I didn’t do a blog last week so I thought I’d better not miss another one. But…the thing is… I’m off to a giggle of writers in about half an hour so I haven’t given myself much time to do this. Oh well. I’m sure you’ll forgive me if I do a hasty scrawl.
My fellow writers and I are having a PD day. Someone is going to tell us all about using social media, the internet, e-books and all that jazz. I sure hope they’re going to demonstrate the moves on a big screen or it’ll all be gobbledygook to me. (Which is the reason I’m keen to go.)
I know I should be more up with it all. After all, I have a blog. I’m on Facebook. I also have an “author’s page” on FB. I’ve had an e-book published (still available on Amazon, Kobo and Apple i-Tunes – please feel free to buy a copy). You’d think I’d be up with all that techno stuff. The answer is a resounding NO.
The Old Boy is my techno-advisor and resident computer geek, and I usually rely on him to keep everything functioning and to fix all my mistakes. But, I know I need to be more proactive about this stuff. I’m still not really marketting my book very well. I’m not using Twitter. It takes me a whole week to come up with the drivel I usually write in this blog. I figure, how the hell would I think up stuff to tweet?
I’ve noticed other writers tweet news about book launches and conferences attended and awards won but I don’t have any of that stuff to tweet about so all that’s left is Rex the Wonder Dog and my so-called health. Not that rivetting, really.
Anyhoo, I’m going to hear from some experts today and then I’ll drag my overloaded head home and try to unpack it all. It’s a darn shame that we have to do all this non-writing stuff these days. The old artist-in-the-attic-scratching-words-of-wisdom-in-a-notebook-then-posting-it-off-to-an-eager-publisher-who-prints-distributes-and-markets-for-you days are over.
I should have been born about 100 years ago. Typical me. I’m late for just about everything! But – not for the giggle of writers I’m going to. For once, I’m actually ready, early. (Little victories.)
I’m on Twitter, but I find it largely ineffective unless you’re hugely successful and have bevy of fans who want to follow your every move. There’s little conversation on Twitter, and most of the authors who keep seeking me out and following me in the hope of a return follow aren’t interested in any kind of relationship that can be built on. They just market their books at their followers 24/7.
Yes, I think I’ll probably not bother…just yet. It’d be useful if I had exciting things to announce or wise words to pass on, but I can’t see that happening in the near future. I get fed up with people who only make contact to promote their books.