Today I put out a message on Twitter asking what people thought I should focus on with this new blog. The majority of comments suggested I have a focus and stay with it. Having a focus will allow visitors to know what to expect. And I couldn’t agree more.

My original intent with this blog was to document my journey as a writer, and I’ll still do that. But I also want to add some value to the readers.

While watching the streaming video of WordCamp Las Vegas this morning, Chris Brogan, someone who has a pretty good handle on social media and marketing, said something that was very prolific. His advice, quit writing about the tools (i.e. Twitter, FriendFeed), and start using them to enhance your world. Basically, get out from behind the wall and smell the roses.

I’m guilty of talking about the tools instead of using them to enhance my world. In fact, I deleted about 10 posts I had already started that were tool based. I thought telling you why writers should use Twitter or FriendFeed was the right thing too do. But I don’t think that way anymore. Rather than telling you about tools (which may happen from time to time), what I really want to do is talk about my experiences and how I got there.

For example, I’m a Twitter user. If you don’t know what Twitter is, I suggest reading this blog post. I use a tool called TweetDeck which monitors all of Twitters communications, and allows me to find information based on search criteria. I’m currently finding a lot of new writers, books, and websites via Twitter. The reason this has value to me is the information I’m tracking is relevant at this moment.

How is this going to help my writing? How can this help your writing? These are some great questions. I want to use the different streams of information to augment my life experiences, not be the experience. I think I spend more time than is necessary reading all this information. I’m not sure I really need that much.

• Do I Need A Sales Page To Succeed?
• Participating In NaNoWriMo 2009
• 5 Pages Every Writer Should Consider
• The Galactic Writer Elevator Pitch
• The Challenge Of Writing A Book

The more I journey around the Internet, getting to know other writers, and reading posts on social network services like Twitter, the more I see links for sales landing pages. These are sites that usually have just one page calling you into action to buy a product or service. I’m amazed at the number of people selling programs that will help freelance writers make a gazillion dollars.

My focus is not the freelance market, but I almost feel left out of the loop. Is there that much money to be made as a freelance copywriter?

So here’s my point; I hear that literary markets are saturated and no one is making any money, but freelance markets are making six figures a year.

The question is, should I have a sales page for my stories and books? Is that type of marketing better than the traditional distribution system of putting a book on the shelf (which is a topic I want to discuss later)? I’m serious, maybe I’ve been doing it all wrong. Maybe all authors have been doing it all wrong. Hell, I’ll take a six figure income over a few thousand any day. If the sales page marketing solution works, we should all embrace it.

What do you think? What methods do you use to sell your prose?

• Add Value In All You Write
• Participating In NaNoWriMo 2009
• 5 Pages Every Writer Should Consider
• The Galactic Writer Elevator Pitch
• The Challenge Of Writing A Book