Name Dropper or Networker?

Are you a name dropper? While talking with someone do you try to impress with who you know?

That drives me nuts.

When I'm at work, citizens call in to complain or have a police report taken and in mid-sentence will let me know they're either friends, neighbors, or third-cousins twice removed with a lieutenant or captain at the department.

I want to scream, "I don't give a flying flip-flop!"

But, one of the lessons I've learned through the process of writing a book is this: Who you know does matter.

Are you wiping down your gummy kitchen counters in worn fuzzy slippers and daydreaming about your big writing break? Do you read books or magazine articles and think, Why is this writer so popular? They're not even that good.

I've wondered some of the same things myself. You know what I've discovered? Sometimes it's who they know.

How will you ever find your way out of your kitchen and into the cross-hairs of those who can help you with your writing dreams?

• Blog - Blogging is HUGE. It's a cheap and easy way to get your words in front of an audience. The quintessential "self-publishing" experience. Your writing will receive instant feedback. Good or bad, you'll be critiqued by those who comment and learn very quickly if your words can make a difference.
• Conferences - Attend a writer's conference. There's no better way to meet the publishing world. Mount Hermon is a wonderful example of a solid writer's conference. Find an event where you have the ability to meet and network with agents, editors, and authors. I can't impress this enough. Find a way to attend one. 
• Critique Group - Get around people who speak your word-language. Go out and find other writers like yourself. I belong to the best Christian writer's group in the U.S. Filled with a myriad of fiction, nonfiction, devotion and article writers. A motley crew of gifted people who not only critique my work but inspire me to great things. 

Once you begin meeting people either online or face to face, you'll be name-dropping in no time. Because, just like our walk of faith, it's all about relationships.

Don't think name-dropper, think networker!

I thought I'd name-drop share a few friends/mentors/ I've met through blogging, conferences, and my critique group. They've been instrumental in my personal writing journey.

Don Towle, Tiffany Stuart, Sue Tornai, Elizabeth Thompson, Dana Sudborough, Elaine Olsen, Angie Knight, Celia Bonino, Rachelle Gardner, Glynnis Whitwer, James Watkins, Tonya Stoneman, Chris Pedersen, Karen O'Connor.