It
was this status update which inspired my blog post. What a great question!
I
have conflicting feelings on this subject. I don’t have a ‘fan page’. I use my own
personal page on Facebook for everything. I enjoy Facebook. I think it’s fun. I
really get a kick out of communicating back and forth with friends over silly pictures or discussing favourite television
programmes. It’s a good way of keeping up with family too in this busy life.
I’ve found the community of writers online to be supportive and pretty great.
Yet, a lot of times when I post some new thing on my page about
something I’ve done to promote my book-in-progress, the comments and likes are low-to-none. The airwaves go eerily silent. You can hear owls hooting in the distance.
Sometimes,
with something new, you’ve got to take things slowly....
People
seem to be incredibly sensitive to feeling they’re being ‘sold something’, and
I admit I'm exactly the same way. I don’t like it one little bit when I
feel I’m getting to know someone, only to have them turn around and try to sell me
something.
So
when we have our work ready to share with the world, is it a good idea to promote
ourselves on social media? Or are we all simply wasting our time?
One
author responded to the Facebook post, I have FB, a blog,
an awesome as website, twitter etc and nothing. I have paid to promote some of my FB posts about my books and it
has not resulted in any sales. Your FB page, on the other hand, is awesome in
that it keeps you in touch with people who already care about what you do. But,
making money. Nah. Not me.
Another
writer said: It seems to me that it has a more subtle role. Drawing attention
to what you are about and finding those who are interested in what you do.
ThomasUmstaad gave a podcast, featured on Author Media recently about the seven key differences between
published and unpublished authors, and
number seven was Marketing. He said, Published
authors see marketing as part of their mission to entertain, help & inspire
others. Unpublished authors see marketing as their publisher’s job.
Utilising social media always comes at the top of every respectable bloggers list when it comes to how to sell more books.
Utilising social media always comes at the top of every respectable bloggers list when it comes to how to sell more books.
And
yet , there are always exceptions to every rule. According to one person who commented on our conversation on Facebook, I went to the exhibition of a friend who doesn't
have a blog, twitter, Facebook, or even her own email address and watched as
artworks priced between $3,500 and $10,000 sold within minutes.
The
comments reminded me of hearing our famous New Zealand author, Margaret Mahy,
speak once at a festival. I was surprised to hear Margaret say she didn’t use email, or
have a website, or have a blog or a page on Facebook. And of course, when you
think about it, J.K.Rowling started out the same way. While I enjoy Facebook, and Pinterest, etc, I find the notion of not
doing social media a relaxing thought. Mahy and Rowling were writers. They wrote.
Perhaps we should all take a leaf from their book and spend more time creating? The really successful people
don’t usually sweat the small stuff like the rest of us, it seems.
And this is where the conflict comes in. Self-promotion on social media probably doesn't work, and it is a pain keeping up with it, and yet it's also quite a lot of fun. Maybe the wisest thing we can do is lower our expectations of what social media can do for us? When you have a creative talent you wish to share with the world, do so, and tell people about it. Then move on to the next project.
And this is where the conflict comes in. Self-promotion on social media probably doesn't work, and it is a pain keeping up with it, and yet it's also quite a lot of fun. Maybe the wisest thing we can do is lower our expectations of what social media can do for us? When you have a creative talent you wish to share with the world, do so, and tell people about it. Then move on to the next project.
As
Jim Carrey famously said, “Success
consists of letting the universe know what you want and working toward it,
while letting go of how it comes to pass.”
If
it’s meant to be, it’ll all work out perfectly....
What do you think? Tell me, I'd love to know!
Joke for the week~
Why shouldn't you tell a secret on a farm?
Because the potatoes have eyes and the corn has ears!
Ttl,
Yvette K. Carol :)
Joke for the week~
Why shouldn't you tell a secret on a farm?
Because the potatoes have eyes and the corn has ears!
Ttl,
Yvette K. Carol :)
The other factor about social media is what goes on behind the scenes. Facebook hides posts. My family have all subscribed and selected "get notifications" yet many times when I post something on either my public page or my personal one, they don't see it. This has to do with, apparently, how much time I spend on their pages. To get your posts seen, you have to like and comment on other peoples' posts. But it's more than that. FB admitted at one point that it was hiding posts to try to get people to pay to get their posts seen.
ReplyDeleteI like using various forms of social media, but I don't know how successful it is for helping people promote their work. I think the community of writers online is immensely supportive, and that's one reason I stick with it, but I am not counting on it to help me ever sell anything when that day comes.
Love this post!
Wow, I didn't know that about FB hiding posts! I wonder if they've started doing that since it was sold, and has become more about the money than the social networking? Thanks for the input, Jenni. I try and follow what Kristen Lamb advised in her first book, to do (as you said) 'likes and comments' on as many posts as possible every day, given the window of time available to me. But I thought that was to expand your network, not to get your own posts seen - I didn't know that part! Sheesh, it's convoluted. If you get too caught up in it, your brain will probably explode. Best approach is exactly what you've said, and I'll keep that as a quote for my 'Great Quotes' file, if I may, "I think the community of writers online is immensely supportive, and that's one reason I stick with it, but I am not counting on it to help me ever sell anything when that day comes." That's good advice. Thanks for commenting :-)
DeleteI think the main thing social media does for most writers is connect them with other illustrators and writers in this lonely process, which is highly valuable. I am not convinced unless you have a twitter knack like Maureen Johnson or produce great videos like John Green that it sells much books. I recently read that just five years ago all agents recommended their authors have blogs, things have changed and now, not so much. What I do read again and again is that we need newsletters and email lists (for which one normally needs a blog!) Blogging (and commenting) is very time consuming and I am not sure it is the best use of time (and I have an okay following after 3.5 regular years of blogging). Maybe videos are the real way to go?
ReplyDeleteMy friend and critique partner swears by YouTube, in terms of reaching a responsive audience. And certainly, on Slideshare, they say it's popular because people generally respond more to pictures than words. So you may be onto something there, Joanna! I'm definitely interested in and exploring the new (to me) areas of video and also audio. I think we do need to find new ways of branching out of our comfort zones. :-) Thanks for commenting again, I really appreciate it, Joanna. I know how frustrating it is to lose a comment! :-)
DeleteGreat topic, Yvette! Blogging is incredibly time consuming but I was uplifted recently when a fellow blogger revealed they had 10 000 followers from commenting on tonnes of blogs. She posts at least a poem a day. After the hols I might try that. And more videos. Then there are people who don't blog but post on FB a lot but no writing stuff and they haveblog friends who promote them. I've just bought two of her books for H's birthday.
ReplyDeleteThanks, pal! I know they say the more you blog, the better it is. Ms. Lamb advocates blogging at least three times a week, so I imagine the ultimate is daily. Sounds like Mt. Everest to me! However, let me know how it goes if you try posting daily. I'd be interested to know. And there's probably a blog post in there! :-)
DeleteSome authors who have built up a great platform do get many sales of their books, especially when they've spent years building relationships with their followers.
ReplyDeleteIt's true about Facebook hiding posts. Can't count on your posts being seen by all your friends. And posts on our fan pages are only seen by a small percent of those who have Liked the page, mainly because FB wants us to pay to reach more people.
Great subject for a post, Yvette!
Hi Lynn! Yes, and it's also true that it matters what time of day you post on FB. The thing with having young kids at home is I'm often on social media at odd times, like late at night or really early in the morning, and that timing doesn't often sync up with other people. When I shared my first video on FB, I got no response. Then, by accident one day, I hit the wrong button and ended up reposting the same update, but at a different time of day. And this time round, it got a handful of likes and a bunch of responses. I was really surprised. Feels a bit hit & miss to me. But hey, we just keep striding on and doing our best, right? See ya' round, girlfriend :-)
DeleteI enjoyed your newsletter this week Yvette. Great to see you sending your writing out. I know what you mean about non fiction, sometimes I find it very hard not to lie! Lying is so much more fun. Also, do you think your newsletter and blog are one in the same? Then you'd have more time for writing. I'd like to read your stories about your sons, written from the heart, I know they'd be amazing. Jane
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jane. Those kind words mean a lot.
DeleteYou've raised a good point. Matter of fact, I've been thinking about the conundrum of the newsletter and the blog just recently. To answer your question first, they're definitely not the same. When I started my blog, my niece said, 'now you can let go of doing the newsletter'. However, in reality, they're two very different animals.
The newsletter is more of a communal thing, it's bits of advice and tools that other writers share with me as well as snippets from my own writing life. It has a few distinct advantages: being small discrete parcels of info rather than one discourse, I can add as many elements as are happening at the time. Also, because its going directly to email recipients, I can ask for feedback at certain times and be sure of getting it. Whereas the blog is more like writing an essay and putting it out onto the ether, I may or may not get responses. It feels more impersonal. It needs more coherence because it goes out in one piece, etc.
Lately, I've been thinking about the possibility of dropping the blog. Not sure yet...perhaps it's something that builds with time? I mean it is only early days. I haven't been going with this long...but let's just say, I'm on the fence about it at this stage. I really feel, with social media, you need to do what you also enjoy or it's hard to keep it up long-term. And as you've pointed out, all these things take lots of time that could be better spent on our fiction!
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ReplyDelete