Comments on: Publishers: Online Tools Every Author Can & Should Master

By: christinakatz

christinakatz — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:47:44 +0000

Gosh, I bet that answer has a good technical answer but I don't know all the details. I switched from Safari a long time ago and I've never looked back.

By: christinakatz

christinakatz — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:46:53 +0000

When you have a book, you might have all three names, Amy. Each only costs about ten bucks to reserve and you can forward others to one main site. For example, I host my site at ChristinaKatz.com and direct The Prosperous Writer, Writers on the Rise, The Writer Mama, and Get Known Before the Book Deal here. Yes, I think it's worth grabbing your name now since it's so cheap to do so and you don't want to lose it.

By: christinakatz

christinakatz — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:44:53 +0000

And yes, these are platform-building/marketing tools for writers/authors. I've written a book on the topic of platform development for writers called Get Known Before the Book Deal.

By: christinakatz

christinakatz — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:43:54 +0000

Labyrinth is a good metephor, Lloyd. I really like it. I try to be a bit of a hummingbird, maybe, going from feeder to feeder, but not letting it take too big a chuck of my day.

By: christinakatz

christinakatz — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:41:13 +0000

Thanks, Lydia. Welcome!

By: christinakatz

christinakatz — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:40:51 +0000

Hi Kat, I agree. It's an art to know how much to social network and how much to invest in our work. I think I really strike a chord with folks when I talk about responding to people who clearly haven't read a book but pan it anyway. I want to be clear that I'm not talking about reacting. I'm talking about making a statement like: Not much evidence here that the book was actually read or something like that. Just calmly stating that the review is not valid. I think it's our right to be allowed to speak, to respond, and to make a statement regarding our own work. And our common rule, “Never talk back,” is actually more dis-empowering than helpful. I'm not saying the reader isn't intelligent either. I'm simply saying the writer always has rights. And that applies to every situation and scenario online as well as offline.

By: Simon Hay Healer

Simon Hay Healer — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:02:23 +0000

Great list, but I'm curious, why Firefox? Thank you, Simon.

By: annew

annew — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:08:05 +0000

Great list Christina… can't think of anything to add to it. Good work.

By: Amy Helmericks

Amy Helmericks — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 02:37:55 +0000

I've not been around long enough to know if you answer questions, but here's one related to domain names:

Is the Author name site important? I've been at Untangling Tales for three years now, and it's my handle for the networking (such as it is) I do elsewhere, like twitter.

I've been holding off on the author-specific stuff since I don't have a book even near the "out there" stage and it feels ridiculous to me to "squat" at a site I'm not actively working on.

What's the response to a "trademark"-ish domain rather than an author-name domain?

By: Lloyd

Lloyd — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:30:32 +0000

I think this is a great list for building/maintaining a platform. (That is what this is about, right? The word “platform” is similar to “marketing” in that there seems to be a variety of definitions for it.) I'm using all but one (Outposts) of these tools and it can be quite time consuming. And new tools seem to pop up everyday that make you wonder if they will be the next best thing. Researching the new stuff is also a huge time-burner. Using social media effectively really requires some powerful time management skills; without them a writer can easily get lost in a labyrinth and never get our real work accomplished. Enjoyed your post!