Stepping Back from Social Media

With all the recent ups and downs on different social media platforms (like The-Platform-Formerly-Known-as-Twitter), the writing on the wall has become increasingly clear to me. Using social media as the prime way to send out updates on my blog is becoming more and more problematic. Even Facebook, which has long been my main way of getting the word out, is no longer dependable. Its algorithms choose what people see or don’t see. I’ve seen a real dip in the number of people clicking through to see what I’ve written, and I don’t think it’s because my writing’s become that much worse.

Does this mean I’m going to abandon Facebook altogether? No, but it does mean that I’m trying to transition over to having more people interact directly through my blog, instead of waiting to see posts when the Social Media Gods decide that it’s time to show them.

With this in mind, I’ve made new blog pages more streamlined toward inviting comments. I’ve also added a subscription page on my website. There are two basic options. I’m starting a newsletter focused on just my writing. It’ll go out two to four times a year, and is aimed at people who want to stay up to date on my books. There’ll be coupons (once I get my store up and running), deleted scenes from books, a discussion of what’s coming next, where I’ll be appearing. Stuff like that.

The second subscription option is for my blog. Every Wednesday (if I’ve done this right), subscribers will get an email that includes links to each of my new blog posts, along with the title and the first fifty words or so. This way, people don’t have to rely on an RSS feed. They can just sit back and let the content come to them.

Social media will continue to change. I don’t want to be dependent on any one platform, and the sooner I start making the switch, the better off I’ll be.

Anyway. That’s all the news I’ve got for you today. Happy to answer any questions if you’ve got them. In the meantime, if you’d like to subscribe, please do!