“Hey, Sylvia, there’s a new consignment store downtown for local artists, authors, etc. You ought to see about having them carry your Platt Valley cookbook.”
“Hello Mark, I have a friend who’s putting together a poetry slam. This might be a great opportunity to promote your book.”
“I read in one of my newsletters last week, that Branson Press is accepting romance manuscripts. You might want to submit yours.”
This is the sound of networking. I love my friends who are generous enough to share potential opportunities with colleagues. One of mine contacted me this morning to tell me about a revamp at a cat-oriented website and suggested I might be able to have my cat stories book featured there. Thank you, Sandy.
For some, networking is second nature. It has become a habit. When they hear about something that might benefit someone else, they make a mental note to contact that person. But then, I think many of us do that. We make a mental note. We may even write it down. But we don’t always follow through and actually pass along the information. Isn’t that right? You experience a fleeting thought—“Oh, Sarah might be interested in this.” Then you either forget about it, don’t take the time to do anything about it or you decide it may not be right for your friend, after all.
Good networkers are valuable friends. I do a lot of research in the course of my daily writing work—for the SPAWN Market Update, for articles and books and for my clients. I often contact a client to let them know about a new publisher I just learned about, a potential new outlet for promoting their book, a book festival or writers conference being planned in their area and so forth. It’s okay if that client or colleague doesn’t use the information. Sometimes it isn’t right for them. But if it is something that will help to move their business forward, sell more books, etc., that person will be most grateful that you thought enough about them to pass along that information.
Sometimes we solicit the help of others—in particular people who are good networkers—when we are seeking an opportunity or an item, for example. This time of year, friends are alerting friends to watch for potential holiday gifts on sale or in certain colors. I’m looking for a vintage 1950s/’60s fiberglass salad bowl, for example—12” across either in the green pattern or possibly the daisies/sunflowers pattern. By telling you this, I am being the networkee—asking for help from all of you networkers out there.
In fact, this is a good time of year to practice networking. And once you’ve gotten the hang of it by asking for help, leads, suggestions, etc. and by offering it, carry this over into your writing, publishing work. Give to others when you discover something that might be useful in their work and spread the word when there is something you are seeking.
What’s the most interesting, amazing, valuable networking experience you’ve ever had? Perhaps it was introducing a couple who ended up happily married. Now that’s something to be proud of. Maybe you shared information about an upcoming mystery writers’ conference and your colleague landed a gig speaking to authors. Or maybe someone brought you word of a new specialty store opening in a nearby town and you were the first to do a successful book signing there. We’d like to hear your story. Leave your comment here.
Guest Blogger
Lately, I’ve had people email me asking if they could be guest blogger here. I do welcome guest bloggers, but only if they can write something of interest to you—my followers. That would be material related to writing, publishing and book promotion.