by Linda O. Johnston
First off: Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone, and the best of luck to you!
Now, into my topic of today: social media and me. And I have to admit I’m far from being an expert. But does that keep me away from some of the sites? No!
I’m always on my computer, or nearly so. Yes, I spend most of that time writing and editing and pondering the fiction I’m writing.
But then there’s social media and me. I spend too much time on Facebook, though I admit I’m not good at it. I look at other people’s posts and comment on them. On my own home page I’m likely to post stuff about anything special about the day, especially if there’s something going on about animals, particularly dogs. Most recently it was National K9 Veterans Day. Why? Because I’m a full-time dog lover.
I belong to Facebook groups, too. Some involving writing, of course, but that’s not all. Can you guess the topic in which I’ve joined the most groups? Well, what if I told you there are lots of Facebook groups featuring Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, the dog breed I’m addicted to? Right!
I do have my own website: www.LindaOJohnston.com And one of these days I’ll add an author page to Facebook. I hope.
I also get on social media to help promote my published novels. Yes, I do that on Facebook, especially when there’s something new coming out. This year, I’ll have two new Harlequin Romantic Suspense books published, one in August and one in October. You can bet I’ll let the world know via Facebook then.
And then there’s Writerspace. I subscribe to the site, which calls itself Communities for Writers and Readers. They do a lot of promotion for me. There’s a monthly Author News newsletter that I always participate in. I can do blogs there, and have new books featured, and participate in their monthly contest.
You can figure out, since I’m here, that I like to blog. A couple of the sites where I used to blog regularly have shut down, such as Killer Characters. I still blog on Killer Hobbies each Wednesday, but now there are only two of us posting there. I also blogged on the InkSpot blog fairly regularly, but that was one helping to promote books published by Midnight Ink, one of my former mystery publishers–that now has gone out of business.
What about other social media sites? I haven’t really gotten into them. I have a Twitter account but never use it except to read others’ posts. I also have a Goodreads account but am seldom there. I don’t do Instagram–or really much of anything else.
I admire people who do more than me in social media. And I’m generally open to trying something different as long as I don’t have to spend much time learning to do it.
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So–What do you think of Social Media? What’s your favorite site and why? What do you like to post? How often? And do you think it helps your writing and selling?
The Writers in Residence 
I admit it, I am on Facebook too much. I like to research things and share them. I like to post pix that show what my Hubby and I are doing (or when on vacation). I like to promote others’ works and ideas. I like to post Bible verses and some of my Sunday School class lessons. And – once in a while – I’ll watch the Simor’s Cat videos (a crack-up!)
I use twitter to promote things. I use Pinterest to get comics, watercolor pix, and sayings to post on Facebook. I love to watch the videos my granddaughter Kerry posts on Instagram.
Let’s see… I have lots of favorite places…. I’ll mention the “52 Book Club Reading Challenge” on Facebook, which inspires me to pick up and read books I’d never thought to choose. https://www.facebook.com/groups/the52bookclub
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I’m impressed by your social media knowledge and usage. Fun!
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Great hearing what you do on social media, and the writing time you spend at your computer. You have inspired me this morning. I had to smile about the “dog” related stuff, as you know, dogs are my heart! On FB I love seeing good stories about dogs, and there are many, but scroll through ones that have bad stuff as I soon as I know.
I don’t particularly like promoting, online or elsewhere (except for this blog!(smile)), but I do think FB is fairly easy. Off to post to FB…
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Aha! I’ll have to watch for your FB post. And I’m with you. I’ll read the posts about good things going on with dogs but not if they’re harmed. I believe in American Humane, the organization that reviews movies and posts at the end “No Animals Were Harmed.”
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Facebook is about the only place I go and the folks that post on my page are mainly those who like the same thing I do, much like your favorites: animals, pretty things, neat places to travel even if now it’s strictly via pictures. I use it mainly to see what friends are doing. But maybe I will branch out. Thanks for mentioning a few ideas.
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It’s always fun to consider other possibilities but so far my favorites still get most of my attention–including Facebook. It’s always fun to pop on there and immediately see pictures of Cavaliers! Oh, and people and places too.
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Call me a luddite (or perhaps old fogey is more accurate) , but I never got into social media, even though I recognize it’s critical for authors. Maybe someday I’ll change my mind.
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I didn’t think I’d get into it at all, but now I actually find what I do fun! Maybe you will, too, if you change your mind.
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I find social media overwhelming and I miss a lot of news from friends, but the friends lists I’ve created on Facebook help. At least I don’t miss posts from my family as much if I group them in a list. I post little on Twitter and when I do it’s usually my opinions on politics and social issues. As an author I KNOW I should steer clear of those topics, but sometimes I can’t help myself! I manage the Twitter and Instagram accounts for my SinC chapter, and try to post something daily. For promotion, I find Facebook and paid email promotion the most effective.
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One fun thing for me is seeing Facebook posts from family and long time non-writer friends. I’m impressed that you manage social media accounts for your writing chapter. And I try never to post things on politics or social issues since I might want people whose opinions I dislike to read my books anyway!
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I’m with Miko – a happy luddite and shy away from all that. But I’m very impressed with all you do, Linda. Maybe when I grow up…..
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Thanks, but I think you do just fine even if you’re not best friends with social media.
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Linda, thank you for sharing your social media life. I am like Miko, I find it overwhelming and time-consuming but I understand the value of FB etc. I think my problem is not being able to figure out how the sites all work. I need manuels like FB For Dummies, Linked for Dummeies, goodreads, etc. etc. I object to having to spend time learning how they all work when I prefer to be working on my mysteries. Geat responses from everyone – I learned something from each reply, and especially from, Linda.
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