The following essay originally appeared in a blog I wrote for Spalding University last spring.  But it seems fitting to repeat it here as I launch the first post on my personal blog:

 

 

A while back, I led two workshops and participated on a panel at a local writer’s conference. One of the workshops was to be a Q&A session on writing for the young adult market. Fully armed with my usual arsenal of craft tips and networking suggestions, I was more than a little surprised to find that my audience wanted to talk about social media and how to make the most of it when marketing their books. Never mind that these books had not yet been published. Some, I suspect, hadn’t even been written.

My initial reaction to this unexpected shift in topic was that I’d fallen into one of those unnerving dreams where you’re on stage, the curtain opens, and you realize not only have you forgotten your lines, but you can’t even be sure what play you’re in. My audience had no way of knowing how woefully remiss I am when it comes to using social media, both professionally and personally. The truth is, earlier this year I finally—and reluctantly—signed up for Twitter. So far I have tweeted only a few times---once to share a favorite mantra: “Fall seven times, get up eight” (Japanese Proverb). Facebook’s daily emails, reminding me that I have “notifications,” feel like a slap on the wrist. I am not staying connected. I am not paying attention. I am, it would seem, a sorry excuse for a young adult author. Let’s face it. Teens live online. This is where they blog about their favorite books, music, and movies, among other things. They are downloading eBooks in record numbers, far more than adult readers. If you want to get the word out about your latest book, social media is the best game in town. Almost all of my friends who write for children and teens are savvy self-marketers when it comes to connecting with their young audiences through cyberspace. I am in awe of their ability to balance their writing careers with extensive self-promotion (a must if one’s voice is to be heard above the clamor of millions of others competing for the attention of teen readers).

These days, publishers of children’s and young adult books expect their writers to engage with their audiences as often as possible through—at the very least—Facebook and Twitter. If you have a trailer for your book on YouTube, even better. Websites—once the go-to place for information on a favorite author, (usually updated and maintained by someone else)—are slowly being combined or replaced with blogs. All of these resources are an excellent marketing strategy for capturing the young adult audience—any audience, actually. But keeping up with them can be exhausting.

While I’m a solitary writer, like most, I enjoy meeting and talking with my readers. Over the years I have spoken at conferences, visited schools, done book signings, and served on panels, all of which are part of being a professional writer. True, this means time away from writing, but it’s also an opportunity to connect with readers on a more personal level. Many authors would argue that this is no different than interacting with their readers through social media. And they would have a valid point.

The dilemma for the solitary writer is, of course, finding a balance between writing and self-promoting in this brave new cyberworld without letting the latter consume too much time and creative energy. I’m still trying to figure this out. In his essay “The Poet as Teacher: Vices and Virtues,” Stephen Dunn observes that “The writer’s burden is somehow to keep alive and vital amid all that’s dangerous and deadening in this world, and this is difficult wherever one is.” He reminds us that Wallace Stevens managed to do it while working in an insurance firm and T. S. Eliot in a bank. To some writers social media is a burden, to others a boon. Either way—like the insurance industry and banks—it’s here to stay.