How do authors use social media sites?

Posted on October 9, 2011 in Uncategorized

In the last 18 months, the number of authors who can be found on Twitter and Facebook has boomed. The gap between authors and their fans has shortened dramatically, allowing instant responses to work and strengthening the relationship between both parties. With this in mind we asked a self-published author to describe how he manages his social media profiles and whether or not it has influenced his writing.

Stephen Faulds is the Australian self-published author of the e-book Landscape. Here are his responses to our social media questions.

Self-publishing involves a lot of self-promotion – how do you balance your writing and social networking?

With difficulty. I begrudge the time I have to spend promoting my work. My twitter activity has almost reached addiction levels and my writing output has decreased significantly since I became self-published.

Do you feel that social media (like Twitter always being ‘on’) detracts from your work or even your creativity?

It most definitely detracts from output but it has other advantages. It does stimulate creativity and facilitate networking. The trick is to shut it down when it really is time to get back to writing. I sometimes tweet my frustration as #twitteraddictsanonymous.

Do you feel it is important for self-publishers to interact with their readers – are authors who don’t embrace technology and social media jeopardising themselves?

Whatever works best for you. I love interacting with readers but it can be time consuming. I am sure there are a lot of writers who do very well without any direct communication with readers. Of course for the mega successful it becomes impracticable.

How do you feel the author’s role has changed in the last 10 years?

We no longer see publishers and agents as the final arbiters. We have begun to take responsibility for our work. We need to become increasingly adept at editing our own manuscripts and selecting our target audience.

Do you have a bit of a persona as an author that you project to your readers through using social media, or is it all one and the same?

I try to be real. I write in a variety of genres so I guess that makes me a bit schizoid.

Would you change anything about the self-publishing process?

Yes. I would develop amazingly simple and effective software compatible with every font and format so we can just upload our manuscripts as they are.

Your e-book Landscape is a travel novel; do you think that blogging has changed the way people perceive this genre?

I didn’t consciously write Landscape as a travel novel. I love travelling and it is a bonus to be able to set my novels in fascinating places. It is interesting to be able to connect back to those places through the social media network. I think it forces writers to be authentic. No matter how well you research a place you haven’t visited, you won’t fool anyone who has been there.

What tips would you give to someone who was considering publishing their own work?

Proofread, proofread, proofread and get others to proofread for you. I am currently preparing a fifteen-year-old manuscript for e-publishing. I am amazed at how much proofing and editing it has required.

Could you talk us through the process of having your own web page?
How did you go about designing it/ getting someone to do it – and how do you choose what to put on there?

I took the easy way and used templates from my site hosts. I chose colours and fonts that appealed to me and I chose layouts that were accessible rather than interactive. My aim was to offer as many samples of my writing, photography and artwork as I could. I offer samples of just about everything, including work in progress. I include links to my publications as well as my Facebook and blog pages. I have friends who are brilliant website designers and some time in the future I will commission one of them to create a dynamic, interactive site for me. That will probably be when I get to the stage of having more traffic than I can cope with.

Who do you follow on Twitter, and do you have any examples of authors who are really good at self-branding?

I follow lots of writers and readers but I also follow tweeters in a variety of other interest areas such as photography, football, wine, music etc. I love getting into sequences of personal interaction with other tweeters. Two good self-branding authors I follow are Eden Baylee and Joanna Penn.

Stephen’s work can be found on his website http://www.stephenfaulds.com.