Saturday, January 19, 2013

I Am So Not Famous

If you are a writer, I think you can probably relate to a certain degree of hermit-ish-ness. Most of us just want to sit in a dark room with our laptops and beverage of choice, and just write. We don't want to Twitter or network or scratch our heads trying to figure out what on Earth Google+ is and why we should care about who has +1-ed us. And yet, here I find myself, Twittering with an account I originally created out of mere curiosity, reading articles on Google+, and self-promoting shamelessly.

It was totally not supposed to be like this.

I was supposed to be like Stephenie Meyer. I would write this novel and think it was pretty okay, and then I'd send it off to a literary agent or publisher who would gobble it up and sprinkle it into bookstores and reading medias all over the world. I'm pretty sure Stephenie Meyer kind of woke up one morning and realized her inbox was full of compliments. No Google+ head scratching over there.


I'm coming to realize, however, that the vast majority of authors out there, published or not, have to work really flippin' hard to make sure that people read their book. And it's not about money, of course. How could it be? As an author I made less in three months than my husband did while dabbling with chacha for a month. No, what it's really about is knowing you entertained someone. For some authors, maybe it's about knowing you touched someone's life or gave them an epiphany, but for me it's all about making someone smile or taking them to another world for a little while. I want to share that!

 So because of that, I have taken on the daunting quest of social networking. I am learning a lot about it, but I have so much more to learn. And I am realizing that there are things I might want to do with this newfound awareness of networking--book reviews for example. Tons of people type them up onto their blogs; why not me? Keep an eye out for that one...but don't, you know, hold your breath or anything. I'm an absent-minded blogger at best.

If you are a writer, author, poet, or wordsmith of any kind, I figured you could relate. Oh and add me to your social media of choice, if you would!

I mean, seriously, can I get an AMEN? Being an author is exhausting.


7 comments:

  1. I Google + 'd you. I would add a blogspot "follow" section too for those who don't use G+

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  2. Amen.
    Also social media is a double-edged sword. Or maybe a triple-edged sword, even. It not only can provide access to new markets/new readers, it can be a serious time-sucking distraction. Plus, dealing with the people on social media sites is not always pleasant (trolls and the like).

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  3. Amen, sistah!

    I'll add your blog to my Google Reader.

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  4. I love blogging but hate twitter! Social media is hard and sucks writing time.

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  5. Sounds like you've got two key things going for you. You get that marketing is not optional if you want to find readers and you've decided there's no use complaining about it. :) Keep up the good work.

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  6. AMEN! My mom has published...9 novels? And she's nowhere near famous. Writing is thankless work, and you don't get paid much for it either. Way to stick with what you love, though. I'm excited to read your new blog!

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