1. Your Creative Platform WordPress Masterclass Sean Cranbury | Books on the Radio c: 778-987-8774 | t: @seancranbury | e: seancranbury@gmail.com Surrey International Writers Conference 2013

2. ABOUT THIS PRESENTATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WEBSITES IN GENERAL The creative work always comes first. Youre a writer, so write. Let that be the priority. Building a platform can be a very creative act or it can be a strictly utilitarian one. You decide. You can always change your mind later. The web is a digital palimpsest. This presentation is both a launching point for discussion and a point of reference that you can come back to in the future. It lives on the web. Nothing replaces being present in the same room as the people who care about you and your work.

3. YOUR CAREER AS A WRITER IS THE STORY OF THE LONG GAME A simple digital presence and a willingness to learn over time will help you to connect with your audience and improve your chances of discovery

4. CONTEXT IS EVERYTHING Clarity. Discoverability. Relationships.

5. THE INTERNET Is a distribution system for your work, reputation, and ideas. Locally, across the country, around the world.

6. Books and the internet will merge. Your creative work needs a home where readers, agents, publishers, and fans can find and share it.

7. Help your agent, publisher, bookseller, and fans To find and share examples of your work. Provide them the means to share their enthusiasm for what you do.

8. Provide yourself the opportunity To share new work, to speak directly to your fans, and provide them the where/what/when for current works.

9. BUILD THE RELATIONSHIPS That will help your work succeed

10. GO TO WORDPRESS.COM Lets start to build your new website

11. Find this screen Hit Get Started

12. Fill in these boxes All details can be changed later.

13. Follow the instructions

14. Hit the Activate button!

15. Create some hooks! This is how your audience will initially relate to and remember your site. Keep it simple.

16. Choose a theme or template Keep it simple. Themes are easy to change later on once youve learned more about WordPress.

17. I chose the Twenty Ten theme It is an easy and highly visual theme that is fun to customize.

18. Share! Dont worry if you dont have a Twitter or Facebook account yet. We will revisit this later.

19. What do you want to say? Theres lots of different ways to create and share content on your new website. Relax and experiment.

20. Create a Post Add a title, throw in some text, an image, and some tags (for discoverability), preview, and post.

21. Yay! Were on the internet! People can now discover, explore and share your work on the world wide web. The INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY!

22. This is the Dashboard. This is where you control the look and feel of your website. Note all of the support links and videos designed to help you.

23. CREATING A SIMPLE PRESENCE FRAMEWORK Your website + personal/professional social media channels + an evolving content/communications strategy

24. THE HOMEBASE You control this space. This is where you direct all internet traffic because this is where you can best sell your work and ideas.

25. EMBASSIES

26. INTERNET LISTENING POSTS Get updates and information about you, your work, your community, your competition, delivered right to you.

27. INTERMISSION!

28. AND WERE BACK! Legs are stretched and lungs full of fresh revitalizing air, fingers crackling with creative energy, mind racing with ideas!

29. LETS TALK & EXPLORE Premium WordPress templates that better reflect your style and display your work. Plugins that help you better connect and measure your presence. Existing online communities that will help you build your audience, connect with others, and promote your work. Simple strategies for creating content over time. Options for self-publishing using WordPress. Books and websites that will help you connect.

30. WEBSITE LOOK AND FEEL

31. TEMPLATES FOR WRITERS

32. RESPONSIVE DESIGN

33. PLUGINS AND WIDGETS

34. CONTENT SHARING COMMUNITIES SOUNDCLOUD.COM VIMEO.COM

35. ONLINE COMMUNITIES DEDICATED TO WRITERS & BOOKS

36. DIY PUBLISHING

37. CONTENT STRATEGY ITERATE SHARE [MEASURE] LEARN CONNECT [REPEAT]

38. MY PROJECTS (that use WordPress)

39. WEB REFERENCES

40. PAPER REFERENCES

41. THANK YOU! My name is Sean Cranbury I live in Vancouver, BC. You can find me here: e: seancranbury@gmail.com t: @seancranbury fb: /seancranbury w: booksontheradio.org p: 778-987-8774

42. ONLY CONNECT THAT WAS THE WHOLE OF THE SERMON. ONLY CONNECT THE PROSE AND THE PASSION AND BOTH WILL BE EXHALTED, AND HUMAN LOVE WILL BE SEEN AT ITS HEIGHT. LIVE IN FRAGMENTS NO LONGER. EM FORSTER, HOWARDS END