This is a very interesting blog post by Literary Agent Carly Watters… 6 Ways Social Media Doesn’t Help You Get Published I think she makes some great points, and hits on some things I’ve mulled over since moving my writing from “the shadows” into the cold light of day.
Here’s the thing – I’ve always been passionate about my writing, but until recently (as I’ve said elsewhere here), it’s been a private passion. However, once I decided to make the leap from writer to author to (hopefully) published author, I started doing what everyone else probably does, and started reaching out to the writing community and devouring advice and information. Right now, there’s probably as much advice out there (in the form of books and seminars and blogs) about the business of writing as there is about writing itself. There are a thousand great ideas on how to market yourself, your books, and how to build a brand via social media. I ignored most of that while grinding away on my first couple of full novels, but after I was agented I really took that advice to heart – this blog, of course, is one direct result.
But, it’s definitely a love/tolerate thing. At this point in my fledgling career, I really want people to focus on my writing. I want to hone my craft so I can do justice to the stories I want to tell, and I’m less interested in trying to sell me. Maybe that will change in time, and if it does, I’ll embrace it. But right here, right now (and I stress, this is all me, YMMV), I fiercely protect the time I have for writing my books, not my blog posts. I feel like I have a thousand books in me, more than I could ever write in a lifetime. I do want to talk about the writing life and share my experiences, if only so that those who make the same leap after me can see how far down the ground is, but it’s secondary to actually getting all those books written. I put up my weekly blog posts – things I find interesting or thought-provoking or funny – try desperately not to over share (a point well made by Ms. Watters), and hope that when all is said done, people will know me less for what I say here, and more for what I publish out there.
I’m not blind to the power of social media, and I understand the role of the modern author in publicizing and supporting his or her work (my agent has done a great job in talking me through all the pros and cons of social media, and the value that she believes it has). I get that it’s important to turn readers into fans (and I think there may be a whole separate blog post about the current phenomenon where the best-selling books seem to be those that arrive with a passionate fan-base in tow, which is why genre books are the ones that seem to head the lists). But I don’t want anything I say here – opinions, personal anecdotes, whatever – to distract from the writing itself. If all anyone ever knows is that I’m the guy who wrote that book they liked (or didn’t like), I’m cool with that.
Blogs and Twitter are very powerful tools for the modern successful writer. For me, they are very small bricks in the foundation of what I hope is a very long career. I guess we’ll see…
As for the writing, I’m working parallel tracks at the moment – a sequel to the book I’m revising with my agent Carlie Webber at CK Webber Associates, and research on a straight-up thriller that’s also grabbed my interest.
I’ve got more than enough to do~
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