Very wise words. Very. I got on ‘social media’ exactly 30 days ago and I think I went into it with the wrong expectations. I still may cut bait, but for now I will continue on. UNODIR as Dick Marcinko would say, lol.

I do add that of them all I feel more pulled towards blogging as it seems to fit hand-in-glove with the writer’s mindset I am already trying to cultivate. It will take time to get off the ground, I understand. I’m game. Sorry if my first post seemed ranting or untoward; I think what puts me off twitter and FB sometimes is the fact that I find myself digging around on t here instead of producing chapters of my book. But I acknowledge that’s MY fault and easily rectifiable. I have a plan for steps to accommodate that hangup.

So nice to meet you. I will follow you on twitter momentarily, ‘be lookin out’ as the kids would say, lol

Social media is terrible for direct sales and that isn’t the goal of it. It is really relationship building and becoming a familiar name in a crowded landscape. I sell plenty of books because of a strong platform and I don’t remotely immerse myself in social media. I also never use it to “sell.” I have never tweeted or FBed to “BUY MY BOOK!”.

I blog regularly because I enjoy it. It has made me a better writer and blogs can be compiled into books for sale or promotion—-so it is an investment that just keeps on giving returns. I take a handful of breaks on FB and scan and like and share then get back to work. I maybe tweet 5 or 6 times a day, usually just talking to people. The books are the most important, but if we have no platform, we are likely going to struggle because the brick-and-mortar points of sale are getting rarer by the day and even the ones that remain have a vastly limited selection.

I am on the fence about social media. I finally committed to a writer’s life and as I near completion of my first real novel I have explored my options for building a platform. Seems everyone insists sales can’t be made without social media. Exactly one month ago I opened a facebook and twitter account, but so far I am not impressed. Thing is, I can’t figure where t he money ACTUALLY shows up. I for one do not believe any tangible sales really come from tweets or facebook posts. If anything, I think the noise actually could drive away real readers. I am surfing articles such as this one in a quest to confirm what I already suspect, that social media is not the bucket of gold everyone parrots it to be.

I’m starting to think from the other side, the reader’s angle. I fear that too many of us have gone too far overboard toward cyber-ville. As a reader, I think back on specific books I have bought, and why, pondering the process from initial bait to my actual moment of purchase.

Mainly, I just don’t want to immerse in all that social media stuff. That’s mainly it, for me. My life is already too packed as it is, and I cringe at the thought of another behemoth to add to my daily schedule.

And besides, until I see some REAL G.D__M. DATA that shows sales *actually* result from tweeting/facebooking…. I will continue to doubt it. (though, yes I do see the value of professional networking it offers. I concede that)

I agree we need more in-person connection but social media is supposed to be “part” of socialization….not a non-stop method to spam people about books and too many writers have done just that (often taught to do so by “experts”). We wouldn’t like that crap in person, why do it on social media? If in person I went to a party and someone started trying to sell me water filters I would be just as annoyed. We just need to think of this like a grassroots campaign and be HUMAN. People buy from who they know and who they like. They did before social media and will do so long after.

First of all, social media is now the place people hang out. So if there is going to be ANY word of mouth about a book, likely it will be on social media. Secondly, just because people in your personal circle have never shopped there doesn’t mean that is an accurate reflection of the population and their buying habits. Thirdly, there are a lot of people doing social media incorrectly. The people who spam and promote are ignored. But the ones who generally socialize are a bright star in the darkness. If you don’t want to do social media, that is your call. But if you want to be a writer and never do social media, then I strongly suggest another line of work. That is like saying you want to be a car manufacturer but won’t do commercials because TV doesn’t have any good shows.

There won’t be any correlative data because social media is essentially digital “word of mouth” and word of mouth is distinctively human and cannot be quantified and measured in algorithms as much as we’d like that to be the case. Word of mouth, however is the only thing that has EVER sold books. That and a good book. Most of the authors who spend all this time being clever on Twitter and Instagram would do better going back and writing really great books. But, if we think we are going to stick our heads in a ditch and have NO platform and then try to successfully sell a book? Think again.

The problem is how we are viewing social media. If we are viewing it as a way to harvest sales like mass mailings? It will fail. If we are networking and building a fan base and keeping fan fires burning in between books, then it is highly useful. But it has never nor will it EVER work like direct marketing no matter how many people try to make it work that way.

I don’t care if a person has a billion Facebook likes. Those can be purchased and who cares? BUt, don’t tell me that a THOUSAND likes of people who follow every post and every blog and who love everything you post doesn’t make an impact. It does. If you try and publish a book with no platform, best of luck to you. But conversely? Less tweeting and more writing 😉 .