Ninc Takeaway

Wow.

No one puts on a conference like NINC.  If you attended and didn't return with at least fifty great ideas, you're either already doing all this great stuff or ... well, you were dead -- or sleeping during the presentations.

Honestly, I don't really know where to begin with information. I'd never heard of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) but now I know enough about it to totally transform my website. I'd heard about Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, but under use them. Now I won't! (I also got to see Jen Talty!)

Liz Maverick talked about discoverability and discussed newsletters in a way that didn't merely help revolutionize mine, but also in a way that helped me to understand the real purpose of my newsletter. I no longer have to feel like I'm talking to a big black hole.

Julie Ortolon taught us a lot about marketing, including advanced marketing techniques. She and her lifeboat team also taught us how to create our own groups of friends, not just to like and tag our books, but also to be a sort of think tank for lifting our discoverability as well as a support group.

Guys from Amazon and Goodreads also demystified their processes. (Thank you, guys!)

I have 2 notebooks filled with notes...in shorthand. Which means in longhand terms I'd probably have 6 notebooks. I have 20 pages of action items...aka a to do list! (A long to do list)

Obviously I won't even have them transcribed for weeks. So what's the takeaway?

I think the bottom line for discoverability and navigating the new world of publishing is the same bottom line I have for writing a novel. It takes time. It takes a village. But most of all, you really have to want it.

I used to go to conferences and meet people who wanted "to write a book" as a form of entertainment.  This weekend I met my competition and they are fierce. But they are also generous. They shared their marketing tricks and tips as freely as I share my writing tricks and tips.

You need to go to conferences. You need to use all the tools at your disposal. But most of all, you need to somehow, someway love this processes. Not just the writing but the marketing.

This weekend caused me to love the marketing side, to see that it can be fun and every bit as creative as writing a novel.

But it also showed me what a fantastic, generous writing community we live in.

So, thanks NINC and thanks to all the wonderful presenters.

susan meier