Adventures in Social Media Land

Adventures in Social Media Land

By Ian Mulville

Author:  Full Circle (Crime/Fiction, Launch date July 2013)

Welcome to my first blog post.  Already, I can tell you’ll be back for more.

As a new author, I’ve been asking myself the same question as many others: how do I get published?

Although there’s still ample reason to go the traditional route, without doubt, the power and influence of social media cannot be underestimated.

So this week I’ve been propelled into the world of social media as an aid to the pre-launch and subsequent launch of my debut novel.  I’m working on a three month programme prior to launch, with the novel itself being launched in July 2013.

Though utilising social media to launch a novel is certainly nothing new, by confronting my fears head-on and throwing myself into it wholeheartedly, I’m confident that it will yield results.

For somebody who just scraped into the Sixties, social media is a concept I’ve had to adapt to, with all the associated ‘letting go’ of legacy systems and methodologies; old thinking.  My background is in Human Resources, and this is a perfect Change Management scenario.  Some people fear it, some ignore it, and some will try to fight it.  However, the message is clear:

It’s here.  Deal with it.

At this point it’s important that I ‘fess up and reveal that I‘m not alone in my adventure.  Oh no.  I’ve engaged the services of some very able, much younger people to assist me with selecting the various media platforms, setting them up and linking them; I just have to (ha, ha) provide the words and images.

Straight away I would like to give a big mention to the Journalism and Communications School at a local University (and also give a mention to the Marketing School).  I’m working closely with two fourth year students who have been given the brief to ‘successfully launch a debut novel utilising an innovative approach to social media’.  Without them, it’s likely that you wouldn’t be reading this blog right now.

The name of the University and the students themselves (and further details of the Project Brief, including milestones and metrics) will be revealed in subsequent posts.  Of course, we’re aiming for a win-win-win situation where boundaries are pushed and innovation is brought to the fore, where the students gain invaluable experience on a live project with real outcomes and where I see Full Circle gain the widest possible audience, garner some book reviews and ultimately be included in the catalogues of best books.

Working together, we’ve decided on a two-phased approach.  Phase one is to gently introduce me, Ian Mulville, to the market (whatever the market is), and Phase two will be to introduce my new book, Full Circle, first of all to announce its existence, but also – critically – to gain engagement from a receptive audience.

Over the next couple of weeks and months, I’ll be letting you know how our journey goes.  It will be a kind of ‘how to’ guide, and by following our progress and visiting the various links, you’ll be able to judge – in real time – how the project is progressing and whether the key objectives are being met.  If you are also looking to take the first steps in social media to launch a new book, then I’m sure you’ll find it interesting and informative.

Of course, I’d value your feedback on an ongoing basis.  Have we missed anything?  Are we making any basic errors?  Any advice you’d like to share from your own experiences?  And of course, if we’re doing it right, then some encouragement or affirmation would also be well received!

So thank you for joining, and before I sign off, I’d like to leave you with this quote by Douglas Adams:

“I love deadlines.  I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.”

 

Take care now.

Ian