Confessions of a Social Media Anti-Socialite –

When I told my wife I was making friends on Facebook, she laughed . . . loud and hard, for several minutes.  She knows me all too well.  She and my black and tan Doberman, Otto are about the only ones that do.  It’s true, when it comes socializing, I’m a dyed-in-the-wool troglodyte.

 Lone Wolf Syndrome

It’s not that I’m anti-social.  I like most people I meet, whether in person or on-line.  And I seek out those who are knowledgeable in my fields of interest, whose creative works I appreciate—people who are highly productive.  But at the end of the day, I go my own way.  At sixty-two years of age, what’s left of this life appears short and I’ve no time for chit-chat and no patience for idle gossip.  To me, it seems like a common sense approach.

 A Writer’s Life

My chosen profession—a mystery writer—reflects my social tendencies.  Most days, I spend long hours in a room, in front of a computer, writing mystery stories by myself.  On the surface, it could appear to be a lonely task.  However, being alone is not the same thing as being lonely.  In truth, I’m spending quality time with my future readers.  I just happen to love creating entertaining stories—in this case, writing mystery books.

Social Media Presence

You probably gathered by now, it goes against my grain—counterintuitive.  So how have I managed to pull together a modest presence on a few social media platforms?  Any publishing industry expert will tell you, it is absolutely necessary that every writer who wants to achieve commercial success MUST have an author platform.  And the most widely accepted way to build that platform is—you guessed it—social media.  Ergo, I became actively engaged in social media (much to my chagrin.)  True to form, I sought out a social media expert and enlisted her help.  Rachel Thompson of Bad Redhead Media is nothing short of amazing, a social media goddess.  If it wasn’t for her, I’d have the only Twitter account with a minus sign in front of the Followers number.  (Now, I even know how to do hyperlinks.)

Question Is, Does It Work?

I’m now convinced that a real presence on social media is an important part of gaining adequate exposure for my mystery books—building a platform as a mystery writer.  (See?  I now know the importance of keywords, too.)  However, social media is only a part.  And from my perspective, NOT the most important part.  There’s all that other stuff to consider, like writing mystery books that entertain, not to mention traditional marketing, advertising and PR.  In short, you need all your dogs barking to be successful in the highly competitive publishing industry.

What’s truly amazing, though . . .  I’ve made lots of new friends!

By the way, you can find me on:  Twitter, Goodreads, Google +, Facebook, and a growing list of others, in case you’re so inclined.  (I’ll get the hang of this, yet.)

If you’re building an author platform, or you’re a reader bombarded by authors’ social media posts, I’d love to know your thoughts. (Here it comes—the blatant self-promotion for my mystery books – Amazon.com.)

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