writers in hiding on myspace

Don't look so shocked. On occassion, I actually blog about writing and writer's issues...or blog period. I stole this from my often neglected myspace blog. If you're a writer with a profile there, feel free to pass this advice on to anyone you know who may need it.



Just a quick note for writers who indicate on their profiles that they are at myspace for "networking" or to meet potential fans/customers. If you set your profile to private, only allow people who know your (real) last name or private email to add you as a friend, don't have any indication of your name on your page so you can be added or otherwise make yourself impossible to contact or for someone browsing to see your page, you're defeating the purpose of having a myspace page for promotion.

If you're worried about your privacy, set up a page for your "real" friends and family to contact you, and a separate page for your work. Hiding from potential readers by setting up too many roadblocks to your page is just getting in your own way. I can't tell you how many writers' pages I've visited where I looked everywhere for their surname, their pseudonym, a hint of their email or anything of that nature. Never mind that a lot of writers are too busy to respond, not everyone who wishes to add you will sit down and pen you a personal note when they're ready to add to their friends list. Some people (myself included) are just flat out lazy and will consider your lack of availability a sign that you do not wish to reach out to the community at large.

By the way, the above applies even more strongly for people who request to or consent to their pages being added to a link list or directory of writers on myspace. You can't expect to get a lot of new friends if you make it impossible for people to add you, even when they know where your page is.