Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Online Marketing - How Much Is Too Much?

I own a daily blog, Double M. I also belong to this group blog, Acme Authors Link, another at Make Mine Mystery and yet another at The Blood-Red Pencil.

Besides my blogs, I'm also the network creator of two ning networks, Book Place and Sixty & Savvy.

In addition to my own Morgan Mandel egroup, I belong to a great many egroups, some of which are Pump Up Your Blog, Blog Book Tours, Murder Must Advertise, Long and Short Romance Reviews, to name a few. There are way too many to mention here. Then, the writing organizations I belong to also have egroups, namely Chicago-North RWA, MWMWA, EPIC, and Sisters in Crime.

I'm addicted to Twitter and twit constantly to draw attention to my blogs and also just for the fun of it. I have Facebook, Myspace, Bebo, Hi 5 and other social network accounts.

I enjoy marketing, but sometimes it gets in the way of my writing. For a few weeks, during vacation and in the midst of my edits, I took a lot of time off from online so I could get Killer Career into shape. I've pretty much got a handle on the novel now and hope to get it out by September. After all, what good is marketing if you have no product to market?

What about you? How much marketing do you do? Does it interfere with your writing? Where do you draw the line? Please share.

10 comments:

Jean Henry Mead said...

I blog on so many sites and read and comment on various other sites that it definitely cuts into my writing time. I currently have 3 WIPs which are lagging behind because I'm spending too much time networking. Something's got to go. :)

Jean
http://mysteriouspeople.blogspot.com/

Linda Suzane said...

What choice do you have? 6 years ago I published 3 books, then got sick and couldn't promote. I think in all this time I sold less than 10 books of each, two of them were dropped by the publishers for lack of sales. Now I'm starting all over again, all of them published again by http://www.wings-press.com and I'm out marketing. But I'm so busy doing that, I haven't had time to work on the next novel. I'm struggling to find a balance, create an order so I can get it all done. I'll let you know if I manage. Today it was writing book reviews. Back to it.

Patricia Stoltey said...

Marketing, social media networking, and education have taken over my life. Not writing is driving me nuts. Must make a schedule. Must develop a plan. Must get more sleep...

Patricia
http://patriciastoltey.blogspot.com

Jennifer Taggart, TheSmartMama said...

I hear you! I have my own blog, blog for several other sites, twitter, belong to discussion groups, etc., etc.

All I can say is that you have to budget your time, not let Twitter (for example) suck all of it.

Unknown said...

All this blogging, but does it really help? I have not been published, and perhaps never will, so I may not experience this myself. I do however follow several of my favorite writers, (Morgan included)and wonder if taking all this time to blog, post and write about other stuff...does it really work? As the audience, I love the interaction, and makes me feel as they are real people, but I wonder how do they find time for all this?
I admire serious bloggers and people who have constant connection via internet pages with the public, but does it really help in book sales?
Im just curious.

Aggie
http://nocturnal-intellect.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

I always feel I spend too much time online and not enough writing. Worse, for some reason when I finish online, the muse may well have deserted me. I've guested on several writers/readers chat groups and never noticed any increase in sales. My best result so far has been through the occasional newsletter I send out to those on my mailing list.
Carol
http://www.ckcrigger.com

Deb Larson said...

Hi Morgan:
(I left a message yesterday - but it didn't stick!)
I find blogging interesting but exhausting. I also reward myself ... if I write first, then if time allows - I can browse and join other blogs. But I wonder too if it really helps or not. Guess the measuring stick is whether one enjoys it. If the answer is yes, then it is at least beneficial to the writer as a connection with other writers. And that's a good thing.
DL Larson

Rob Walker said...

Truth be told I believe every little contact helps, no matter if it is networking at a conference or doing so online. Every contact has the potential for something coming of it. Had I not gotten involved with DorothyL for instance, many useful contacts and friends would not have been made and met. I can't enumerate the long list of important connections I have made as a result, and it has helped me greatly--both professionally and emotionally.

rob

carl brookins said...

Do it, just be balanced. As in all things, drinking, eating, having sex, etc etc., moderation and balance is the key.

Margot Justes said...

I'm learning how to use Twitter and am getting better. On weekdays after work, I do my on-line marketing which leaves very little time for writing. Hopefully on weekends I make up the difference.

Love Carl's comment-everything in moderation-the same thing Burt Wolfe said, but Mr. Wolfe was refering to food only.
Margot
www.mjustes.com