Shari Lopatin

So, have you heard about James Erwin, the writer who made it famous from Des Moines, IA, because his Reddit post landed him a writing gig for Hollywood?

Mashable wrote an article about him earlier this week (which is why I didn’t wait until next Thursday to post).

In short, from the article:

During a lunch break last August, Erwin joined a Reddit thread and laid down the first installment of a sparse, noir-ish narrative addressing whether a modern American marine battalion could defeat the entire Roman Empire. Fellow Redditors were immediately hooked. They demanded more with up-votes and comments, pushing his work to the site’s front page. By day’s end, Erwin had an offer for representation from the talent management firm Madhouse Entertainment. Two weeks later, he had an offer from Warner Brothers to do a full screenplay.

Yea, tell me about it …

But the thing I wanted to emphasize here, is the power of social media for writers, if used correctly.

Erwin is no everyday Joe. Personally, I think the man is brilliant. According to Mashable, he’s written TWO encyclopedias and is a two-time Jeopardy winner. But that’s not why I think he’s Einstein.

Erwin understands the power of “the tease,” and the psychology behind using social media to peak others’ interests. Of course, you can’t count out luck … but you have to give the man SOME credit.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Was Erwin just plain lucky, or was his social media strategy planned to get some attention? How does this story make you re-think your antics to garner exposure, as a writer?

[Stay tuned! Two Thursdays from now, I’ll share the SECRET I’ve discovered to get more readers and followers, using social media! Don’t miss it; subscribe for blog updates via email, in the upper right-hand corner.]