Like most of you, I like to read. Unfortunately, and probably unlike most of you, I am a very slow reader. With this in mind, I thought reviewing books would fit nicely into my two blog’s a month schedule 😀
My debut book has to be Kristen Lamb’s ‘We Are Not Alone’: The Writers Guide to Social Media. Why this book? Well, for one, I know Kristen and if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be blogging now. As for the other reasons? Take your pick. Kristen is fast becoming the Queen of Social Media. She has been an invaluable mentor to me, and heck, she’s just an awesome gal. And if that isn’t reason enough, ‘We Are Not Alone’ is a best seller.
A year ago, if anyone other than Kristen had told me to read a social media book, I would have told them to get on their bike and keep pedalling until they reached the Sahara Dessert. I was a Facebooker. I Facebooked with friends. What did I need social media for? I’d tried Twitter and, although I’d met a few great tweeps, I didn’t really ‘get’ it. Then I read Kristen’s book and it transformed the way I look a social media.
So, what is this book about?
Well, for starters, it will teach you the importance of branding yourself. I’m not talking about taking a branding iron and burning your initials into your butt. I’m talking about the ‘YOU’ brand. Your name, as a writer, is your greatest weapon. I didn’t understand that at first. I can’t even remember what my first twitter name was. Something stupid for sure, unlike the DonnaNewtonUK I have now.
Secondly, Kristen goes on to explain what Social Media is, and how we can use it to our advantage. Take Twitter and Facebook. I have transformed both of these so they are working for me now. I still have my personal Facebook page. But now, I also have a writer’s page (www.facebook.com/donnanewtonuk). Who would have thought a year ago I would have built platforms?
And, further still, you will become a blogger like me. I know, how clever do I feel. 😀
Kristen will walk you, step by step, through the WordPress set up. She’ll show you the importance of Bio’s, what a # (hashtag) is, the advantages and disadvantages of having a pen name. Everything you never thought you’d ever need to know is in this book.
Kristen injects such a style and sense of humour that you’ll read it totally unaware you are actually learning something. What’s more important, you can read it without the aid of a dictionary.
Kristen also has a fantastic blog in which she further strives to help people like me understand the world of social medial.
My advice? Whether you are published or unpublished, you should definitely read this book.
Have you read this book? Let me know what you thought of it? Did it, like me, help you tackle the world of social media?
I loved the book and although I was doing much of what she mentioned already, there was quite a bit that I was not.
I follow her blog too.
Feel free to follow me on twitter as @theaatkinson
great review
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Great blog, by a great lady, for a great book, written by another great lady. Did I mention I thought it was great? 😉
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LOL. Kerry, you are just the greatest! 😀
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Read it and planning to reread it. 🙂 It’s that helpful…though you can cross out the Myspace area. 🙂
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Lol, I actually gave MySpace another go after reading this book. Yep – MySpace has had it’s day and no one will reiterate that more than Kristen. 🙂
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[…] Firstly, I have to recommend that all writers read Kristen’s books, the other one being ‘We Are Not Alone’ (you can read my review here). […]
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