João Lopes Marques resisted blogging for years but found success using Twitter to promote his work. He went from 6-7 daily visitors to over 150 by regularly sharing content, helping others, and engaging his followers. This led to increased book sales and feedback that helped refine his writing. While online models are still developing, Twitter and other tools give independent creators more control over promotion and publishing. The key is putting quality of creation first, regardless of the platform.

1. Notes for Tallinn Blogfest 2009 www.tallinnblogfest.com
My blogs, Twitter and I
by João Lopes Marques http://joaolopesmarques.blogspot.com/
A) Proto-History
• Well, I never liked blogs, especially being a printed media journalist. Still
remember the day back in 2000 or 2001 when a well-known Portuguese
author (Miguel Esteves Cardoso) told me this blogging thing would be "The
Future"...
• Anyway, I resisted till my friend José Santos, nowadays in Skype, made me
think about the concept of passive income.
• A year ago I made a serious experiment. I had heard about Ad Sense, by
Google, and how to monetize online my content. Well, it was a total flop! This
AdSense pays a couple of beers, nobody clicks on this Internet ads... I was
quite passive, it is true, but I earned nothing more than 27 dollars in six
months.
• I eventually gave up.
B) Twitter era
• The Revelation (or Revolution) came the day I broke a leg... Being stuck
home for almost eight weeks, I started reading about these thesis again. By
the same time a friend sent me to my Gmail account an invitation for
something called "Twitter". I found the design awful and childish, but I joined
anyway.
• The very same month, while reading online news from Portugal, I had the
chance to laugh: a famous Portuguese newswoman (Alberta Marques
Fernandes) had posted a twitt during the TV news emission... Seemed she
was dying for an hamburger... Ten minutes later, and RTP was broadcasting
live, somebody delivered it on the TV studio.
• As you can imagine, Twitter became something in Portugal overnight.
• More and more curious about this new mini-blogging network and with lots of
time in my life, I decided to give it a chance.
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2. C) Crossing the desert
• People follow what they can easily understand, and Twitter was more than
simple. Seemed even stupid to me. If I never liked to chat online I barely
could see myself doing it with hundreds of people I don't know and at the
same time. But I decided to jump, anyway.
• Yet after I passed the barrier of 1000 followers I started having nice
surprises... Seemed to me I was going massive with a personal-human
flavour...
o Suddenly, readers started asking me questions about my books and
my articles in Portuguese media and Eesti Ekspress (yes, I became a
kind of "hermeneutic call center")
o They were giving me hints about the places I was visiting and offered
me convenient sofas to rest (Genova in April, for instance)
o I found the selection of content in my network was brilliant (more than
newspapers, in the web we tend to read texts, either news or not)
o It allowed me to sense the Zeitgeist in specific regions (especially in
my country)
o By the interaction and comments, I also understood much better who
is who in my broad target
o I could easily divert traffic to my links either in the mass media or in
my personal blog (Circo Vicioso)
o I got easily in touch with my corporations (journalists, publishers,
writers, film makers, etc.)
o My motivation boosted as well, needless to say: nothing better than a
reader to massage daily your ego.
D) My-Twitter-Facebook-Blog system
• The main problem so far? My productivity lowered dramatically... I was
suddenly working in a different paradigm, but no direct money there yet.
• But the surprises continued: suddenly my followers started twitting me they
were buying my books "O Homem que queria ser Lindbergh" and "Terra
Java". Almost once a day. They even report where the books are sold out and
how many are left in specific bookstores. If they are on display or in a hidden
shelf.
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3. • More importantly, their daily feedback makes me reflect second time on my
creations: as if I have a real-time focus group... Nowadays I know exactly the
parts of my book they like better or that they believe are a little bit confusing...
• I can even try a joke, or a magic quote, before I write it on the paper: if the
reaction is massive and there are lots of retwitts, that is a very encouraging
sign...
F) New routine... Or ritual?
• I had to accommodate myself to a sort of routine... Unavoidable. But I prefer
call it a daily/weekly ritual instead. I do it with pleasure, since the results seem
extremely concrete.
• I complement this blogging-mini-blogging with Facebook, though I don't love it
(I prefer to keep it as post-modern Yellow Pages).
• In my opinion, the secret of Twitter is its resilience. It is like a car, you can use
it for several purposes (to get to work, for a road trip, to impress the girlfriend,
to race, etc.). I decided to use it as if it was my own online newspaper. I am
more active than reactive:
o Entertaining people (videos, jokes, quotes)
o Helping people (sharing is caring)
o Informing people (my original selection of news)
o Promoting myself (projects, books, chronicles, reportage)
• There is a basic principle, though. You can market yourself, but first try to give
something. This is the trade-off.
• By consulting Google Analytics I can see I've passed from 6 or 7 visitors per
day in January to 150 average today. And using the tools just one hour and
half per day...
• People are extremely adaptable and this can be the tipping point of a wider
revolution: I even doubt if the novel I am finishing now suits best in the paper
or if the free tools I have now are more than enough...
o With the global downturn bookstores and literary markets bottleneck
more and more... The publishers bet on they know (or guess) will sell
best. Or first.
o Digital books are ubiquitous and much cheaper...
o I can command my own promotional strategies, not depending on the
publisher's mood...
o I could reach iPhone and Kindle devices, for instance.
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4. o Instead of earning 10% or 12% of copyright of my creation, I would
probably fivefold this amount.
• Well, scenarios...
G) Playing solo
• I am a freelancer since February 2002, and so far I have survived as a
independent author and journalist. I would like to keep this way of live
forever... Not easy these days. Nevertheless, this blogging and mini-blogging
tools give me hope.
• Emancipation? It is too early to sing victory. None online business model has
consolidated yet. The next five years can be amazing: once again, never
forget the human being is extremely adaptable...
• It's true that the culture of gratuity is crystallizing, but remind readers like to
gratify the author, especially when they can trick the middleman.
• I am also very curious about the impact of book-trailers, something you can
lodge in YouTube, for instance, and promote everyday among your potential
audience.
• Besides that, I believe in the power of new maecenas: from big companies to
individuals who want to sponsor a specific creation. Somehow they will be
proud they can make happen something they believe in.
• The industry is nervous, indeed:
o Publishers like Lulu.com are making their way.
o When days ago I shared with my Portuguese editor I was admitting
going solo he replied me: "To set up a publishing house is easy... but
what about distribution? The secret is there and you need lots of
power."
o Google's digitizing policies are also a mini-earthquake in this
industry... Let's hope it is a benign one.
• Sometimes I think: if with only 6000 followers things changed so fast in less
than a year, I can't imagine with some 60,000 followers...
• On top, electronic payments, as Paypal, make transactions quite simple and
direct.
H) Dignity of the creation
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5. • Like one of greatest inventors of all time, Archimedes of Syracuse, used to
say, or would say if he was alive: "Give a link and I will lift the World."
• It's true these can be great times to be an author and independent journalist. I
feel somehow excited. But this is also dangerous: we authors can never
forget the essential. What is it? The creation and its own dignity, hopefully
with more than 140 characters.
• Yes, dignity: in spite of the vehicle we use, that must be always the ultimate
challenge.
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