Wulf Moon's SUPER SECRETS: You Can’t Stop the Signal

By Wulf Moon

"They can’t stop the signal, Mal. They can never stop the signal."

—Mr. Universe

The lines above are from a reclusive character named Mr. Universe in the movie Serenity. Well, the words were actually spoken by his love-bot wife, Lenore. It’s complicated. I hear the ceremony was beautiful.

Did you see the movie? Of course you did, you’re my tribe. You probably watched every episode of Firefly as well, and as a Browncoat can quote lines like “Shiny” and “I aim to misbehave” and “Jayne, your mouth is talking. You might wanna look to that.”

Without spoiling the whole movie for those that may not have seen it [gasp, our friendship now teeters on the raggedy edge], Captain Mal has obtained a disc with top secret information about how the crazed cannibalistic Reavers came about through an Alliance experiment implemented on planet Miranda. The Alliance’s good-guy image will be crippled if word gets out that they did their chemical test on an entire planet’s population, especially since it killed almost all of the planet’s inhabitants, and those that survived became psychopaths known as the Reavers. So, they send out an assassin called the Operative, and after finally pinning down the location of Serenity and its crew, he calls in an armada to stop them.

Mal must find a way to keep the Alliance from destroying the evidence so he can inform the inhabited worlds. But how can he beat such impossible odds?

With a friend of his known as Mr. Universe. On a nearby ion cloud shrouded moon, Mr. Universe runs a pirate broadwave galactic communications system that can play the recording on every screen in thirty worlds. All Mal has to do is sneak past the Reavers’ territory, outrun a blockade of Alliance warships, punch it to Mr. Universe, and broadcast the information to the ‘verse. Piece of cake! You can’t stop the signal, Mal!

But wait a minute. You can stop the signal…if it never gets transmitted in the first place.

How does this relate to writing you ask? Writers don’t need to advertise, they don’t need to broadcast, and they certainly don’t need to reach thirty worlds! They just need to sit in their room and write and the world will discover their genius. Somehow. Some way. One day. Besides, they’ve seen those self-promoting type of writers. Used car salesmen, the lot! Creatives that have sold out their art to crass commercialism!

Ooo-kay. Let’s nip such thinking in the bud right now. Or, if it has taken root, let’s fire up the chainsaw. Writers, emerging and established writers seeking to have their work published and read, are entrepreneurs. They create a product and then do their best to get that product into the hands of consumers. The product is their stories; the consumer is their readers. Oh, and it would be nice get paid for all the hours they spent writing them, including recovering something to cover the profitless early years spent in research and development.

To get paid for your works? That requires selling your created product. It means finding a way to advertise it, so others know it exists and are given the opportunity to buy it. To do that means getting the word out, showing the world what you got.

Alas, most of us don’t have the good fortune of having a Mr. Universe on call to do that job for us.

Branding. Advertising. Selling. These can be dirty words to many writers. After all, most writers are a reclusive bunch. It’s how they can sit in rooms for hours on end creating their stories, scripts, and novels. The problem is, without some form of contact with the outside world, without some way to catch the eyes of readers in order to get paid, published, and have those stories distributed to them, that creative product won’t be read. And it certainly won’t make a writer any money, money that could have helped the writer pay the bills for that room they write in.

Let’s examine why today’s writer needs not only to master their craft to produce a quality product, they also need to develop a level of proficiency in marketing that product so it has a chance to sell. Writing lots of beautiful stories and then stuffing them in a drawer is like a manufacturer creating marvelous products that can uplift the lives of consumers…and then stacking them in a warehouse, expecting them to get into the hands of the public without any sales force or advertising strategy. Who will even know that product exists?

Let’s flip the script.

Can I Get a Signal Boost?

Ever heard someone in an online writing group say that? I sure have. What are they asking for? Well, in my circles, they are usually writers with a new book, and they’re asking if you could share their post about their new release or their upcoming Kickstarter campaign on your social media. If you have a social media presence, they figure you know people they don’t. Chances are, your friends hold similar interests and may have a hankering for a book like theirs. But your friends won’t know it’s there if nobody tells them. And while the person asking for a boost may have a bit of crossover between your friends and followers and theirs, odds are high their post won’t reach the majority.

They need a signal boost.

When you post their story or book to your social media, that writer gets exposure to a wider audience. They reach people outside their circle, achieving more impressions, which are really subtle (or not so subtle) advertisements that appear on viewers’ screens. You think you’re helping a buddy out, sharing a common interest with your friends. But in truth, your social media presence has eyeballs, perhaps a lot of eyeballs. And those eyeballs are attached to heads, heads with lots of thoughts as images pass into their brains. They can be influenced by what you post, even motivated by what you recommend. They might even decide it’s worth spending their hard-earned money to buy the item you’re sharing.

You probably don’t view sharing those posts as an advertisement. Your posts are a way to share with people things that have meaning to you, things you value. And you value helping out a friend. People with similar values usually gravitate toward one another, creating communities of people with similar interests. Your posts and shares on social media reach out to your tribe, sending a signal or message about who you are, what you do, things you care about. Others that feel an affinity for you and what you do will interact with you, share similar interests, and yes, they might even buy your friend’s book you shared because they trust your recommendations.

Objective of the signal boost request achieved. Someone outside of the writer’s sphere of influence saw and bought their book. And they hope the new reader will tell two friends, and they’ll tell two friends, and more and more and more until it goes viral and all these spheres will be permeated with signals about their amazing book and launch them into instant bestseller fame and financial security and a very very very nice house with three exotic cockatoos strutting in the yard.

Alas, while it’s happened for a few that were in the right place at the right time with the right product, for most of us, getting the word out about who we are and what we do and what stories and books we’ve written takes time. You build your signal over time, gathering a greater following so you can transmit your message to edify and increase the goodness of all humankind! Hey, don’t laugh. We’re writers. Our art has great power. Stories can reach deep inside minds and hearts, changing lives, influencing societal groups, even moving entire nations into action.

But not if nobody knows you’re there. Not if no one can hear or see your message.

This takes signal.

How do we get it?

The Basics

I see some eyes out there glazing over. “Okay, Moon. I’m not an indie writer. I don’t need signal boosts and a brand look and I’m certainly not going to promote myself. That’s a huckster. I am an artiste!”

Sorry, my friend. While I admit you look fabulous in that French beret, you are a creator of product, and if you want that product to be consumed, hopefully by a paying customer, you’re going to need to sell it. The easiest way is to send it out to a publisher with the hope they’ll appreciate your product and pay you for it. They’re like Mr. Universe: From here to the eyes and the ears of the ‘verse, that's our motto. Or, if not to the universe, at least to their sphere of readers.

But even using a publisher’s base to get readers for your product, you are still [gasp] selling. You sent the publisher your work with the hope that they’d buy it, right? Selling. I bet you even included a cover letter, saying a little bit about your credentials, like those respectable markets you might have previously been published in. Selling. Perhaps your story is about alien cuttlefish, and you just happen to mention you’re a cephalopodologist from the University of Washington. Selling.

Wonderful. You’ve crossed the bare threshold from writer to salesperson. Your wonderful journey into marketing begins.

Shiny!

Build Your First Public Relations Station!

When someone buys the rights to publish your creation, something magical happens. The publisher distributes your story to their subscribers, and those subscribers read your work and form opinions not only about the work, but about your storytelling skills as a writer. If they are moved by what you created, they might even seek you out, not only to discover more of your work, but also to know the wonderful wordsmith that created it.

In our modern world of social media, readers today expect to have some form of access to the creators they admire. Some simply want notice of when the creator’s next work will be available, others want to support the creator so they’ll continue to make more of what they love, and some will even want to see a slice of the creator’s personal life so they can get to know them as a person. Congratulations! You’ve got fans!

But not if they can’t find you. Not if you don’t have an accessible social media presence. Not if they try to tune into your broadcasting station and the power isn’t even on.

Creating a website is the next step of an emerging writer’s journey. This is your private Mr. Universe moon— a personal broadcasting station, a station where fans can find you, and where you can send them signals: messages about your interests, your new works, your latest achievements, really anything that will feed their need to have some contact with you, and you with them.

Capturing the email addresses of your fans is important. No, that shouldn’t feel creepy— it’s not like you’re asking them for their phone number at a dive bar. Getting their e-mail address is the way you’ll be able to reach them in the future and maintain your fanbase. Many writers use sign-up forms to join their newsletter, often enticing them with a free giveaway like a short story, novelette, or even an e-book. People love things for FREE because there’s no risk. The price is right. Let’s take a chance!

Your website doesn’t have to be fancy to start with, and you can use templates to create a professional-looking presence. Then it’s just a matter of choosing an e-mail newsletter platform and integrating a sign-up form into your website. If you’re using WordPress, they have widgets you can set yours up with, allowing you to use an external newsletter platform like MailerLite. I use a delayed pop-up with mine. Would you like to see how I’ve set my system up? Then take a quick trip to www.thesupersecrets.com. I utilize both a pop-up system and a sign-up form at the bottom of the home page. If one doesn’t catch visitors, the other might after they read a little more. Go ahead. Click the link. I’ll wait. Fill out the form on my website. See how it works. You’ll get a massive hyperlinked online book of the Super Secrets of Writing if you do. And did I mention it’s FREE?

Heh, welcome back. I just demonstrated to you a major rule of marketing. Tell people what you’d like them to do and show them how they’ll benefit if they do so. If you don’t ask, people won’t do. So ask. Help them over the threshold.

One word about newsletters. Do you like companies that inundate your email account in weekly or even daily newsletters? I don’t. Burying fans in newsletters is a terrific way to get that hard-earned new follower to cancel. Your fans are interested in you and what you do, but few desire to be drowned in constant newsletters and updates. Just like in your stories, leave them with a good taste in their mouth, but always hungry for more. Fans should look forward to your newsletters in their inbox. It’s the only way they’ll open them. And when they do, newsletters should be fun and informative, not endless pleas of “Buy my book! Buy my book! Buy my book!”

Good news! You’ve taken my advice, and you now have your Public Relations Station up, your own network with signal, bringing your followers the soothing vibes from the creative mind of one cool-cat writer. Or maybe you’re the Wolf Man, jazzing it up with your raspy, lounge-lizard voice. The important thing is to be you and to share authentic you with the public. It’s what your readers expect.

It’s the people you will collect.

Social Media Platforms

Chances are, you already have a social media platform where you share details about your life with friends and family. Adding in posts about your writing and where your people can find your work is a wonderful place to start— you’ve already got that broadcasting station set up, and most family members will want to support your work because you’re blood, and blood is thicker than water. So I’m told.

But it gets tricky as you start collecting fans on your personal pages. For one thing, they might not be interested in all of your pictures of Uncle Joe, and even though he’s moving kinda slow, you do love him so. Another drawback. Accepting anyone that sends you a friend request to your personal page can be risky. After all, they may not be who you think they are. They may even try to steal your identity or love those vacation photos you post because now they know you’re out of town ….

At some point, it’s a good idea to set up a separate account that is dedicated to representing you as writer and author. It’s easier to accept “friends” whether you know them or not, and you can tailor your posts to your writing life, the work you create and publish, and the complimentary reviews and accolades that will come your way as your career progresses. Insights into these things are what your fans crave. You become your own content creator, a creative endeavor in its own right. See? Marketing can be fun!

Sharing the works of others that might suit the tastes of your fans is also nice, a real service to your community. When was the last time you shared a post about a story or magazine you loved, like, oh, I don’t know, perhaps DreamForge Magazine? Publishers really appreciate this, as they need your signal just as much as you need theirs when you sell a story to their magazine. New subscribers keep markets alive, markets you may wish to be published in one day. We’re all in this together, and saying good words about the work of others and supporting their endeavors enhances our community.

But there are other reasons for having a viable social media presence. Have you ever visited an author website, and the site is covered in dust, a silent ghost town that doesn’t even have a bit of dry tumbleweed rolling down the lane? For some, their website appears to only be a place to contact them through, although quite a few don’t even have a contact form or easy method to reach them. Who here wants to sign up for exciting news from a dead website? Can I have a show of hands?

Yeah, thought so. Not going to happen.

You may think having a social media presence is not important to you at this stage of the game. Again, writers like to write. Most don’t have marketing skills, and if they’re going to share anything from their life, it’s going to be secretly wrapped up in their quirky characters. For most writers (memoirists the exception, but they’re a different breed), putting themselves and their real life out there makes them feel exposed and vulnerable. It’s hard enough just sending their stories to a publisher, hoping they will sell. Running their own personal publicity station? Talking about themselves to any passerby that happens to knock on their door? As Bilbo said in The Fellowship of the Ring movie: “No thank you! We don't want any more visitors, well-wishers, or distant relations!”

Hmmm. Let me tell you a story. I’m feeling generous, let’s make it a double.

A few years ago, a bestselling author friend that owns a publishing company received an impressive manuscript from a new writer. It had everything a publisher looks for, an exciting tale with great writing that got his juices flowing. He was all set to send the writer a contract and buy the rights to publish the novel. But first, he did his due diligence and checked the writer’s social media presence.

The few faint footprints he could even find had no posts in ages and zero interaction with followers. The writer apparently lived in isolation, or at least that’s what his social media presence reflected. Sadly, the publisher had no choice but to reject the manuscript, even though it was an impressive story. Why? Because he knew he’d have zero help from the author in helping him sell the book. The writer had no Public Relations Station set up and running. Dead airwaves. No listeners. And that told the publisher he would have to do all the heavy lifting, and he’d already be taking on the risk of promoting a book by an unknown writer. No thank you.

Another story. Because I had my own social networks set up, I saw a post on X from an editor I knew at a respected publication making a desperate call out to the internet ether. She asked if anyone knew how to contact this certain writer. She said she’d like to buy his story, but he had neglected to put his contact information on the manuscript. Oy vey! What’s more, she had scoured the internet and couldn’t find a website or any social media presence for him. This post was her final hail Mary before she moved on.

Fortunately, I knew the writer (he lives in another country), and I told him he’d better email the editor ASAP or he'd lose a great sale. Close one! They connected and he made it in. But it’s not like sales to respected markets come every day, and why lose an opportunity like this because we failed to establish our broadcasting station so people like editors and publishers could tune in and find us.

Establish your social media presence. You don’t need to be on all of the platforms— trying to do them all means you’ll do none of them well. But you do need to have a presence somewhere, and you do need to be active and visible wherever you set up camp. Pick one or two platforms you’re comfortable with and start sending out your pirate signal. Ahr, matey! And please please please don’t do posts stacked upon posts that say, “Buy my book! Buy my book! Buy my book!” Mix it up. Like to travel? Share some pictures from the Oregon coast…after you return home. Got a cat? Post some of those pictures of Tricksy. Like to cook? Show us that plate of chocolate chip cookies you just baked. Trust me on this!

Do You Hear Me Now?

Growing our brand, advertising our product, selling our work, leveling up our street cred to open up more publishing opportunities— it’s a big subject, too much to cover in one Super Secrets of Writing article. Don’t worry, another is on its way! But I hope I have convinced you to get your Public Relations Station erected and transmitting. You may not think you need it now, but the moment you sell your first story to a respectable market, you’re going to have eyeballs on your work. Some of the readers behind those eyeballs are going to look up to the sky and say, “Who was that masked man?” or “Who was that superhuman woman?” People are curious. They’re going to want to know your secret identity— who you are and where to find you.

Unlike Clark Kent, make it easy for them to do so. Online, that is. Make them part of your clan. Readers want to have a connection with you. They really do want to read more of your work. Even if you have nothing else published yet, they’ll wait for you as long as you keep them tuned in with good programming from your broadcasting station. They went to all that trouble to find you. Don’t disappoint them with static when they try to tune in.

Fans are your future. Fans are your success. You are the only source of the tasty goodness that brought them to you. You are the siren’s song that’s haunting their mind that they long to immerse themselves within again. Don’t be shy. Do them a solid. Don’t mumble, don’t be mute. Sing loud enough for readers, editors, and publishers to hear.

You can’t stop the signal, Mal. But you do need to get to your station established and broadcasting so the public can have the opportunity to find you and tune in to your program. Creating a Public Relations Station is a vital element to your success. With it you can share the message about your creations and where to find them across the entire ‘verse.

Shiny!