Does networking really benefit a writer’s career? Or is it (and its sister—promotion) not worth the hassle for either the published or unpublished? Should we just sit back and write the best books we can write and let the publisher take it from there?
This has been a heavily debated topic since I started my writing career ten years ago. At the beginning, there were more people saying you couldn’t impact sales. These days that opinion seems to be changing. In this competitive of a market place, where so many are turning out quality fiction, it’s very difficult to set yourself apart, to get noticed. But it’s still possible, and one of the most effective methods is networking. Why? It’s a mathematical certainty that the whole is always greater than its individual parts. I can’t know everyone or everything, but when I link up with others, who link up with others, etc., we create something bigger than ourselves. Take this blog, for instance. Look at the wealth of information shared here. That’s partly why blogs are so popular.
In this industry, we rely very heavily on word-of-mouth. Our careers depend on people. Editors buy our books. Sometimes other authors endorse them. The marketing force sells them. Booksellers buy them and try to present them to the public in a pleasing way. Readers buy them and recommend them if they’re good. The common denominator in every step is people—not just the actual work. So you have to be more than a good writer. You have to have business acumen—or at least an eye for opportunity and what I call “credibility.”
Fortunately, opportunities are in endless supply. It’s the willingness to follow up on opportunity that can be difficult, because it requires sacrifice (time, effort, money, self-discipline). We can teach ourselves to wisely choose certain opportunities over others, however, and sow seeds that bring a rewarding harvest, if we’re credible. By this I mean you have to give others a reason to believe in you.
Consider how you choose the movies you watch and the other products you buy. There are certain indicators we all use to insure we get good value for our money, isn’t there? For instance, an editor wants the best possible chance at finding something worthy of being published–and she wants to find that next gem of a manuscript with the least amount of time and effort. To do that, she would use the same indicators as the rest of us:
Who created it?
Are they experienced? Reputable?
Does it sound intriguing?
Do I have reason to believe this person will be able to finish the book and/or write another one?
What are others saying about this work or this writer?
Editors are human and would react very similarly to the way you’d react in the same situation. So market your product in such a way that those answers work in your favor, that all indicators are telling her, “Give this a chance—it’s great!”
A lot of people talk about schmoozing, but for me that term has a very negative connotation, a selfish one. “What’s in it for me?” But networking isn’t about one-way relationships. It’s not about shaking hands and passing out bookmarks. It’s about symbiotic relationships. It’s about giving something to others, who in turn give something to you. If that’s between an author and reader—the author gives a great story, a good read, and the reader compensates by paying for that story and recommending it to her friends. Both people win. That’s really the only way networking is successful, because networking functions on basic psychology principles. People act out of self-interest far more often than they act out of public virtue. Which means, in order to be a good networker, you need to realize that you’re not the only one who deserves to succeed. There are other people in the world who have the same right to fulfill their goals and desires, and networking is about helping them do that–and having them, in turn, help you.
I think Deepak Chopra said it simplest: “Positive energy going out comes back.”
Brenda Novak is a NYTimes Bestselling Author with 27 novels to her credit. TRUST ME and STOP ME, the first two books in her new romantic suspense series, just came out from Mira Books. WATCH ME will be out July 27th. Visit her Web site at www.brendanovak.com to learn more about her and her work, or to enter her “That’s What Friends are For Contest,” where you could win a Caribbean Cruise for Two.
