the best choice. At least that’s what I’m choosing. Because, heck, if we spend all our time on our brand/platform, when are we supposed to find time to write? Right?

I hope you found this helpful rather than confusing. I’m a bit loopy from all the information, but the point was for me to be the only one to end up that way. You all should have it a lot easier.

I’m wishing you luck in this and all endeavors! Most likely, I’ll have a new project for you soon…. (Eh.. Let’s hope not—this was work! I’ll try for fun next week.)

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Since winning her first writing competition at a young age, Eden Tyler, has only fallen more in love with the written word. She uses her English, Psychology, and Sociology backgrounds to create depth to her own stories and novels while contributing to and running websites about writing. This is what fulfills her, along with working as Co-Editor for Fuel Your Writing, but she also enjoys the freelance work that puts food on the table (and that ever-essential roof overhead) for her family.

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I’ve been rather concerned about my platform as of late. To be quite honest, I wasn’t aware until a couple weeks ago that I even needed one. I’m thankful I was already well on my way to creating one, though, or else I would have been overwhelmed by the insane amounts of information out there about platforms and brands.

A few days ago, I came across www.dirjournal.com while searching for an image on Google. (I needed a Twitter logo to put on my personal blog to announce I had finally joined.) Well, this site I found is rather interesting and informative — it’s called DirJournal Marketing Articles and is all about “Design Trends, Internet Marketing, SEO, [and] Social Media Marketing.” Thankfully, three authors on the site, including Lisa Barone, were kind enough to break it down in about four articles. In turn, I’m going to attempt to make it simple for you all, as well, so you can go about creating your platform or making it even bigger and better than it already is. Here’s hoping I can make it a little less overwhelming for you. I will start this week with Lisa’s article, and then next week, I’ll delve deeper. Initially, I was going to put all the information into one blog, but as I began writing, I quickly realized that this is a serial article. So stay tuned.

First thing’s first. What is a platform? And why do we, as writers, need a platform, or brand?
Well, put simply, it’s how you are represented on the internet, and you need one so that people know who you are. Most likely, no one is going to read books written by an author who hasn’t made what s/he is all about readily available. You want people to know you and your work. And you want to show yourself in the best light possible. It’s also important that the information you put out there is garnering a lot of attention.

So, if you don’t already have a blog or a home page, get one. That should be #1 on your list. I have a WordPress blog and I recently purchased the domain name edentylerwriter.com for only $14.97/yr. Rather affordable, I believe. And well worth the money because when others do a Google search for your name, it will be easier for them to find you this way. Be vain. It’s worth it.
Next step is to set up a Google profile. Every time I do a search for “Eden Tyler,” my Google Profile shows up at the bottom of the first page, without fail. On this profile, you are able to tell potential readers anything and everything you’d like them to know about yourself, and you can also set up links to all of the websites you are involved with, or own. Most of us most likely have one of these already, as even this site has a ‘following’ which you can join through the use of your own Google profile.
After you’ve accomplished the two most important things, you now should join as many social networking sites as you can. These include LinkedIn, Naymz, and Facebook, among others. Make sure you seem as professional as possible when using these sites and join up with others in your chosen career path. Network and learn. Of course you can have fun, too. Twitter is a little less formal and doesn’t have to be used just for writing contacts. Nor does Facebook. But sites such as LinkedIn are a lot more professional. In fact, Lisa set aside an entire section of her article just for LinkedIn. She feels it’s that important to have a profile on the site because it ranks rather highly during Google searches. I have not set up a profile on the site yet, but it’s my next order of business. I believe it’s one of the first two or three results that pop up when searching my name. Unfortunately, there is already a semi-famous Eden Tyler (a male, NYC-based director), so his information shows up rather than mine. This needs to be fixed. Pronto!

One last step, which I will explain in further detail next Friday, is to guest blog as often as the opportunity is made available to you. Don’t be afraid to ask site owners if they need any help. Send in examples of your work and see what the responses are. The worst that can happen is people say, “No.” But it could also be a nice and easy way to get your name out there. Acquire some followers. Usually, these aren’t paying gigs, but we’re not quite to that point yet. Baby steps.

Hope this helps you all arrive a little closer to your writing goals. See you next week for another installment.

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Since winning her first writing competition at a young age, Eden Tyler, has only fallen more in love with the written word. She uses her English, Psychology, and Sociology backgrounds to create depth to her own stories and novels while contributing to and running websites about writing. This is what fulfills her, along with working as Co-Editor for Fuel Your Writing, but she also enjoys the freelance work that puts food on the table (and that ever-essential roof overhead) for her family.

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This information is too good not to share with you lovely ladies (and gents). So for my post today, I’m going to cheat a little bit and direct you to a blog post by author Lilith Saintcrow. When asked if writing a good book is all you need to get published, this is how she answered.

http://www.lilithsaintcrow.com/journal/2009/06/a-good-book-aint-all-you-need/

Since I’m in the middle of shopping for an agent, I found this information timely and helpful—and pretty fun. Plus, it’s a good reminder that publishing takes time, a thick skin as well as know-how.

So what are your thoughts? What else do you need to land yourself an agent as a first-time writer?

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Since Eden’s post on Friday was so helpful, I thought it’d be appropriate to do a critique using her advice.

Email your first five sentences of any WiP to ifyougiveagirl@gmail.com by Saturday June 27th and I’ll post them Sunday June 28th.

This is not a contest, so it’s open to all Girls With Pens as well!

Remember to look at the rules Eden specified and we’ll all be as helpful as we can!

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On Rejection:  Or what I have learned about publishing so far….

For those of you who are following my blog who are not aspiring novelists, forge ahead with amusement. For those of you who are published authors who may peek in here, forge ahead with amusement and pity. And for those of you who may be literary agents that nose around, forge ahead with sublime interest and a deep desire to read whatever it is I have to write. That is the point right? Pique your interest and hope I catch you on a good day. In some cases it is the hope of getting your assistant on a good day. I wish I knew what the assistants wanted to read… can someone blog about that please? Anyway….

I finished my first novel in December. I am almost through with my second. That was fast, right? Yeah, well it was written fast because getting attention for the first one may just kill me. The only way I know how to deal with the waiting/rejection process I have come to know and love (like a hair shirt), is to keep on writing. I wrote what I thought were the last words of my novel Haunting Anne on my birthday, December 23. I was awash with enthusiasm and confidence that with my dream fulfilled I would be a huge success. Or at least successful, or maybe brush up against success, or see it from across a room even? Hmmmm. I had so much to learn.

What I didn’t know still amazes me. I didn’t know you had to find a literary agent. I didn’t know you couldn’t just send your manuscript in a brown paper package and wait for a publisher to reject or publish your work. The business doesn’t run that way anymore. The big houses require an agent submit your work, the indie houses are great, but they are very picky about what they represent, so if your genre is all over the place, as is mine, you are screwed. And the really priceless part is that many of the great literary agents don’t accept what they call “unsolicited queries” either. Huh? Shut UP.

So I did what any good American would do. I asked everyone I know if they had an “in.” And one did! Yeah! I was saved. But I did the unthinkable. I happily sent agent number 1 the wrong draft of my manuscript. Damn my disorganization, damn email, damn hitting send.

Agent number 1 was really nice to me. She told me my writing was “strong” which I know now is agent speak for “please don’t kill yourself. I can’t have your blood on my hands…” because that term “your writing is strong” pops up in almost every form rejection that comes my way.

I didn’t even know what a query letter was. I found out. And then I did unthinkable thing number two. I queried widely, to the most open and friendly of agents. To the agents who would really like my book. But I didn’t research how to write a query letter first. Yes, I know. You don’t have to say it. I am still shaking my head. I filled those queries with boastful, typo’d comments and sent them out with names spelled wrong and with a vain, puffy bio. No joke. Some were nice enough to send out the automated rejections. Some weren’t and I don’t blame them.

I then wrote the good one. Really good! In fact I got a lot of response to my “good query letter.” And the requests for partials flooded my inbox. That’s the process, for those who don’t know it. You send the query and if the agent likes it they ask for a partial, if the agent likes that, they ask for the full, if the agent likes that you get an agent! Which still doesn’t mean you get your book published, because after all that work, the agent has to do the same thing you just did with the actual publishing houses. Crazy right? Yep.

So I send those partials out and I proceed to do unthinkable thing number three. I know… high drama. Agents don’t seem to like prologues. My manuscript started with one of those. Agents don’t seem to like back story, my manuscript is full of it. (But I like a good back story, doesn’t anyone want any description anymore? Sheesh.) And let’s not even touch the typo issue. One of the reasons I am writing this very blog is for editing practice. Needless to say as soon as I sent them out, the rejections on the partials began to pour right back in. Yuck. Oh sad and sorry day.

So I rewrote the beginning, paid someone to edit the beast, and started again. Eureka! I have some interest. No contract, but some interest. Meanwhile, I started feverishly writing novel number 2 to keep my mind steady. Only to find out this is exactly what all decent agents and publishers tell you to do. Really, when will I learn to read advice first instead of after I figure it out the hard way? The basic idea is finish the first novel, really finish it, so that it can be read and understood. Query widely, and write number 2 while you wait. If you have no luck with novel number 1 by the time you are ready to query novel number 2, it is time to put that first baby down. No joke no crying, no whining, just do it. I am not there yet. Not even almost. Well maybe almost…this stuff is hard.

So here is my take on the whole adventure. I am a really lucky person. I have found what I love to do. This is rare. I can finish a book. That is rare. I learned the process the hard way… I don’t think that is rare… maybe? I would like to think I am not the stupidest first time novelist on the face of the planet, but I guess I could be. Absolutely anything is possible.

I thought I would sum up this entry with the actual query letter I send out, followed by my two favorite rejections so far, and then end with the pitch I wish could send. The dream pitch. Okay, here goes:

Actual query letter for Haunting Anne

“Dear Agent’s name spelled right,

Anne is not your average girl. Imagine a deeply flawed, borderline sociopathic, Anne of Green Gables. For one thing, she sees ghosts, two of them to be exact, who live with her, and raise her like a good family should. For another, she is not fond of actual humans and this distaste for her own kind leads her to do some very, very bad things. <em>Haunting Anne</em> follows the life and adventures of a new kind of “young, creative, protagonist,” at the same time as it chronicles the tragic family history that precedes her, chases her, and ultimately defines her. Think Alice Hoffman and Stephen King sit down and rewrite “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.”

In my novel Haunting Anne a dark, unstable girl, finds herself on a unique (and sometimes dreadfully funny) journey from her industrial, east coast, urban playground to the Deep South where she confronts a father who abandoned her in order to get rid of ghosts who she cannot afford to lose. The 82,000 words of my strange, sad, character driven novel, weave history, crime, mystery, and psychological intrigue into a fast paced story that is, in the end, a simple tale of a girl who needs to find her way home.

(This is where I insert what I have researched about each agent and why I believe they should read my novel… and I really do the research. I learned that you NEED TO DO THE RESEARCH.)

About me:

I am a Sociologist by profession and degree. I teach Social Behavior and Social Interaction as well as many courses in Deviance at the university level. My background made it possible for me to create multi-leveled characters that are believably capable of many horrible and wonderful things. I live in New Haven Ct. with my husband and my three daughters. I am 38 years old and this will be my first published novel.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration,

Sincerely,

Suzanne (contact info here)

Okay: Now come my Favorite Rejections:

“This is brilliantly written. A really sharp, vivid portrait. Unfortunately, this isn’t something we could represent ourselves. I wish you good luck elsewhere.” This one made me very, very happy until I searched some writer’s forums and found out this person is usually very nice.

And then there was this one. I laughed so hard I almost wet my pants. It made me want to query him again with the next one. It made me want to sit with him and drink a beer. I am not kidding:

“‘I am 38 years old and this will be my first published novel.’ I can hear Annette Benning’s American Beauty character saying that.” My friend Sarah thought it was mean, but I think he was right. I can see Benning in that scene in the car, you remember…”I will sell this house.”

Now I want to put down in writing the pitch that I want to send. It has nothing whatsoever to do with a book. The Dream Pitch:

“Dear glorious agent whose picture is so lovely on your website,

I write. I write fast. I can write whatever you are looking for. I can write 10,000 words a day if I have a good idea and I am not interrupted. I am also not bad looking, which I know is important because I am a sociologist and we do studies on that kind of stuff. This means I could sell books. My jacket flap would be nice.

I play well with others. I will tear apart anything I think is brilliant if you say it will be better. I have a huge ego when it comes to the color of my eyes, but not when it comes to my writing. I believe authors need to work at what they do. I am willing to do the work.

Take me on, believe in me, if nothing else I could amuse you for the term of our contract.

Thanks,

Suzanne”

Pandering? Yes? Prostitution? No… not yet anyway. Kissing ass? Of course. But that is the truth. Honesty can be so base and ugly. But I wish we could all be a little more honest.

Suzanne M. Palmieri

Suzanne is a Sociologist by profession and degree. She teachs Social Behavior and Social Interaction as well as many courses in Deviance at the university level.

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Blog by Degrees (or Blog Frog)

I used to play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. I was horrible at it. Absolutely awful. And not because I haven’t seen Kevin Bacon films, but because I could never remember actors’ (or actresses’) names when under pressure. You definitely wanted to play against me. You’d win.

So what does this have to do with anything? Nothing really (I know- annoying!) but I was thinking about how I see a lot of the blogs I read linking up to each other. It got me wondering where I would end up if I followed the degrees of writer’s blogs- or as I prefer to say it- playing Blog Frog.

Well, here we go:

Archetype Writing Blog

http://archetypewriting.blogspot.com/2009/03/showing-vs-telling-cross-post.html

Post: Showing vs. Telling (Cross-Post)

Are you tired of hearing people tell you “show, don’t tell” over and over? I know I am. This was a great post about the difference. I’m including an excerpt below- but you really must go check out the entire thing!

Time to stop and ask questions about all five senses, using the most descriptive verbs you can find.

* What do your characters see? Does the SUV spin out of control, making the scenery whirl by as if the good guys were on a carousel? If your character is a racecar driver who’s lost control of a speeding car on multiple occasions, his impressions are going to be different from those of someone who just learned to drive.

* What do your characters feel? Does the SUV jolt to a halt? Does the SUV drop closer to the ground? Does the SUV slam into a curb? Do the airbags marshmallow out of the dash, crushing your characters into their seats?

* What do your characters smell and taste? Can they smell rubber burning as it’s dragged across the asphalt? Can they taste their own fear? What does that taste like?

* What do your characters hear? Having blown a tire, I can tell you that the explosion of one bursting is as loud and startling as gunfire. But what else do your characters hear? Other cars screeching to a halt around them?

jumps to

The Innocent Flower by Lady Glamis

http://theinnocentflower.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-is-with-all-zombies.html

Post: What Is With All The Zombies?

First of all, there is a really cool picture of a makeup artist creating a zombie look. Secondly- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies- need I say more? I’m not totally into the zombie thing, so let’s just continue on.

jumps to

DEFCON Whiskey

http://defconwhiskey.blogspot.com/2009/03/secret-project-is-secret-no-more.html

Post: The Secret Project is Secret No More

This post really caught my eye because it was unique. A full-on blinkie hinting at a small project tied to a big novel ….I’ve got to click on it right away!

jumps to

I Woke Up in Pittsburgh

http://iwokeupinpittsburgh.blogspot.com/2009/03/today-is-my-birthday.html

Post: Today is My Birthday

This whole blog is written from the characters POV. While there were more swear words than I personally enjoy reading, I cannot but be in awe of this idea. What a great way to get readers interested in your book. And it would force you get to know your Main Character inside and out.

In four degrees we managed to connect a Rorschach Inkblot Test to a 2^nd Birthday of an MC. I feel good about it.

Please share- what is your favorite blog and where has it led you lately?

Joyce

Joyce Wolfley began to write/edit/edit/edit/edit her young adult paranormal romance, Illusions in August 2008. It is currently still in one of those many edit stages.  Joyce graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Arizona State University thinking writing was a chore. Since writing her first novel she’s learned to appreciate the art and creativity of writing.

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