Social media tips for authors and illustrators (Part 1)

I've been using social media since before the term existed and though I am far from expert, I have learned a great deal along the way. I'm going to start posting some social media tips for authors and illustrators on my blog from time to time, in hopes of helping some of you avoid the (many) mistakes that I made.

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Testing Padlet's embedding function with some Broken Crayons

As some of you (those who follow me on Instagram or Twitter) may have noticed, I've been having a ton of fun with broken crayons lately. 

Because you never know what will come out of a broken crayon.

I've been experimenting with Padlet lately as another potential way of interacting with young readers next year. So far, I'm delighted by how easy it is to use! Once I've played around with it some more, I'll write up a blog post about what I've learned.

Thanks to the educators out there who pointed me to Padlet!

Cautionary comic for writers (and illustrators!)

Writers, illustrators and Twitter's Vine app

Evolution of an I'M BORED illustration in 6 sec video. vine.co/v/bp7AQAg3pwd

— Debbie Ridpath Ohi (@inkyelbows) March 17, 2013

(To stop the video above from repeating, just click on the image. To hear my riveting narration, click on the speaker icon.)

I recently downloaded the Vine app on my iPhone after hearing a lot of buzz about it. Vine is an app by Twitter that enables users to easily create short video (max 6 seconds) that they can share on social media like Twitter and Facebook. It's sort of a cross between YouTube and Twitter, and has a clever interface that's easy to use.

Videos will automatically start playing when you start browsing Vine, but you can pause any video by just tapping on it. Videos are on repeat play -- this may sound odd and possibly annoying, but once you start using Vine you realize it's for the user convenience. Since the videos are max 6 seconds long, chances are good that you'll want to view a video at least twice. Recording a video is also super-easy -- you just tap and hold the screen to record.

Some are experimenting with stop-motion animation. Labor-intensive, sure, but it's only for max 6 seconds. Knowing that, even I will probably give it a shot in the future. :-)

I've noticed a number of children's book publishers, teachers, librarians, authors and illustrators join Vine since it launched, though most have either not posted any videos yet or have only posted one or two test vids. It's not yet clear whether Vine is going to take off. The interface needs some work (there is currently no way to share someone else's video directly from the app) but I'm sure updates are coming.

It seems like the kind of app that could be a hit with younger readers, especially teens, once a few more features are added. Vine could be a great way for children's/YA book authors and illustrators to connect with their audience.

The other reason I joined: it's fun. :-) One of my favorite follows is Jed Whedon, who is the brother of producer/director/writer Joss Whedon, who has been posting mini-movies, musical clips and other interesting Vine experiments. Once Vine makes it easier to link directly to individual videos and userfeeds, I'll list some kidlit/YA favorite follows as well.

If you do join Vine, feel free to follow me at "Debbie Ohi."

I'll be posting a follow-up later this year to let you all know if I'm sticking with Vine and why (or why not).

RELATED INFORMATION:

Twitter's Vine Help page

How Writers & Readers Can Use Twitter's Vine - by Sherri Rosen

Promote Your Book With Micro-Videos Via Vine - by Chris Robley

5 Things To Know As You Get Started With Vine - by Sharon Vaknin

Hanging out with Neil Flambé writer/illustrator Kevin Sylvester

For more info about Kevin Sylvester:

http://kevinsylvesterbooks.com

Google+ Hangouts: Creative Collab Potential But Not Quite Ready for KidLit/YA

Above: Screenshot from a kidlit/YA Google+ Hangout I hosted this morning on my G+ Inkygirl business page. The doodle boy is by Ryan Estrada.

For some reason, I wasn't able to access the collar drawing/writing features (the top left of my screenshot SHOULD have links to those features). I was able to access them fine the last time I did a Hangout, so not sure what went wrong. BUT at least everyone else had fun experimenting with the collab tools.

Apart from that glitch, however, the main reason I can't fully recommend Google+ Hangouts for a public event yet is because there is currently no way for one person to moderate. If someone behaves inappropriately (I had someone expose himself in my previous Public Hangout!), there's still no way to kick that person out of the chat. You can block him, but that only means YOU don't see/hear him anymore -- everyone else in the chat will still see him unless they block him as well.

Still, it has great potential for creative collab with trusted invitees.

Why I'm Quitting Klout

I joined Klout a while back because I was curious about the service and also because of a recommendation in a blog I respect that writers should be aware of their Klout score.

It was fun at first, checking out what various people's Klout scores were and playing around with the tools. But then I became aware of a few negative points:

1. My Klout score didn't bring me any real benefits.

2. I checked my Klout score way too often, angsting about  fluctuations. ("Uh-oh, I'm going away on vacation! My Klout score is going to drop!")

3. The accuracy was questionable, with so many factors not being taken into account.

4. I started feeling hypocritical and slimy. I'm always going on about how the number of followers and other numbers aren't nearly as important as meaningful connections. So why was I so concerned about my Klout score?!? Plus I became aware that it was influencing how I tweeted…which made me feel even more hypocritical and slimy.

As soon as I submitted my opt-out request today, I felt a tremendous relief.

Before Klout fans jump on me, let me point out that I opted out of Klout because of my own weakness/angsting, not because Klout is Bad.

I'm going to take all the time I was spending thinking about Klout and put it into writing and illustrating instead. :-)

Facebook vs Google+ For Children's/YA Writers & Illustrators: My Take So Far

Still torn between Facebook and Google+. I have been using both social networks, but eventually I know that eventually I'm going to have to pick one or the other as my main social network hangout; I simply haven't the time to use both regularly...as I've mentioned before, my current goal is to change my social media habits so I can spend more time on my writing and illustrating projects.

Yes, I know there's always Twitter. I don't really compare Twitter to Facebook and Google+ because for me, it's such a different animal. I love Twitter but use it far differently than I do Facebook and Google+. More on this in a future blog post.

What I'm Liking about Facebook

Anyway, I've liked some of the recent changes that Facebook has been making. I'm sure that some of these changes have been in response to Google+ features that have been popular, but I'm all for healthy competition...especially if it means improvements to my own user experience.  Yes, I know. It's all about meMEMEEE!  I like the simplification of privacy settings. I like being able to tweak how much of people's information I see in my incoming stream.  I like being able to access my Close Friends list from the main page.

Unfortunately the company has not always been great at communicating with its users about upcoming changes, so there has been a lot of confusion and resentment. I can sympathize, though. In my experience, the larger an online community grows, the more difficult it is to make changes without upsetting users. People get comfortable with how things work and may get irritated about having to learn a new interface, even if it ultimately results in a more positive user experience.

What I'm Not Liking about Facebook

Even though it's now easier to read and share with particular Friends list, there is currently no easy way to retroactively organize the people on your list. On Google+, you can mass-select users and to use drag-and-drop to move them to particular Circles. In Facebook, you have to individually select each user. Major pain, especially if you have a lot of people following you.

I'm also not crazy about how Facebook Fan/Pro Pages work right now ... but at least Facebook HAS Pro Pages, unlike Google+.  I only started one after finding out that there is a cap on the number of people with whom you can connect via a personal Facebook account.  Not a problem for me yet, but I've heard of more and more authors who have reached their cap and had to start from scratch (in terms of making connections) again....this time with a Pro Page.

What I'm Liking about Google+

Overall, I find Google+ to have a cleaner and more intuitive user interface. I love the whole concept of Circles, which makes it easier to read and share with specific groups of people. The people who follow my posts on Facebook and Google+ represent a wide range of interests in my life. There are my friends from university, family members, writers and illustrators, board gamers, filkers, comics people and others. Although each group probably wouldn't mind occasional posts from me that didn't overlap with their own interests, they'd probably be turned off (as I would) with too many.

My gamer friends, for example, would be far more riveted by my reviews of board game prototypes from a board gaming convention then would my writer and illustrator followers. Meanwhile, the board gamers would likely have little interest in my promo posts about children's book illustrators and writers.

I find it easier to discover interesting new people on Google+ than I do on Facebook. I also find I usually get far more responses to what I post  on Google+ than I do on Facebook, and more interesting and involved discussion. Why? I'm still trying to figure that out.

Another feature of Google+ I love: Google+ Hangouts! I'm a huge fan.

What I'm Not Liking about Google+

No business pages. No integrated groups.  I'm pretty surprised that Google+ chose to launch without business pages, and then specifically asked people NOT to create nonpersonal or group accounts for this long. I'm sure this has kept a number of people from moving to Google+.

I'm also finding that as much as I love Circles, there is still some awkwardness about where to put new followers. Someone who follows me for my kidlit/YA posts, for example, may also be a closet board gamer, but neither of us may be aware of this additional connection. I'm hoping that Google+ will add the ability to include categories or tags in our profiles; this would help a great deal in terms of connecting through similar interests.

My Overall Take

There are far more  kidlit/YA people on Facebook than Google+ at present. Or to clarify, there are many kidlit/YA types who have a presence on both networks, but mainly post on Facebook. This is a major factor for me in the whole Facebook versus Google+ choice. I may like the interface and feel of Google+ more, but in the end I will go where the majority hangs out.

For many people, it seems that Facebook wins out because that is where they can connect with family members. Until  these family members  have incentive to move to Google+, it's unlikely the situation's going to change.

Facebook strikes me as more of venue for maintaining personal connections, while Google+ is more about discovery and discussion. Both have their appeal to me -- which is good AND bad, in terms of my decision where to spend the most time. :-)

I'm also well aware that Google+ is still in its infancy, only recently promoted from its testing phase to public use. Undoubtedly Google is going to be integrating more of its other services. I've already noticed that the posts I make in Google+ generate far more search engine love (not surprising) than anything I post in Facebook, and this goes for sites I link to from within Google+.

So for now, I'm going to wait and see. Leaning slightly toward Facebook because that's where more of the kidlit/YA industry seems to be  (including my agent and my publisher), but curious about how Google plans to integrate its other properties.

Where You Can Find Me On Both Networks

On Facebook:

My personal account | My Author/Illustrator Page | I'm Bored (book I'm illustrating for Simon & Schuster BFYR)

On Google+:

My personal account (see my About Profile for a list of Google+ people directories I've started, Including my Google+ kidlit/YA directory)

Update on Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 11:14 AM by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Follow-up discussion on Google+

No one has responded yet on Facebook (which I suppose helps prove the point I make in my post :-)).