ARMCHAIR BEA - EXPANDING BLOGGING HORIZONS

I remember (this was YEARS ago, long before I'd sold my first book) reading an article about writers promoting themselves online and getting sick to my stomach.  A website?  A blog?  I didn't want any of that; I wanted to write books.  The me I was years ago couldn't fathom how doing anything online could possibly help me.

After I'd sold my first book (at the encouragement of my editor), I headed out there, finally setting up an online presence.  In the beginning, I thought I'd only advertise my own work; as time went on, I entered into the conversation about books, finding new authors to adore, as well as other literature enthusiasts just like myself.  I connected with other readers in a way I never thought I would.

I've gotten increasingly more comfortable with blogging over the years; I've expanded into vlogging (in this short clip, below, I explain why I chose Peculiar as the setting for my forthcoming YA, FERAL):


I've also taken advantage of blog tours, and I've become one of those (masochistic?) authors who reads her reviews.  I read them during those blog tours; I read them on Goodreads and Amazon; I have Google Alerts set on my name and title and read everything that comes through my inbox.  I read those reviews (good and bad) to find patterns, to understand in broad strokes why those who liked a book connected with it, why those who didn't like it just couldn't get into it.  I read those reviews to understand who my readership is--who's on the other end of the conversation I'm having as a writer (I've said it before, but the best books really are a conversation between author and reader). 

That connection (to other lit nuts, to my own readers) has truly been a game-changer.  I approach my work in ways I never would have, had I not been part of the online network.  And I can't wait to find out where that network will take me, in the years to come...