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Goals, Marketing, Branding and Emily Gould OR “Do I Have To?”
It’s likely that you’ve probably heard of Emily Gould by now, even if you’re in fly-over land like me. Emily is a quasi-famous writer/blogger who got herself in one hot mess of craziness via a winding road that went like this: college, writer, Gawker job, Jimmy Kimmel, NYT Magazine article, book deal. Instead of rewriting it, you can follow it here via her NYT Magazine story. Really, it’s a doozy. Her “oversharing” continues at Emily Magazine even unto today.
This story, which has captured my day, has really made me reconsider many things. For instance, every day I open up my browser and find dozens of invites to virtual “friendships” on Plurk, MySpace, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. My online “life” (?) meshes too easily with my personal one. On MySpace, my profile easily gives those on the other side of the dull roar of the internet the faces, names and etc of dozens of real life (IRL) friends and family…you know, the people who come to your parties, weddings, funerals. Real people. I don’t want those in the dull roar to know those IRL. They have no biz or use of 6 year old “S.”, my babysitters little sister who wanted her own MySpace. They don’t need to know the story behind all the A.’s family MySpace names and who is going to be missed forever. It’s nunya- none of your business.
In order to extricate these two lines, I have to figure out what exactly my goals are. I have to “social network”, because, at least right now, one of my goals is to keep my contract with the New York Times’ About.com network, and keeping my contract means having readers and having readers means going out and finding them on the net. Via social networks. Via various writer’s social networks.
Acquisitons Editors want established platforms already in place for your book. They want “fans” or at least, “community.” Every day, new published authors flood the net trying to get these hundred+ people networks established….how silly would it be of me to give up a growing one?
But I don’t want that sometimes. I don’t want the dull roar of the internet. I don’t want to be the “tallest poppy” or the “turkey with the longest neck”. I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut, and when it opens, it tends to be sharp. The perceived anonmity of the net is not good for me.
And really, nine times out of ten I just want to be left alone. Yet, I feel the need to follow that up with: Don’t Leave Me, Readers! Don’t Stop Reading Me, Writers!
How very odd.
At the New Year, I made a list of goals for my online writing, for my “brand”, for About.com, for clients and etc. But, because so much of it is online, so much of it was about social networking- “the wave of the future.”
So I’m thinking about revising much of those goals. Print pays better. Print is my goal. I want to move to that next tier, and more than anything, I don’t want to be like Emily Gould. (not that I wouldn’t like a book deal, but the poor girl is just villified day in and day out). I’ve tried to extricate myself from over-online socializing before. It’s just so very hard. And I know that I really can’t afford too, branding-wise, anyway.
