Post Lent Reflections
Happy April! Spring has sprung in my corner of the world… and so has the pollen. Fortunately, I’ve had a lot of time to rest, reflect, and redirect my focus for my writing business. I implemented a social media ban during Lent so that I could spend my time focusing on more important things—namely, God, family, and friends. I learned some things.
First, I wasn’t letting God lead my writing career. I gave him the reins in almost every other aspect of my life (because the last few years have been… shall we say… hectic? Stressful? All of the above?), but I failed to loosen my grip on my writing. I wanted to do all the things all the time, but I wasn’t doing any of them very well.
When I was writing, I felt guilty for not writing what I needed to publish next. When I was working on what should come next, I felt pressure to get it done in a certain time frame. Then there were the empty screams into the social media void because (and this holds true) I don’t want to do reels and tik-toks. Folks, I’m 42. I’m too old and cranky to smile that much, dance, splice videos, and all that jazz. I’m here to write… which is why I’m pulling back on social media to three posts a week and some reader/author interactions a few minutes each day.
I’m also taking a few steps back in other writing projects, but those announcements will come later once the contracts are finalized, and everyone is pleased with the outcome.
As for family and friends, I’ve spent a lot of time just existing in a room with them. Making cookies. Cleaning my house. Doing more projects and fun field trips for homeschool. I’ve just enjoyed my family so much more without looming social media deadlines, constant pressure to produce, and that never-ending urge to compete.
Moving forward, you’ll find a heavier focus on platforms that allow me to have more focused interaction with my readers—newsletters, blogs, even a bigger presence on Goodreads with updates, books I’m reading, and more. This solves two problems in that it lessens my need to be on social media (which I intensely loathe) and builds a stronger bridge with readers—with YOU!
I hope you took my poll a few weeks ago, and if you didn’t, I’d love to hear your thoughts. You can find it here. Let me know what we can talk about, what gets you excited as a reader, and how I can spend my social time with you wisely!
And if you're interested in helping me focus my efforts, please let me know in the poll below where you like to buy your books and in what formats. Multiple answers are fine! Thank you for all of your help while I continue to streamline my business!
