I was reading a guest post by Scott Bury, on KD Rush's Blog, on social media and does it help to sell books. You can read his post here.
http://kdrush.com/Main/content.php/173-Guest-Post-by-Scott-Bury-Do-social-media-help-sell-books#comments_start
And it reminds that I am spreading myself too thin. I have been thinking about this the past few weeks and trying to figure out my best strategy for promoting myself and which sites, groups, etc. that I want to keep and which ones I need to let go of. I'm on twitter, facebook, goodreads, linkedin, google+, not to mention, gather, multiply, merchant circle, start up nation and countless other reading and writing groups. I also have 2 blogs, well 4 actually, but only maintain 2, and follow over 300 blogs, for which come Monday mornings, I receive apprx. 140+ email notifications. But it's not just about promoting myself. It shouldn't be quantity over quality, it should be the other way around.
The problem with all of this, is it makes me feel superficial. I have made some wonderful friends and dropping in and saying hi and then running off to another site and not giving them the attention they deserve is wrong on my part. Yes, we all want and need to promote ourselves and our books, but dropping in and saying buy my book and then preceding to the next site and posting about your book or your blog or whatever and not interacting is the wrong way to do it. Yes we want followers, but at what cost to us as people. It's like going to a cocktail party and hiding in the corner all night texting on your phone. Is that how you want people to remember you? I don't, so I have decided to cut back in order to gain more. Not book sales, but quality friendships. People I enjoy communicating with. I want more in my life besides running here and there on the internet, I want to sit down and have a cup of coffee and find out what's going on in your life. Are you feeling okay? How are the kids? Anything special happen lately? Do you have a new book out? I'll help you promote it. Did you just sign with a new agent? Let's celebrate!
I have found that I love to write and yes I want people to read and like what I write. I want to sell books, but at what cost to my family and friends? Social media takes a lot of time and hard work and sometimes you have to scale back a little in order to gain more. So over the next couple of weeks, I will look at all the different sites and groups and figure out which ones I want to keep and concentrate on and which ones I need to let go, because it's not fair to them if I'm not participating.
I'm going to leave you with that and will do a part 2 for this post next week, an update of sorts and we can discuss some different ways to promote offline. So while you're waiting stop by and check out Scott's blog here;
http://scottswrittenwords.blogspot.com/
Have a great week everyone!
I know exactly what you mean. The problem with social media is that, to do it well, you have to do nothing else - and then, what's the point of using social media in the first place?
ReplyDeleteYou're right about focusing on things that matter. Selling books would be great, but they're a means to an end, too, right?
Hi Scott
ReplyDeleteAfter writing my post I started thinking about famous people that don't tweet and facebook! Well, they are famous now and can pay people to do it for them, but also when they were unknown, there wasn't all of this internet social media for them to get the word out. I'm thinking that there has to be a fine line in balancing everything out. Kind of like the food pyramid and we just have to figure out what works best for us, because this isn't a one size fits all.
Social media is a massive time investment. I feel like I'm spreading myself too thin sometimes. It's something I have to keep in check. But I'm not selling anything right now--except the brand of me. So my main focus is making connections, and being a part of a community.
ReplyDeleteStill it requires a good chunk of time--have to remember to breathe :)
Hope your week is going well Karen!
Hi Coleen! Breathing is good! Making connections is good also, but it is something that needs to be nurtured to help it grow into something valuable and cherished. And that's what I hope to achieve by cutting back.
DeleteI absolutely agree! I've been feeling the same thing myself. I'm going for quality over quantity, and I hope that many others will follow suit. Thanks for saying what I was thinking!
ReplyDeleteHi Diane! Some days it feels like I'm being pulled in so many directions at once, that I just give up and hide!
DeleteKaren, this is absolutely the fact of social media "life," as it were, LOL.
ReplyDeleteI have been spinning my wheels with all the time investment in social media (my head, too, is the proverbial top). I have quickly (well, not so quickly) come to realize that I just cannot be everywhere. I'm sure others feel the same way. It's just too draining. It's been way to easy to fall into the trap of, "Oh, look, they're doing that," or "Oh, look, they're on that site, too," which leads one to jump on the bandwagon. Problem is, you end up doing more harm than good, methinks. I know I have not done justice to some of the sites or groups I've signed up with, and yes, I feel awful about it. But I know I'm not alone in that regard.
I admit, I've been mulling this over in the back of my mind for about a month now, realizing that something has to give. I guess my subconscious knew all along, I just didn't listen to the little voice.
Lesson: One must ALWAYS listen to the little voice.
Hi David! I seen you are following through networked blogs now. Sadly they have a limit as to how many blogs you can follow and I've hit my 200 limit, just another little part of my insanity! :-) Thank you for following!
DeleteThat's the way to go my girl. Good solid friendships win out every time. I'm not a fan of "working the room". Nope. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteHi Jeannie! Well let's hope it will be good luck and maybe even a little spare time! We will see!
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