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SAVE THE DATE Saturday, May 21, 2016 ASJA Annual Writers Conference

dorriolds — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 06:19:00 +0000

American Society of Journalists & Authors ASJA 2016 Writers Panel:

The Latest Social Media Tricks: What Works, What’s a Turnoff

Our panel of editors and social media experts will teach you what works and what doesn’t. There’s never enough time in a writer’s life. It can be overwhelming without tips and tricks for efficiency. Don’t waste valuable hours. We’ll cover ways to maximize your efforts with titles, tags, topics, keywords, SEO, naming images and how Google rankings work. Editors will tell you how and what to pitch.
HERE’S HOW TO REGISTER FOR #ASJA2016
Here are my as-of-now confirmed speakers for my Sat, May 21, 2-3:30pm panel at the #ASJA2016 annual conference:

#ASJA2016 Panel Speakers (l to r) Sacha Scoblic, Marcelle Soviero, Estelle Sobel Erasmus, Alia Hanna Habib, Dorri Olds

Sacha Scoblic Zimmerman, senior editor at The Atlantic and author of the memoir UNWASTED: MY LUSH SOBRIETY. Her work has appeared in The New Republic, The Fix, The Guardian, Reader’s Digest, and The New York Times, where she penned essays for the Times blog “PROOF: Alcohol and American Life.”
Marcelle Soviero, editor-in-chief for the award-winning Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers which publishes 20-plus essays per month at competitive rates. She’s the author of AN IRIDESCENT LIFE. She has published essays in The New York Times, Salon and more. Soviero is also a writing coach who teaches how to get published.

Estelle Sobel Erasmus, an award-winning journalist, author, editing/writing coach, and former magazine editor-in-chief of five publications. She’s worked as top editor at American Woman and beauty editor at Woman’s World magazine. Her work appears in Salon, Newsweek, Redbook, Washington Post and Marie Claire and she’s a 3-time BlogHer Voice of the Year.
Alia Hanna Habib, a literary agent, specializing in literary fiction, narrative non-fiction, memoir and cookbooks. Previously, she was a publicist at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. She finds her authors online via Twitter and other social media. She also reads a wide variety of publications scouting for talented writers.
And me: Dorri Olds, a freelance writer, webmaster, and social media expert, who has been published in The New York Times, The Forward, The Fix, Book Anthologies and more. Olds has an impressive social media following:
• YouTube 730K views
• Twitter 35K
• Facebook 5K
… and interviewed on Dr. Drew, NY1, and 7 On Your Side

Hope to see you there!

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Social Media to Land Writing Gigs & Make Money

dorriolds — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 16:20:22 +0000

I am proud to announce my upcoming writers panel! Here’s a LINK to my panel info.
REGISTRATION NOW OPEN
ASJA 2015 Conference: Connect for Success at the Roosevelt Hotel (map)
May 1, 2015 • 11AM – 12:15PM
Use Social Media to Land Writing Gigs and Make Money (session: F06)
Do you not “get” how to use social media to make more money? Writers are pressured by editors, publishers and agents to build an online platform. Have you missed out on work because you don’t know the tips and tricks to build a better following — or even where to begin? This accomplished team of five, which includes writers, editors, social media managers, marketing and branding experts, a webmaster and a literary agent, will give you what you need to succeed.
Most ASJA writers are busy hard-working professionals who feel like there’s never enough time in a day. Between deadlines, creative pursuits, researching, and submitting pitches, who has time to blog, update their website and keep up with social media?
In this session you will learn how to use your time efficiently to get the best results. You will be given tips and tricks based on hard-won experience. We’ll talk about the best tools to use for your specific goals and how to stand out online amidst worldwide competition.
You’ll learn about improving your website, blogs, and social media accounts. Find out the different language and etiquette for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram, Google+ and YouTube. And, most importantly, you’ll learn how to use social media to make more money.
SPEAKERS:
Dorri Olds is an award-winning freelance writer whose work has appeared in book anthologies, and numerous publications including The New York Times. She writes about her obsessions: Movies, A-list celebrities and dogs. Olds is also a web designer and social media consultant with marketing and branding expertise.
Kirsten Koza is the author of LOST IN MOSCOW; A BRAT IN THE USSR, a humorist, Facebook junkie, adventurer and contributor of audacious stories to Travelers’ Tales anthologies. She is the founder of Writers’ Expeditions, which hosts writing and photography workshops while adventuring across exotic destinations. CHRY radio (Toronto) says, “Kirsten Koza is like Judy Blume on acid.”
Nikki M. Mascali is a New York-based journalist with 10 years of experience in print and digital media. She is currently the editor in chief of TheBlot Magazine, an online publication that covers arts and entertainment and social and political issues.
Jason Gross is the Social Media Manager for TheBlot Magazine, freelance writer (Spin, Time Out, Village Voice, Red Bull Music Academy, PopMatters, Film Comment, Book Forum), SXSW music panel moderator, reissue producer, and co-producer/compiler “OHM; The Early Gurus of Electronic Music.”
Tom Miller, literary agent, joined Greenburger in 2014 after 30 years as an editor at Simon & Schuster, Putnam, McGraw-Hill, Wiley, and HarperCollins. Tom represents projects in wellness, culture, self-help, business, spirituality, literary fiction, and narrative nonfiction. Tom has worked with Jared Diamond (winner of a Pulitzer Prize), Dr. Loren Cordain (author of THE PALEO DIET), Deepak Chopra, Steve Forbes, Ginger Rogers, Erica Jong, Judy Collins, Oliver North, Jack Cafferty, Milton Berle, Dame Beryl Bainbridge, Shirley Temple Black, Brian Wilson, Erich Schiffmann, and Roger Walsh.

CONFERENCE KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
Jennifer Finney Boylan is the author of 13 books, including the memoirs,Stuck in the Middle With You and She’s Not There: a Life in Two Genders, the first bestselling work by a transgender American. Boylan’s articles have appeared in GQ, Allure, Glamour and Conde Nast Traveler and she is the Contributing Opinion Writer for the New York Times op/ed page; she frequently appears on national television, including segments on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Live with Larry King and the Today Show. A writer and civil rights activist, she is the inaugural Anna Quindlen Writer in Residence at Barnard College of Columbia University and serves as the national co-chair of the Board of Directors of GLAAD. Boylan was also one of 24 writers chosen for the Amtrak writers residency. She lives in New York City with her wife, Deedie, and her two sons, Zach and Sean.

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Industry News for Writers in my ASJA Monthly Market Monitor Column

dorriolds — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 10:28:18 +0000

“The Golden Age for Writers,” an article by Stephen Marche (Esquire, November 26, 2012), says, in essence, kwitcherbitchin and don’t believe any Chicken Little naysayers warning the sky is falling. To quote ol’ F. Scott Fitzgerald, this is “the best of times.” Tom Wolfe got a cool $7 mill for his last novel. For those of us nowhere near that level, there are more options than ever including self-publishing (no longer a dirty word) and e-books. But wait, there’s more. Right now, the essay has never been more in demand. Due to the Internet—remember that means worldwide web—writers do have more competition but they also have like a zillion more options to sell their work. According to Marche’s research, publishers are making money, too. “Revenue for adult hardcover books is up 8.3 percent from 2011, and paperback sales are up 5.2 percent. Book sales for young adults and children grew by 12 percent last year. E-books accounted for 30 percent of net publisher sales in the adult fiction category in 2011, compared with 13 percent in 2010…. In addition to those happy numbers, the e-reader is creating a new market, not destroying an old one.” If one more kvetching writer tells you publishing is dead, books are dying or nobody is reading, tell them to Google the stats. Forecasts say tablets will reach 112.5 million consumers by 2016 (Forrester, March 6, 2012). I’d say that’s a lot of peops still reading what writers write.

* * *

“Reasons to Re-Joyce” is an appealing essay written by Darin Strauss (Sunday Book Review, The New York Times, December 9, 2012). Not only did Strauss mock the hand-wringing world of whiners moaning about the death of literary fiction, he states, “The naysaying misses the fact that this has been a wildly good book year.” Oh, and by the way, you can trust Strauss has his finger on the right pulse — his most recent book, a memoir titled Half a Life, won the National Book Critics Circle Award. The title of this essay is a reference to Ulysses by James Joyce. Strauss claims the novel is still relevant and a strong influence on what he calls a recent slew of “legitimate masterpieces.” Strauss also makes an excellent point that many of the doom and gloom analyses of the so-called downturn in book sales is not based on actual numbers: “It would be one thing if the naysayers were talking about a crash dive of sales figures. Sales figures carry the inarguability of math.” Instead, he argues, the public is under a barrage of nothing more than negative uniformed opinions from glass half empty talking heads. So, rejoice writers and keep writing your books. Readers are still reading.

* * *

“A Strong Author Platform Translates into Book Sales” reports DBW (Digital Book Wire, December 6, 2012). This is an article promoting the Digital Book World Conference & Expo in New York that is taking place January 15–17, 2013. No doubt the recap will offer sound advice for and analyses of the current state of digital book sales. This conference offers trade publishers hard data on today’s and tomorrow’s book biz. The conference refers to itself as “the single largest gathering of senior-level digital publishing execs anywhere.” It promises attendees access to presidents, CEOs, editors, marketers, large and small publishers, agents, authors, booksellers, librarians and techies — in other words, everyone you need to know to manage your success in the digital publishing world. Topics will include the power of social media and how to determine your best strategy from a dizzying array of platforms including Twitter, Facebook, blogs, Pinterest and YouTube. Speakers will cover how to generate media buzz, how to use search engine optimization (SEO) to rise to higher heights in Google searches and the necessity of 365-day marketing strategies to measure the success of your efforts. So, if you are one of those writers who has been reluctant to spruce up your website or blog, and take the plunge into social media conversations on Twitter and Facebook, there is so much more you can be doing to create your own writing success. Run, don’t walk, to social media marketing.

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How to Measure Social Media ROI for Nonprofits

dorriolds — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:05:00 +0000

Part of that depends on your goals. If one of the best ways to draw people to your website is to build your brand and increase the number of people that know your company exists, how much is that worth? If you are seeking volunteers for an organization and by tweeting and posts to facebook leads to that, how much is it worth? If asking for donations brings in some money, money that you would not have seen otherwise, isn’t that important? At the end of the year, figure out what you’ve spent on the cost of outsourcing your social media and see if any or all of these areas have improved during that time and you will know right then that social media is worth the time and money. Ideally you’d be able to measure exactly how much you spent vs how much you earned in dollars and cents but with social media that can be tricky. There has to be an overall analysis at the end of the year of increased brand awareness, increased number of hits to your website, increased involvement of volunteers and of course, increases in donations. In only a few months time and with only a few hours per week I’ve seen huge increases in brand awareness, new visitors to the website, retweets on twitter and fans on facebook and already some donations that would never have happened had I not been actively using social media to spread the word and promote the cause.

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Gr8 Quote!

dorriolds — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:24:33 +0000

“When a business owner says to me, ‘Why do I need to change my way of advertising and start using social media?’ I reply, ‘Do you want to be an 8 track player in an IPod world'”

—Rick Mosca

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6 Content-Driven Social Media Tips for Business

dorriolds — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:33:58 +0000

Establish presence. With hundreds of millions of active participants (Facebook alone has several hundred million registered users), you want continuous visibility among the people who are important to your business, be they customers, partners, or other stakeholders.

Build rapport and relationships with specific audiences. Cultivate relationships with your important stakeholder groups through two-way communication.

Establish your business as a leader and authority, by providing helpful and insightful content that can’t easily be found elsewhere, information people want.

Engage prospective customers and partners interactively. Invite feedback and input, and be responsive, attentive, empathetic, and supportive.

Listen and learn from your customers, supporters, and all your various stakeholders. Encourage constructive criticism, conduct surveys, solicit suggestions.

Build brand and company loyalty. Social media is an ideal vehicle to grow whatever loyalty initiatives your organization engages in.

by Alan Radding

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http://design-blog.dorriolds.com/2010/01/fun-fact-about-brand-reputation.html

dorriolds — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 10:41:05 +0000

Are you building your brand reputation? If not, it would be wise to start… Dominos Pizza recently learned that the majority of their market had the opinion that their product is lousy. They learned specific details as to why their customers felt their product was inferior against their competitors. Dominos then used social media to ... Read more

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New Website Launched!

dorriolds — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:47:41 +0000

Hi, A new website I created just launched moments ago. It’s for the Little Baby Face Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps children all around the world. Check it out and tell me what you think!

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