Savvy Sensation: Talli Roland

You know what's a great way to spend a Saturday morning? Reading some chick lit. And if you don't have time for chick lit, the next best thing is to read about a savvy chick lit writer. 

That makes today extra special since that's exactly who today's Savvy Sensation is: Author Talli Roland. Welcome, Talli!

Who are you (what do you write, what are your personal stats)?
I ask myself that every day! Seriously! Since I have a pen name, it often gets a bit confusing. I write chick lit (commercial women’s fiction) as Talli Roland, and non-fiction as Marsha Moore – my real name. I have two travel guides published and three novels, with the fourth novel scheduled for release in May. Hmm, what else? Apart from that, I love coffee. And wine. I live in London and I’m now a British citizen, although my heart will always belong to my Canadian homeland.

Where can we find you online (blog, twitter, facebook, etc.)?
Where can’t you find me online? I love the community of writers and people I’ve met through online interaction. Many have become great friends in real life! I’m on Twitter as @TalliRoland, Facebook (www.facebook.com/TalliRoland), Blogger (http://talliroland.blogspot.com), Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/talliroland/) and my author website, (http://www.talliroland.com). I’ll give anything a whirl and see if it works!

When did you begin your online platform building?
One downside of a pen name is that you need to build everything from scratch under that identity. I already blogged and tweeted under my real name, but with Talli Roland as my pen name for fiction, I was addressing a whole new market. As soon as I got the fiction book deal with my publisher, I began building up my platform. It was about eight months before my release date.

What is your message, if any (is your blog about anything specific, for example)?
My blog tag-line is ‘I drink coffee. I write. Then I have wine’. That pretty much sums it up! I blog about books and writing, but I try to keep it light and not too technical; to talk about the funny side of writing. I’m conscious of appealing to the readers of my books, so the tone of my blog posts mirrors the style of my novels.

How have you built your followers? What have you done that has been the most successful?
I’ve built my followers through a lot of hard work: by consistently interacting with people, every day. I think the key to success is using social media regularly and making sure not to treat it like a one-way megaphone, but like a conversation. No one wants to be around people who only talk about themselves. The same holds true in social media.

What have you done that has failed?
While some things have been more successful than others, I wouldn’t label anything I’ve done as ‘failed’. With social media, I think it’s often a cumulative effect rather than one big push. Each little thing you do counts, even though it may not be wildly successful at the time.

How much time do you spend blogging? Reading blogs? Commenting on blogs?
When I first started building up my blog, I’d post every day and spend at least three hours commenting. Now I’ve reduced it to posting three times a week and commenting one to two hours. It’s still quite a bit of time, but I really enjoy the interaction and I feel like I’m checking in on my friends.

Any additional advice for our readers?
If you’re using social media, people want to know you first -- then your books or products as an extension of that. With so many people publishing now, Twitter and the blogosphere sometimes seem like they’re drowning in advertisements. Keep YOU first and foremost, and be careful not to overdo the promotion. It’s a very fine line.

What makes you unique?
Yikes! Er, um… where’s my wine when I need it? I guess it depends on what perspective you’re taking! From a reader’s standpoint, I’d like to think I’m unique because I have strong female leads who fix their own problems without needing a man to swoop in and carry them off . . . and because my plotlines and concepts are quite original. Hope that answers the question!

Thanks for coming by, Talli! You've made this Saturday truly savvy!

For the rest of you, if you haven't already, check out Talli's acclaimed novels such as Build a Man or it's upcoming sequel, Construct a Couple.