I recently wrote about the effort many writers spend in pursuit of getting people to know they exist…how the race to create a “platform” or “brand” trumps actually writing for some.
It’s a pretty simple formula: spend a lot of time totally connected to social media, being a personality who shares links to great writing things. (Okay, there’s more to it than that, but a big part of it is spending a lot of time interrupted by social media.) And the goal is simple: become the person people look to as an authority — and in return — they will buy your books.
It works for some; not quite the case for many others. Having a “platform” is good (I’m not fond of the word, but hey, it’s less buzzy than “brand.”), but…do you really want your platform to be more about writing links than your actual writing?
Always On
The books I’ve read by writers who will reply to a tweet or Facebook comment in minutes haven’t been memorable reads. The story is there, and it might even be entertaining, but it all seems so on the surface of things. And why not? — when a writer doesn’t disconnect enough to go deeper into what it is they do, why would one expect deep writing?
I get that not everything has to be deep…even agree with it. If all one wants is a little escape, go for it! But even the escapes I’ve read by those who instantly reply to online contact seem to have a certain disconnect from the stories they’re writing.
Is it really worth being available and on all the time just to sell more books?
The Answer
Of course it’s worth it for many to always be on to sell more books — it’s business after all. I spoke at a tech conference last weekend, and more than a few speakers reminded the crowd that it’s all about making money.
I don’t believe that one should be online solely to make money, but if that’s your thing, cool.
(I must admit that I do find it quite funny that many of the people online who say, “It’s all about conversations and connections,” are really all about selling. Again, nothing wrong with that, but at least be honest about your intentions if you’ll shun the more interesting talk with no promise of a sale than the person with a fist full of cash.)
I don’t begrudge anyone for wanting to make money. But it’s not the only answer.
Another Answer
If you’ve followed The Juggling Writer for awhile, you know I’m a bit of a purist. I will write until the day I die, even if I never make another cent writing. I don’t play the whole, “I must write or I will die!” angle; I write because I enjoy it and want to write.
If I could never write again, I’d still have my wife, family, friends, and other things I do that bring me happiness. I’d miss writing if I could never do it again, but I would not die without it.
But writing is a big part of who I am. I put it before juggling, which — if you know me — once consumed my life like few things have consumed me.
Consume.
Good word for something that requires a certain degree of obsession to make it. This thing I love consumes me…
What Consumes You?
If you spend more time marketing than sitting down to write ask yourself: would you rather be consumed by posting links to things on Twitter, or be consumed by writing?
If you’re a marketer who also happens to write, I will not begrudge you for your honesty one bit; in fact, I will wish you all the success you strive for.
But if you’re a writer, first, why would you let the wrong things consume you?
I’ve made all of $10 from my fiction, so I can’t pretend to be a “success” at it. But I am consumed lately by this story cycle I’ve been writing. I keep refining the ones I’ve written and dreaming up more stories yet to be written. Right now, everything else I’ve done or intend to do is being set aside for these stories. I have even less time for the idea of networking and platforming. For me, for now, it’s all about the stories. Weird place to be, let me tell you!
Hmm . . I’m much in the same place as Mr. Lamb, except for the $10 richer part (I’m still working on that).
It’s easy for me to go overboard on a writing project, so I’ve learned (and am still learning) to break my day into chunks with other non-computer activities. I also break working on my novels with writing flash fiction. Otherwise, I’d get too familiar with my current novel-in-progress.
I’m also *not* socializing on all the social media sites. I half-way tried that, and decided it wasn’t my thing. I’m only active on G+ now. (It’s a great research site, IMO.)
I’m pretty comfortable with certain online things; in part, I think, because when I wrote independent comic books, I had a site and shared things. I guess we blogged, but it was all manual since it was in the early and mid 90s. I posted tutorials, showing how we produced pages…just thought, “Man, this is a cool place to share things.” And I still like that aspect of the Internet. But when it comes with an expectation…not so much.
I will occasionally share writing links I find interesting, and I won’t knock those who make a day of it, but that struggle to be the “authority” agents want…things like that…I’d rather write for a small group of people than be connected to my phone. I hang out with a lot of people really into WordPress and social media, and it’s this constant thing: a lull of any kind, and out come the phones. No sooner than a talk begins, and it’s a race for people to Tweet the talking points of the speaker…so much so that the next lines, which may be even better, are missed because they are busy typing the previous lines. It’s like Louis C.K. talking about the Beijing Olympics…how there’s this spectacular thing going on before people, and they’re all watching through their phones.
I sometimes go out to lunch with a couple work buds. One of them…she will check her phone throughout the meal. You’ll be talking about something and BOOM…she’ll whip out her phone and read and laugh, and then start typing. Then share what it was all about. Sometimes when she’s done, she’ll say, “So you were saying…?” as though the interruption is totally fine.
While networking has finally come a bit more natural to me, I’d still rather write. There’s nothing wrong with it being “all about the stories”; I think that’s why I like your writing so much…it’s obvious that you put a lot into the things you write. I know it’s all about juggling several things; as much as I can juggle tasks, when it comes to good writing, that’s all I need to be doing at the time.
I like Google+. After that, Twitter. Then, somewhere at the bottom of it all, Facebook. I’d drop Facebook were it not for staying in touch with a few friends in other states.
Twitter is like a newsfeed for me, and I like that. Over time, people have found me and want to chat. They quickly discover I’m not a fan of texting; I don’t like the interruption. If I happen to be on Twitter at the time and somebody replies, we’ll chat a little. But otherwise, it might be a day or two before I reply because hanging out with my wife or others; writing; going for walks or just relaxing…all those things come before social media for me.
I flip-flop between wanting a traditional publishing deal and just releasing my writing into the wild for free, and available on Amazon, B&N, etc. Fortunately, the agents I’ve spoken with have all admitted that one’s “platform” isn’t all that important to them with fiction if the person they represent writes well. Sure, a blog and social media presence are nice, but really…a damn good book matters more. I know people say that speaking engagements and other things matter, too…but my experience is not-so-much. When I’ve spoken to groups, I might see a spike in traffic to my blog, but it drops off fast — and it rarely converts to sales of my stories. I recently spoke at a tech conference. I ended up with more Twitter and LinkedIn connections, but saw just a little increase in traffic to this site, and not one sale from speaking to a fairly large group…many of them writers themselves.
And that’s the thing for me and being the guy people come to for writing links and other things online: most of the writers I’ve met online haven’t bought a thing I’ve written…or even read things I’ve offered for free. We chat writing, and that’s nice. I’ve had people thank me for sharing a cool link. But it really doesn’t equate to sales. (Not that’s what I’m after, or why I share things online.)
So…I focus on this blog more. I like the people I’ve “met” here, and the comments and the chatting that comes from the comments is often even better than my favorite entries. I’m fine if the best it gets is me saying, “Hey, here’s a free electronic version of my favorite novel and a few people actually buy it and say, ‘Hey, I liked that.'” Hell, I’m fine if the best it gets is just sharing thoughts like this because just like I enjoy deeper writing, I like deeper discussion. If there ever comes a day I happen to be around others who chat, here, maybe we can cram our $10 together for a drink and chat in person.
That would definitely make all this more than worth it!
Hold on guys, I gotta get my 10 bucks first, and it may take me awhile! 😉 But if I’m ever in Roanoke, Texas, or you’re ever in . . wherever I end up landing this summer, I’ll buy the first round. Organic Hefeweizen. I’m a beer snob.
Fire tends to consume me if I get too close. Also cannibals, I would imagine.
But mostly, it’s making shit up. It’s the best part of my day, apart from hanging out with my wife. Coffee comes third, but probably doesn’t count — I consume it. 😉
I’ll drink organic beer. Any chance you’ll end up in Kansas City?
Kansas City? It’s a possibility. Though it’s looking more like Wyoming at this point. (So far I’ve thought for sure it would be Indiana, then Florida, then Idaho, then Minnesota, and now Wyoming . . such is the job market.)