Social Media for Writers and Creative Writing Blogs

Consider this your friendly primer on creative writing blogs and social media for writers. We all know that the Internet is a great way to “get out there.” Get known. Put yourself in people’s sightlines in a new way. But what are the red flags to avoid when deciding how to promote a book on social media?

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Social Media for Writers: Important Don’ts

This can be intimidating, but it’s also inspiring. Shy people become less so online. Connections and friendships and business relationships are forged. More people know about you than ever before. But the kind of “shoot for the moon” attitude that social networking and figuring out how to promote a book on social media sometimes inspires also has a bad side. Sometimes people do things to get noticed that they wouldn’t ordinarily do, all because the Internet makes them feel bolder.

This can get dangerous when you realize that a lot of literary agents, editors, and publishing imprints are also online. The exact people you want to impress. This should be easy, right? Not so fast, buckaroo…

Here are some things that I absolutely hate when people do to publishing professionals on social networking sites*. Just because I accept a friend request on my public agent profile (I have two Facebooks, one for Agent Me, the other for people I actually know from high school, etc.), just because it’s easy to find me and add me, that doesn’t mean you now have an open channel to do whatever. My colleagues at ABLA or other agencies may feel differently, but here are the social networking moves that I consider a faux pas:

Do Not Send Query Letters Via Social Networking

Don’t do it. Just don’t do it. Don’t ever do it. Don’t ask me if I want to read your work via a Facebook or Twitter ping, either. Follow submission guidelines and get your work to an agent or editor the way everyone else does.

Unless you are specifically participating in some sort of logline, pitch, or query event on Facebook or Twitter, do not send your query to someone’s social media account. Chances are, you will not only be ignored, but you’ll look unprofessional, to boot. You’ve spent many months writing the novel. Give it the pitch it deserves. (More advice for how to pitch a book here.)

Refrain From Obnoxious Wall Posting

I welcome posts to my profile thanking me for the add or talking about a conference where you just saw me speak or about a book I’ve represented or whatever, but leave it at that. Don’t post things to my wall about your book or creative writing blogs.

The thinking is probably this: “Lots of people visit this person’s wall, so I can generate some extra traffic to my creative writing blog/ebook/whatever. It also looks like this person is endorsing my thing. That’s great!” I pick the things I endorse, whether for my Resources for Writers page or things I mention via social networking very carefully. I’ll either review something or retweet it. In fact, earlier this year, I retweeted a contest and it turns out the company running the contest was claiming rights ownership for things submitted, so I deleted my Tweet and didn’t recommend the contest anymore. I take whatever I mention seriously. It’s a matter of integrity.

Don’t use an agent or editor’s page as a billboard for your stuff. Not only is it annoying, but I guarantee that any such posts often get deleted, which takes time, which will only make it even more annoying. And forget about trying to pal up to an agent or editor by sending those quizzes or game invitations — we may be “friends” on Facebook but we’re not that kind of friends, and my real life friends know better than to waste their time (and mine) with that nonsense.

Don’t Invite Publishing People to Facebook Events for Your Book

There are a few blunders in the invitation arena, too. Don’t invite me to Events unless I actually know you. No book signings if I’m not a real friend of yours, no virtual launch parties, no poetry slams or what have you.

No group invitations, either. There was this one writing group that I was invited to a few months ago. My name was added to this group without my knowledge or permission. Members of the group started posting their writing samples. I’m guessing a lot of agents and editors were added to this group because the leader thought it would be a great and creative way to get some work noticed. Since I don’t join writing groups, I had no idea that my mail settings for Facebook sent me an email every time someone posted.

The day some random person added me to this writing group, I got over 200 emails from people posting. All for a group I didn’t want to be in. I was traveling that day, and couldn’t leave the group from the Facebook app while I was flying, so I had all this spam in my inbox. It made a bad impression

The new thing people are doing is adding me as a co-worker. They click that they work as “Writer” or “In publishing” or whatever, and they mark us as working together. Then I have to go to my profile and say to ignore this work information. Please stop doing that. I work alone at home and I know, for a fact, who my co-workers are. They’re two pugs named Gertie and Olive. And a baby named Theo. These people adding me as a peer on Facebook are not them.

It’s Illegal to Add People to Your Mailing List Without Their Knowledge

Another abuse of the Internet is adding my email address to mailing lists and newsletters. I’ve had many authors do this. They will add me to either their newsletter or add my email to another social networking site where they want to connect with me, and I get deluged in emails that I didn’t ask for. Do not sign anyone up for anything without their permission by using their email address. This should be common sense but you’d be surprised at how often it happens. It’s also illegal, and it could get you banned from your mail marketing client if someone were to complain. So if you value your relationship with Mail Chimp, and the agent you’re trying to target, rethink this strategy to drum up interest in your creative writing blog/ebook/whatever.

How to Promote a Book on Social Media: The Right and Wrong Ways to Get Attention

The bottom line is: there’s a right way and a wrong way to get attention. There’s also a right way and a wrong way for how to promote a book on social media. Don’t try and catch my eye through tricks or overstepping your bounds on the Internet. Catch my attention with the strength of your work and through official channels. All of the scenarios I mention above annoy me. And when I’m grumpy, I focus my frustration on the source of the social networking error: you.

You may be trying to expose me to the coolest event, newsletter, query, creative writing blogs, or game of Angry Birds ever, but I am never going to notice it because I’m too busy thinking you’re rude. If you really have something wonderful to show me, just show me like a normal person, don’t resort to Internet gimmicks.

Want more stuff regarding social media for writers? Here’s another post on social media marketing for writers, as well as a somewhat related post about editors who write marketing their own work.

Looking to refine your self-promotion and marketing strategies with ideas that actually work? Hire me as your publishing consultant and we can plan your next steps together.

Should I Post Writing Online?

In the last week or so, a few people have emailed to ask me whether or not to post writing online (like a few pages or a few chapters– on your blog, in forums, or whatever). This can be tricky. In the Internet age, if you post writing online on a blog, social networking site, or publish writing online in a literary journal, or public forum, it is considered “published.” I’ll let that sink in.

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Obviously, the length of the sample you post is important. Read on:

Posting Writing Online Is Dangerous If You Post Too Much

If you post an entire poem or short story online, and then you try to sell it to a literary magazine, for example, the fact that is has previously been “published” is not good, as the entire work has appeared elsewhere.

The editor of that literary magazine wants new, never-before-seen content. This applies both to print and online venues, as there are a lot of respectable online journals and literary magazines.

If you are posting a short portion of a novel online, and then the novel gets interest from an agent or editor, I’d say you could be okay, since the sample is short. Even though most editors and agents don’t like to work with previously published material, whether posted online or self-published (more on self-publishing here), a short sample on your blog may not be enough to put them off your project. (Careful, though, as individual policies here do vary greatly.)

So when you think about posting writing online, consider how much of your work you’ll be exposing. Are you posting all of it? That will count as “published” and that website will be your venue for the piece, so you better make your peace with it. A sample that’s less than 5% of the total work? You could post writing online, if you really want to, but know that you may run into some obstacles down the road.

Safe Places to Post Writing Online

The one exception to the “published” rule is if you post your writing online in a private forum that’s behind a log-in wall. One reason to do this is if you want to get critique of your work from other writers (or read some tips for finding critique partners). What you post in a members-only area of the Internet isn’t available to the general public and is therefore not considered “published” once it goes up.

If getting feedback is really the reason you want to post your writing online in the first place, I’d do it behind the closed doors of a private forum.

What Happens on the Internet, Stays on the Internet…Forever

Now, I know there are people thinking: But what if I post writing online and then take it down? Ah, Grasshopper, the reason is simple: online content never dies. Search engines log all new web content as it is created. If you put something online, ever, even for a short while, it will stay in a search engine’s cache and will still appear in search results.

Posting Writing Online to Attract a Literary Agent or Publisher

I’m probably not going to be popular for this opinion, but I don’t think you should post your writing online as a means of attracting editor or agent interest. While some agents and editors do troll blogs looking for talent, I get most of my clients from submissions and conferences. I’m not crazy about most unpublished writer blogs, as some of you know, so I don’t go prospecting there. Don’t even get me started on sites like Authonomy and InkPop.

Plus, your writing should change and grow as you keep at it. And first pages are usually the most wildly revised in any book. I know a lot of writers who keep hammering at their oh-so-important openings, draft after draft. Your beginning might change, so do you really want an old draft online for all to see? Maybe that doesn’t matter to you, but it certainly bugs me.

When I turned in my MFA thesis, I declined to make a copy available in the university library (what usually happens with thesis manuscripts). Why? After one revision, that manuscript becomes just another rough draft, and I don’t want a rough draft floating around. I don’t know about you, but I often look back at old writing and cringe. Unless you plan to keep updating your writing sample online, it will become stale work at some point.

How to Generate Buzz For Your Writing Online

If you do want to post something tantalizing about your book, post a query-like summary of the story and a tag line. That’s the same kind of advertising that a published book has: the back and flap copy that is meant to describe the story and entice the reader. Write some flap copy for your manuscript — this will be good practice to help you hone in on your hook, too — and put it on your blog. Some writers make a short and cheap video trailer. Others pick a playlist or images that evoke their work. That should be enough marketing to get people excited.

If you’re thinking of posting your writing online to get literary agent attention, there’s a better way: To submit a kick-ass manuscript. Turn to me for editing services and we’ll make sure you don’t have to resort to gimmicks to reach your publishing goals.

Should An Unpublished Author Maintain a Writer Blog?

Should an unpublished author maintain a writer blog? This is a fraught topic for many writers. Some seem forced into blogging. Others love it. If you’re happy to blog, please do it. This post is geared mostly to people who are on the fence and who are feeling pressure to start a writer blog because they hear that’s what they’re supposed to do. The tone of this question is usually, “Do I have to blog?”

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The Unpublished Author Quest for a Platform

This is a question that comes up a lot at conferences and from people who email me. It’s the familiar scenario: You’re an unpublished author chasing publication. You don’t have a book or a deal to blog about yet, but you’ve heard that you need an author platform and Internet presence, and you’ve heard that a writer blog can get you friends and traffic and riches and unicorns, and you’ve also heard about this Twitter thing. Yet it sounds overwhelming. And you wonder if you have enough to blog about. You wonder if you have the time to keep up with all these things.

But if the online writing groups you see other unpublished writers enjoying keeps bugging you — You have to blog! You have to Tweet! You have to Facebook!

What’s an unpublished author to do?

Your Time Is Better Invested Writing

I’m going to say, probably, the exact opposite of what you’d expect. See, I’m a person who blogs. And I have a Twitter. And I’m on Facebook. I also grew up in the Silicon Valley and worked for a bunch of Internet start-ups before I got involved in publishing. You think I’d be totally into unpublished authors blogging, Tweeting, flickring, Buzzing, Facebooking, and all that. Right?

Wrong.

I never look at the writer blogs of people who query me unless they can give me some kind of impressive fact, like “30,000 people visit this blog per month” or “I draw a daily web cartoon and have a following” or “I’ve created an interactive game that you can play” or whatever.

The Worst Thing You Can Do Is Blog Halfheartedly

If you’re iffy on blogging and worry, already, that you’ll run out of material, I say don’t do it. There are too many bad blogs, blogs about people’s cats (I swore I would never blog about my cat…then she got sick and I freaked out and I blogged…at every writer’s conference I attend, people still ask me about my cat!), blogs about their word count for the day and what book they’re reading, blogs by people who think they need a blog. Don’t add one more to the pile. Blogs without good, useful information or blogs by a clearly reluctant author are the worst.

The thing about blogs is that they’re a living thing. Blogs take your most recent entry and post it first. For the savvy, content-rich blog, that’s great. For the reluctant blog, that’s bad. Readers can log on and see the exact date when you lost your zest for blogging or ran out of content. And I’d say that a blog last updated in September 2009 is worse than no blog at all. It makes you seem out-of-date, irrelevant…maybe even dead. (Old blogs frozen in time are almost creepy.)

Being Practical About Platform

Fiction writers don’t need to pay attention to that whole “You have to have a platform” myth as much as nonfiction writers do. If you’re writing a novel or a picture book…what is your platform? That you like writing and you’re writing a novel or a picture book. Just like all the other writers out there. Unless you happen to be an expert in a subject matter that plays into your fiction, or you’re some other kind of professional writer who is crossing over, you’re not going to have any more platform than that.

The reason why I’m so negative about unpublished authors blogging and Tweeting is that it’s usually not good content. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about the Internet from actually working for it for all those years, it’s that users come to the Internet to see, “What’s in it for me?” They want valuable content that speaks to them. They Google: “How do I get this stain out of my white carpet?” “Is it okay that my baby is turning sort of purple?” (It’s probably not.) “How do I stop the hiccups?” “What’s a great summer BBQ recipe?”

A Writer Blog Works Best When The Content Helps Others…Not You

Most writer blogs — and most blogs in general — are about the writer of the blog, not about the user. I have a blog, but you’ll notice that I try to keep myself and my life out of it (and I was doing a dang good job until my cat got sick!). I want to use this space to give you valuable content, because I know that’s what people want from me. At the end of the day, they have their own cats to worry about, but they would like some writing and publishing advice.

The Benefit of Blogging Before Publication

Unpublished author blogs do one positive thing, usually: they foster community among other unpublished writers. You can come gripe about book rejection, brag about word count, share your successes and frustrations and make friends.

While that’s nice for you, it has little value to an agent or editor (and not all of us feel this way, so please take this as my opinion) who comes to visit. Unpublished authors also write about writing in their blog, and that may attract other unpublished writers, but it does have a limited reach. Published writers who write about writing usually attract a wider audience, as they have perceived authority.

If you have a writer blog where you can give people really valuable content, tips, and things to make their lives better (or at least to give them good cocktail party conversation), do it. If you are just thinking of blogging because everyone else does it or you heard that agents won’t consider you unless you have a writer blog, don’t.

Spend Your Time Writing

Plus, Web 2.0 (social networking) is a time suck. You can go pretty far down the rabbit hole with Tweets and Facebook updates. Then you lose sight of the thing that’s really going to get you published: writing.

Focus on your writing. And if you feel the need to be online, which you should, at least in some small way, put up a simple three page author website: main landing page with info about your work, about you page, contact page. That’s it, and it should be cheap to make a page that actually looks good and professional.

Once you’re under contract with a publisher, of course, everything changes. You’ll have stuff to say. You’ll have a book to sell. You’ll have events to publicize. You’ll have readers who want to know more about you. For now, though, don’t bow to the peer pressure if you really don’t feel comfortable blogging or Tweeting or Facebooking.

Do you have strategy questions about how to best use your valuable time? Need writing career advice? I’m happy to be your writing and publishing consultant, and we can come up with a road map together.

Self Publishing Considerations and How to Self Publish

I have never talked about self publishing on this blog. Of course, I have many thoughts on how to self-publish and the topic of self-publishing in general, but they’ve largely been quiet. Why? Because a small minority of self-published authors blame agents and editors and other gatekeepers for “having to” self-publish. The establishment is The Man. Agents keep literary geniuses down. So the geniuses circumvent The Man and self-publish. But, luckily, as the self-publishing market has matured, this type of writer gets less and less traction in the conversation, and I’m happy for that.

Self Publishing Considerations: Is It Right for You?

What finally got me to articulate myself on the topic is a fantastic Salon article. The average person has no idea what lurks in slush. The writers querying agents obviously think their stuff is up to snuff, or they wouldn’t be querying. Even so, most slush is not ready for human consumption. Why? Because writers are notoriously erroneous judges of their own work. A lot of them think they’re ready for “prime time,” and that is often not the case. It is my informed opinion—having read what most people call their polished, submission-ready work—that most self published books, unless professionally edited beforehand, will read like my slush pile, not like the New American Literature.

Most of the time, when you get a query rejection, it is really saying, “This isn’t ready for publication yet.” (Learn about at types of agent rejection here.) The questions that would go through my head when I would evaluate submissions as a literary agent were: Is this saleable? Can I sell it? If the answer to one or both questions was “no,” I would reject. If the answer to both was “yes,” I’d pursue the project. It really wasn’t more complicated than that.

I do have to say this about self publishing: it is a very useful tool for people who have a niche audience or their own book sales channels. Ideally, both. Or people who have figured out how to writing to market and game the system with tools like K-Lytics to build up their readership in an intentional way.

These are the types of writers who should be learning how to self publish. Most traditional publishers may not do “niche” projects (not a large enough target market to justify general trade publication). If you have a book about a very specific subject, say, a kid with heart disease, and you also have access to the American Heart Association’s mailing list through your day job, for example … you might be successful at zeroing in on your target readers through direct sales.

For fiction, it can be a little bit more nebulous, but that’s where strong genre and category specificity comes in, as well as keyword research.

Looking to Self Publish for the Wrong Reasons

But most people wondering how to self publish don’t have a niche book or a good marketing strategy: they want to target the mass market. They have a project that would appeal, in their opinion, to everyone and anyone. And self publishing a book intended for a trade audience is where these would-be authors get in trouble. Because reaching a mass audience of casual readers when you self publish a meant-to-be mainstream fiction project is very difficult.

From now on in this article, I’ll be talking about these people. The people who don’t believe what editors and agents keep telling them: their work isn’t ready. Just because a shortcut exists, doesn’t mean you need to use it, nor does it mean that you’ve hit upon a secret goldmine. And just because you use it, doesn’t mean you’ll get the same results as people who publish traditionally (your book distributed in stores … readers for your work … reviews … sales … any kind of profit).

The Internet disproves a simple, old-fashioned idea: “If you build it, (throw it up on Amazon KDP or any of these other websites) they will come.” Readers will not come. They have too much other stuff on their phone and ereaders and browsers and smart TVs. Every other author with a dream is uploading to KDP today as well.

The Internet is flooded with content. As a reader, my time and psychic space are limited. I seek only the things I’m looking for or already know about. I don’t go trolling for complete unknowns just to check out a new ebook, in most cases. Sure, maybe a Kindle ad will hit me in a curious moment, but those ads cost money … which is one of the pragmatic realities of self-publishing that not many people think about when they want to “prove all the haters (agents who rejected them) wrong.”

There’s definitely a right way to self-publish, and a wrong way. The right way takes an incredible amount of research, planning, skill, and execution.

How to Self Publish the Smart Way

But it’s not my job to sway anybody from wanting to self publish. All the people who want to self publish, should. Be prepared, if you go this route, to market. I don’t want you to be surprised at how difficult it is to get their books in the hands of readers. It’s also one thing to self publish once you already have a reader base, like Kindle evangelist Joe Konrath, who now has Amazon releasing his books, but quite another to rustle up some hungry eyes as a rank debut. But if you’re wondering how to self publish and your book is a good candidate, you should check out the Self Publishing Blueprint, a very comprehensive course full of great information.

It all depends on what will make you really feel like you’ve accomplished your goal. Each goal can be met in different ways, and each project can have a different path or outcome. While it is possible to traditionally publish something that was self-published originally, do know that this is unlikely. There are agents who will consider self published projects, if they have gone on to sell big (like, thousands or hundreds of thousands of copies). But a lot of literary agents and publishers prefer to focus on bringing something to market for the very first time.

Sure, there are exceptions. Christopher Paolini started out self publishing, and Fifty Shades of Grey is everyone’s prime example of a self-published project hitting the mass market. But it’s unreasonable to expect to be the next big hit, at least not without a lot of knowledge and elbow grease. The great news is, self-publishing tools (and educational resources) are more robust and plentiful than ever before.

For a client’s firsthand experience with how to self publish, check out this self publishing case study.

Many of my clients either want to self publish or have self published in the past. No matter your goals, I’ll work with you as a self publishing editor to help you arrive at the strongest possible project for any market.

Writer Online Presence Do’s and Don’ts

Since I have an online presence — and since a lot of agents talk a lot about writer online platforms for their clients and for prospective clients (even though this is more important for nonfiction writers who hope to sell projects on proposal) — I get asked about it fairly often. And for fiction writers and children’s writers, it’s a difficult topic. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and have some thoughts to share. People seemed to like my do’s and don’ts for the book pitch article, so here is another list for the writer online platform and online presence topic.

You Need Some Kind of Writer Online Presence

Basically, most authors and writers these days need a writer online platform, whether through Twitter or Facebook or an author website. I think that every person trying to break into publishing should at least have a 3-page website (welcome page, About page where you talk about yourself and your writing, and a contact page or whatever other things you think might be interesting to throw up there). I don’t, however, suggest that everyone blogs or Twitters or Facebooks. The reason?

Should You Have A Social Media Presence?

If you aren’t comfortable with social media and you don’t have any content that has value to it, you shouldn’t use it as your online presence. If you aren’t invested in it, then you won’t get an audience for your online efforts anyway. This blog, for example, offers value. You wouldn’t be reading it if I insisted on talking about MY clients or MY own writing or MY cat. I give you stuff YOU can use. A lot of writers who blog fall into the trap of only talking about their own stuff. While this might help other writers come together around one writer’s journey, or whatever, the appeal will be limited (and, I’ll add, all those aspiring writers who read the blogs of other aspiring writers could probably spend their time more wisely by, you know, writing).

So if you’re only Twittering or Facebooking or blogging to give information about yourself and to hawk your own projects, people will stop reading. Also, if you’re clearly uncomfortable with social media and you feel forced to do it, your efforts will clearly reflect that. There are enough bloggers and Twitterers out there already. We don’t need any reluctant Web 2.0 people joining the ranks… there’s too much other content to sift through already. (Check out tips on social media for authors.)

Remember Your Audience

Finally, with kidlit especially, and with fiction writers, there’s the question of audience. Kids don’t really read blogs that much. Teens hang out online but they’re more interested in social networking with friends, so there’s little conclusive data on how they interact with blogs (unless some one has read a study and has a link on hand… I’d love to check it out). If you write for kids, your audience for your writer online platform won’t necessarily be… kids. You’ll hit other writers, book bloggers, parents, librarians, and, if you write for older kids, some of your teen readers.

So make sure your content is geared toward your audience. And make sure it’s good content. That’s at the heart of building an online presence. With that in mind, here are some more tips!

Writer Online Presence DO’S

Create interesting content.
Leverage everything you do — blog about school visits, author events, books you’re reading, movies you see that have a good writing take-away, milestones of your book’s journey to publication if you’re that far along (check with your editor, though, to make sure you can post cover images and other production-related stuff), your literary agent search, etc.
If you’re an illustrator, share sketches and finishes, talk about your process, talk about the tools you use, show works in progress.
Use pictures or cover images to liven up your posts.
Tweet or Facebook or post interesting links you find, don’t just blah blah blah all by yourself.
Leverage other people to create content for you — host blog tours, have guest blogs, do interviews, bring added value by using your blog to spotlight fun and different people who fit in with the theme of your blog.
Write about things that interest a wider audience — like here, sometimes I write articles on writing craft that can apply to children’s writers but that can really benefit a broader audience, too.
Do contests and giveaways — remember, people are always asking “What’s in it for me?” when they read blogs.
If you write NF, use your blog as a place to talk about interesting things you’re learning about your subject matter, or research you’re doing yourself, or articles and research that’s currently coming out. For example, if you’re writing about butterflies, post the latest news, or current migrations going on, etc. With nonfiction, whether you’re writing picture books or novels with certain real world elements, you can make a blog that will become a resource to teachers… who might then teach your book in the classroom!

Writer Online Presence DON’TS

Rant or talk endlessly about yourself — make your blog a place that other people will want to visit. Besides, if you rant about how hard it is to get published or what scum publishing professionals are, it’ll come back to bite you. The agent who clicks on your blog link in your query will think you’re a negative and difficult person… not a positive business partner who will be a joy to work with.
Force it. Again, there are too many blogs online to try and add yours to the heap if you’re not committed. You’re better off not having one instead of doing a bad or unenthusiastic job.
Leave your blog hanging. Blogs are a huge time commitment and endlessly hungry little monsters. By the very virtue of a blog, your most recent post will be the first thing visitors see. If it’s from eight months ago, you’ll look outdated. If you can’t update at least once a week, you should think of a static website like the one I mentioned above.
Promote via Facebook. Use Facebook to get in touch with friends and fans and writing buddies. Don’t use your Facebook as a writer online platform, just set up a simple profile and use it to connect.
Exist in isolation. When you’re staring to blog, reach out. Respond to comments on Twitter. Post comments on the blogs of people who comment on your blog. Read other blogs. You can’t expect the “social” part of social media to be a one way street. (Note, readers… I am a total hypocrite because I am too swamped to do this part… Forgiveness, please.)

Find An Online Presence That Works for You

This should at least get you thinking about how much social media you really need and how much to get involved in. It’s a slippery slope. Some people start and can’t stop, others start and can’t wait to stop, leaving their blog skeletons up for the whole world to see. Find your own style. Concerns of writer online platform are more pressing for nonfiction writers, so the pressure is less for fiction writers, but you should still have SOME kind of online face. We do look for one, even for fiction folks.

If your book is picked up by a publisher, they’ll expect you to do some online marketing. It’s better to have at least a small website and some presence than none at all.

The first step in having a writer online platform is having a book to showcase. Hire me as your freelance book editor and I’ll help you polish your project before you show it to the world.