Once a month, a group of fellow writers attend a group meeting called The Writers Coffeehouse. First created by NYT Bestselling author, Jonathan Maberry, there are several Coffeehouses across the states and I believe in the UK. Since Covid, the meetings have been over Zoom. We talk about some of the latest publishing trends as well as discuss best writing practices and celebrate recent successes.
Recently, there’s been a lot of talk about social media. Most authors these days know they have to have some sort of social media presence. However, some authors are saying agents and publishers aren’t even interested in your pitches don’t include your social media tags. At the very least, you need to be on Facebook and Twitter to reach readers. LinkedIn is expected if you want to network with other writers , agents, and publishers. Some adventurous writers are even attempting to crack the code of how to use TikTok.
One piece of advice about social media that I’ve taken to heart - keep politics and religion off of your author sites. Take a tour through my author Twitter or author Facebook and you’d never know where my thoughts on those subjects reside. I don’t even click like or comment on other writer’s posts on those subjects.
Many writers have no problem using their author pages to espouse their views. Most of them are well established with loads of fans and enough royalties coming in to not worry about fallout too much. Since I’m still trying to break into the business, I don’t have that luxury. To be honest, even if I did have the following of Stephen King, Don Winslow, or Chuck Wendig, I’m not sure if I would have the nerve.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m quite opinionated. My personal Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are fair game for my personal views. For my political soapbox, I have an anonymous Twitter account. I take a perverse pleasure in poking fun at people drunk with power or spouting nonsense.
So writers, how do you handle social media? Comment below.