#4 Twitter gives us insider information:
These days it often feels as if we are thirsting for knowledge while drowning in a sea of information. Search engines give us instant gratification, but it would take a thousand lifetimes to sort through all the options clamoring for our undivided attention. How can we possibly manage it all?
We rely on our community to be information filters. Humans have always done this to a certain degree. Word-of-mouth sales have always been the best kind. If people started talking positively about your product, that was worth its weight in gold, camels or Winchesters. Bad word-of-mouth could get you run out of town on a railroad. These days, we still rely on word-of-mouth.
Our Twitter peeps act as gatekeepers by reviewing products positively or negatively. If I see 5 people on Twitter rave about a book, a blog, a movie, guess what I am checking out? Conversely, if the same amount of tweeps says a book is so bad that papering a birdcage with it should be considered animal cruelty, I don’t think that book is going to make it into my library.
This is a massive time-saver, and we writers are always in need of more time. We can rely on our community to point us in the direction of great books, blogs, magazines, conferences, workshops, etc. This way our time is spent wisely, leaving more time to write great books.
Kristen Lamb is the author of the best-selling book We Are Not Alone—The Writer’s Guide to Social Media. She is currently represented by Gina Panettieri of Talcott Notch Literary. Kristen worked in international sales before transitioning into a career as an author, freelance editor and speaker. She takes her years of experience in sales & promotion and merges it with almost a decade as a writer to create a program designed to help authors construct a platform in the new paradigm of publishing. Kristen has guided writers of all levels, from unpublished green peas to NY Times best-selling big fish, how to use social media to create a solid platform and brand. Most importantly, Kristen helps authors of all levels connect to their READERS and then maintain a relationship that grows into a long-term fan base.
