Since my last book—The Ghost and the Christmas Spirit—came out, I’ve been tending to the “business” side of this writing gig—which has included listening to a variety of author topic podcasts while I work on the computer.
When listening to discussions on social media the advice is varied—social media is a must for writers—it is a time sucker—some authors have success without social media—in this current time you need social media—this is the new thing—that is out dated—blah blah blah…
The fact is, when it comes to using social media, my adult kids and eldest nephew have been the biggest influences when it comes to me joining new platforms.
The first social media I joined was My Space. Remember My Space? I think it is still out there. Our son got us to join, and just when I got comfortable with that platform, our eldest nephew announced he was bailing on My Space and joining Facebook. Didn’t we all want to join him? We did.
Unlike other social media platforms, where I might use both of them, I didn’t keep using My Space, and I don’t know anyone who did.
According to my Instagram information, I originally joined that platform in 2012. To be honest, I have no recollection of doing that. I assume it was a matter of signing up for an app on my phone and never using it. According to my account, I never logged in during 2012—and since then, I have only logged into the account less than twenty times.
It was our son—the same one who got us to join My Space—who kept telling me we needed to start using Instagram. I finally switched over to a business account this last April, but I’ve only been getting used to the platform the last couple of months.
I’m still a novice and I will admit I am always startled when I receive a private message from some guy I don’t know that just says “Hello” or “Hello beautiful”….umm what is that about? And then when I don’t respond they send a snarky private message. So what is the Instagram protocol for that sort of thing? I don’t mind answering questions about my books in private message, but I have neither the interest or the time to start getting chummy with strange men online. Although, it does give me some interesting ideas for future books.
And speaking of books, I am thrilled to share I’ve been getting some wonderful feedback on The Ghost and the Christmas Spirit. I love that it has already touched so many readers in how I hoped it would.
Happy December all—maybe I will see you on Instagram! But be gentle with me, I am new!
