Social Media, Hanging Out in the Shadows

Social media. I love the stuff. Mostly, I love lurking and consuming. Startling for someone with an acting degree, maybe, but shouting LOOK AT ME is not among my go to instincts. Complicating my tendency to stand back and observe is the current flux in the social media market. Facebook likes to change things just to change things and there's only so much chasing their bouncing ball I'm willing to do.  Still. I do have an author page out there that was getting good engagement. At least I learned how to do that and the platform still exists.

I'll be honest. I did not have the collapse of Twitter as we knew it on my late-stage capitalism dystopia bingo card. I really didn't. I should have seen it coming. Maybe I did because I never managed to build a persona on Twitter, much less any kind of following. The people I talk with  beyond personal friends and fellow authors, are cat people or members of the autistic community. I feel like Twitter demands a quick wit and that is something I am not. I'm still thinking up witty comebacks for shit that happened decades ago. Expecting me to be charming and or funny in 144 characters or fewer within 5 minutes is always going to end badly for all parties. Also, I very much dislike having a feed full of shouty BUY-MY-THING posts in my timeline. I am not on board to create more posts like them. Granted, i don't think anyone has ever sold much on that basis - getting readers interested in buying your books is subtler than that by far. It's actual conversations and empathy. It's an author inviting readers to invest emotionally in the writer as must as in the story sometimes. Lovely, right? It might even be doable, but where? Mastodon? Hive? Post? Twitter? It feels like I'm watching an episode of Highlander. There can be only one but the sword fight hasn't started yet.

I love Tik Tok. I enjoy the creativity and limitless possibility of the platform. I have an author account. I have made exactly zero videos so far. I'm watching. I'm listening. I'm figuring out what works to draw me in to following someone. I've had a solid class in how to use Tik Tok as an author. You know what my biggest stumbling block is to starting videos? Make up. Yeah. I know. Dumb reason and yet there it is.

I do have an author presence on Instagram as well as my regular account. My regular account has a load of followers but it's because my personal account belongs to the cats. That isn't to say that I don't post book announcements there. I do. 99% of my content out there is cat related and it seems that my followers on Instagram will put up with an occasional 'Hey, look at what I made' post. The author account hasn't done much because there's a certain synergy to the fact that Facebook and Instagram are connected. The posts need to be more carefully planned and curated across the platforms - but they can feed one another. It simply requires a strategy and a calendar. I'd love to need to do this but the fact is that at the moment, my time is far better spent writing the damned book. It's tough to market when one has nothing to sell. Funny that. Seems like a stronger starting position.

Social Media?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a fellow author groan about one social media platform or another. I’ve complained plenty myself and I’m sure you have too! But in the end we all pretty much have our favorites in regards to where we spend our time, and that’s what we’re talking about this week.

So, where do I hang out online? As Jeffe said yesterday, it’s evolved and will likely change if you ask me again next year. I left Twitter a few years ago, I didn’t enjoy all the negativity. Facebook is one that I’ve never been very good at checking. Which leaves me with my Instagram. 

Instagram was built for me. I love taking pictures and coming up with cute phrases to go with them. I found happy people who were good at building each other up. I found book recommendations and shared books with others! And then Instagram veered into video posts…and I lost interest. 

I haven’t gotten used to seeing and listening to myself on video. I much prefer to be behind the camera and capture what I find beautiful. But there’s pressure to make short clips since sill life images weren’t getting seen. And I let it get to me. 

Basically what I’m saying is Instagram is my social of choice, but I’m an infrequent poster. What about that author advice everyone parrots about platform and interactions? I decided I’m not going to let it get to me and I’m not going to stress over it. 

I’m writing. 

I’m not stressing over what, how, or when to post on socials. I’m going to write. I don’t have online fans demanding anything of me and so I’ll take that as a positive right now and I’ll write. And I’ll keep writing until I figure out what I’m going to do with all of these words. 

If you’re struggling to keep up on the socials, know that it’s okay to step away for a time or even leave the platform completely if it’s not enjoyable and especially if it’s detracting from your writing. It’s okay to just be an author instead of a social-media guru.

Five Golden Rings

In time for your holiday delectation... I have re-released FIVE GOLDEN RINGS!

     

Read Excerpt

This is the kinky Caribbean Christmas holiday contemporary romance I did with Carina Press. I'm re-releasing it - and the other three Facets of Passion books - over the next month or so. For now, if you like your holiday romance with sunshine, beaches, and a bit of BDSM (who doesn't???), then check out FIVE GOLDEN RINGS!

***

The Twelve Days of Christmas were never quite this naughty…

All Matilda Campbell wanted was to spend a romantic and relaxing Christmas in the Mexican Caribbean. When her lover dumps her—at the airport, no less—she decides to go solo. But fate and a well-timed margarita intervene, introducing her to the charming and seductive Miguel D’Oro on the plane.

Miguel offers Tilda an outrageous bargain, involving escalating naughty gifts for each of the twelve days of Christmas. The only rule is that she must accept what he gives her and what he tells her to do, or face a sensual punishment. Giving up control is just what Tilda is looking for, so she impulsively agrees.

As Tilda embraces a newfound freedom in abandoning herself to pleasure and Miguel’s demands, she only wonders what will happen when the holiday is over…

***

 

This week at the SFF Seven, we're talking social media. We're asking each other on which social media platform are you most active as an author? Why that one? What makes it work better for you than others? How often are you there?

 

These questions, more than most, are dynamically changing ones. This becomes even more apparent with the passage of time.

 

~ clears throat and grabs cane for shaking ~

 

So, I've been on social media for a long time now. I had a website (which I programmed myself) in the nascent days of the internet. I used A-1 mail in the late 80s and had a MySpace account. I joined Facebook in January 2009 and Twitter that September. I'm still on those two. Heck, even this blog, of which I am one of three remaining founding members, is over ten years old! That's like a century in internet time.

 

Right, actually answering the questions posed:

 

I'm most active (thinking in terms of daily and weekly activity) on a couple of Discords, then Instagram and Facebook, followed by Twitter, which are all at least daily, if not more often. After that is my podcast (4x/week), and this weekly blog. I am theoretically on Tik Tok - because I feel I should be - but I've yet to grok it. With the exception of the Discords and my podcast, which are pleasurable social interactions for me, the rest are pretty much driven by business considerations. I use the ones where my readers are. (With the salient except of Tik Tok, which I really need to learn. In my spare time.)

 

The stuff I do most often, as I mentioned, is the stuff I enjoy. I made that decision early on - that social media is social, and therefore if one hates the medium, that will come through.

 

My other point in going into this history is that social media is an ever-shifting sea. Lots of Twitter people are fleeing to Mastodon, which I haven't done yet, but likely will. Ask me these questions tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year and you might get a different answer!

 

And that's okay, too.

 

Which Socials Work for This Lurker?

This Week's Topic: The Socials

Besides this blog, on which social media platform am I most active as an author? Why that one? What makes it work better for me than others? How often am I there?

{clears throat}

{stares at ground}

{rubs one foot with the other}

Hello, my name is KAK, and I'm a lurker.

I'm on Twitter and Facebook. I check them three to four times a day. It won't look like it if you review my feeds because I read way more than I interact. I "like" lots of stuff, but I rarely engage because--much like the real world--I don't feel the need to insert myself into a monologue or conversation when I have nothing meaningful to contribute. Also, I have a sense of humor that doesn't translate well in social spaces where context is limited and assholes abound. Once upon narrowband connectivity, I worked in online community, which left me with the scars of having zero tolerance for drama and noping my way out of engagement at the first keystroke of batshittery. For these reasons, I err on the side of reticence in public exchanges.

That's not to say I don't respond when someone @'s me. I do (as long as it doesn't trigger my self-preservation sirens). Readers sharing what they like/love about my work? That sort of stuff makes my day/week/month/decade. I'm saving/screenshotting/bookmarking those feel-good interactions. Sliding into my DMs or my Messenger and I don't know you? No. That's akin to you climbing into the backseat of my car without an invitation. AITA? Probably. Unrepentant, though.

My Twitter account is both me and me-the-author, while FB's policies necessitate a split personality. Alas, I neglect the hell out of my author page on FB; yea though, I keep promising myself to provide regular content. My FB personal account's "friends" are mostly folks I know IRL, while those who follow my author page are readers. I'm much more accessible on Twitter. There, I often retweet artists whose work moves me or experts whose threads are enlightening. The majority of accounts I follow on Twitter are strangers whose content intrigued me. I've curated my Twitter feed so the nutbuckets are screaming in their own echo chambers and not on my screen, which keeps it a pleasurable experience.  

As for the overlords of either service, I find their ethics appalling and await the day the services implode. Yes, I'm aware there are many, many other services out there. I have accounts on some, but that's mostly to occupy the namespace. 

If you're looking for me on Twitter, I'm @KAKrantz, or if you want to find me on FB, I'm @AuthorKAKrantz.

Secret Identity

Photo by Stefan Steinbauer on Unsplash

I adore my pen name and the identity I have created. Truth be told, I like my pen name way more than my birth name. I have often thought of changing my name ever since I was a pre-teen when I was thoroughly convinced I had been adopted (those angsty teen years, amirite?). Having a pen name has allowed me to create a completely new persona, embracing a more outgoing part of myself that I hadn’t realized I was hiding. 

Having a secret identity has allowed me to fully pursue my writing career in the most uninhibited and organic way that I can. It also really helps me with marketing because I am not marketing myself, I am marketing a client. 

Speaking of, I cultivated a marketing career, writing non-fiction articles for magazines and websites long before I dove into fiction writing. I had kids in 2018 and then in the middle of 2020 my marketing career took a nosedive. I lost my clients due to everything being shut down, but I was extremely fortunate in that my husband has a steady job and we live frugally enough for me to stay at home with our children. I thought I was good with this being my lot in life - a stay-at-home mom maybe picking up part-time work once the kids were in school. Turns out, it wasn’t enough. My brain finally had it and it started screaming at me to write again. The stories I want to write now are a little too steamy for the small town I live in, so the next obvious choice was to create an entirely new persona. Now, it’s the only way I feel comfortable continuing my writing career. Publishing under a pen name helps me keep my private life and personal life separate. 

A secret identity can also be so liberating for us introverts. Marketing is easier, asking for features and newsletter swaps is easier, going live on social media is easier because I can so quickly slip on a mask and become Ophelia. Becoming Ophelia (ha! that sounds like a memoir in the works) helps me go live on social media more than if I was presenting as myself. There’s something that shifts and I am immediately more extroverted, friendlier, less socially anxious with the mask of my secret identity in place. Though there’s a separation between my personal life and Ophelia, in some ways, you see a more “raw” version of me when I am in front of the camera. The introverted stay-at-home mom who constantly asks if her kids need to pee is gone. The extroverted Ophelia is here, and she is ready to partaaaaay. 

As a stay-at-home mom, I am so reluctant to go back into the workforce. I wanted a job that allowed me to be flexible, home with my kids on sick days (because, let’s be honest, there are a lot of sick days lately), available for pickups and drop-offs, after-school activities and more. My children are only four- and two-years old so I wanted to get started on my writing early enough so that when they reach full-time school age, I have a decent idea of what our schedules will look like and what I can realistically get done in a day. As a former entrepreneur, the idea of being an indie author was appealing on so many levels. I could be fully in charge of my process, write the stories I want to write (and how steamy), as well as on the production schedule that fit me and my family’s lifestyle. But writing under a pen name was one of the few ways I figured I could tackle this adventure.

Creating this secret identity has been one of the most freeing things I have done for my creativity and my future. I can shift into “work mode” quicker when I’m Ophelia than when I’m me/‘mom’. It gives me the space I need to focus and hustle. It lets me be the author I want to be, connect with my audience, and pursue the projects I want to do.

Ophelia Wells Langley is the pen name of a mother to two boys. She loves reading, writing, and knitting, and you can almost always find her chasing after her high-energy children pretending to be a dragon or a dinosaur. Her debut novel, The Borderlands Princess, released November 28th, 2022. You can find her works here: www.opheliawlangley.com and you can join her late night writing sprints on TikTok @opheliawellsauthor

 

Leaving the Day Job - Don't Forget the Barbed Wire

A week ago I snickered to myself about how I didn't know how to write about what it's like not having a day job because I still had a day job. 

Now I don't. 

I guess this will be a learn-as-I-go adventure. I'm not raking in the sweet, sweet book cash. Not yet. The only reason I'm not running around like my hair's on fire is because there's a fall back position. I'm privileged to have a partner who does have steady employment. Let's not talk about how close he came to a layoff three days ago while we believed my position was secure. He got word he was safe and two days later my super-safe job evaporated. God, I love recession fears in the tech world. Sigh. 

This does bring me to the easiest way to cushion the slings and arrows and uncertainty of working for yourself. Have a cushion. That cushion could be someone else's steady income that your writing income supplements. That cushion could also be that you budget and plan to build a financial safety net that buys you time. If you want a year free and clear before you have to hit the bricks for another job, you better have done the math and have the cash stowed. Add up your burn rate - the amount of money per month you need to survive. Don't forget medical insurance in those costs. Factor in an emergency or two - car, veterinary, a rush airline ticket - whatever suits your circumstance. While you are gainfully employed in something that reliably hands you cash, start saving. If you make a sale or three while you are working a day job, put part of that advance into the 'writing full time' fund. Plan your exit date from the day job. Don't burn bridges! You may need that network one day. Keep writing. Keep publishing - either via a trad house or via self publishing. The money books bring in replenishes the financial cushion. The more you bring in, the longer you can stretch out the fund to support you through dry spells. Because those happen to the best and the worst of us alike.

What's it like not working a day job, though? It's randomizing. It's a little like living in a castle or a
walled city that is constantly under siege. The moment you aren't working a day job, people come out of the woodwork wanting your time and your energy because - well - you aren't 'working' working. Without really clear, strong boundaries, you'll find your entire day vanishes into a haze of doing things that serve everyone but you. 

Plan to put up barbed wire around your writing time and space. It helps to have a door that closes, maybe locks. Create the structure around writing that makes sense to you. It is the biggest piece writers miss when thinking about leaving a day job to write full time - the structure. With a day job sucking all the air out of the room, you had to fit fiction into the cracks and corners. The limits and structure around those times likely lent a sense of urgency to your word count  because you didn't have much time. Now, without a day job, the day stretches long like a highway across the desert. It's a mirage. Without planned structure in place, you'll blink and realize you haven't written a word or thought about your story for a week. Or more. It's a hard lesson to learn to say no to people, but it is necessary. It's a lesson I still struggle to learn. Just like I'm unexpectedly having to learn how to exist again without a day job defining my time. So as much is it unsettles me, check this space. There may be further developments in the 'what's it like to leave the day job' world.

Quitting the Day Job - What's It Really Like?

THE LONG NIGHT OF THE RADIANT STAR - a midwinter holiday fantasy romance in the Heirs of Magic world - is out in the world!

       

This week at the SFF Seven, we're talking Secret Identities! As in, the work we do on the side to make ends meet, partners helping to support us, and quitting the day job.

I'm fortunate that I was able to quit the day job - 18 years of a career as an environmental consultant - about 7 years ago. It was one of those things where the day job quit me: my team was downsized, I got laid off with affection and good severance pay, and I decided to try making a go of it writing for a living and NOT getting another day job. In truth, I was more than ready for that moment. At the same time, I kept waiting to make as much money from writing as I did from the day job (including the value of benefits), which was never quite happening. If I hadn't been kicked from the nest, I might never have voluntarily left it. 

That said, it's the best thing that ever happened to me. My husband has Parkinson's Disease and is no longer able to work, so apart from a small retirement income and his social security payment, keeping us afloat is up to me. That reality has made me really hustle with my writing. Between self-publishing and traditional publishing, I'm now making what I was with the day job.

And I'm ever so much happier. Seriously, after having essentially two careers for over 20 years, it was such a relief to focus on just one. Plus, all the meetings and phone calls I have are about books and writing. It's the best life!

I don't do much work on the side. I do some author coaching and teach the occasional workshop - I'm considering doing more classes - but it's important to me for the happiness quotient. I want writing and making books to be the priority. That's what I quit the day job to have. 

FT Writer and The Fluctuating Monies

This Week's Topic: 

Secret Identity: Do I work on the side to make ends meet? 

Do I have a partner in crime? 

How long was I at it as a writer before I could successfully quit the day job, or have I quit yet?

My partner in crime after having cancerous masses removed

It's that last question that many authors use to gauge their success, which...isn't a reliable metric. Being a creative means there are seasons of feast and famine, and famine is more prevalent. You may have one six-figure year followed by a year in the low five-figures followed by a year in the upper fives chased by a year where you don't make 4 figures. Revenue from sales is, by its nature, unstable income. Even if you drop a new book like clockwork, there's no guarantee that Book 3 will sell even a fourth of Book 1. Some series tank for no reason while others rise like a phoenix from a backlist. Gods forbid you're depending on a publisher to pay your royalties as part of your annual income...Sure, royalty checks are more attainable than winning the lottery, but even lottery payouts occur at a fixed amount and on schedule.

You need to be a master of budgeting and a hard-core realist (even a pessimist) when forecasting writing-derived revenue. There's a reason finance companies don't like to give creatives loans. There's a reason a lot of full-time authors have spouses who own the burdens of reliable income (and health insurance) or they have investments that supply livable income. There's no shame in being part of the hustle of having a job that pays your bills while also having a job that feeds your soul. 

As in all things, balance is necessary.