By Edward Nawotka
Today’s editorial by Daniel Kalder discusses some of the vagaries of using social media as a writer, in particular, to promote you books. In the piece he suggests, “The best way to use social media is to view them not as a mystical cure for what ails publishing, or a magic sales tool, but rather as another outlet for creative energy and a more immediate means of interacting with your readers.”
But what if, after working all day on you own work, you’ve simply run out of gas and marshaling the extra energy to blog, tweet and Facebook, is more than you can manage? Do you feel ever like a failure at social media? Do you ever force yourself to blog/tweet when you might not feel up to it out of a sense of obligation? What do you do to find the social media muse again? Perhaps you’ve tried it, and didn’t like it — what do you do then?
Share your thoughts and experiences with us in the comments below.
3 Comments
No comments on a query about failure in social media? That pretty much sums up the game. It is tough and you never know what will resonate–like blogs about conversations with one’s own beard.
Of course I feel like a failure. I follow others and read others, but I do not know how to break into myself.
I’m working on several things – short stories, a new novel sitting in a folder itching for a good first edit, an older novel shoved in a drawer to die a painful, neglected, and deserved death. I write essays every week.
But as far as I can tell, what i write exists on its own, with no connection to others. How, exactly, would I use social media to talk about what I write? Do I just go horn in on other and say “HEY LOOKIT MY STUFF!”?
Do I tag my tweets with #sex #freemoney and the like?
I mean, how do I get my feet wet? I’d be happy to tell the others what I find, but I don’t even know where to start looking.
That’s where I’m at.
And don’t even get me started at ending sentences with a preposition.
Social media is a great equalizer. It allows smaller companies to compete with larger ones. It allows an individual to create a following, to interact and engage with a community of interested people. It’s much like being at a social event, walking around and talking with others in attendance. You might not always talk about your product (your book) but you would have interesting and engaging conversations.
I found an article about how a literary journal used Twitter to find thousands of readers: http://www.mediabistro.com/ebooknewser/how-to-find-readers-on-twitter_b3925
I’d be happy to talk with you more if you’d like to learn how to use social media tools to grow your business.