Thoughts on Social Media

First off, this is not a rant against using social media to develop an online presence. I firmly believe that it has the potential to generate a huge following when applied in the right way.

Ah, Social Media, Home of Cat Pictures, Videos, volcanic social and political discussions, and a virtual watering hole for those seeking to connect with other people on a global scale. You get out of it what you put into it, I suppose.

I currently utilize between 4-5 different outlets to relay this blog across the Internet. I’ve gotten Likes, Follows, Retweets, and the occasional dissenting voice that wants to disagree with what I’m saying. It’s ALL good.

Social Media, in general, amuses me and tests my ability to present myself in various lights. I’ve even used it to get the word out when I publish a new book. For the most part, I’ve been pleased with the results.

However, I’ve come to see Social Media lately as being synonymous with a crazy ex-girlfriend who drives me nuts but is amazing between the sheets. What? You were expecting me to be PC? Silly Wabbit. I’m pushing 50 and have no time nor patience to be anyone other than myself. Take me as I am or walk the other way with my eternal blessing. 🙂

I doubt that I’ll be shutting down any accounts anytime soon because I’ve invested too much time and energy in setting up such a wonderful collection of tin cans on strings to give it up now. Besides, I’ve come to notice that when I get a little fired up, people seem to dig that…hehe. Can’t let you all down now. 😉

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Snapback To Reality

Note: I’ve noticed that my periodic absences are becoming more and more pronounced. I’ve just been busy, not gone.

This discussion is probably going to rankle a few feathers among the “For only $XX.XX, I can make you a bestselling author by sharing this secret” Crowd, but since I rarely give many damns these days, I’m not going to stop now.

When I first decided to take this writing thing of mine online, it was with the idea that no matter how much experience and knowledge that I’ve accumulated over the past 25 years, I can always learn more. So, I adapted my methodology to studying other writers doing the online thing and learning what they have to offer in terms of how to improve as a writer and getting my name out there.

My Results:

Improving as a writer: Minimal, mostly things that I already knew about and do.

Getting my name out there: Apparently, there is a secret society of those who are privy to vast sums of guarded knowledge that ensure success by the payment of cash. While I somewhat applaud their efforts to make a living through the use of pretty promises couched in vague prose wrapped in a candy-coated Paypal Shell, I’ve found this to be less than helpful.

I won’t say that none of them work. I’ll merely say that I can’t afford to experiment with methods that have a cash limiter involved. And you shouldn’t either. I won’t name names for obvious reasons.

I’m an Old School Kind of Guy. That means I work hard on creating stories that entertain my readers. It also means that while I’ll discuss Writing all day long, I won’t tell you how to write. In other words, do what feels right to you and let the rest take care of itself.

There is no right or wrong way to write. There are only basic grammatical rules to follow. Learn those and everything else will fall into place. Read others if you must, but remember to have fun with what you are doing. After all, that’s why we do it, right?

My problem is that I allowed those marketing people to divert me from the First Rule of Writing which is to WRITE. Nothing else matters.

Now I’m thinking of coffee, a good smoke, and something to get me fired up to get the next book out. After all, they don’t write themselves. Thanks for your time and feel free to leave any comments. 🙂

Promoting Causes Me Stress

I don’t like the idea of having to sell people on the idea of buying my books and as much as I want to feel otherwise, it doesn’t matter all that much to me if they are purchased or not. I write because I love it and despite my best efforts, my apathy toward doing more for them other than to put out the word that they are on Amazon knows few limits.

But Wallace, you may ask, how do you expect to make a living with writing if you don’t sell your work?

When I look at my writing ability in terms of moneymaking potential, something inside me shuts down. I never decided to pursue a writing career with dollar signs in mind. Yes, I have to consider the practicals and being a full-time author with writing that pays for itself is definitely my dream job. But I have had a longstanding philosophy that I never do anything purely for the money. I have to enjoy what I do or my best efforts will never show themselves.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:

“I’m a writer, not a salesman. I’ll never be a failure so long as I never stop.”

Writing Dilemma: Writing in a new Character

I haven’t done one of these in a while so let’s have some fun:

My current Writing Dilemma is that I have a character that I need to reintroduce into a scene. Pretty straightforward, right? Unfortunately, the scene involves one where my two main characters are trapped in the lower levels of a facility and can’t get out through the usual routes while this new character needs to have a way to get down to them.

I’m toying with the idea of having them arrive as a telepresence robot that looks and acts human. However, being man-shaped, it would be subject to the same restrictions as my main characters. The facility is a converted space station that I jammed into the ground so there’s potential for previously unknown systems to reveal themselves. However, if I do that, then the question becomes “If the robot can get down there, why couldn’t the main characters figure that out and use that way to escape?”

I know I’m close to a believable and workable solution, but it’s slow going and honestly a bit frustrating.

Comments, questions, and potential suggestions are always welcome and there’s a great chance that you may end up being thanked on The Dedication Page down the road. It could happen. 🙂

Parallax Free Ebook Promotion

I know it’s short notice, but I’ve decided to offer Parallax in a free ebook promotion starting tomorrow, March 11 and ending on March 15. This is its first official Amazon promotion so hopefully, the response will be positive. Enjoy! 🙂

Parallax Free Ebook Promo? Maybe…

I’ve been considering doing a free ebook promotion for Parallax for some time now. The book came out last September and though I’ve had high hopes for it, the sales haven’t been exactly blowing the doors off the literary public. Don’t get me wrong, I love the book and the feedback I’ve gotten on it has been great but I feel that I should be doing more to promote it. In fact, I KNOW I should be doing more to promote it but I’d rather use my time to write and publish than knock on doors to sell.

What do you all think? Is it time to consider running a promotion or keep my focus on Lights and Shadows?