Note: This post is an expansion on a recent update regarding my social media presence.
As part of my continuing education on the business of writing, I attend or keep tabs on several writer conferences. The major one for indies is 20Books Vegas, an offshoot of the 20Books to 50K Facebook group, held every November in Las Vegas.
There's a whole philosophy behind the 20Books to 50K approach that I won't get into. The point of mentioning it is that most of the sessions for that conference are later placed on YouTube for the convenience of those who can't attend and for everyone who wants to revisit the sessions verbatim, rather than relying on their notes. (You can easily find them on YouTube using the search term "20Books Vegas.")
Giving Facebook a Fair Shake
This past January, I viewed a 20Books Vegas presentation by Shawn Inmon, a noted indie author, on growing and maintaining one's Facebook author page.
Social media is not my favorite marketing and reader outreach tool. I would far rather write a blog post or newsletter.
Plus, I never know what to say. To be quite frank, some people "get" social media and can use it effectively, and some don't. My niece, for example, makes spectacular TikToks for educators and parents of young children.
I fall into the latter category.
When I watched Shawn's video, however, I realized that I had never given Facebook a genuine effort. As he explains in that video, most authors try posting for a few days or a week, get discouraged by the lack of immediate results, and quit. I've done that so often it's hilarious.
So this time, I committed to following his advice and posting to my Facebook author page at least once every single day for a minimum of three months. I also committed to checking the page several times a day in order to follow up on any reader engagement.
After a month, not only was I exhausted from trying to create content, schedule it, and interact with everyone, my focus was completely shot. I had fallen into the "must check constantly" mindset, and it seriously hurt my ability to concentrate on the thing that moves the needle forward for my business, namely writing new stories.
Vertical Businesses
Enter Becca Syme, an author success coach whose work on process and alignment pulled me out of burnout.
Becca is not a fan of social media. She understands the research behind social media-driven dopamine addiction and the resultant distractibility. I've heard her say repeatedly that for many people, social media does not deliver the returns promised by those who use it successfully to drive reader outreach and growth.
But I'd committed, so I tucked her advice into a corner of my mind, knowing that if it truly became too much, I could quit.
Then she released an episode of her QuitCast in which she explained the three main types of vertical businesses for writers and what each type builds their brand around: content (stories), the author themselves, or a particular story world (like Witcher).
In other words, authors connect with readers either by providing a large amount of story, or a large and immersive story world, or based on their personality.
This is the manner by which authors pull readers in and satisfy their expectations. Between the three, my business revolves more around content and story world than it does my personality, a comfort considering that I'm a severe introvert and prefer that my stories are the center of attention, not me personally.
More Stories, Please
Now, I had already realized that the time and energy I was putting into my Facebook experiment was eroding my focus and hindering my ability to create.
After watching that video, I also realized that what readers truly want from me is more stories, not more connectivity.
Yes, of course, some readers also enjoy the direct connection offered by Facebook, and I most definitely had a blast interacting with them.
But by and large, my readers are starved for content, and that's where my talents and interests lie.
For example, in October 2021, I wrote an 1800 word short story ("Sunny Girl"), created a double-sided, limited-edition print run, and gave signed copies away to readers inside special Halloween cards.
Readers loved that! One even framed her copy and sent me a photo. I was so touched!
That's the kind of thing I enjoy doing that readers also love: writing these little side excursions into my various story worlds and sharing them with readers in between releasing larger stories.
When I get to a point where I'm writing consistently and can add another writing session to my current schedule, I'd like to begin writing more smaller stories to share with readers via my newsletter and Facebook group, or even to collate into collections.
Digital Minimalism
Other factors have influenced my move to minimize social media, like Cal Newport's work on focus and distraction, outlined not only via his blog and podcast, but also in books like Deep Work and Digital Minimalism.
As I gather more information on social media, I have to weigh its benefits and harms against the limited amount of time, energy, and focus I possess. Are the hours I spent during my brief Facebook experiment a better payoff than producing stories? Does the effort expended on Facebook nurture my mind, create energy, and improve my creativity?
The answers were, again, no.
It's a trade off I'm not willing to make. Either I can spend hours on social media, and hours more recovering from having been on there, or I can use my time to read, write, exercise, and be with my family, friends, and readers in person.
Thus, I ended my experiment after a single month and released any guilt over not meeting my internal commitment of a three-month try. I will still be posting sales and releases there (when I remember, and hopefully I will), but for the most part, I'm going to shift my attention to other, more enriching activities, like writing.
I've got lots and lots of stories brewing, and I'm guessing readers would far rather have those than the brief hits Facebook delivers. You can still find me here on the blog, I'm still doing newsletters, and you can still email me whenever you want to chat.
I'm also hoping to add live events to my schedule in the next couple of years, which has the benefit of allowing real discussions with readers. Even though I'm an introvert (seriously, I'm so shy and reclusive), I'm honestly looking forward to hanging out with you in person!