In the discussion on Monday regarding the person stopping by the office, an anonymous commenter chimed in with what I thought was an interesting point of discussion about boundaries in the Internet era.
He/she writes:
Have been thinking a lot about the writers who choose to keep their privacy, such as Salinger and Pynchon and those who are all out twittering hither-nither.
I have very mixed feelings about the personal publicity writers are encouraged to develop, even agents. It seems like we are auditioning for “America’s Next SuperWriter” and the fifteen minutes of fame required.
…The photos do connect people. But then where is privacy given a boundary?
As I wrote in a post late last year, the days of being “Just An Author,” if they ever existed, are basically over. Everything is out there on the Internet, and authors are really expected to put themselves out there to find their audience. Publishers want authors to be Facebooking, Tweeting, blogging, and everything they can do to get out there. It’s really tough to do that without using at least part of your personal life and picture to make that happen, even if you’re using a pen name.
What do you think: Is this the price the modern author has to pay if they want an audience? Is there a way to balance Internet presence with privacy?
KSCollier says
I believe it is great practice and shows our future agents and publishers we are truly serious about writing. They say it's not personal, it's about money and sales. I understand the agents and publishers want to see if we are marketable material and willing to help increase the sale. Why should it be all their responsibility, when it's our book.
Nick says
"How about making up your entire bio online? If you write fiction, you're used to making stuff up. Why not make up yourself?"
I tried that once in real life. For several years in fact. I still can't totally remember what I made up and what's my actual history. If you're gonna do it you gotta be good at separating that stuff, because it is one hell of a slippery slope, my friend.
Trisha Wooldridge says
Writers being public figures is not new.
In fact, writers being secluded and hidden is. It's really a construct that became "popular" with the 20th Century.
Before that, part of being a writer was promoting yourself; writers performed. It was the odd ones who stayed home and labored away from the world.
It was a big thing in Victorian era to hold parties where writers would read from their works. Twain for example toured, reading from his works, and made himself a public figure through his articles, too. Dickens was always booking public shows.
In fact, you see so many letters from Victorian – and before that, Romantic – writers because they did travel. They went out into the world, read their work, and sold books, pamphlets, etc. that way. They were superstars in their time.
And consider before that, when printed books were not nearly so popular – and well, of course before printing presses in the 1400s – The ONLY way writers could make money was to book themselves to parties and events; they had to be well known. They wrote for the pieces to be performed and delivered.
People wanted to know bits of these authors' personal lives, and if the authors didn't provide it, fans would make it up. (Kind of like verbal tabloids). Authors were public figures – and the more people saw of the authors, the more they heard readings, the more the author could make.
Now, with culture moving towards a shared global community, it's no surprise that authors are expected to be public figures again. We can return to our bardic roots of performing via podcasts and videos… and we can share our writing with fans. The way we have been for millennia.
JTShea says
Look at J. D. Salinger. The guy became a near-recluse and only published one novel in 91 years. And it only sold…65 million copies…Okay, bad example. But I'll bet sales are up after his death. Likewise Michael Jackson. Maybe death could be a good career move for a writer?
Donna says
Recently, I had a cyber-stalker who graduated to a tele-stalker by somehow tracking down my phone number via my web site (not that hard to do with Google). Like Nathan's mysterious office visitor, I do feel this fellow was more misguided than malicious– he kept saying he just wanted to be my friend!– but this was a huge step over the line for me. I tried to be professional, but he would call five or six times a day and leave angry messages when I didn't answer. I finally put on my stern school-teacher persona and managed to convince him his behavior was completely inappropriate, and eventually the phone calls stopped. My feeling throughout this whole mildly creepy encounter was simply– I don't get paid enough for this! I am not a public figure. I wasn't elected to office and my face doesn't bring in millions of dollars in box office. The public doesn't own a piece of me. I write books. Why can't I be left alone to do that?
That having been said, the vast majority of my readers are respectful and appropriate and I deeply value my interaction with them. I absolutely understand the value of having a strong internet presence. But I will never again underestimate the risks involved either.
Anonymous says
It's the internet. No one tells the truth about anything anyway. They are only telling you what they want you to know. 🙂
The Garden Ms. S says
To follow-up on the comment by Anonymous @ 9:14 a.m., they make a good point. A local author of some celebrity had a blog that eventually caused me to despise him. He was so obnoxious, elitist, pissy and arrogant that I stopped reading his blog, his articles — and his books. I see he no longer has a blog but he does have a new book coming out. I wonder if his publisher made him take the blog down? Personally, I liked him better before I "knew" him via his blog. I guess social media can be a double-edged sword.
Eva says
I think the days of hiding behind the scenes and being a successful writer are over. With the era of the internet in full swing, readers want to connect with the author. Connecting with the author is a way of further connecting with the story. I think there can be balance if done right. Although I see many authors utilizing multiple channels across the internet, I still don't see their faces plastered on newsstands. It's a give and take. You have to be willing to give if you want to succeed.
Kristen Torres-Toro says
I've thought about this a lot. One thing I did this year was establish a facebook profile just for me as a writer. That way I can keep personal life separate from private. It was a great move.
mkcbunny says
I second Jana Oliver on the idea of creating a buffer around yourself. Separate e-mail, phone numbers, Facebook profiles, etc. for friends vs. business. And set those privacy filters.
A few years ago, I found myself at the center of an Internet brushfire. Weirdest and most stressful weeks of my life, reading scathing comments from complete strangers who didn't actually bother to read deeply into the issues at hand. The Internet can be a brutal gang if you are on the wrong side of any pivotal moment.
But through all of that, not a single person found my home e-mail address or phone number. I felt strangely safe and well-protected, actually. And trust me, people WERE looking for it all. …
I think a basic Web site and method for fans to connect is pretty much required of writers. Blogging is only good if you can commit to it and you're an interesting blogger. Facebook is only good if you actually use it.
And I don't think anyone should use Twitter unless they already do or want to start. It's a live organism, and if you can't or don't want to participate on a regular basis, why bother? I doubt I'll ever Tweet. Closest I come is posting a spontaneous photo on Facebook using my husband's iPhone. I don't even WANT an iPhone. I'd be lousy at Twittering.
sex scenes at starbucks says
After nearly 6 years online, I realize I no longer have privacy. I have a pretty active public life. I constantly call myself "not very well known" and yet I have strangers approach me, email me, drop by the blog, recognize my writing at school and at parties, buy my book…
I've developed a game face for conferences and online, but I don't think it's much different than the game face anyone would create for any job.
Polenth says
Melissa said…
Use stylized images rather than author photos.
That doesn't entirely work. For many years, I've only had a arty photo and a mushroom online. People complain. Whether they think it's because I'm hiding something, or they're just curious, I don't know. But the more I become known, the more people want to see a clear photograph.
In the end, you create more pressure around that by avoiding it. Posting my own photographs will mean I can control it and make sure it's a decent shot.
Steve says
A couple of points:
I fully respect an author's preference for privacy. The late Robert Heinlein, arguably my favorite writer, was notorious for this. Could Heinlein have acheived the same level of success in today's world?
Perhaps with simewhat more difficulty. Fortunately, he wrote in a genre with a strong tradition of short story magazines with established readerships. even today, anybody who appears regularly in Analog has a head start in book sales.
Yes, a successful writer needs to be well-known, and Heinlein certainly was – from the quality of his work – not through self-publicizing. I don't think fame has to mean celebrity appearances, if the author is uncomfortable "playing celebrity". Indeed – many REAL celebrities maintain their privacy – even though they may have to hire security to do it. 🙁
My second point is perhaps more interesting. Your commenter wrote:
"It seems like we are auditioning for "America's Next SuperWriter" and the fifteen minutes of fame required."
This hits at a point I've mentioned before. Record labels used to create superstars through massive publicity spending, just like publishers. Like publishers, they retreated from that. The retreat for the music industry began around 2003-2005. Arguably Avril Lavagine was one of the very last to benefit from the traditional "star-making machinery". Now the A & R guys want acts to "build their story" (In writing terms, build their "platform") before they will give them a look. This process I would guess to be about 5 years more advanced in music than in literature.
But look at the countertrend!
The countertrend is American Idol. ANerican Idol stod the star-making machinery on its head and turned it from a cost center to a profit center. American Idol monetized the drama, using all the traditional story hooks of the "fame" narrative, along with the newly expanded opportunities for direct audience participation. The Idol votes are the applause meters of the 21st Century.
I've said and will keep saying that whoever first successfully pitches "Ameticas Next Best Seller" as reality TV will become rich and famous. Remember you heard it here first.
-Steve
Sara McClung ♥ says
This may seem silly, especially as I am currently not represented/published, but I actually have two accounts, for facebook and other things… One for friends that I've had for years and one for when I build more of a brand, or following, as a writer. I stay true to my personality on both sides. As "out there" as writers are (and need to be) there are still SOME things that can stay private, and I like that.
Beverley BevenFlorez says
I think a problem for the unpublished authors (like myself) is that we have to be especially careful not to blog or tweet something that will make us look foolish by editors. Yet, I think it is important to have at least something of a web presence when shopping that first novel. It's a difficult balancing act: how to not say too much while still saying enough to be interesting.
Brian says
I never thought it was about me being famous. To me, It's about making the characters famous. So… a blog for them makes more sense.
Other Lisa says
What Kiersten said, first thing.
I use a pen-name for a number of reasons. One of them is that I like the small amount of separation this provides me. Not that someone couldn't find my real name pretty easily — it's more for my own emotional health than anything else.
Mira says
Brian – exactly.
I've often thought if I created a blog for a published book, my MC would be the blog owner. Or even a secondary character. That's who the readers want to interact with.
It also protects privacy more. You have a good point, Nathan, privacy is hard to maintain nowadays. It's not respected in the culture. If it were, paparazzi would be illegal.
In terms of web presence for an author, I could be wrong, but I think there is confusion about social networking vs. marketing. They are not the same thing.
Social networking is making friends and contacts, and it might get you into the door, but it won't sell a book past the first person, if the book isn't good.
Now, marketing – that's a different tomato. I believe my job on blogs is to be interesting. I want people thinking – boy, I wonder what that person would write a book about. Maybe it'd be interesting.
You can be interesting in very different ways. I'm not talking about wild and crazy. Kiersten is interesting because she's so vivacious and lively. Natalie is interesting because she's so likeable. Bryan is interesting because he's such a thoughtful sweetheart. (sorry, Bryan.) Marilyn is interesting because she's intelligent and informative, and so on.
So, if you're an introvert (like me, I'm off the scale introvert in person), find your niche. There are still ways for you to be interesting on line – and sometimes less is more too. It's important to be genuine – people hate feeling manipulated and/or pushed.
One problem right now with on-line is that agents really want writers to 'behave' on-line, so it's easier to sell them to publishers. I get that, because publishing is such a hard sell right now.
But it's important to remember, that no reader could possibly give a hoot whether a writer is professional, polite and cooperative. No offense, but that's just B.O.R.I.N.G.
They want someone who is interesting.
Joni Rodgers says
This is one of the many reasons I love ghostwriting. Love writing books. Hate doing promotions. This way I get to be Cyrano and stand in the shadows while my celeb clients bust out the hustle, which is their thang.
Mira says
Oh, I want to add one more thing, since my post wasn't long enough.
Being interesting – that's just another way to talk about voice.
Just let your voice come out. Or if it doesn't want to come out directly, if that doesn't feel natural, do what does feel natural. Get creative. Create a story blog. Create a blog that's set up like the enviornment of your book. Lots of things to play with on-line.
Anonymous says
I'll blog and tweet but I still want my privacy, whih is why I'm planning on using a pen name. I wonder about pictures on book jackets though….
Kaitlyne says
Boy, do I hope so. I'm a private person who doesn't want people to know everything about my life. Then again, that's why I don't have a blog. I imagine it's possible to do a blog that isn't focused on your actual daily life.
Then again, I'm also someone who finds the current need to know everything about celebrities and what not to be pretty sickening. I understand feeling a personal connection and I think that's cool. You can give a little info without telling the whole world what you ate for breakfast. This blog would be a good example.
On the other hand, there are people online who actively seek out pictures of Britney Spears going to the convenience store…that I don't understand. I actually feel like we'd be a lot better off if we had stricter privacy laws in general, but that's just me. 😉
Moira Young says
I think a web presence is essential. You just have to know where the line is, and that line's location is different for everyone.
I've said before that I'm part of the generation who has (essentially) grown up with the Internet. It was tough to be a teenager online in the '90s, because it was new and there were no established rules. On one hand, that's part of why I've taken a pen name. I need a chance to reboot. On the other, I learned some valuable, if painful, lessons about how to stay mostly private while posting publicly. They weren't fun to learn at the time, but they were worth it for what they taught me.
I'm sure my "true identity" will get out eventually, and I'm not too worried about it, but for now, I like being able to participate online as an adult, without the legacy of my original handle dogging my digital steps.
Mel says
I am one of those writers who prefers privacy. I tried Twitting (or is it Twittering) but found it incredibly tedious. When I write, even for other people, I research everything thoroughly to at least make the bios accurate, the fiction realistic. I prefer to be doing this … producing more books for publication, rather than boring myself with describing the minutae of my life. I suppose that why I choose to be a ghostwriter. Let others have the hassle, for some of them will enjoy it. Selfish? I know it. 😉
Jon Gibbs says
I'm certainly no expert, but I think it can be done.
A strong (and positive) 'online presence' will have a huge impact on a new writer's career, so I don't think it's unreasonable for a publisher to expect us to make an effort in that regard.
I have three self-imposed rules which help me strike a balance between publicity and privacy on the internet:
1: Never post anything which I'd be embarrassed to show my wife or children.
2: Remember, it's not about you – this may seem counter-productive, but just like in real life, if someone we know only ever talks about themselves, we soon grow bored with them.
3: Most important of all, find a way to have fun while doing it.
SphinxnihpS of Aker-Ruti says
The internet is a great tool for promotion, but I'm not so concerned about privacy — unless you are talking about readers finding a blog or Facebook account meant for friends/family only. Then I can see the fear.
After all, these promotional tools have to contain content that will attract readers. Personally, someone's daily life isn't going to interest me, unless that daily life is pretty amazing or the person is super-famous. I don't think they will interest that many readers either.
Jodi
Jason says
I think this has already been said, but you can market yourself as a writer without ever getting into anything personal.
I think David Letterman does a really good job of that…he basically keeps his private life private even though he's on TV most every day.
Mary Witzl says
I think there is a way to advertise your presence and give an idea of what you write without baring your soul — or giving it away. You just have to decide how much of yourself you want to reveal.
But I suspect others have said much the same thing…125 times over.
Whirlochre says
I'm with Kiersten and haven't read further.
Publicity doesn't mean dangling your gonads before a slavering public and privacy doesn't mean locking yourself in a secure bunker.
Any interaction with other people requires moderation of precisely this kind and all that's happened here is a movement of the goal post in the publicity direction. We still have to choose what to put out there, and to be careful over those choices.
Jason Diltz says
As previously mentioned, an author does have a great deal of control with regard to limiting the amount of information they wish to reveal while utilizing the various forms of online media. In a day and age where companies are viewing Facebook pages in hopes of gaining insight (dirt)on a potential job candidate, it seems that we all are in danger of having our right to privacy revoked. Ultimately, one has to determine how much they wish to reveal and once doing so, move forward with no regrets. It seems that there are far more pros than cons when it comes to the internet and self promotion. The more engaged people feel with an author, the more likely they are to continue that relationship. If cultivating a faithful following means me posting a few photos now and again and a blog here and a twitter there, then count me in!
Of course one must make certain that the posted photos are not photoshopped incorrectly so as not to draw a swarm of negative publicity. I'd hate to lose fans (if I had any), because my leg was removed or placed at an impossible angle or that somehow, I was graced with a stronger jawline and a six-pack although I would sacrifice fans for the latter.
Ink says
Mira,
I've been called worse things. I had a student once who always called me "Muffinhead". That was fun.
GhostFolk.com says
Wow, great post, Nathan! First, I love everything Kiersten White said.
A). Publishers could help by developing on-line personalities on blogsites, f/b and twitter. I don't mean "company" personalities (although some are doing a REAL GOOD job of this).
And don't make the editors do it. They have enough to do it. Two or three people should be hired in the publicity departments to do nothing but become on-line personalities. Blog, f/b, twitter.
I feel sorry for the publicity people who have to simply tell an author to do it, because (like editors) they already have a full workload of traditional publicity work.
B. Authors should learn how to act like they've been there before. Professional, honest, straight-forward and, for heaven's sake, concise. A little end-zone dancing is okay, 🙂 but enough is enough.
As a reader, I do NOT want to know what my favorite author's food is, how he sharpens his pencils, what she buys at Sams' Club, or (really) how they come up with character names. The question is "What do I want to know about an author?" Not much, truthfully.
Seriously, can anyone answer this question?
C. First-time authors quit telling me how to write. Chances are I've published more books than you have. Tell me instead how you write.
Imperative direct-address sentences (esp. if they contain the word "must" — but "should" kind of pisses me off, too) are a pet peeve. I may be the only one with this pet peeve. But I doubt it.
Anonymous says
If I'm ever lucky enough to be published, I have a friend who's willing to be my public 'face'. I don't mind the Twittering, blogging and writing parts. I'm not good enough to be a public figure.
GhostFolk.com says
But it's important to remember, that no reader could possibly give a hoot whether a writer is professional, polite and cooperative. No offense, but that's just B.O.R.I.N.G.
Careful, Mira, becuase we are also considering the converse: Would a (potential) reader give a hoot that a writer is unprofessional, impolite, and never responds to questions or requests?
I do sometimes wish Hunter Thompson was here, though. I'll bet he could find a way to shoot people through the Internet. 🙂
GhostFolk.com says
I am so stumped by this, I am posting it twice. Help!
The question is "What do I want to know about an author?"
Seriously, can anyone answer this question?
Do you want to know that an author is just like you?
Nathan Bransford says
ghostfolk-
I think the answer to that question varies from author to author and from reader to reader. There's no one way to be an author online. Even the readers who have strong opinions about what authors should and shouldn't be online don't agree – some think they should be professional, some think that's boring, some want to know more about what an author's really like, some just want to know about their books, etc. etc.
I think the lesson here is that authors should do what works for them and I wish the readers who feel strongly on this subject wouldn't assume that what they want out of an author's online presence is the only way.
Anonymous says
How much info is too much? Depends, and THAT is the problem. I'll never forget the day I (against my better judgment) looked up a fav author on Wikipedia and, in reading tidbits of this and that, read about his sexual past (which he had revealed in a mag interview).
Sorry, I REALLY didn't need to know that. And now it's in the back of my mind when I pass by displays of his books at bookstores. Does it affect the way I feel about his books of his I've already read? No. BUT I have to force it out of my brain IN ORDER TO read his newer books. Why put out anything that can act as a barrier between your book and readers? I think an author himself/herself is the biggest barrier, imo.
Terry says
Randy, I don't want to know much about a writer. I like to know more about how they write or what they think about writing. If they have advice about what works for them is helpful too. But more so what their characters are like, what their wip or published novel is about.
So for me, it's their work.
Kia Abdullah says
I'm a little bit contradictory. I'm careful about what I say on Twitter, I have personal and public Facebook pages for privacy reasons, but I share a lot of personal information on my blog (you just have to read my last entry to see that). I think it's probably because the blog started as a way of sharing my thoughts rather than representing me as an author whereas the other accounts are more promotional/professional focused.
I agree with Kiersten and most other people in that an author does have to engage in this type of promotional activity, but it is controllable.
Stas Antons says
Why not embrace the opportunities that Twitter and Facebook is giving the authors? This is a great chance to create a fan club and the entire eco-sphere around a book. I would certainly be interested as a reader or a fan.
-Stas Antons
SmartSymbols for Books
Anonymous says
I turned my internet connection back on yesterday. After some second rate porn and rewatching my favorite music videos I felt kinda stumped. Same old wasteland.
Except for farmboy makes good becomes salad eating literary agent and decides to justify effort by running informative blog.
I had no internet or cable tv for a year and the amount of necessary real world tasks and writing I got done was eye opening. Wrote a decent 125,000 piece in two months.
We are our thoughts.
Last time Big N. had a kook at his door was right about the time I logged out.
Nathan… you need to do a strategic assessment with a set of underlying tactical grids so you can throw a spiralicly perfect awesomely deployed retort at every wanker (public-masturbator) who comes a knocking bro.
The net is for the very clever at guerilla publicity. I've done it as long as it wasn't for cash. Novelty goes viral pretty quick.
A research tip to check out:
"A Pure Formality" I'll blow the plotline and punch to sell the suggestion hard; because it's a good piece for analysis of all these questions this blog subject asks.
Writer "Depardieu" blows his brains out and doesn't realize he's dead Inspector "Roman Polanski" must identify the corpse and begins interviewing the famous writer.
https://www.sonypictures.com/classics/pformality/pformality.html
Its in the thirty or so movies in my permanent collection that I allow to influence my writing.
If you've never seen it you should,
Dude get a few rubber mask.
Richard Nixon, Dracula, Grey Alien,
Keep them on a few hooks on the back of the office door. Inform staff you shall deal with all prospect sengaged in displays of "Irrational Exuberance" personally from now on.
Tweeter, Facebook, are brain candy.
A blog is only as good as it's administrator.
Write for the high of creating a quantum field effect that contains a new story.
A story interesting enough to garner the attention of the infinite mind that lives beyond all the isles of creation.
A story that makes the infinite being go..
Hmmmmmmmm.
We are thought.
Arthur
Anonymous says
I don't know. I cringe whenever I have to reveal something of myself. Maybe a much too colored past will come back to haunt me.
Anonymous says
Publishers like authors who exhaust and beggar themselves promoting themselves and their books. It saves them money on marketing and keeps the author on a short and desperate leash. When the author burns out or gives up, there's always two thousand others fighting to take their slot, so the publisher doesn't suffer. In the end, all they care about are sales. Which is as it should be.
You can say no to them. They don't like it, but they can't force you to demean or bankrupt yourself. You can use your earnings to pay your bills instead of providing marketing for your publisher. You can refuse to do things that infringe on your personal life or that make you uncomfortable. You can promote the work intelligently and freely instead of spending every dime you make to peddle yourself to the world.
The only thing you have to do to become a successful author is write great books that people want to read. Focus on that, learn how to do that, accomplish that, and you can live in a cave on a mountain in Tibet.
RK says
Jeff Vandemeer has a wonderful book on this called The Booklife. I just got it and love it.
Cassandra Bonmot says
I'm not auditioning for anybody or anything. I'm an artist and I create for myself. If someone chooses to hitch a ride on my "3-remote circus act"… great.
I have been lying dormant for decades due to an illness and for me to expose my blog and my personality through the written word for the world to read, love and/or critique was a delicate decision.
This has been therapy for me and I have gained strength that I never had before.
Mira says
Ink,
It's hard for me to believe that anyone would want to call you a Muffinhead or any other name! On the other hand, being a student right now, I want to call all of my teachers Muffinheads, so I'm not sure I'd take that one personally. 🙂
Ghostfolk – Your question – well, Nathan have a good point. Maybe different readers want different things from authors. So, I'll just say I don't "give a hoot" whether the author is a professional, in fact, I secretly hope they aren't. But that's just me. 🙂
I guess my point last night – I was pretty tired – and I'm still formulating this. But I think direct marketing by the author, i.e. "Buy my book." "Be friends with me so you'll buy my book." "Here's my book, would you buy it" can be a turn-off. That requires a finesse that many of us don't have, I sure don't.
But Kiersten is a really good example (hope it's okay to talk about one person like this – hope it's okay with you, Kiersten.) Kiersten never says: buy my book. But she's so vivacious and witty and fun, that I find myself very interested in her book.
That does not mean all authors need to be vivacious, etc. I couldn't be vivacious at gunpoint, for example. But I think marketing is done more through letting your voice out, letting the part of you that your WIP reflects, letting the inherently interesting part of you shine on the Web, in whatever way is comfortable for you, which may be a very different way than other people. It might be mysterious and seductive, frank and disarming, or a whole hodge-podge. The internet can be a creative play ground for a writer. But anyway, people will be drawn to your 'voice', and the book that's reflected inside it.
Does that make sense? I might be wrong, but those are my thoughts.
Anonymous says
Nathan I have a question for you. You have created an influential and impressive internet presence with your agent blog and website. Now that you are going to be a published author how are you going to promote your books online and your author persona online? What do you intend to do or not do in that realm?
Nathan Bransford says
anon-
I'd be lying if I told you I know for sure. I don't have a master plan. JACOB WONDERBAR isn't coming out until 2011, though, so I have some time to figure out what I want to do.
Mira says
Oh goodness, I'm posting too much, I'm sorry.
But I think I was sort of wrong, or needed to add more.
For example, it may depend upon HOW you say 'buy my book.' There are probably ways to do it – with a sense of humor or humility or enthusiasm or frankness or geniune excitement. It all depends upon your voice.
I could see putting alittle thing on a blog I owned: Everytime you buy one of my books, a fairy earns it's wings. Oh, and also love and happiness spreads to all corners of the world. And little birds swoop joyfully through the blue and sunny sky. Please buy my book for the birds. Thank you.
But that's my style. 🙂
Just a more human touch, that's the ticket. I think.
Okay, I'm done. 🙂
Anonymous says
Part of the consideration of privacy is also time and the pressure to be "socializing."
Some writers are able to socialize without it cutting into their work and it comes more naturally to them and it can be balanced.
For others, it seems to eat up all their time and accomplishes nothing other than to make them look often like puppets of the trend for this sort of thing.
As has been pointed out, promotion of the work is different than the socializing networking twittering, ad nauseam. And I think, with the pressure that (especially new or unpublished) writers feel (i.e., that they must social network), that it is important to stand back and evaluate their involvement before they throw themselves out there, time wise or privacy wise.