I’d Rather Be Writing

The list of guides, infographics, posts, blogs, books, tweets and, who-knows-what-else that claim to be the be-all and end-all of social media marketing for new books seems to grow exponentially by the day. But I just can’t bring myself to jump on the self-broadcasting bandwagon. 

I don’t thrive on the constant pressure to write, write, write and also market, market, market. It’s a balancing act. There are never enough hours in the day. Add to that the increasing pressure on authors to keep up a presence on social media in the hopes that it’s going to sell more books, and it’s overwhelming.

I have author profiles on Facebook, Goodreads, and Pinterest. And I try to engage with my very few followers, but I have to ask myself, “Will posting this funny cat photo sell my book that I spent months writing?” The answer is no. But I have to be available to interact with my “fans,” and I understand that it’s important to have an online presence in order to sell books. We all have to be on social media. I just don’t feel that I’m well versed in the different style of writing necessary for social media and blogging, so it’s been a struggle for me.

Sometimes I need to force myself to focus on writing, so I separate myself from friends and socializing. I’m not lonely when I write, but writing can be very isolating—the antithesis of social media and blogging. I go deep when I write, and I’m very passionate about it. When I was creating Under a Cloud of Rain, I wrote the whole book without an outline of the sequence of events rather than writing scene by scene like I’m doing with Thicker Than Blood. I started conceptualizing Thicker Than Blood when I was thirty-five, and I’m sixty-one now—it’s frustrating how long it takes to write a novel! Writing can also be very emotionally and mentally exhausting. So it’s even more difficult to pull myself away from my novel-writing mind-set and switch gears to write more content just to meet some ambiguous social media posting quota.

I’m so content when I write, especially when I write well and fluidly. When I don’t, I get slightly depressed and frustrated. I write every day, so I’m always creating, but not the creative penning necessary for social media. I give it my best shot, like many new authors, but it’s not easy. I think the saying holds true here that “if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” Writing is what I love. Social networking is work.

My passion, and my job, is to write books. And I don’t think any new author would argue with the fact that the best way to sell books is to write more books. Readers want more books, not more Facebook posts or blog entries. Write on!