Christian Novels: Winner Four and Myspace

Monday, April 24, 2006

Winner Four and Myspace

Congratulations to Dawn Thomason! She won the first two books in Robin Lee Hatcher's Hart's Crossing series. Also, one of her favorite sites, Faith Writers, is now listed under Winning Sites. Keep checking back here for more Winning Sites contests!

Authors, want to get in on the fun? Have a book you'd like to exchange for promotion on this site? Contact me for more details!

For anyone who was wondering - my brother Stephen's surgery went well. He was even able to come home the day of the surgery instead of spending two to three days at the hospital. He's still in a lot of pain, so continue praying for him.

Do any of you authors and writers use Myspace to promote your work? Many music artists use it to connect with their fans and offer a sampling of their work, but I've only seen a few authors on there. One publishing company has a myspace of their own, but only a handful of their authors are connected with it. What are some of the pros and cons of authors using Myspace?

2 comments:

Elaina M. Avalos said...: Glad to hear that Stephen's surgery went well. I'll pray that his pain subsides quickly.

I'm not an author but as far as myspace is considered one of the authors on Zondervan's page is from my home church, Craig Gross ("The Dirty Little Secret"). And because of what he and his ministry focus on, myspace is a great avenue for them. I don't know that it would be appropriate for eveyone. But not for any other reason than the fact that it depends on who your audience is. In fact their ministry also has a separate myspace page for their ministry.

I really do think it depends on the audience.; 8:38 PM
Elaina M. Avalos said...: I just wanted to add that while myspace users may span a wide range of ages, the majority of active users are young...under 30. Maybe even younger? So lets say I write women's fiction. My novel is about a middle aged woman facing life with her last child out of the house and having put off her career while she raised them. She struggles as she did before her husband and her kids...who am I, she wonders? Oh yeah, that's appealing to the average 22 year old on myspace. :)

In that sense I don't think it should be an automatic avenue for promotion. Bands and artists are different because that age group are their bread and butter. One of my favorite singers, Tyrone Wells, is using myspace to get the word out about his upcoming album release by using his thousands of "friends" to invite their "friends" to an online gathering the night of the release party in LA (bummed I can't be there!!). This is an effective way to promote for them.

But your book would have to appeal to the large majority or else it would be a waste of time.

Boy...I'm long winded tonight...tell me to shut up, Katie. :); 8:50 PM