So, I'm curious more than anything, so anybody who wants to weigh in. Writers of short fiction: do you put any effort into promoting the stories once they've been published?
I know people put a lot of effort (understandably) into promoting their books, but I've never seen anyone touch on the topic of short story promotion (unless it's using shorts AS promotion).
Considering how many small-press/indie anthology publishers and lit magazines there are, I imagine any author promoting their stories would also be doing a favor to the rest of us and the industry in general. It seems like it'd be a good idea...I'm just not sure the best way to go about it.
There's the obvious, of course -- posting links on Facebook and your blog and the like -- but any ideas for reaching a wider audience than folks who already know you (or would probably be buying the story anyway)? But past that, is it worth it in your opinion?
I'll toss one idea out. I have an account on DeviantArt, which I primarily use to follow artists whose work I admire and chat with folks. I'm not comfortable posting my "serious" writing on there because of the way the site is structured, but I do sometimes post up "freebies", and I do a lot of photomanipulation. I was thinking it might be fun to do photomanipulations based on/inspired by my stories, then post them with a very short (2-3 line) excerpt and a link to the whole thing. This would obviously work for books too, but I currently have no book to promote.
Just curious to see people's opinions.
I know people put a lot of effort (understandably) into promoting their books, but I've never seen anyone touch on the topic of short story promotion (unless it's using shorts AS promotion).
Considering how many small-press/indie anthology publishers and lit magazines there are, I imagine any author promoting their stories would also be doing a favor to the rest of us and the industry in general. It seems like it'd be a good idea...I'm just not sure the best way to go about it.
There's the obvious, of course -- posting links on Facebook and your blog and the like -- but any ideas for reaching a wider audience than folks who already know you (or would probably be buying the story anyway)? But past that, is it worth it in your opinion?
I'll toss one idea out. I have an account on DeviantArt, which I primarily use to follow artists whose work I admire and chat with folks. I'm not comfortable posting my "serious" writing on there because of the way the site is structured, but I do sometimes post up "freebies", and I do a lot of photomanipulation. I was thinking it might be fun to do photomanipulations based on/inspired by my stories, then post them with a very short (2-3 line) excerpt and a link to the whole thing. This would obviously work for books too, but I currently have no book to promote.
Just curious to see people's opinions.
