Event Recap: “Social Media for the Anti-Social Writer” at Wilkes University - June 2009

Posted by Donna on July 9, 2009 under Annoucements, Twitter for Writers, authors, creative writing programs, events |

Before I get into the post, wanted to share some news. There was good reason behind the lack of updates on Social Media for Writers: I was finishing my M.F.A. thesis. Of course, the memoir draft is still a work in progress, but now that the looming deadline has passed, it’s time to focus on this writer’s resource I’ve wanted to launch for sometime.

What really got me invigorated to refocus on this blog was me recent presentation at Wilkes University’s M.A. & M.F.A. in creative writing June residency.  Since I work by day in social media, several months before the residency, I pitched a craft class idea to our program director and some faculty. As fate would have it, one our esteemed faculty, novelist Kaylie Jones is married to a social media expert. So, the panel was enthusiastically added to the residency schedule.

Internet marketing consultant Kevin Heisler and I led an interactive discussion on Facebook fan pages and Twitter, and how writers and authors can use these mediums to engage, promote, network, share and learn. The session was fantastic! We paired students with Twitter accounts with those who did not.  As Kevin and I gave tutorials and advice, eyes were wide, hands were raised and even we began live-tweeting to one another.  (Check out the #wilkes hashtag!)

We used Kaylie as an example. A few months ago she  joined Twitter at her Kevin’s urging. With his guidance of industry best practices, Kaylie developed quite the following and does a fantastic job at balancing her personal stuff, her professional stuff, sharing knowledge and promoting links/works for her students and peers. Check out what she does - @kayliejones. Her Facebook fan page is also a prime example of what a published author can do; however, Kaylie has a unique spin: she promotes her students past and present, too.  This session wasn’t actually the first time the Kevin/Kaylie team spoke about Twitter.  The week prior to that, they spoke at the 140CharacterConference in New York , which I blogged about previously.

I was so honored to co-present with Kevin, and take off my student hat for an hour to share my knowledge and passion with a lecture hall full of M.A. and M.F.A. students, as well as alumni and faculty. While social media has been around for sometime, using it as a marketing tool is somewhat new and still being embraced by many industries who hold true to traditional methods, like publishing.

Presenting the Social Media for the Anti-Social Writer craft class was by far an extremely beneficial component the the residency, and something I feel should be a part of every M.F.A. program’s business of publishing curriculum. I’m not just saying in because I was involved in, but because so many from Wilkes have jumped on board and joined what I called, “the world’s largest literary conversation.” All aspiring and published authors should be seasoned at social media, and I think creative writing M.F.A. programs are a perfect place to introduce the practice!

So, I am sharing the success of this presentation through this post to encourage those already familiar with social media to become mentors to all our colleagues who are still saying, “What’s a Tweet?” Everyone hears about Twitter and Facebook in the news and from others, but sometimes the percieved learning curve scares them off, so by SHOWING folks how to use it- either one-on-one, through classes or whatever, let’s spread the word! First things first, I’m gonna go tweet this post.  = )