Finding a Balance

I'm on the verge of getting very frustrated with social networking. Every day it feels as though something new is popping up, some must-do, fantastic site which will help us sell loads of books and reach a new audience: Klout, Google+, Triberr... just to name a few.

Sure, I'm a fan of facebook and twitter, and obviously I use Blogger, but really I'm not sure if I can handle much more. I'm a writer because I want to write fiction, not because I want to be soliciting myself on numerous sites, trying to build up a name so people will recognise me and hopefully go on to buy my books.

Okay, I know I have to do some of that, but really, does it have to be quite so much? I know I need to build up my readership and to some extent I'm happy to do that. I just wonder if I'll be happier being a writer who is spending most of their time actually writing and is only earning a moderate wage, compared to a writer who doesn't do as much writing, but is selling loads because they're always playing the social networking card.

I guess it's like most things; a balance needs to be found. Yes, I'm living my dream, being able to write full time. But my dream never involved placing all my self-worth as a writer on what score I've got on Klout (I mean, someone actually messaged me on twitter to tell me what I had and then what they had. Why the hell would they think I'd care???).

Maybe if I get more involved in all these different sites, I'll propel my career into the stratosphere. But then maybe if I just keep writing and getting books out, I'll just naturally build up a following because people, instead of following me because they want to find out via twitter what I had for lunch, have just read and enjoyed my books over a number of years.

Sure, it's slow and steady, but it never did authors in the past any harm!