Last Saturday, Valentine’s Day I released short story number two onto the self-publishing market. The one thing I have learned is that time is no longer my own. I have turned into a social media addict, not through choice through necessity. I jump from one site to another not sure if what I am doing is truly being productive, whether any of these things makes any difference at all. Whether the people who see it will be tempted to do more than like, favourite, re-tweet. Promoting is a full-time job and yet I already have one of those. Writing is my passion, but promoting seems to take up more of my time than putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard filling those blank pages with words. I find myself in company still tweeting, still checking Facebook, Goodreads etc…posting comments and statuses hoping to get that extra sale, maybe find the reader who will write a review that will attract a wider audience.
I read avidly any advice about what to do or try next, appreciating the advice of those who have done this before. The nice thing that has resulted from this, aside from people reading and enjoying my stories, is the connections I have made with other authors in this time, the shared experiences. It is a consolation to know that I am not the only person out there doing this…makes it slightly less lonely. It also makes me seem slightly less mad!
Maria Gibbs 