by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
I recently read an interesting post, “My Social Media Mid-Life Crisis” from writer and publishing consultant Dan Blank. In it, Dan talks about how he went from being an early-adopter of social media, to becoming somewhat disenchanted with it, to finding a good solution to help him enjoy using it again.
I’ve experienced similar transitions in my relationship with social media. I started out much more gung-ho and on quite a few channels. I expanded into more channels, more group blogs, more exposure. Then, after several years I started trimming down my activity on sites and blogs. At one point I had social media platforms under my name and a pen name, was forcing myself to be active on sites I didn’t enjoy, and was part of four or five group blogs. I was overextended to the point where the overwhelm spilled over into everything I was doing.
If you’re new to building an author platform, a few tips:
Find a social media network that resonates with you. Something that won’t be a chore to keep up with. Each platform has its own personality. “Social Media Demographics to Inform a Better Segmentation Strategy” (don’t let the title scare you off–it’s very readable) by Michael Patterson on SproutSocial offers a nice overview of the different demographics on each site. Take a little time to see what might work well for you and help you connect to your audience.
Consider using one name (not your real name and a pen name) for each platform you use. At the very least, tie the names together on your sites–I mention on both my website and my Facebook page that I write both as Elizabeth Craig and Riley Adams. I mention this primarily because it’s exhausting to keep up with social media for pen names (I’ve tried).
Think long-term. Don’t use your book as the name of your social media account or as your avatar. If you have a lengthy writing career, you need to be the brand, not a single book.
If you’re trying to put yourself on a social media diet (you can’t keep up with all the different platforms):
Evaluate. I think it’s best to consider your platform as Dan did—what will I lose if I delete my profile on this site?
Schedule. Try using a scheduling program to help free up time. Be sure to check in with the platform to respond to any comments. I like using Hootsuite. I’ve also used SocialOomph.
Time yourself. Once again, I’ll stress my addiction to a timer to keep track of my time. Social media is an infamous time-suck.
Streamline. If one of the platforms isn’t working for you but you do want to maintain a presence there, is there a way for you to tweak your approach on the site? For instance, you can frequently create lists or groups on social media sites so that you see updates from people you care about or people with helpful posts.
Where are you with social media? Overwhelmed? Haven’t yet started platform building? Or is your involvement in social media just right for you?
Writers and Social Media: Share on XAnd, in other news, crime fiction readers here may be interested in entering this cool giveaway that mystery writer Sue Coletta put together. Some of my favorite mystery writers are part of the giveaway and I have a book included, too. Information below. :)
Click here for a link to the giveaway.
I can so relate to this post, Elizabeth. I spread myself so thin to reach all the SM sites that I couldn’t get any work done. About eight months ago I pulled back from reading the hundreds of blogs I used to read and narrowed my social media focus to my favorite sites, and it was the best thing I ever did. It’s funny, though, I felt guilty for a long time. I have Hootesuite, but never took the time to figure it out. Perhaps that’s exactly what I should do in the new year.
Sue–Hootsuite is a good tool. You can customize its dashboard so you only see what’s important to you. And I have blogs on my Feedly reader separated into priority folders so that I can keep up more easily with the ones that are important to me.
Yup, Hootsuite is the bomb. It’s what Best Beloved uses to manage multiple socmed channels for a boatload of clients.
I realized right away that it could become overwhelming, which is why I limited myself to blogging, Twitter, and Google+. (Although I’m not real involved with Twitter and I still don’t know what I’m doing on Google+.) And I wouldn’t want to be doing something I didn’t enjoy. Life’s too short.
Alex–Which is why you’re also not on Facebook–smart move!
Google Plus is good for our SEO…and that’s probably about it. :)
Love this! And thank you for the kind mention.
Have a wonderful day.
-Dan
Dan–Thanks for your thoughtful article!
This is such an interesting topic, Elizabeth! Social media is an important part of what writers need to do to reach readers (and publishers, etc..). But it can quickly become overwhelming, especially if you want time to – er – write. I’ve found that I need to streamline my social media presence: automatic feed from my blog, strategic limitation of the sites I’m and so on. That’s the only way I can balance everything. And I couldn’t agree more that branding yourself, so people get a consistent message wherever they ‘find’ you, is important.
Margot–Automatic feeds and scheduling in updates is key to get it under control, isn’t it?
Great advice, Elizabeth! My social media presence is made up primarily of my website, Facebook, and Twitter, though I’m less active on Twitter. I have both a personal page and an author page on Facebook, which keeps me busy enough – can’t imagine throwing additional pent names into the mix! I can imagine how frenetic that was for you.
I’m sure I could do better on the social media end of things, but I haven’t quite found anything I can feel comfortable with beyond Facebook.
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
P.S. – you forgot to put a tweet quote box in the post. ;)
Kathy–Ugh! My memory is so rotten…I’ve added the tweet box in. :)
I do have a separate, personal FB, too, so I can keep up with far-flung family.
I think you do a good job! Especially with guest blogging.
Merry Christmas to you!
I did the same thing about 6-7 years ago. I was on at least 25 social sites, most of which I could only visit 1-2 times a month. Not effective. I finally scaled back to a manageable level.
Diane–25 sites! Wow. Glad you scaled back!
Good advice! I think I managed to find a balance. I have two blogs and a group blog. M-W on one blog, T-Th on the other, and F for the group. I also do FB and Twitter – but mostly FB. I tried several other social media sites and dropped them because I didn’t have the energy. Oh, and I do Goodreads, if that counts. But I mainly use it to keep track of my reading and for a little writer/reader interaction. Everything else I try to stay away from because I know they’ll suck away time I can’t afford to lose right now.
B.E.–Goodreads counts, for sure! And you’re smart to keep it limited.
I feel ya. I pulled up social media stakes two years ago because I couldn’t get anything done. Now I spend too much time on Facebook :). I’ll look into Hootsuite again, it was enabling my social media binging when I dropped it a few years ago.
Once again, thanks for a thought provoking post!
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Meh New Year (don’t want to jinx it)!
Peace, Seeley
Seeley–Yeah, but I know what you’re doing on Facebook! You’re becoming a marketing whiz there with your targeted ads, so it’s time well spent.
Hope you have happy holidays, too. And a Meh New Year to you, too! Ha!
It’s so important to limit our time on social media even though some activity seems to be necessary to establish our writing identities. I don’t try every new venue, keep my identity to one name on all sites, and visit the sites briefly twice a day. Excellent post, Elizabeth.
Patricia–You’re one of the most disciplined writers that I know…always a very steady, reliable presence on social media and you do a great job getting your books out there while supporting other writers.
I’m on Facebook and Google Plus, but only marginally, mostly just posting my blog posts (which are book reviews).
But are we counting Goodreads and Booklikes as social media? Those seem like worthwhile places for authors to at least have a presence, considering the fact that readers go there specifically to explore books… which is exactly what we have. Goodreads can be a thorny place, but it’s great for visibility and allows a blog feed, which readers can follow.
Rebecca–Google Plus is great for SEO. I definitely count Goodreads, although I think of it as a dark alley for writers with really harsh reviews. Also, I think I feel awkward there! I use the site for giveaways and to answer questions readers have…basically just another way for a reader to conveniently connect with me.
Booklikes? Oh gosh, I don’t know anything about that! Sort of like a LibraryThing?
Deleting facebook off of my phone was the best thing I’ve ever done. It was a stressful, time wasting place and now I don’t have to deal with that anxiety anymore.
I spend most of my time actually writing, now, but social media is focused on twitter and that’s it. I’ve found a good place there and I love it.
I’ve found scheduling what I do in my calendar, and then automating a lot of the marketing has worked best for me. I schedule all my book ads and editing ads for twitter at the start of the month so I don’t need to worry about that. I also have a script running on my website that posts blog links to twitter twice a day, but it’ll pull from a random blog I’ve made in the last two months, so the links are always different and reaching new people.
Between those two things, I have a lot of free time to just chat with people on twitter and get to know them!
Tami–Good for you for doing that! I don’t think I ever leave Facebook feeling *good*, which is a sign that I need to cut back time on there. Maybe I’ll just check it when I get notifications that family has posted something there.
Smart to schedule! That helps so much.
To my surprise, Facebook seems to be where my reader demographic can be found, and, as a firm believer in some sort of personal connection with my audience, I find it suits my temperament. I can answer readers’ questions, and also receive the occasional boost to the spirits. I rarely post to Twitter, possibly because reading tweets bores me silly. G+ feels like a wasteland for reaching readers–although not a bad place to mix with other writers. I have bursts on Instagram, but I’m resisting using it to promote my work because if I saw too much of that sort of thing from others on my feed, I would probably stop following that person.
Although Facebook can be a major time suck, I find it’s also a great place to do research and get inspiration! All sorts of random things pop up, from world news to new ways to meme a cat. It shows me the enduring human need for distraction and fun as well as the issues and stories that move them. It’s also a great way to find out what’s going on in my small town, and since my books take place in a small town, helps to keep me from getting in a rut when writing about it.
I have a personal FB account and an author account. The personal one is more interesting at this time, but the the author one is becoming increasingly useful as the number of followers grows.
Social media sites are only as good as the people you follow in them. I think I’m lucky that the bunch I started following on Facebook are bright, creative types with a strong streak of compassion for the rest of the world, and it kind of snowballed from there. And every so often when I’m getting too many “downer” posts or distasteful ones, all I have to do is hit the “hide” button. But that’s rare. I’m sure I’ve been on the receiving end of “hide” myself over the years–I can’t resist sharing puns ;)
Meg–Puns, I think, are the highest form of wit! But then…I’m a cozy writer. :)
So true that social media sites are as good as the people. Sounds like you’ve got a great group of people that you connect with. I’m in an odd state…got a page for my author stuff, a Riley Adams FB profile (remnants of the day, and I really need to get rid of the profile), and a personal FB that I need to keep because I’ve got some far-flung family I want to stay connected with. I think I need to create groups on FB…sort of like Twitter lists…of people I really *want* to follow/keep up with. Because reading status updates on people who I barely remember from high school doesn’t really make sense. And I definitely need to stay on FB–that’s where my readers are, too.
The “hide” button is a great editor. That way anyone that really needs or wants to be in touch can still message you or comment on your posts. But it’s not as fob-off as unfollowing–and can be undone in case one of those old HS friends turns into a fellow cozy writer ;)
While I detest Twitter as a victim; er, reader, my sources say it’s the social media channel that most often results in a direct book purchase.
We use Hootsuite to schedule a bunch of automated tweets, and I only check in to see if anyone’s talking to me directly. It may well be worth checking into a simple way to keep at least one plate spinning on Twitter.
Once again, Joel, you are undoubtedly right. I’ve got Hootsuite. I remember to open it up maybe twice per month, then just mumble Duhhh as I try to remember how to use it. A long way from figuring out how to schedule a tweet.
BTW, I wrote TWO newsletters in the past four or five weeks. Practically hyperventilating! Thanks for the advice about that :)
Gah. I never signed up for your newsletter (though I have now) so I missed them.
If you have specific questions about Hootsuite, my wife the expert says to just ask her. If you don’t have her direct email, give me a holler.
Hi Elizabeth – what a great post … I was biding my time to see what others said. I haven’t put my head above the parapet as I don’t want to get out of my depth with nothing in the bank so to speak … I think I’ve now all the puzzle pieces available … so now I need to move forward … I blog -as you know and keep being asked to ‘do something’ with the posts, and I’m sort of going on FB … but need a blog / newsletter page … I’ll work everything out next year …
We can’t do everything … and I really could do with some help – I’ll need to chase that down this coming year …
Cheers and have a happy Christmas, good luck with 2016 … and enjoy the family time coming up – and most importantly – thanks for your great, so informative, blog articles here … Hilary
Hilary–We can’t do everything…but we *can* outsource what we don’t want to do/can’t handle. There are plenty of virtual assistants out there who provide a la carte services. Merry Christmas to you!
It can be overwhelming! I’ve reduced my time on social media as well. I used to spend hours blogging, but it wasn’t possible to keep that up. I like twitter, and, while I’m on Google+, I really don’t use it. That’s enough for me right now! :)
Jemi–I’m glad you’re keeping it under control! As a teacher, you don’t have a lot of extra time/energy!!
Oh, how timely (as always!).
I loved FB at first, but between the algorithms and the way other users evolved to use it, it wasn’t fun anymore. I deleted my personal account but kept my author page; I post to that after I put up a blogpost.
Speaking of my blog, I weeded out a lot of old or obsolete content last week. It took about half a day (spread out over three), but it was worth it. Now I feel like my content speaks for *me* more.
And just today I weeded out the list of people I was following. I hear you about scheduling your tweets, but the majority of the accounts I booted were due to the fact that it didn’t look like anyone was really “there” because it was almost all auto-Tweets with virtually no interaction. I agree though that lists are absolute musts for that platform, and it’s where I can get the most diverse information.
I was a huge Pinterest enthusiast for a while, but I’m starting to feel suffocated by all of their suggested pins (and the nudity/soft porn isn’t helping). And I did a big purge on the blogs I was following last year.
Honestly, I kind of like getting content emailed to me…as long as it isn’t too much!
Deborah–Wow, that was a lot of work you did on your blog! But it definitely sounds worth it, especially since it’s more of your own voice.
To me, Twitter is for information. But I know a lot of people use it for conversations. I think, with lists, you can really tailor it to get exactly what you want out of the site.
I didn’t realize Pinterest is turning X-rated! Ugh. That encourages me to spend even less time there. :)
Like…don’t search for mythology, and for different reasons don’t search for Disney characters (?!)