scott j. thurman

My Twitter Journey

I have been a Twitter user for years, and have used a number of different handles that have died from disuse. Facebook had always been my go-to social networking platform, and Twitter was an afterthought.

In August of this year, I decided that I needed a separate handle for my writing and to promote my book (Suicide By Everest, being published October 28th on KDP). I established @ScottJThurman as my author account and in a very short period of time surpassed the number of Followers on my business account, and will probably exceed 1000 Followers by the end of this month (October).

I know there are Twitter folk that look down on those of us that shamelessly troll for Followers but for many of us it’s not only a social platform, it’s also a way to promote and sell our books. And although I know that only a small percentage of my Followers will buy my book, 1% of 1000, is greater than 1% 100.

Here are some Twitter guidelines that I’ve started to follow:

1) Follow back. I almost always Follow back. It’s an easy thing to do and it always feels good to get a new follower. Unless the person is espousing values that I strongly oppose or are selling something I won’t ever need, I follow.

2) Answer DMs. If somebody takes the time to write a thoughtful message to me, I hope that I will always write back. If it’s just a form DM that somebody has cut and and pasted, that may be grounds for unfollowing. Also, if you’re trying to sell me something, don’t bother, I ain’t buying.

3) I don’t Follow beautiful young women that Follow me and immediately try to start a conversation. What is up with that? It runs counter to my instincts as a man, but I’m savvy enough to know something ain’t right.

4) Follow Followers. When I’m scanning through the multitudes of Twitter accounts looking for good recruits, I look to see their Following to Follower ratio. If they are following more than they Follow chances are they’ll follow you back.

5) Collate. If I follow someone and they don’t follow me back in 48 hours (give or take) I unfollow them. It’s oddly satisfying. Of course if it’s some important influencer (i.e. a Kardashian), or somebody famous that I want to associate with (i.e. @ ) they can stay.

6) Follow Friday’s #FF are a good way engage with your Followers and grow your own Following. Today my theme was people with No Commas (I.e. Less than 1,000 followers) that have a Following to Follower ratio greater than 1.

… to be continued.

“I’ll Buy Your Book and You Buy Mine” Program

Authors on Twitter seem to be an engaged and loyal group.

I’ve been tweeting for years now, under many different handles, but my tweeting has been very sporadic. Today, I have two Twitter accounts that I am actively using; one for my day job, and one for my writing (@ScottJThurman). As I’ve started using Twitter more, I’ve noticed that the more engaged you are, the faster your “followers” grow, and you actually start forming friendships, and having interesting conversations! Maybe even a nemesis or two.

I’ve also noticed how eager the author twitter community is to help and support each other. I’ve already bought several books, that I wouldn’t have otherwise, just because the author and I shared a few “likes” on Twitter. Hence, I am proposing a “You Buy My Book and I’ll Buy Yours” program, which is a list of people that will buy your book, on the assumption that you will buy theirs. It’s an honor system, at least until I can figure out how to correlate sales to participation. 🙂

Here are the rules:

Join the list. I’ve started a list on my Twitter Account (@ScottJThurman) called “Buy My Book”. You are welcome to subscribe.
Follow all of the Authors on the list and watch for their book promotions. My book, Suicide By Everest comes out on Amazon on October 28th!
Buy a book, and let the author know that you bought it, and provide a link to the book you would like them to buy in return.
Preference should be given to an author that just published. According to Amazon, those first few days are critical for future sales. As well as…
Review: Give an honest review of the book. I plan on blogging about the books I read, and I will always give my honest review.

If you are interested in joining let me know. If you have a book you want me to buy and review let me know. If you have any ideas on the program itself, please comment, I am interested in hearing from you.

Thanks! Scott

To Blog, or Not To Blog

Should a person Blog? Tweet? Post? Is it in his/her best interest?

If so, then why? What is the objective?

Should you separate your Twitter activity from your Facebook activity, or should you try to meld them all together?

These are the questions that I’m trying to figure out, so if you have any insight, please add your voice, but here is how I’m breaking it down:

WordPress (scottthurman.com) is my writing Blog. I will use this primarily for promoting me, my book and any future writing. There may be some personal bits, but it must somehow tie back to my writing.
Twitter (@scottjthurman) is a micro-blog. It works in conjunction with my WordPress website. I’ve been spending a lot of time on Twitter lately, building up my “following”, and I enjoy it. It’s sort of a way of keeping score.
LinkedIn is for business networking. In general, this is where I put my resume. I need to explore how LinkedIn supports authors/writers.
Skype: I haven’t really used Skype for personal business, though I don’t know why not. My Skype name is scott_thurman
WeChat: This is the Twitter of China. My WeChat handle is MenciusScott
Facebook: Appears to have jumped the shark. I visit facebook once or twice a day, but Twitter has become my go-to social networking app. FB will be for updating and being updated by family and friends. It’s not a place I will be regularly promoting my writing.
Instagram: Username is thurm2012. Haven’t used it that much, but seems popular with many. There is a way to coming them together.
WhatsApp
Yelp
Google+
Goodreads Author Page
Amazon Author Page

Social Networking Filter on High

Earlier today I tweeted something about SUICIDE and within seconds I regretted it and deleted it. It was fairly mundane, but I could see where somebody who had lost a loved one or struggled with suicidal thoughts, might take offense. So, to be on the safe side I deleted it. It got me thinking about all the filters I run my social networking posts through, and wondered if I’ve set it too high, or too low? What factors go into a tweeter’s decision to post or not post something.

Here are a few I came up with:

Family filter: If I say this, and my wife or kids see it, will I be embarrassed? If one of their friends sees it, knowing that I’m their husband/father, will they be embarrassed, made fun of, or otherwise harassed. Yes? No? Maybe?
Work filter: I work for a Fortune 500 company that is very protective of their IP and their brand. People have lost their jobs by posting the wrong things, so I stay completely away from anything day-job related.
Brand filter: We all have a brand whether we like it, know it, or not. Shy, cocky, annoying, confident, etc… I’m trying to build a brand with my writing. Violent, American/Chinese, intriguing, surprising, Tarantinoesque… I would like to sell a lot of my books, and I have started to develop a “tribe” using social networking tools. More and more I find that I’m checking myself before I wreck myself. I believe it’s a good thing from a sales and marketing perspective, but it’s also sad that we now live in a world (America?) where having a different opinion might cost you a sale, or worse ruin your career. This morning I was watching the news and there was a story about how the Barbie brand had reinvented itself after losing sales and market share for the last few years. They came up with a product line of Barbie’s that crossed all sorts of barriers and boundaries. The reporter made some comment about something called the United Colors of Benetton Barbie. Then the reporter asked the Barbie representative “Would Barbie ever take a position on a political and/or social issue, and she said matter of factly, ‘no, we don’t want to offend anybody.'”

Thoughts? What filters do you use, if any? What high/low is your social networking setting?

Religious Undertones

As I enter the marketing phase of authorpreneurship, one of the concepts I struggle with is how to communicate that Mormonism is an influence on the book’s protagonist (Brig), but it is not a religious book by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I also worry about the opposite… that friends/family will be displeased by some of the more salacious sections of the book (rape, S&M, prostitution).

Suicide By Everest is fiction, but I draw heavily from my own life and experiences. I was born and raised in Salt Lake City, UT, baptized in the Mormon Church when I turned eight and served a church mission in Hong Kong. I no longer consider myself a Mormon, but I am not anti. If anything, I’m anti-organized religion. I hope that readers will be pleasantly surprised by the twists and turns of Brig’s journey.

This picture was painted by my wife, Jackie Chang. It’s a picture of the Angel Moroni. For non-Mormons, Moroni was the last ancient American prophet to write his story in the Book of Mormon and buried the golden plates in a hill where Joseph Smith would find them hundreds of years later. The image of the angel Moroni blowing a trumpet is commonly used as an unofficial symbol of the LDS Church. Moroni appears on the cover of some editions of the Book of Mormon. Statues of the angel stand atop many LDS temples with most statues facing eastward.

(Reference: Wikipedia – Angel Moroni)

Protected: Reviewer Instructions

About the Author

Another area of the book cover is the “About the Author” section. It’s a very short space, but can be an opportunity to sell the book. Potential readers may decide whether or not to read the book on that little blurb about the author. My first version was bland and meant nothing. This latest version is tongue-in-cheek and hopefully will at least catch their attention. As always, I’d like to hear what you think. Thanks…Scott

Scott J. Thurman is no longer religious but he was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, and served a typical non-violent, two-year Mormon mission to Hong Kong. He has lived and worked in China for over 30 years, where he may, or may not associate with members of Hong Kong Triads. He has no tattoos. Today he lives in Northern California with his first wife and two children.

The Laughing Buddha

One of my favorite characters in my book is nicknamed The Laughing Buddha (aka Danny Wong Wai Man). The Laughing Buddha is a beloved Buddhist deity that is associated with laughter, happiness, and good fortune. To the left, is a picture that my wife painted.

In Suicide by Everest, Buddha plays a pivotal role. He corrupts and deceives Brig while serving as his missionary companion, and introduces him to Happy Ho. He leads a double life, one as a church leader in the local community, and two, as a drug smuggler.

Creating a Community

I am now slowly beginning to unveil Suicide by Everest and develop a community of people interested in my writing. So far that’s a very small, but fiercely loyal group. 🙂 I am moving from the writing phase of being an authorpreneur and moving to the marketing phase, which I also really enjoy. Some of the things that I did today.

Verified my website on Google, and set-up Google analytics
Rewrote the books Introduction after receiving excellent input/feedback from Haydn, Pete, and April.
Received my first book quote/comment from the novel’s Editor extraordinaire Andrew Wooddell
Changed the book cover to include my middle initial…some more good input from my fan base.
A few Tweets and added Twitter analytics. I’m up to 324 Followers.
Received my first preorder!!! (Thanks AV)
Received notice from Amazon that they shipped out 5 copies/proofs of my novel.
Still tweaking, and editing a few things. Want to get all of my ducks in a row before I hit the publish button on KDP

Suicide By Everest – Book Description

“An INCREDIBLE read. Gripping storytelling with an unassuming plot. Could not put this beauty down.” — Andrew W.

Suicide By Everest: https://amzn.to/2SqKUUQ

Brigham Young VIII wants to kill himself.

Brigham “Brig” Young VIII wants to kill himself in a way that will embarrass and publicly shame his self-righteous father.

Brig is a high-functioning opiate addict that unwittingly gets involved with members of a violent Hong Kong organized crime syndicate on his journey to his frozen tomb on the north face of Mount Everest.

Written in the fragmented narrative, Suicide By Everest is the violent, darkly humorous story of Brigham Young VIII, first-in-line to inherit the riches and influence that the Young dynasty, through their hotel empire, has amassed over the centuries. Brig is a broken man that has disappointed his father, embarrassed his family, shamed his faith, ruined relationships and blames everyone but himself. Hitting rock bottom, Brig decides that his only option is suicide. But not just any suicide. Brig resolves to make a vengeful statement of his death, embarking on a physical and mental journey from his home in Salt Lake City, to Hong Kong, through China, and finally to his frozen gravesite on Mount Everest.