Don’t Let Social Media Take Over Your Life
I attended an all-day Mystery Writers of America conference last Saturday. Got all sorts of good tips and ideas, met fellow writers and, overall, enjoyed the day. The best tip came at the very end, however, when the speaker, Hank Phillippi Ryan, told us to be careful not to let the “marketing” of your book overpower the writing.
It dawned on me that that’s exactly what was happening to me. I’d been so wrapped up in social media, blogging and publicity that I haven’t made a dent in my next book. What’s wrong with this picture?
Even when I made the cover of the San Diego Union Tribune about my search for a missing Van Gogh (and my book, of course) — imagine, front page, above the fold –I still had not very impressive results in the sales department. Ironically, I’m not even in this business for money or fame. This is a second career, one that was originally a hobby I adored. Now much of the time I feel stressed and guilty about how to best spend my time.
As I was about to sit down and write this blog, I chanced upon another writer’s take on social media and wanted to share. Randy Ross has some very interesting statistics about his experience with social media and how much it did not help his sales. Here’s his blog:
http://www.theloneliestplanet.com/2013/10/18-months-of-social-media-one-writers.html#!
The conference session and Randy’s blog were a wake-up call for me. It’s so easy to get sucked into spending time on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, et al that there’s little time and energy left for actually writing.
So, I’m going to take Ryan’s advice. I’m allotting only a few minutes, several times a day for social media connections. The rest of my day will be spent writing my next book. Blogs are important to me, so I will try to continue those weekly. I hope they offer something of value to other writers. For now, I’m off to meet with the witches of Salem and my next mystery.
Timely advice, Lynne – thank you!
Thanks for reading!
I agree. Great advice, and thanks for sharing it.
It’s a relief to read this, since I’m feeling exactly the same and wondering how to balance it all! I almost dread opening my email each day, then feel guilty if I don’t follow up on the all the ‘interesting’ articles/links/etc etc. Yes, definitely feeling stressed too, so I suspect it’s a bit like the advertising game in any other field – everyone keeps shouting more loudly than everyone else, and then the volume keeps getting turned up. The other point about attending a conference and benefiting is a timely reminder too that personal contact is probably the best way to promote anything – and feel better in the process.
Thanks for your insight, Inge. Glad to know other writers feel the same! Lynne
Very good advice — if only there were still publishers out there doing the publicity for us!
It’s a new world.
Hi Lynne,
If you follow the blogs of J.A. Konrath, Dean Wesley Smith and Bob Mayer you’ll see they ALL say the same thing. Nothing works in promoting your books like writing the next one. So just keep on writing. That’s what I’m doing. In fact I do very little marketing these days but I still sell my books. The numbers may not be big but they’re still selling.
thisis so true i have good intentiosn everyday but by time i get my emails facebook twitter, blogs promos etc im exhausted and it shows in my writing. Thanks for the timely tips. have fun with those witches!
Thanks, Cathy. You’re so right. Already the first hour of my day has been on Social Media. Argh! And it’s a perfect time of year for witches!
This is a good reminder to spend most of our time writing and less on social media, even when we are marketing. Writing needs to take prime time.
Thanks, Terra!
Thank you for writing about this dilemma. I feel the same way. None of us have the time to do EVERYTHING so I think we should focus upon what we feel is most important to accomplish in our short lives. For me it is writing and not marketing (even writing that last phrase gave me a twinge of guilt!) Best of luck to you.
Thanks, Steve. Good luck to you too.