An Orange Rhombus Talks Networking: Erica Vetsch

First, let me say thank you to my phenomenal writing friends here at Seekerville for letting me come by and post a few of my admittedly quirky thoughts. The Seekers are a long-suffering and generous group of ladies, and I can’t wait to meet up with a bunch of the crew next week in St. Louis. If you are going to the conference, the nightly Seekerville party is THE place to be!

If you haven’t read my last post on Seekerville, you’re probably wondering about the title of today’s blog and why I would call myself an Orange Rhombus. (The mystery can be solved by clicking HERE. {Go ahead, I’ll wait.}) [whistles, listens to crickets chirping, drums fingers while contemplating the mystery of the hotdog-to-hotdog-bun ratio]

Welcome back. :)

One word that strikes terror in the heart of this Orange Rhombus deep enough to induce a case of the screaming mimi’s is: Networking.

photo © 2011 Home Cinema Pictures (via: Wylio)

more info

I have to admit, when I first heard about Networking, I got a ‘someone just laid a dead jellyfish on your arm’ feeling. Cold chills and a lot of grimacing and squirming. To my untutored mind, networking sounded a lot like schmoozing and using people. Like a politician currying favor or a used car salesman angling to offload a clunker.

Who wants to be THAT person?

But I was operating under a false definition of networking. Networking isn’t about using people, it’s about forming relationships. Some will be extremely professional, some will be deeply personal, and the majority will be somewhere in between.

So how do we go about this kind of networking? Here are three ways I’ve found productive:

1. Go to conferences. I’ve met the most amazing people at writing conferences. (For example, meeting the Seekers and Seeker-villagers at the aforementioned nightly party.) Go to the workshops and stay after for a minute to chat with the presenter. Chat with the people at your meal table or before a session starts. Exchange business cards and follow up on the acquaintance. If you don’t know what to say to someone at a writing conference, just ask them what they’re working on, or what they’re reading, or what workshop they’ve been to so far. The floodgates will open. Most authors are Gregarious Introverts who will gladly talk your arm off if it’s about writing and books.

2. Blog, tweet, facebook, email. Make friends online. Read blogs and leave comments. Join twitter and find like-minded folks to chat with. I have a group of authors who join me quite often in the #1k1hr thread on twitter and we encourage each other to write one thousand words in an hour. Instant cheerleaders! Get on facebook and find friends. Do you like a particular author’s work? Email them and tell them. You might begin a friendship you’ll both come to treasure. Two caveats here: Please, be respectful of other people’s time and space and don’t be a pest. And be authentic. Don’t reach out to people for the sole purpose of using them to get ahead, to get a referral, to get a free critique. That’s just wrong. This is about making friends, not scoring a coup.

3. Join professional organizations like the ACFW and RWA that have e-loops or forums. I belong to several e-loops, some regional, some topical, some certifiable (grin.) Through these loops I’ve made friends with folks who live in the same area of the country, or who write historical romance, or who think like me.

You might be thinking, okay, so what? You’ve made a lot of friends. How does that networking pay dividends for your writing journey?

I’m so glad you asked. :)

1. Friends are the best marketers. They tell their friends and their readers about cool books they’ve read including yours. At nearly every book signing I am at, I find a customer in the store who is looking for something other than what I write. I’ve sold books for Donita Paul, for Stephanie Morrill, for Mark Mynheir and many others simply because they are my friends and I love their work. Recommending them is easy-peasy, and word-of-mouth is the single best way to sell books.

2. The sharing of information. Nobody can be an expert on everything, but we all know something. Having friends in lots of areas of this business means we can increase our knowledge base. If you have made a friend online who writes for a publishing house you’re interested in, you can email them for the skinny on their editor’s preferences. If you know of an agent who is looking for something in particular and you have a friend who writes that, hook ‘em up. By pooling our knowledge, everyone benefits.

3. We all need friends on this journey. Have you ever felt like giving up? Had a bad breakup with an agent or publishing house? Had a setback? Those friends you’ve made along the way can support you, prop you up, give you a kick in the tookis. Have you completed a manuscript? Won a contest? Gotten a contract? Solved a plot problem? Your friends will celebrate with you.

I encourage you to look on networking in the publishing industry as making friends and forming relationships, not so you can use people for your own ends, but so you can be blessed and be a blessing. After all, everybody can use at least one more friend, right? I know I can.

Somewhere along the way, I managed to wind up having THREE books releasing this month. How did this happen? Search me. But it’s kinda cool.  To celebrate renewing friendships and meeting new friends here at Seekerville, I’m giving away one copy of each book to one commenter.

Light To my Path:

How could something so beautiful on the outside be so rotten on the inside?

When Sam discovers the truth about his money-grabbing fiancée, he breaks off their engagement and makes plans to head back to Denver alone. Disillusioned, he determines never to get caught by a woman again. But then, Aunt Tabitha asks a favor of him, and he couldn’t turn her down.

Eldora Carter, jobless, homeless, and family-less, finds herself suddenly in charge of escorting three orphaned children across country on the train from St. Louis to Denver. What should have been an easy job, however, quickly becomes a nightmare as each child presents their own crisis. If it wasn’t for Sam Mackenzie, they’d all have been put off the train long ago.

When an avalanche halts their progress, Sam and Eldora both must learn to trust God like never before. Life, health, safety, security…even family and love. Can God be trusted to put things together when, despite all their efforts, they’ve failed so miserably?

A Bride's Portrait of Dodge City, Kansas:

Hoping to leave the shadows of her shady yesteryears behind, Adeline Reid is focusing on her photography career. But when her ex-boyfriend’s compatriot in crime shows up in Dodge City her entire past is threatened by exposure. Can Addie keep her secrets while helping to catch a killer? Deputy Miles Carr’s investigation into a shopkeeper’s murder leads him to Addie’s door. Will his attraction to this female photographer keep him from catching the true culprit? Or will Addie lead him off course in more ways than one?

My novella, Christmas Service, appears in A Log Cabin Christmas Novella Collection:

Experience Christmas through the eyes of adventuresome settlers who relied on log cabins built from trees on their own land to see them through the cruel forces of winter. Discover how rough-hewed shelters become a home in which faith, hope, and love can flourish. Marvel in the blessings of Christmas celebrations without the trappings of modern commercialism where the true meaning of the day shines through. And treasure this exclusive collection of nine Christmas romances penned by some of Christian fiction’s best-selling authors.

About me: Whenever I'm not following flights of fancy in my fictional world, I'm company bookkeeper for our family lumber business, mother of two terrific teens, wife to a man who is my total opposite and yet my soul-mate, and avid museum patron.