You Made the News! Now What?

You Made the News! Now What?

A media outlet interviewed you. Congratulations!!

Contributing to articles is a fabulous way to become a well-respected expert in your field!

But once the article goes live, your work isn’t over.

First, share it all around.

I’m so grateful to have landed with Mango Publishing Group. My editor and their social media coordinator share pretty much anything I send their way. So my first step is to send a link to any new piece to them.

Tweet the link and tag anyone else in the piece, including the publication and especially the journalist who wrote it.

Post on Facebook. If you have a business page, start there, but there’s rarely harm in sharing to your personal page at a different time for more visibility. If your friends won’t celebrate your success, why are they your friends? Don’t overdo the promo, of course. But people want to know what’s going on and might be interested enough to share the article.

Also post in any Facebook groups that allow promotional links. Find ones that are the right fit for you and your topic. I belong to many groups but also started my own wellness group where I share relevant information.

Are you on LinkedIn? That’s where the biz folks are. If there’s any business angle post it there.

Pin to a board on Pinterest. Create a board for a specific topic or a “Where I’m Quoted” or “Featured Ins” or some other catchy title related to your topic. Things pinned on Pinterest have a very long shelf-life.

Instagram allows you to use Link Tree to create a link in your bio where you can add articles, social media platforms, and your website since Instagram only allows one link. Post a photo from the article,  preferably the one closest to your quote, then say the link to the article is in your bio.

Don’t forget other relevant organizations. Would the piece interest your high school, college, or professional association? Send it all around.

Hashtags

Be sure to find relevant hashtags because that’s how strangers find articles on social media. Check out Frances Caballo’s excellent post on hashtags for authors. Sometimes that’s what you’ll want, but if your feature covers more than writing, use a hashtag appropriate for your topic. Tons of articles cover hashtags. Here’s one I like. Choose hashtags for the correct social media channel. Popular Twitter hashtags may not trend on Instagram.

Blog It

If you’re new to this process, you could blog about the experience of pitching to a journalist and doing the interview. Write about moving forward with a more involved marketing strategy. Or blog about your topic and link to the piece. Be sure to use the WordPress plugin Yoast or another search engine optimization (SE)) tool. I love Yoast because it removes the guesswork.

Email It

Do you have an email newsletter? It’s lovely to include a link to this new “featured in” with your next newsletter. If you were quoted at length, send the whole quote as the newsletter content with a quick “Not sure you saw this” note. People subscribed to your newsletter because they want to stay in touch.

In the News Page

If it’s your first interview, now’s the time to start an “In the News” page on your website where you collect these things. Leave it as a draft at first, until you collect a few, but have them all in one place on your site.

Save It

And do save a pdf of it. In Chrome you can “print” to “save as pdf.” I do that with every article. Sometimes articles disappear and you want to save it for posterity.

Go you!

“MEANWHILE, NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH ROLLS ON!” Write Now Columbus – November 2020

Write Now Columbus – November 2020

Hi Writers:

I’m not going to talk about it. We’ve heard enough already, and we’ll hear more later tonight and in the days (weeks, years?) to come.

Take a breath. I’ll take one with you.

Instead, I’ll remind us all that our local literary organizations, especially our beloved Thurber House, desperately need support. Attendance is down and expenses are not. I donated. I hope you will too. PLEASE DONATE.

Between the event I’m not talking about and Thanksgiving, writing events have slowed. The Write Now Columbus calendar shows 18 events. If I missed any, please let me know.

Meanwhile, National Novel Writing Month rolls on!

If you began right now (this was originally written on the 3rd of November,) you would only have to write 1,786 words a day to complete the 50,000 word challenge by the end of November. I’m teaching a free NaNoWriMo workshop, “Now that You’ve Begun, How Do You Keep Going?” hosted by WNBA-SF on Wednesday, November 11th at 3pm. I hope you’ll join me. Registration is required.

For those of you trying to avoid buying books from the big “A,” check out bookshop.org. Aiming to keep independent bookstores alive, the founder is taking aim at the big “A.”  Bookshop.org even offers affiliate opportunities. I set up a store to support Write Now Columbus (we do have expenses) so perhaps you’ll consider purchasing books there.

I continue to post author interviews on my blog. Here are the two most recent with Cheryl Leutjen, author of Love Earth Now, and Marlena Fiol, author of Nothing Bad Between Us.

My most recent project is a Facebook group for mind and mood health called “Mind, Mood & Movement.” I’m posting daily “practices” in mindfulness, writing, and movement as well as memes, surveys, and eventually challenges. If you need a lift, check us out. It’s a private group, but all are welcome.

And if you would like to hear more from me beyond what I offer in these Write Now Columbus updates, please sign up for my author newsletter using the form on the homepage.

No matter the outcome of the event I’m not mentioning, you know what to do. You’re a writer. What do writers do? Writers write.

Write on.

~ Nita

Please follow me on your favorite channel.
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DHAMT Quote Meme Making the Rounds

DHAMT Quote Meme Making the Rounds

DHAMT Quote Meme Making the Rounds

A quote from page 244 of my memoir, Depression Hates a Moving Target: How Running with My Dog Brought Me Back from the Brink, is making the rounds on the Interwebs.

Saundra Goldman, Founder/editor at Creative Mix, styled this meme and posted it on several social media channels.

My heart filled to see she was using something from the book to inspire the writers who follow her. Thanks so much, Saundra!

The following week, google alerts notified me that “Sweatpants and Coffee” had included Saundra’s meme and tagged me in their post, Encouraging Words: Wisdom from Around the Web | Vol. 32.

The blog post introduced the meme series with:

“You never know when the right words of encouragement will come along and give you a much needed boost. Here are five thoughtful and inspiring quotes from around the web.”

Read the full post at Sweatpants and Coffee!

What an honor to have my words included! Thanks so much.

I continue to be amazed by the web of life.

The Number One Rule of Social Media (and life)

“Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are born selfish.” ~ Richard Dawkins

As I mentioned in a previous post, agents and editors want writers to have an established platform when pitching a book. I’ve spent the past month consulting experts and reading books and blog articles on the topic while I try a few techniques. For example, I tackled Twitter with some success even though I’m a major introvert. I’m growing my social media following, blogging more often, and gathering additional subscribers to my email list for Write Now Columbus.

No matter which book I pick up, which expert I talk to, which blog I read, the bottom line comes back to one thing: Generosity. If I’m not offering my followers and readers valuable information, I’m doing both of us a disservice.

Learning this reminded me of a saying I heard years ago. “You have to give it away to keep it.” Seems like a paradox, eh? But in yet another area of my life, it’s proving true.

The books and blogs and experts talk about “noise to signal ratio.” If there’s too much “noise” (Buy! Buy! Buy!) and not enough “signal” (Here’s a helpful thing.) people will turn and run. If I follow someone or subscribe to their blog and all they do is pitch their wares, I won’t hang around.

Why would I expect this to be any different when the tables are turned?

To address this, my current experiment is to share 99% useful or humorous (laughter is also a gift) information. I offer techniques I’ve found helpful, answer questions, and (of course) share cute animal photos. Cue #Scarlet the #ninetyninepercentgooddog. Use her hashtag on my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts!

The remaining 1% of my platform is sales pitch material. This might be a link to my newsletter, a request to follow this blog, or an announcement of a class I’m teaching. It’s just a fraction because, when people think of me, I want them to see me as helpful and entertaining rather than as someone chasing after their wallets.

The unintended consequence of trying to be “of service,” is that I no longer dread “marketing.” More than once, when I’ve been sad or in crisis, a mentor has advised me to reach out to help someone else (unless I’m in a deep deep depression for which I need medical intervention). Invariably, just as in the rest of my life, if I can be useful when promoting my business, I feel better too.

What is your experience with being generous in business? I’d love to hear about it!

Rethinking the Purpose of a Title

Rethinking the Purpose of a Title

When I first began blogging in April of 2006, I thought of each title the way a poet might. The title didn’t so much introduce the “poem” (blog article) as enhance it. It was its own “line” in the poem.

I was idealistic and much younger then. I was still in MFA school.

And, I hadn’t read this stack of books on using social media effectively.

In the age of Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Facebook business pages, a title must do more than entertain. A title must make a promise. The article must fulfill it.

With overburdened schedules and a flood of information, readers scan titles for the helpful or entertaining. It is the age of the micro-blog, the mini-article, the itsy bitsy essay. If the title doesn’t catch a reader’s attention, it is lost.

You’ve probably already noticed a change here. What I might have previously titled, “The Farmer” became “Good? Bad? How Can You Tell?” and what I contemplated calling, “The Introvert’s Dilemma” was posted as “Twitter for Introverts.” These are still creative, I hope, but more informative. They promise information.

Don’t worry. I’ll still post photos of #Scarlet the #ninetyninepercentgooddog with silly titles.

Those promise to entertain!

And now I shall go enter “Effective Blog Titles” into the google machine and see if the experts agree.

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