Twitter, Facebook, and I Really Should Update My Website

Jane Friedman, Christina Katz and Kassia Krozer are offering a session on managing time when it comes to social networking.

Kassia: "I live my life online. I check my email before I pour my coffee."

Christina: She has 3 e-newsletters, 3 blogs, 3 websites, a -year-old daughter. She suggests weaving into your day the things that you feel will advance you as a writer.

Jane: Do you use an RSS readers?

Kassia: She uses Google reader on her iPhone at the gym. She has a process by which she reads blogs and info online. RSS, she says, is the best invention. She subscribes to the information that she needs and is interested in. (RSS stands for "really simply syndication.")

Christina: You asked what could be a big time suck--that would be Google reader. She's now a convert, but she had to recognize that she only needs to read on her focused topics.

POSTED BY ALICE POPE

Blog Hogs, Social Twitter and Online Tools for Authors: Blogs and blogging (continued)

Kassia Krozser endorses topical blogging. This means, pick a topic and focus your blog around that topic to establish yourself as an authority.

An audience member asked, " How do I get people to my blog?" Kassia answered that she believes in generous linking (to the blogs and websites of others).

POSTED BY ROBERT LEE BREWER

Blog Hogs, Social Twitter and Online Tools for Authors: Blogs and blogging

Kassia Krozser on blogs: "Not just for navel gazing."

Three types of blogs:

1. Personal blog. Good for developing voice.
2. Group blog. Pros: multiple writers producing more content (like this blog). Cons: these blogs can be a little scattered (not like this blog hopefully).
3. Blog tour. This is where you can post on other bloggers' blogs. Make sure you have original content and that it's relevant to the blogger's audience.

Q: How long should a blog be?

Kassia: As long as it needs to be--and in your writing style. There are no rules.

POSTED BY ROBERT LEE BREWER

Christina Katz: Meaningful Platforms (Continued)

"Blogging: There's a whole chapter on it in my book. I have A LOT to say about it, more than we have time for here. So here's what I'm going to say: Don't start blogging until you're ready to put some energy into it in that cheerful, consistent way I talked about earlier."

In the prioritized platform to-do list, she advises you: Do your website first. Start your blog last.

Another great gem from Christina: "Platform building isn't any one thing you do. It's everything you do."

POSTED BY Jessica Strawser, Editor, WD magazine