kelly_parra

I was lurking on a Twitter Kid Lit Chat last night and social networking sites were brought up. Do Twitter, Myspace, Facebook really help spread the word about books? What kind of updates/tweets do you like to read? Is Twitter replacing blogs? How do writers keep these social networks separate from the personal life?

Good questions!

I have an account with all three of these social network sites and a blog so I thought I'd give my two cents...

Do Twitter, Myspace, Facebook really help spread the word about books?

In my experience Twitter, Myspace, and Facebook don't help me to sell books. I can't say that for every author, but what I use these sites for are to connect with other writers, readers, and industry people. It is a way for readers who have read my books to stay updated on what might be going on with my writing or giveaways. It's a way for me to keep track of my favorite authors, celebrities, TV shows, and the publishing industry.

What kind of updates/tweets do you like to read?

I like to read tweets that are clever and make me smile. I like to read tweets about interesting industry links and powerful quotes. I like to read tweets about topics I'd like to converse with other people about. Twittering is fun and informative and can just take a few seconds to dish out.

Is Twitter replacing blogs?

I don't think Twitter is replacing blogs because of the short character count. But I will admit since I've been tweeting, I don't blog as much. If I have a thought that I can simply type and send out quickly rather than taking the 15-20 minutes to blog, then I'm going to tweet it. I'm all about saving time these days!

How do writers keep these social networks separate from their personal life?

Very carefully! haha. I have to admit Facebook is more of a social site for me. I rarely use it for promotion because I have many family and personal friends on the site. If I have an interview or event, I'll definitely post it on FB, but FB has turned out to be my procrastination station. I try to keep Twitter, my blog, and Myspace strictly writer friendly, but I do slip up every now and then. :)

Okay, I'm trying something new!

Podcasting. *chuckle*

On this playlist I have the first "LV" Cast and as well as an excerpt of Invisible Touch. I'm hoping to produce a monthly podcast so we'll see how it goes.

I'm also trying this out as a Q & A if readers or friends have any questions about my books or writing in general. This is actually pretty technical and it took me time to figure this out and I am not a pro. There are some glitches, but I hope to get more savvy about this if this works out.

So introducing the LV Cast by Kelly Parra...


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Have you heard of Skype?

It is a communicating program where you can have conference calls from computer to computer for free! No matter where you live, free long distance when both callers have accounts and no exchanging of phone numbers.

I was contacted by As Written By for a Skype podcast interview and I looked into Skype and discovered how easy it is to download and login. On Saturday, we had the interview. I was nervous and the lovely teen reader/writer was nervous, but she did great and hopefully I did okay too. I know I paused a time or two on answers, but it was fun. haha!

The podcast will be posted on site in a couple of weeks, but I highly recommend these types of interviews for authors. The reader group was about 2 adults and 8 teens and after the interview, I took questions from the group. Hopefully I'll be able to do more of these in the future. I just think it's a really great way to reach out to reading groups.

On Sunday, I had another phone interview for a newspaper article. One on one is a little easier, but still I'm not that experienced at oral interviews as of yet and hopefully I didn't sound like a nerd. haha.

One particular question she asked was why I write about forbidden topics. It was unexpected because I hadn't thought about it that way, but she mentioned that graffiti is frowned upon and psychic senses not really supported in reality. I told her I guess I had a rebel streak. LOL!