Social Media for Writers
Do you really need to be on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and every platform that comes your way? And how to do it in a way that protects your mental health.
Hi there, lovelies!
Do you have a love-hate relationship with social media?
Are you on it because someone’s editor told someone’s agent told a friend of a friend that all writers need to have online platforms?
Sigh. Yeah. I get it. I love and hate social media, too. So I’m going to talk about whether you need to be on it, and if you are, how to do it in a way that protects your mental health.
If you’ve read my previous newsletter about How I Wrote a Novel in 365 Days, you’ll know that I’m a huge fan of the book Deep Work by Cal Newport, which encourages people to stay away from social media. I even took a year off from Instagram and Facebook and deleted my Twitter account.
And yet, I’m back on Instagram these days. Why?
Because, at least for now, I feel like I need to be. I have three novels coming out in the next few months, and for better or worse, Instagram is where my biggest following is. To tell the truth, I do hope for the day when I can leave it… But let’s tackle that in the future.
The question is, do you need to be on social media? And if so, how do you do it while still preserving your privacy and not giving all of your time to the hungry internet masses?
1. Do all writers need to be on social media?
Okay, this is just my two cents and I know others disagree, so I’ll be super curious to hear what you think over in our Skye is the Limit chat after you read this.
No, every writer does not need to be on social media.
Plenty of writers aren’t (or rarely check in online): Zadie Smith, Gabrielle Zevin, Malcolm Gladwell, to name a few.
However, the reality is that literary agents and editors do still check to see if writers who are querying or on submission have social media presences.
This is because nowadays, publisher’s marketing and publicity departments are stretched thin, and they need to know that the author can help with some of the book promotion. Do we wish that the publisher could do 100% of the promotional work? Of course we do. But sadly, that is not the reality.
So, I recommend that you get yourself online, but not until you need to be.
If you’re still working on your manuscript, feel free to stay offline and just focus on your writing.
If your manuscript is finished, revised, polished, and ready to go out to agents, then get yourself a social media account. (More below about what to post.)
If your agent is ready to send your work out on submission to editors, step up your social media game. (Again, more below on what to post.)
Pick the social media that you like best. You do not have to be on all of them.
For example, I’m on Instagram because I (usually) don’t mind taking photos or shooting videos. I push my content through to Facebook, because I have some followers there, and it’s a simple opt-in on Instagram to cross-post to Facebook.
I am not on TikTok because TikTok stresses me out. So loud! So fast! So many close-ups and quick transitions and ohmygod I can’t sing and I only think I can dance… (That’s not to say that TikTok isn’t awesome. BookTok is an amazing community! I am over the moon whenever anyone there talks about my books. It just won’t be me on TikTok talking about my books, because I am 43 years old and I cannot keep up with the youth!)
I quit Twitter because… well, the reasons everyone has quit Twitter.
Newsletters are back in! And this is great news for writers, because we are mainly word nerds.
Don’t forget to check out:
Recent newsletters: Writing the Perfect First Sentence, First Paragraph, and First Page
2. OK, I’m on social media now. What do I post?
A lot of advice will say, “Post whatever you want!” But I humbly disagree.
I think you need to go in with a strategic framework. Think about what parts of yourself you want to share with the public, and where the line is for what is yours to keep for yourself. Because here’s the truth: the internet will gobble up whatever you offer them and then greedily ask for more. So protect yourself by planning ahead of time who Author You is online.
First, make a list of things that are definitely private. This is different for everyone, but might include:
pictures/videos of your kids
pictures/videos of your home, neighborhood, city
your face or any other physical part of you
Next, choose three categories that exemplify how you want the world to see Author You. One of those is writing, and the other two can be different facets of you like:
books you’re reading
pets (who doesn’t love puppy and kitty photos?)
a hobby
For me, my Instagram mainly revolves around (1) my writing/my books, (2) baking, and (3) Tom, my husband and love of my life. (note: My account is a little heavy on books right now because Damsel is about to hit shelves in a few weeks, but that’s as it should be… I’ll do another newsletter in the future about social media marketing and publicity schedules.)
Putting boundaries around your online persona is not “being fake.” It’s about protecting yourself and saving pieces of your life as your own. Anyone who tells you that you have to sell every detail of your life is wrong. The public doesn’t own you; you can choose what they have the right to see and what they don’t.
3. Social Media is stressing me out. Help!
If this is happening to you, walk away. It can be temporary or permanent, but the most important thing is to take care of yourself.
I have a problem with social media addiction. I am constantly drawn to my phone to open Instagram to check if more people have watched my Reel or liked my post. I also hate that social media affects my self-worth, but it does. At one point, I cried because every week, someone else had a cover reveal and I didn’t… which is really ridiculous if you think about it logically, because you can only reveal your cover art once. I did have cover art. But you can’t reveal a new cover every week. No one has 52 different covers for their books. Not even those mega-famous authors who get new 10-year anniversary special editions of their books. But did that matter to me? No. I still cried.
For me, the solution was to delete Instagram from my phone. Now, I reinstall it every time I have to post something, and then I delete it again. I respond to comments from my computer, during pre-designated times of day. Is this kind of a pain in the neck? Yeah, it absolutely is. But it is worth it to protect me from what social media can do to me if I let it.
And if workarounds like that don’t help you, then quit. Remember, there are plenty of authors who are not on social media. Your mental health is more important than making cute cat videos. And there are other ways to reach readers, like newsletters, if you’d like to still communicate with your fans. (Agents and editors like newsletters, because they are dedicated people who have made the choice to subscribe to your updates and therefore are more likely to buy your books.)
So… those are my thoughts on writers and social media. I’m sure I missed a lot, because this is really a giant Costco-sized tub of worms and I only cracked the lid open.