Either Do Social Media, Or Get a Publicist

I have to confess something.  I hate doing social media.  That’s an ironic thing seeing as this post is appearing on social media and I’m wanting a lot of people to follow what I say.  But I really do.  I’d rather be writing one of my books or short stories, putting together a game, or videotaping for one of my shows.  Basically, I’d rather be creating the things I set out to create.  Anything else feels like a distraction.

It especially feels like a distraction when I’m having to promote to get people to look at these side projects, such as blog posts, Twitter, etc.  In essence, I’m promoting the promotion.  I have enough side projects as it is; I don’t need another one.  And on top of everything else, it feels like I’m wasting my time when I look at the number of views, and I make up a quarter to half of the views!

I know that social media has an effect.  I’ve seen it myself.  It’s subtle and has not made too large a change in my numbers, but I have seen occasional spikes when I tweeted something important, or posted something people wanted to read.  But it’s frustrating how much work goes in to such little results.

But then, a couple months ago, a man named Stefan with Skyboat Entertainment, an audiobook company, gave me the kick in the pants I needed.  Someone at a GLAWS meeting was asking about social media.  They kept going on about it, and it became clear that what they really wanted was for him to tell them they didn’t have to do it, or at least provide an alternative.  He gave them a wake-up call by shrugging and saying, “Then you have to get a publicist, or just not expect anyone to read your books.”  He laid it out there as plainly as could be.  It may suck if you don’t enjoy doing social media, but you have to do it, or you have to get a publicist.  Those are your two options if you want to sell books.

I hear Stefan’s deep, gravel voice every time I want to quit posting.  Like a trainer shouting from the edge of a boxing ring, Stefan’s words lay it out there for me.  Do it or quit.  Those are your options, plain and simple.

Twitter versus Instagram

I’m not the best when it comes to social media.  I find it to be more or less a necessary evil.  It’s not a horrible thing really, but all things being equal, I’d rather be writing my next book and let it speak for itself than be finding things to talk about on Facebook, Twitter, or even a blog.  Even now, I had to force myself to do this before getting back to my next book.

So for the wide release launch of the first Relic Worlds novel, I’m getting a social media guru to help me.  She gave me a choice of two platforms through which she would help.  Facebook is a must, and the other can be either Twitter or Instagram.  My first thought is for Twitter, but she recommended Instagram.  She said that Instagram is more popular with young people these days.

I therefore have to consider the pros and cons of both platforms.  I’m not crazy about either of them as I’m someone who prefers to have longer, deeper conversations, which are not conducive to the brief Twitter posts, or the picture-only Instagram.  My promoter said we could post things relevant to Relic Worlds such as scientific photos and science fiction pictures.  We couldn’t do much in the real world as pictures of me would involve me in the chair in front of my computer, then me in the chair from another angle, then me with a cat on my lap, etc.

This wasn’t a bad idea, but then I got to thinking that the reason why Instagram is more popular with younger people is because many of them are more interested in images than words.  If I was doing Relic Worlds as a comic book, this would be a good idea, but I’m not.  I want to attract people who are interested in reading, in taking in words, brief or otherwise.

One of the most important things I’ve learned in marketing is that you have to market to people who may actually buy your product.  Marketing to anyone else may seem like you’re casting a wider net, but you’re really just wasting time.  It’s for this  reason that I’m probably going to go with Twitter promotions throughout July.

I’m no expert at this, though, so if anyone reading this has further insight, I would love to hear it.