As an author attempting to gain traction in the publishing world, it is more and more important to have a Web-presence. As a result, there is a glut of authors, publishers, agents, and other professionals connected to the literary planet who are vying for their place in a worldwide community. As an author, seeking the same thing as the rest of you, I see two primary ways to do this: Bottom Up and Top Down.
In the Bottom Up model, literarians (as I will group them together…made-up word) start basically at zero and bootstrap their way into position through blogging, online community creation and involvement, and other discrete marketing strategies. This is becoming a more and more effective way to enter the literary world. But, it still takes a lot of work and time.
Top Down is where many literarians want to start. This is like hitting the lottery. You put your work and name out there, and you hit the jackpot. Your chances of success are much smaller, but if you hit the numbers, you are in there.
However, I think that today, most literarians have the option to approach both ends from the middle. If you’re a writer with a voice and a brain, you can easily continue to write while posting on your blog, Tweeting, and posting in numerous other online communities, all while submitting your work to the top-tier agencies and publishers.
In today’s literary environment, you can’t leave any opportunity be. Go forth and attack from Top and Bottom and see things begin to happen.
Sipper Books 