Take Advantage of the Web

A website really is one of the best marketing tools a writer can have.   I’m an author and speaker, as well as a ghostwriter and editor.  I use my website www.edrobertson.com to promote not only my books, articles and media appearances, but also my work in collaborative writing and editing. After all, that’s what working writers do.  We write (or we edit), but we also have to promote and market ourselves. After all, no one knows more about our books or our skills than we do ourselves, right?  So it’s important – especially today – to take the advantage of the opportunities the web provides.   

A website is particularly important to an author because it’s the window through which the world sees you.  It challenges you to think about how you’d like to be viewed as a professional, and provides you with a way of presenting that vision.  It can also be a great way to establish an audience, or keep in touch with the one you already have. 

I’ve been online with www.edrobertson.com since 1997. In my case, I’d already published three books by the time I first launched the site. I had a sense of who my readers were and what they liked about my books. That gave me a chance to tailor my web site accordingly. Toward that end, www.edrobertson.com has sections devoted to each of my books. Since I write a lot about television, each of my books on TV features the jacket blurb from the book, links related to that particular TV show, and last not but least, information on how to order the book.  In the case of my latest, Thirty Years of The Rockford Files, I included the Introduction as a PDF file, so that folks can sample the book before deciding whether to purchase it. For The Ethics of Star Trek, I included the back matter, a selection of reviews, as well as links to my publisher and a few other Star Trek websites.  I also have a page called Autographed Editions, where folks can order signed copies of my books directly from me if they so desire.   

Your website not only promotes what you’ve already done, but what you’re currently doing. And because it’s online, you can point people to it in real time during a phone conversation or meeting.

 

For example, a few months ago, I got a call from an agent who was looking for a writer to work with one of her clients.  We got to talking, and she said, “Okay, I have your books, I know what you can do, but my client still needs a little convincing.  Do you have something that spells out exactly what you can do for him?”  I said, “Are you online?”  She said, “As a matter of fact, I am.”  I said, “Okay, if you go to my website, you’ll find a button called Collaborations.  That has a thumbnail description of the kind of projects I’ve done, what my interests are, and how I work.”  And so, right on the spot, she went online, and said, “This is perfect!  This is exactly what I’m looking for.”  Long story short… she called the client and pointed him to my website while she had him on the phone. Bingo. The client then called me, and we proceeded to work together.

So if you haven’t got a website yet, what are you waiting for?  Now more than ever, it’s the most essential tool a writer can have.  

Ed Robertson
www.edrobertson.com

Longtime Author, First-Time Blogger

First of all, I want to thank Clary for inviting me to participate in this blog. I’ll be posting at least twice a month, possibly more often should time permit.

I listen to a lot of talk radio… mostly news talk on commercial stations, though I occasionally catch Terry Gross and Ira Glass on NPR. I like the interaction between callers and hosts, and if you listen to a show long enough, you get to the point where you recognize certain callers, their ideas, their sensibilities, their humor, and how they relate to the host. Before long, you come to think of them as being as much a regular part of the show as the host himself. But it’s also fun to hear new voices. You can tell they’re new voices, because they always introduce themselves the same way: “Hi, I’m Jim – longtime listener, first-time caller.”

That’s sort of how I’m approaching blogging.

I’ve been writing professionally for over 15 years, and have been online for over 10. I’ve provided web content on behalf of others, as well as manage two websites of my own. I’ve participated in chat groups, bulletin boards, virtual seminars, and other web forums. I’ve co-produced and hosted my own podcast, and am now a regular co-host on a talk show streamed on a global radio station. I don’t claim to understand everything about the Internet, but I like to think I have a working knowledge of how it works – and even if I don’t, I’m always trying to learn more. About the only thing I haven’t done yet is blog.

All of which is a long way of introducing myself. “Hi, I’m Ed – longtime writer, first-time blogger.”

I write extensively about pop culture, entertainment, and media (film and television, in particular). I’ve had five books published, and have a written for many print and online magazines, newspapers, video liner notes, and other media venues since 1990. I’ve interviewed a lot of television celebrities and media personalities, and have written books and articles on such influential shows as The Rockford Files, M*A*S*H, The Fugitive, Six Feet Under, CSI, and Lost.

I also specialize in ghostwriting, book collaboration, book doctoring, and developmental editing. I work with experts from different fields who “have a book in them,” but who either lack the writing expertise to develop their ideas onto paper, or simply do not have the time to do so because of career, family, or other commitments. So they turn to people like me to help them with the “heavy lifting.” I’ve specialized in this field of writing for about 10 years.

Ghostwriting and collaboration is not exactly something I set out to do, but it is something I enjoy doing. For one, it’s taken me in directions that I may not have necessarily explored, had I stayed strictly within my niche.

Don’t get me wrong. I still love film and television. My latest book, Thirty Years of The Rockford Files, is on James Garner and The Rockford Files, plus I write and edit for a number of entertainment venues. It’s just that as a ghostwriter, I work on both fiction and nonfiction projects covering a wide range of topics: biography, memoirs, history, politics, business, leadership, personal growth, true crime, and much more. The way I see it, I have the best of both worlds.

It’s funny… I started my writing career writing about television shows and TV characters – particularly, TV private detectives like Jim Rockford and Harry O. But in a way, it wasn’t until I began ghostwriting professionally that I began to appreciate what characters like Rockford and Harry do for a living. For instance, I meet people and learn about subjects I may not have discovered otherwise. So in that respect, it’s kind of like being a private eye. You never know where the next “case” will take you, which always keeps the process fresh and exciting.

Plus, to write effectively in another person’s voice, you have to know how they think, how they talk, what they feel strongly about – in essence, who they are. The best way I know how to do that is to ask lots of questions and, just as important, listen to their answers. That’s what private detectives do, and that’s certainly what I do as a ghostwriter and collaborator. Listening is a big part of my work, because the answers my clients give me take me in the direction I need to go in order to “solve their case” – or I should say, tell their story.

My wife is also a writer. We’ve been married five years. She’s particularly fond of the metaphors “journey” and “adventure” in terms of describing our life together (personally, as well as professionally).

My writing career so far has been an interesting adventure, and I continue to learn things along the way. I look forward to sharing some of my perspective, as well as hearing yours.