Melody Groves at Southwest Writers

The speaker at Southwest Writers tonight was Melody Groves. Her talk was about marketing and self-promotion for writers.

Writers can be shy and think (or hope) that promotion is someone else's job, but Melody pointed out that the writer is the only one who really can or will promote their work. Other people can only help. She stressed how important it is to be able to talk about our work in all kinds of situations and recommended a 7-word answer to the question, "What do you write?"

She gave the best and simplest how-to I've ever heard on networking because word of mouth, even today, is the most effective way to get people to be interested. She said to make a first impression by developing a personal style that is visual. She said to shake hands firmly, look people in the eye, smile, and give out lots of business cards. She said to listen to other people and say their names. And wear a name badge so it's easy for people to remember yours. She said that people will have to hear your name seven times before they remember it, but if they can see it, they will remember in two.

She had lots of great advice. It sounded like marketing could be fun, and you might even make some really good friends along the way!