Social Networking and Web Presence

Every agent seems to say that you should have a strong web presence.  They refer to having your own web page, having a blog, using twitter, using Facebook, etc.

But then you also find out that if your blog does not have hundreds of thousands of followers, an editor will not care about it.  So what is an author to do?

The first thing to know is that a negative web presence is far worse than an absence of web presence!  What I mean is that if you write about how some agent is an idiot for not "getting" your idea or not liking your opening, then you are shooting yourself in the foot.  And if you post nasty comments of embarrassing photos on Facebook, that will also work against you.  Every agent or editor WILL google your name before taking you on, and if you are associated with negative postings, your value will drop.

So how do you get 100,000 followers on on your blog or Twitter?  Honestly, I'm still trying to figure that out.

As for having a web page, it is like having a home for your readers or potential agents/editors to find out about you.  I currently have a page on Publishers Marketplace (

http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/davekritz/)

 in addition to this blog, but I will need a standalone web page as well.  And you should, too!