Last week, a guy I work with had just returned from vacation. He knew I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy, and asked me if I knew a certain author. Apparently, while on vacation, he met the family of this particular author.
The name sounded familiar, but, after a while, names tend to blend. So I did what anyone nowadays would do: I Googled the author.
I didn't find much. Oh, sure, this author had a Wordpress website (with wordpress in the web address, which means it's the free version--come on, people, if you're gonna do that, just pay for the darn thing; otherwise, just go with a BlogSpot blog). The author had a Facebook page, which hadn't been updated since 2013. This author may or may not have even been on Twitter.
I will call the author a "he" since a saw a picture of him. He had a smattering of short stories, and even had novels published by Tor--okay, I'm impressed by that bit.
Honestly, though, it still wasn't much. I was surprised. He had been publishing for quite a number of years.
Google my name: Mark S. R. Peterson. Since I have a common enough name, you get other hits too, but for the most part it all leads back to me.
And, again, I suck at marketing.
It doesn't take much to start building an online presence. A blog post here and there, even publishing here and there, it doesn't take much. And this particular author had been publishing for years. Much longer than me.
The point is that if you find someone who wants to know more about you or your books, be mindful of what many people will do nowadays. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will your career. But if you treat your career like an investment, adding to it bit by bit over time, your presence will grow.
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