A Blog Post About Blogging and Becoming an Author
When I first started blogging, while I was writing my debut novel, I was so uncensored. I had very few followers and so I posted to my blog regularly (LIKE THREE TIMES A WEEK, EASILY!) without fretting too hard over grammatical and typographical errors. I didn’t own licences to any stock photography and I didn’t understand how to use the free feature on WordPress to add images, so my posts had very few photos, if any at all. Life was simple. The people who followed me, joined my blog on their own accord, by no request, force or pressure to do so. I knew, if they were following me it was because they actually cared about what I had to say. I didn’t blow time hanging out on Facebook and Twitter (as much), although I did really enjoy Twitter before the auto-bots ruined it over there. I spent time writing my book, learning about publishing, and sharing my results. And you know what? PEOPLE LOVED IT!
So, what changed?
After publishing, the way I used my time changed in a big way. Readers wanted more. So I gave them more, but I started to lost bits and pieces of myself along the way. I have no one to blame but myself, but…
Here’s what happened…
Set up a Facebook page, authors told me. So I did. Tweet the crap out of your books on Twitter, writers said. So I did. Don’t leave all your eggs in one basket, they said. So I joined Google Plus. You’re missing all these readers over here, they said. And so I figured out how Pinterest worked (Still love it, by the way; perfect for story boards!) You need a street team, they said. Got one of those. Offer them something for free, they said. Doing it now. It seemed to work for Beautifully Broken over at Barnes and Noble, so fingers crossed that it revives my Twisted Series. (You know how I feel about Amazon.) I’ve even joined YouTube and Instagram, for God’s sake. Tell me that wasn’t a total waste of my time!
Okay, I take that back. YouTube is more for fun. I love sharing my playlists on there, but Instagram can stay in the bag of wasted time, although just today a local acquaintance told me that she learned I was an author due to accidentally landing on my Instagram account… Anyways!!! (Forget you heard that. Lol)
Where it got me…
I now have hundreds of thousands of views and fans across so many channels that I can’t keep up with them all. What’s happening is I’m stretched too thin and am not seeing the results worthy of my time and effort; not even close. It’s just not possible to actively engage all of your readers on all of these social media channels! Instagram is a buzz-kill too. Tell me a woman of my age shouldn’t get a little depressed from seeing all these model-worthy young ladies selfying themselves (yes, I like to make up words and just did it rather effectively) and looking fabulous with their tight, young skin and fun adventures. A case of TMI there? I thought so. But it’s the truth… and I needed to get that out there.
On top of that, my time has been spread so thin that blogging kind of slipped right off the table of things to do. That’s just not right, because I actually do love blogging. A fellow Ontario writer/blogger actually made me realize this yesterday, when he was writing about nothing too stunning, but I enjoyed his writing style nonetheless. THAT, my friends, is the way to go. THAT is how I want to be portrayed as a writer; not posting random crap on social media sites to maybe 3% of my following on any given day; even less when I’m talking about my books, because you have to pay for promotions. To put it bluntly:
Nothing in life is free and I’m doing it all wrong.
The worst part is, I’ve read/watched so many episodes of how to do it right, now—and I actually do believe I’m finally watching the right people who can help me get to where I want to be—that I know what I have to do!
Here’s to actually making it happen!!!
What I’m going to do about it…
So, now, instead of editing the crap out of this post and deciding not to publish it at all—like I’ve done waaay too often this year—because I have so many of you fabulous followers’ eyes on me, I’m going to send it off with one quick proofread (Cuz, let’s face it, I’m just not that careless!)
Okay, just proofread. I really can’t shut up when I get going! Jeez! I’ve decided that I should probably end this post with some sort of engagement, and I really do want to know… so please, please comment. For the two seconds it will take out of your day, it will make mine.
If you had to pick only TWO (no cheating) social media channels to interact on, which sites would you choose and why? If the WHY scares you, then please just share the sites. J J J Thanks for listening!
