As a writer, I have discovered that writers like to hang out
with other writers and writer types. Maybe we are all a bit insane, or maybe we
just understand that certain something in each other that pulls us in to the
field, but whatever it is, we find ourselves in a circle, a community I will
call it, of like minded souls.
But being a part of a community assumes you are a citizen;
and being a citizen means responsibility. Citizens support one another, they
don't just take and take, they give as well. And that brings me to the point of
this post: Being a Good Literary Citizen.
Publications, ratings, obvious site traffic are important to
us. It gives us visibility, which in this new world of 'marketing yourself' is
very important. Granted, I don't share or comment or tweet everything I see
from those in my community because it would be overwhelming, but I do as much
as possible, and hope when I need a little love, it will be returned.
Fictitious Mary is a member of my community. She shares and
comments and tweets and rates and buys books from other members. She reviews,
she shares, she gives the love. She is a good citizen.
Now let me tell you about fictitious Rudy. Rudy likes to
hang in the community, but for years, Rudy hasn't shared, voted,
commented-nothing on anyone else in the groups work. Now Rudy has a book out
and is finally in a position where he needs a little extra help, too. Let's
see, when I'm picking and choosing what to share, is it going to be a link to
Rudy's debut novel or Mary's blog post about her cat?
Sorry, Rudy, kitties rule.
Of course, there is a lot more to being a good citizen than
just the things mentioned above, but these are easy and take very little of
your time.
In the past day, I've tweeted 5 blogs, rated and commented
on three short stories, one book, two blog posts, shared three Facebook stories,
'liked' an author page and edited another short story--all for the members of
my community. Aside from the editing, this took me less than five minutes of my
day.
Why would I do this?
Because I am a member of a literary community and I take my
responsibility as a citizen very seriously.
So the BIG question is:
What kind of a literary citizen are you?
16 comments:
A damn good one ;) I work hard at it, but I enjoy it. I also appreciate the reciprocation. Off to tweet your blog now, Kelly!
Amen, GLC!
You are a great GLC. We need T-shirts.
Preachin' to the choir, right DRL?
Love this blog so much. I mean, there's no bats or anything, but this is what I'm talking about. It's not hard. Networking: an autistic kid can do it, anyone can.
I learned to be a literary citizen from YOU. I share, comment, etc. as a daily practice. I enjoy doing it. I sometimes even do it for the "Rudys" out there. Hopefully this blog will reach some of them. Thank you, Kelly, for being such a patient teacher.
"An autistic kid can do it, anyone can". I. Love. It.
That's sweet, Suzi. And probably the first time anyone has ever called me patient. :)
Thanks for the reminder, Kelly! As busy as our daily lives are, it's easy to say we don't have time to read or comment or re-post, but we need to remember that time spent will come back to us in a helping hand later. I also like hearing about what everyone is doing. I never thought I'd have so many friends spread across the country, and that I'd be able to keep up with them from my desk!
And thanks to all you lit-cits who shared the link to my story. I will try to remember your faces when I become pretentious.
Right, Susan, we are all so busy. And I'm not saying this should or has to be a part-time job. But if someone sees something that is easily shared, they should try to, or at least comment on things. It doesn't have to be everyday, just an effort.
Pretentious seems to be the word of the day...
I do what I can! Great blog post, Kelly, as usual. :)
Jen
That's all anyone can do. Do what you can, right?
I try to be a good citizen. But it took me three minutes to read your blog. How on earth do you do all of that in 5 minutes?
Great post and a good kick-in-the-ass to those of us who are probably more accurately within the OLC community (Okay Literary Citizen).
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