Most recently, Rose published The Delilah Complex, a mystery featuring Doctor Morgan Shaw—a sleuthing sex therapist stuck between a serial killer and a secret society. Every week, Rose dishes hardcore writing advice at her blog, Buzz Balls & Hype, drawing from a stable of experienced writers. In addition, she publishes weekly, essential blog entries at BackStory--allowing her writer friends contribute creative advice every week.
Fledgling writers of any genre should bookmark her page immediately, gleaning weekly wisdom from writing therapist Susan O’Doherty, reading this sexy essay about public readings by Rachel Kramer Bussel, or planning a book tour that follows this even-handed advice from Kerry Madden.
I’m a regular reader of Rose's blog as well, and I’ve already benefited from her wisdom. After reading her ideas about podcasting, I published a few audio recordings of my own work—finding new readers in some strange places.
So I was pretty excited when M.J. Rose agreed to participate in my new, deceptively simple feature: Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers--delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web publishing...
Jason Boog:
You write erotic thrillers, a genre a bit outside of the mainstream. How can a writer with specialized tastes--from sci-fi scribes to dot-com murder mystery writers, use the Internet to connect with specialized audiences?
M.J. Rose:
I teach a class on this, online and one-on-one at Buzz Your Book, a course at Writers Weekly...
But the short answer is that between blogs, websites, listservs and news and entertainment sites an author can find a large number of like minded "sneezers," as Seth Godin named them in Unleashing The Idea Virus-- influential people who spread word of mouth.
Jason Boog:
How did you build your web readership for your blog? How does it help your book promotion?
M.J. Rose:
The goal of the blogs was not to help my book promotion but rather give me an outlet to rant and rave about some of what I’m passionate about.
But as it turns out now that I have a larger readership when I have a book come out, I let my blog readers know and they do spread the word.
Need some help marketing your novel with the same level of professional care as Rose?
Want some expert advice about building a blog to support your novel?
Be sure to tune in tomorrow at The Publishing Spot for the exciting conclusion of Five Easy Questions for M.J. Rose...
» Resources for Writers, Part Two from SmallBizMentor
In addition to the book titles I've already mentioned, it's important to get to know your field through periodicals and online resources. I enjoy the various types of magazines available to writers, but I've only chosen to subscribe to a... [Read More]
Tracked on: January 30, 2006 4:50 PM | Permalink to Trackback