by Anne R. Allen
A lot of writers are talking about quitting Twitter and Facebook (and FB’s subsidiary, Instagram) because social media has become a “cesspool.”
I hear you. Politicians, celebrities, and their mindless minions use social media to trash-talk and stir up negativity and chaos. Plus scammers and sadistic trolls lie in wait to pounce on the innocent and vulnerable.
It’s also terrifying how Facebook has been invading our privacy and offering us up as prey to enemy operatives, predatory advertisers, and malevolent click farmers.
On top of that, many marketing “experts” urge authors to waste precious writing time on pointless social media activity.
But giving up all social media because awful people are abusing it is like giving up your phone because of telemarketers and fake IRS scammers (who now make 50% of US phone calls.) Yeah, they are horrible. But there are ways to avoid them and you need your phone.
You also need social media.
Because that’s where your readers are.
Of course it’s possible to become a successful author without any social media at all. It’s also possible to get hired for a corporate job if you write your resume on parchment and send it by carrier pigeon.
But your chances are a whole lot better if you do it the 21st century way.
Social media is still the most important tool for getting online visibility for your blog and books.
Thing is, most authors aren’t using the tool efficiently. They’re wasting a lot of time and energy and putting their privacy at more risk than necessary.
1) Don’t Try to Be Everywhere
You don’t have to fritter away your time on all platforms. If you don’t like one social media platform, then choose others. I don’t do Instagram and I’m a failure at Pinterest (I’m better with words than images) so I concentrate on Twitter and Facebook, but you don’t have to.
If you hate Twitter, it’s okay to drop it, as Daniel Berkowitz said on Jane Friedman’s blog this week. If you don’t “get” a platform, you’re wasting your time there, so let it go.
Choose the social media channel that gives you the most bang for your buck. Social media guru Chris Syme told us how in a blogpost on “Taming the Social Media Beast.”
2) Educate Yourself about Scams
I get targeted every day by at least half a dozen “loverboys” on Facebook. They are the catfishing scammers, trolling for lonely women to con with smarmy love letters and tales of woe. (Their phony profiles usually have two first names and a picture of a white guy in uniform or on an oil rig.) They’re always “widowed” and often “single dads.”
Men get friend requests with fake profiles from the same scammers using photos of buxom young women.
There are organized crime rings in third world countries that have made an industry of this kind of catfishing. Don’t fall for it. If you accept them as friends, they will immediately start sending inappropriate messages. First they ask “what’s up,” then they tell you you’re beautiful/handsome and they’re in love with you. Then they have a catastrophe and need money. None of this is real. They’re just guys in a boiler room working from a script.
Unfriend, block and report them to Facebook.
Then there are the scammers who steal the identities of your friends so they can push phony investment schemes and fake charities on you via direct message. This happened to two friends of mine just this week.
If anything seems a little “off” it probably is. Check out my posts on scams that target writers and more scams. And remember to report abuse to Facebook. Unlike Amazon and Twitter, Facebook is quick to respond and take down phony profiles.
3) Take “Focus Time” Breaks and Limit Your Social Media Use
Taking week-long vacations from online activity is a great idea for anybody, and I think they really help when you need downtime or focus time for your writing. Studies show that taking breaks from social media improves quality of life. Just tell your peeps that you’re on a personal writing retreat and you’ll be back next week.
Social media is not a substitute for real live human interaction. It doesn’t fulfill your emotional needs like being with real people. It’s like eating fat-free food–the kind that doesn’t satisfy, so you keep eating more trying to get that satisfaction. (I’m speaking as a former Snackwells addict here.)
Also, people on social media can be phony and mean because they don’t fear real-life consequences.
As marketing guru Rachel Thompson says, “When we interact in real life, our brains interpret non-verbal clues…Without those non-verbal clues, online communication fails to meet these emotional needs and is ripe to become tit for tat, back and forth, and mean-spirited.”
If you find you’re spending too much time on social media, start consciously budgeting your time. I find that taking scheduled breaks from writing to check FB and Twitter for 10 minute sessions works for me. Some writers like to set a timer. Others do their work on an old computer that’s not hooked up to the Internet. And there are apps to block social media for a certain amount of time if you need an electronic coach to enforce it.
4) Avoid Politics and Religion
Unless your books are specifically concerned with politics or religion, it’s best to avoid the subjects altogether. Otherwise, you’re eliminating potential readers.
If you need to engage in dialogue on the subjects, don’t do it wearing your author hat. Either use a pseudonym or join closed groups where discussions are private. I know this is hard. I can’t always resist. But I try to keep my input to emojis.
Putting politics or religion front and center can get you banned. A great writing blog I follow was impossible to share to FB for months because the blogger got put in “Facebook jail.” She’d put her political preference in her blog’s tag and somebody on the other side saw it and reported her to Facebook as “abusive”. It takes months to get in touch with anybody to dispute these things.
If somebody pushes unwanted opinions on you, all you have to do is mute them. You don’t have to unfollow or unfriend. They don’t even know they’ve been muted. (And this is not a “freedom of speech” issue. Social media is private property and not subject to the US 1st Amendment.)
If you find a snarknado of nasty comments on something you’ve posted, delete the post. The original post may be as non-controversial as a picture of a pet, but if somebody decides to make snarky political comments on it, there’s no point in keeping it.
I’m not saying I don’t get lured into dramas on occasion—it happened to me just this week—but afterward, I realized I’d wasted precious writing time on somebody who will never read a word I write. Bu-Bye.
We live in an era of polarizing extremism. Negativity seems to be everywhere. But it doesn’t have to be on your page or in your news feed.
Arguing about hot-button issues online doesn’t change anybody’s opinion and takes time away from writing. Writing is why you’re doing this in the first place, remember? Put that angry dialogue into a scene for your novel.
5) Tell Social Media It’s Not the Boss of You
Just because the robots ask all those prying questions to “complete” your profile, doesn’t mean you have to answer them. Only offer things that are of interest to your readers. And whether you’re on your “Friend” page or your “Like” page, don’t have any illusions of privacy. Whatever you say there is like putting it on the evening news.
Present your author persona, not your whole self. You can be warm and real in your emotional connections with people, but you don’t need to share intimate, personal details. Pretend you’re at a Chamber of Commerce Mixer or a PTA meeting.
I’ll be writing more about creating an author persona in the coming months.
6) Don’t Imagine a Facebook “Friend” Page is Private.
If you want a private page for friends and family, make it a closed group. You still won’t have much privacy, but your posts won’t be as available to a mass audience. And your kids’ photos won’t be quite so available to pedophiles.
But neither your “Friend” page or your “Like” page is in any way private. It’s a public bulletin board. Treat it that way.
Readers will want to friend you. Welcome them. That’s why you’re there–to be friendly to your readers and fans. Yes, Facebook only allows you 2000 friends, so as you get more popular, you’ll have to steer them to your “Like” page. But don’t try to reserve your Friend page for personal friends and family and reject fans. You’re negating your whole reason for being on social media as an author.
I once had a fellow writer “friend” me and I tried to “friend” her back to be polite. She replied with a snippy note saying her Friend page was for special people and I could go “like” her author page instead.
I didn’t.
You don’t want to spread ill will for no reason. Start a closed group for your IRL peeps. It’s wiser and safer.
7) Forget Meaningless Number Games.
Why do you want 1000s of random people to say they “like” your Facebook author page? Because some number-obsessed marketer told you to?
Don’t listen to them. They know nothing about selling books. Stop humiliating yourself begging for “likes”.
“Likes” mean nothing if people don’t actually like your work. Do you genuinely like that BDSM erotica writer’s books and are you planning to visit her page often? Trading likes is pointless if she’s not interested in your cat cozy mysteries, and it will signal Facebook to fill your feed with some very unwelcome advertising.
Those “likes” mean nothing in terms of sales, and screw with your online presence and profile. (Last February I wrote a post on the importance of keeping your online presence squeaky clean.)
Also ignore people who say you should be adding 20 random Tweeps a day so you can amass half a million followers. Saying you must have 500,000 followers is like saying you should have a phone with the numbers of 500,000 strangers programmed into it. If they don’t want to hear from you—what exactly is the point?
Here’s the thing: you don’t need a huge number of followers, friends, Tweeps or whatever unless you’re selling advertising for your blog.
But an author blog is only about selling your books. The numbers game does not apply to us. All that matters is how many potential readers you’re actually connecting with.
50 people who love your books and tell their friends about them are worth a whole lot more than 500,000 fake followers somebody bought from a click farm in Bangladesh.
8) Don’t Use Social Media as a Direct Sales Tool
I hear lots of authors complain that social media is no good for selling books, and therefore a waste of time.
They’re right on the first point, but not on the second.
Quitting social media because it doesn’t sell books is like getting rid of your phone because it’s not good for selling motorized wheelchairs to able-bodied strangers who are just sitting down to dinner. (Yeah. I get those calls all the time. 🙁 )
Social media isn’t for direct sales. It’s for connecting with people.
No matter what marketers say, endless “buy my book” Tweets, repeated quotes from your books, and a zillion book launch/ personal appearance/ street team Facebook pages do not sell books anymore.
If they ever did.
Your social media should be 20% marketing and 80% interesting, friendly stuff that’s useful to your readers.
9) Don’t Expect Your Email List to Do all Your Marketing
Okay, you’re an established author. You have an email list that would make a newbie’s eyes pop. But your list is finite. A whole lot of people accept the bribe of a free book in exchange for their email address with no intention of buying anything. These are people who never pay for books—they just troll for freebies. You won’t ever sell them a thing.
Other readers have moved on. Last year they were totally into the steampunk you write, but this year they’re crazy for Mythopoeia and fairy tale retellings. If you rely on that list as your only marketing tool, you will sell fewer and fewer books.
You need to be out there drawing in more readers. That mostly happens on social media.
10) Engaging with Others Doesn’t mean Arguing
Sometimes when I share an article or blogpost with a rhetorical question in the title, some smarty pants tries to argue with me without reading the article. Say, I Tweet a link to an article called. “How Much Sleep Do You Really Need?” Then smarty pants will comment or tweet that they sleep 25 minutes a night and they’re healthy as 5 horses, so I’m a moron and a wimp.
I have no way of responding to these. That’s when I hit the mute button.
These authors are shooting themselves in the foot as well as contributing to the cesspool. If you don’t have time to read an article, don’t comment on it. If you have an issue with it, go to the website and leave a comment there. Don’t argue with the person who shared the link.
I know this seems like a no-brainer, but I’m amazed at how many people seem to be unclear on the concept of sharing links.
Even though you see a lot of snark on social media, you don’t need to generate more.
What should you post to engage with people? Try sharing funny memes, Inspirational author quotes, and pet videos. I like to share grammar jokes and cat videos on my Friend page and helpful writing tips on my Author Like page.
Light, funny videos and positive stories will generate more sales in the long run than all those “book launch party” pages, pleas for Tweets, or those links to your buy page.
Here’s a great quote from social media guru Kristin Lamb: “People can’t connect emotionally to yet another article about how Barnes and Noble’s stock is tanking. They CAN however connect to kittens, Sharknado, tales of missing socks, superheroes, kid stories, pet stories, and Grumpy Cat.”
Social Media isn’t All Trolls, Bots, and Mindless Marketers. It’s Helpful if You Use it Right.
The big social media platforms are trying to clean up their act. Facebook has been working at policing hate speech and abusive behavior and even Twitter is working on new ways to enforce their rules. Twitter is proactively deleting offensive material now, instead of waiting for users to report. And in June they’re introducing a new “hide replies” feature, so you can mute the snark.
So what is social media good for?
* Quick Communication with a Large Number of People.
Example: When I was in despair trying to get my blog’s Feedburner email program to work back when I was on Blogger, I Tweeted asking for help. Within minutes, I had several suggestions, plus a step-by-step guide for converting to a free MailChimp email service.
* Getting Up-to-the-Minute News from Anywhere on the Globe.
Example: During the recent rash of tornadoes in Alabama, the towns who used Twitter to get tornado warnings fared much better than towns who were less connected.
And when I wanted to know if my Alabama friends were okay, I went to #AlabamaTornado and found hundreds of real-time Tweets telling what neighborhoods had been hit.
This isn’t directly related to your books, but it shows how Twitter can benefit you, even if it seems icky much of the time.
* Giving Your Friends a Shout-out (and Occasionally Yourself.)
Example: When I saw that a friend had been mentioned in Publishers Lunch, I Tweeted it, with an @ message to her. It was the first she’d heard of the PL mention, so it was a two-bird stone: I informed her of the good news and at the same time told a lot of people about her new business.
And yes, you can toot your own horn occasionally. You can certainly Tweet “my book was just nominated for a RITA” or “I got a rave book review from Big Al.”
But only do this a few times. Imagine you’re phoning your friends with the good news, not cold-calling everybody in the phone book.
However, the most important Tweets might be for a friend’s triumph. I remember when a Tweep posted a link with an @ message congratulating us on a big blog award. I thought: “what a nice thing for her to add a special Tweet to me. Who is she, again?” I visited her blog, was intrigued, and bought one of her books.
Yeah. That’s how it works.
* Connecting with Readers and Colleagues.
Example: Last month, my book The Author Blog hit the #1 spot on Amazon in Computers and Tech. I sold nearly 5000 books in two days. That was because I was invited to do a joint promotion with some heavy-hitter writers by K. M. Weiland. Why do I know Katie Weiland? Because we share each other’s blogposts a lot on Twitter. It’s as simple as that.
Twitter may be full of trolls and cyber-feces, but it’s also full of great people who can help your career. Be helpful and positive and you’ll meet helpful and positive people.
* Sharing Information and Talking About It.
This can be anything from Tweeting a tsunami warning for your patch of coastline to links to your own newest blogpost or an article about a new TV show in your genre.
Example: I shared news about a new film with Benedict Cumberbatch. Several Tweeps connected in our fondness for his Sherlock Holmes. One turned out to be a mystery lover and picked up a copy of one of my mysteries.
* Announcing a Sale
Endless “buy my book” Tweets are just noise, but when you Tweet that a book is free or on sale, people notice. (But don’t do it more than three times a day. And make sure it’s in between other stuff.)
Example: When one of my books is on a countdown or other 99c special, I always announce it on Twitter toward the end of the countdown when sales are flagging. A couple of months ago, my sale Tweet got picked up by some of my chick lit writer friends and they sent a bunch of RTs. I sold twice as many books that day as I had on the first day of the sale.
You can Tweet other people’s books, too—but only if you genuinely think your followers will like it.
Tweeting books you don’t know anything about can seem “friendly” to your fellow authors, but it’s not friendly to your Tweeps.
It can backfire if it’s not a book you’d recommend to a real life friend. Somebody who writes violent thrillers has no business asking a writer of children’s books or cozies for a Tweet. It’s okay to say no. Especially since simply Tweeting book titles at strangers does not sell a lot of books anyway.
But exchanging information can make connections. It’s those connections that will increase your visibility and sell books.
Yeah. That’s how social media works. It’s social.
***
by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) April 21, 2019
What about you, scriveners? Are you thinking of leaving Twitter or Facebook? Have you left them already? Are you finding you can reach readers elsewhere? What alternative social media do you prefer? Have you figured out a way to use Pinterest or Instagram images to sell books? Have you found you can avoid the cesspoolyness of social media?
Central Coasters! Let’s Talk! An Afternoon with Central Coast Mystery Authors. Three Central Coast mystery authors, Anne R. Allen, Sue McGinty, and Victoria Heckman—with the help of Audible book narrator CS Perryess—will present an afternoon of reader’s theater for mystery lovers. They’ll be featuring scenes from their novels, which are mostly set on the Central Coast. Anne will also lead a discussion of the perennial appeal of the mystery story and talk about its origins and ever-expanding subgenres. Friday, April 26th at 1:00 PM at the Cayucos Public Library.
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Anne—Sane & sensible as usual. Thank you! Lists are another way to keep your Twitter feed sane. I set mine up on Hootsuite. Cuts the chaos and BS way down.
Ruth–Thanks for the suggestion! Hootsuite works well for a lot of Twitter users.
Hey Anne — thanks once more for an informative post. I love how we humans seem to have to re-learn things for every new situation. There’s clear evidence that a lot of folks on social media haven’t learned that “Engaging with Others Doesn’t mean Arguing” — though those same people must have learned that in other milieus or they’d be locked up somewhere & not getting themselves into trouble on social media. Back to Fulghum’s book, “All I Really Need to Know I learned in Kindergarten.” We humans are odd ducks, aren’t we?
CS–You’re so right! This all does sound pretty infantile, doesn’t it? When some people get on the Internet, they seem to regress to a toddler mindset and forget all that good stuff they should have learned in Kindergarten.
Just what I needed today! I love this: “If you don’t have time to read an article, don’t comment on it.”
D.D. Seems pretty basic, doesn’t it? But at least one Tweep a day says something about an article I’ve Tweeted that shows they didn’t read it. Sigh.
Definitely seconding to stay away from politics. I followed a fairly famous science fiction writer on Facebook. I thought he’d talk about writing, science fiction, cool nerd stuff. He was way over the top and out into space political. Worse, if anyone disagreed even politely, he basically said “I’m right, you’re wrong” and then blocked them. He was so nasty that I saw the writing in the wall and unfollowed before the election. I haven’t touched any of his books since. During another round of media outrage, I started unfollowing writers who posted politics to Facebook. Finally came a best selling writer who I had followed on Facebook and blogs. I liked her cat photos and some writing posts. All it took was two nasty political posts on Facebook. I don’t buy her books any more either. All I think of is those nasty posts, not the good writing she does. Everyone seems to be in a bubble and thinks that everyone else shares their viewpoint or that they’re on a moral high ground. But selling books is hard enough. Why in the heck would you alienate half your readership?
Linda–I think I know that science fiction author you’re talking about. His political tweets cost him a major high-profile writing gig. I used to love his blog, but I don’t need that kind of negativity. Posting that stuff on another blog using a pseudonym would have helped his career.
As you say, “selling books is hard enough.” Don’t alienate half of your potential readers.
Anne,
One of your best posts!
I enjoyed all the advice. Several resonated with me, one in particular–Scams. As a former FBI agent, I came into contact with many of these victims. One was a middle-aged divorcee, about 60 years old. He had been “catfished” by a young, beautiful woman from another country who milked him for several thousand dollars. We convinced him to cease communications with the woman which he did. I met him a few months later–he thanked me but said he was still in love with the woman! If it’s too good to be true, then it probably is.
And superb advice on “Avoiding Politics & Religion.” Thank you.
Happy Easter.
Ken
Ken–I didn’t know you were an FBI agent! I’ll bet you saw a lot of this stuff. That’s so tragic, that the man was still “in love” with the scammer–who was probably a man in a 3rd world boiler room working from a script.
That reminds me of the old Woody Allen joke. “I have an uncle who thinks he’s a chicken,” says one guy. “You should get him some help,” says the other. “We would, but we need the eggs,” says guy #1
I’ve been on break for the past two weeks and it’s been awesome! Got a lot done. (Not as much writing as I wanted, but a lot of real world stuff.)
I’m only on Blogger and Twitter. That’s all I can handle.
Alex–I need to take a break like that soon! So much doesn’t get done because of social media!
On a Sunday afternoon I would never-ever miss watching the Giants if they’re on. But that’s only half the year and they sometimes disappoint. Anne, your column has become just as un-missable, and it’s year-round! This is so spot-on.
I’m willing to turn myself in for a plea bargain on #4. Politics and religion ARE poison on social media, no denying it. My problem, as a History teacher, is my driving need to engage and see if I can be encouraging somehow to those who agree and disagree alike. So far, I’ve been luckier than I should be, I must be more careful.
As for #5, I think I’m going to have to throw myself on the mercy of the court. I decided long ago, no author page or persona, it’s just me. I have to doubt I could do justice to maintaining both, and of course would come the oh-so-hilarious day I mixed up my sign-in… I do have a world page and it needs a couple hours of attention rather urgently.
But thanks to you today’s the last day (for at least a while) that I feel guilty about Twitter and Instagram. Thanks as always!
Will–Oh, my! Did you just compare me to the Giants? I’m so flattered!
I’m so glad I could help banish the guilt! And you may find you’re presenting an author persona without doing it consciously. Most of us do. More on that in a future post.
Once again right on the mark. I particularly want to salute you for mentioning the political thing. One has to define WHY they are on Facebook, as an example. Is it to meet people who might eventually become your readers? Is it to post photos of your family to other family members? Or is it to forward a political agenda you may have? If you main goal is to meet readers, you simply want to stay away from political posts. You need to know your purpose.
I’ve been absent from Twitter lately. Must look back there, sigh.
Melodie–That’s really the message of this post: remember why you’re on social media as an author and behave accordingly. If it doesn’t help your career, don’t do it.
I take lots of breaks from Twitter. It can get overwhelming very fast.
omg…50%?! [shakes head, returns to old-fashioned paper paged book…]
My sis-n-law and I joined FB a few months after it started, in order to share and sort photos of estate-sale items. After a couple tries, we determined it wasn’t going to work for us. She stayed on. I tried to get out. Finally had to strip my PC down to the registry and programming guts to get the last, blood-sucking bits out — only 4 hours work! :o)
Thanks for the many grins and great advice – as always, Anne!
Maria D’Marco
p.s.: Looking forward to the post on creating an author persona!!
Maria–Yes. I was surprised by that statistic too. And then I wasn’t, because that’s my own experience. 5 years ago, spam made up only 3.7% of phone calls . Now it’s close to half. Law enforcement simply can’t keep up.
That sounds like a colossal pain getting Facebook cooties out of your computer! So many people say they’re planning to leave FB, but it sounds as if it’s easier said than done.
Anne, Thank you for honest talk–I really needed this column today. I used to be a dedicated Tweeter, enjoying connecting with other authors there (especially during NaNoWriMo months) and using it to research various topics. I even wrote a guest post for Mamiverse.com based on a great bit of bilingual humor a friend tweeted.
But of late, Twitter has become a black hole of negativity with a great sucking effect. I’m much more comfortable on Facebook, connecting with friends and discussing writerly things in groups. But Pinterest is where I’ll be putting more promotional effort in the next few months.
There are many reader group boards on Pinterest and posting Amazon links to them can lead to sales. I include a Pinterest-sized image on most of my blog posts now to make sharing on Pinterest easy and always increase traffic to my website when I do. However, although Amazon makes it easy to share a book page from the app on your phone, sharing to Pinterest via cellphone isn’t as easy as sharing to Twitter or Facebook. Not every website has images sized for Pinterest and there’s less utility in sharing unrelated links rather than your own links and original images.
The best Pinterest images are vertical (book covers!) and have text overlay and branding like a website name or logo. Making share-worthy images takes some effort, but there’s a whole school of thought about what colors, fonts, etc to use to make pins that get noticed. I make mine using Photoshop Elements but there are a ton of apps like Canva that help you make the right size image.
YouTube is the #1 social media platform right now, followed by Facebook. Pinterest is further down the list, but there are readers on that platform and they respond to visuals that connect to a book. I guess if I knew how to make great videos, I’d try my hand at building a robust channel on YouTube–where book reviewers known as “booktubers” are popular. Videos can stay on the bucket list, however, as Pinterest accommodates video as well as still images. Bonus–so far, Pinterest doesn’t lend itself to political black holes or moody trolls.
Carmen–Thanks for all this in-depth info on Pinterest. It’s good to know it can be a good alternative to Twitter and FB if you’ve got some design skills.
For some reason, gmail decided to block all my email notifications from Pinterest, so I can’t use it unless I change my email address I list with them.. I guess I could do that. But the Photoshop skills are another matter. I’m a total washout when it comes to design. But that doesn’t mean everybody is, and I can see how Pinterest could give a nice boost to sales if you use it right. And no political black holes or “moody trolls” sounds sooo refreshing. Thanks!!
Thank you! I’ve been trying to do most of what you said, but your help I will be able to refine and sharpen my process.
Darlene–A lot of this is just common sense and not letting anybody bully you. Easier said than done, but it helps to have reminders. Thanks!
Re; politics and religions, some of the heavy writers do talk about it and have no problems, since the majority of them lean left and since FB leans extremely left, they and their followers won’t face retribution for some of the more inflammatory comments/postings. I stopped following a couple since they swung hard left and the verbal diarrhea got to be too intense for me to handle on a daily or evenly a weekly basis.
For those who lean left in politics, they’re pretty much a protected class on FB, Twitter and YouTube. Those who don’t are not. I try to keep my political talk centered/tailored to the state level, which makes life that much easier for me on FB.
GB–If you’re already really famous, you can talk politics and religion and not worry about losing sales. But if you’re not JK Rowling, I think it’s best to avoid the subjects. At least it’s better for your blood pressure. 🙂
Thank you for this helpful article, Anne. I look forward to your author persona post.
Leanne–I think there are a lot of authors who don’t get the persona thing, so I think that post is overdue. 🙂
Thanks for another highly helpful post. I love Twitter and may be lucky not to be trolled but maybe I’m already taking some of your advice. I’m not political or religious there or on FB, figuring that isn’t my job. I have writers and non following me, a modest 2,900 people I enjoy interacting with. The numbers come by themselves, or not. I share stuff I find enjoyable (no risky subjects) as well as writerly info, my blog post links and RT anything my followers might enjoy. As well as connecting with my muse, William Shatner LOL. On FB I keep in touch with overseas friends via closed groups and share memes when appropriate. Incidentally I used the word meme way before FB when giving a workshop at RW America coinference. 🙂
Valerie– I LOVE that your muse is William Shatner. 🙂 The guy is way more talented than we give him credit for.
And yes, “meme” is not just an image with a saying pasted on it. It means an idea that barrels through a culture and influences all strata, seemingly at once.. Coined by UK scientist Richard Dawkins. Congrats on being ahead of the curve.
Thank you, Anne. I’ve admired Mr.Shatner for many years, got to meet him one-on-one in LA a couple of years ago, could hardly talk for excitement. And William Dawkins’s book, The Selfish Gene, is one of my treasures.
Great pointers Anne. Once again, thank you! You inspire me. I just read your Author Blog book and just purchased “No Place Like Home” before posting here. Even though I don’t have much time to read and I’m writing children’s books, your blog is very helpful. Have a great week!
Carmen–How fantastic that you bought me books! Many thanks And thanks for the shout-out on Twitter!
Awesome advice, Anne. I just want to reiterate that authors don’t need to be everywhere. You don’t have the time or resources to do that. Determine who your readers are and go where they are. Your genre will help you decide which platforms are best for you. And don’t let the creeps distress you. Block them. My block list is huge and it allows me to enjoy social media more. I’m also careful about who I will accept friend requests from. I used to be quite open about this and got burned by “people” who wrote obnoxious updates on my timeline. But those experiences didn’t deter me from using social media. So don’t let the creeps get your down. Go to social media to interact with your readers and find new ones and just have fun.
Frances–Thanks! I’m glad you agree with me. Authors end up frittering away too much of their writing time on social media.
Good tip on screening friend requests. So many of them are from click farms, trolls, and catfishers these days. So we need to take a few more minutes to check on those people before we hit “accept.”
But when we can interact with real people, it really is fun!
I’m a big believer in the connections you CAN form on social media. When my relationship broke down, it was my folklore ‘family’ on Twitter that posted words of comfort and encouragement. Many might think those tweets are easy to write without there needing to be any real sincerity behind them, but they certainly help in the lonely small hours.
Icy–That’s true. I’ve made some real, long-term friendships on social media. And you’re right that they can be there to be supportive at times when IRL people aren’t available. I very much value my social media friends.
Anne, thanks for another great post. I’m am so not doing Twitter yet, but you always make it sound so interesting. Someday…maybe! I write middle-grade but have a pen name for adult fiction I’ll be starting soon. My audience now involves moms/dads etc. of my readers, but I look forward to interacting more with actual readers…outside of school presentations???? To that end I’ll be grabbing a copy of your blogging for authors book in case it turns out to be the “cat’s meow” for reaching my new audience.
Brenda–Starting a blog under your new pen name might be a great way to establish your new author persona. You can always add a page where you list “books by Brenda Felber aka Ms Pseudo Nym” so you don’t have to do TOO much extra work. If you do join Twitter, you might want to do that under your pen name, too.
Good idea…I have a domain name (first/last pen name) saved, which could link to my current website, a FaceBook Page under name…maybe I should go ahead save the twitter just in case. Thanks!
Happy Tuesday Anne, Sorry – late to the party 🙁 Was busy eating chocolate easter eggs…I mean….working :;
I really like this paragraph:
“Likes” mean nothing if people don’t actually like your work. … Trading likes is pointless if she’s not interested in your cat cozy mysteries, and it will signal Facebook to fill your feed with some very unwelcome advertising.
I wish more authors would understand this!
Barb
Barb–Chocolate egg-eating is an important part of our cultural heritage, so I think your time was well-spent! 🙂
I wish you could shout that from the rooftops! When people ask me to trade likes, I try to tell them that if they don’t write in a genre I read, it’s a bad idea. They never understand. Sigh
Hi, just thought I’d mention that I dropped in here today because of 1) your book, The Author Blog, which was so worthwhile and 2) K.M. Weiland, who promoted your book! So of course, I’m convinced that social media has its useful place. Thanks so much for work that’s been a very helpful resource for me as a new blogger. It’s not always easy to find the good stuff that’s out there, so I appreciate your gifts.
Diana–Welcome! I’m so glad to hear my Author Blog book helped you. Katie Weiland is a treasure. She has so many helpful things to say. Best of luck with your blog!!
An excellent article, Anne! Thanks.
Thanks, Bette!
Great post. While I do state my opinions on my Facebook author page, I save the real political ranting for my personal page. As an author I mostly use Facebook for author groups, though I’ve got family and friends on there too and share random things and lots of cat photos.
I actually only started using Facebook because I was doing some filmmaking and my cameraman would only communicate through Facebook. Then I quickly caught on that it was brilliant for organising shoots with lots of people involved!
Jaq–I find FB really important for messaging these days. So many millennials communicate that way.
And organizing groups is one of its most useful functions, isn’t it? Now we no longer have Google Plus, FB is THE place for groups. I think FB writer groups are one of the best places to get information about the publishing business.
Hey Anne, I totally agree with your point to avoid social media sometimes. But I think it is equally useful too. People stay connected, promote their business and can do many more work. And yes those who misuse it, they should stop using it.
Jacob. Yes. Being on social media is like having your product on a shelf in a store. There’s no guarantee you’ll make a sale, but if you’re not there, it’s guaranteed you won’t make a sale. 🙂