Carol Kilgore: Balancing Social Media

Today, I have a special guest, the lovely and talented award-winning author, Carol Kilgore. She is here to share with us her social media experience. When she's not busy writing, you can find her here: website . blog . facebook . twitter . goodreads . amazon. Take it away, Carol!

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Hi, Lynda! Thanks so much for having me at your blog today. It’s still winter in San Antonio, and it’s great to find a touch of summer here with you.

I’d planned to write about writers and social media, but I had so much to say it was turning into a full-length article complete with subheadings, bullet points, and a sidebar feature. So I dropped back and regrouped to try for a more personal touch – my own social media experience.

Four years ago, I started my blog, Under the Tiki Hut. Blogging has been a totally rewarding experience, and I’ve met so many fabulous people. Present company included, of course :-)

Two years ago. I made a big leap into Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Google+, and Pinterest – all at the same time. I advise not doing such a stupid thing. The learning curve was huge.

Google+ and Pinterest fell by the wayside. I’m still signed on, but I don’t participate.

And after all this time, I still don’t have a good handle on Goodreads. I hate to say this, but as much as I love the site, I’m there pretty much in spirit only. I need a Goodreads Fairy Godmother to totally handle my presence there because I simply do not have extra time. I could spend my reading time at Goodreads, but that would kind of defeat the purpose. See my problem?

Where do we draw the line so we still have time to write and read and have a family life?

The only answer I know is that the line will be different for each of us.

For me, the answer is this. I spend my social time almost exclusively on my blog, Facebook, and Twitter. In that order.

I like that I can do a lot on Twitter in a short amount of time. I don’t like the feeling of tweeting into a vacuum.

I like that on Facebook I’m almost able to make the same kinds of connections I make on my blog but with much less time and effort. I don’t like that Facebook doesn’t send my posts to everyone’s news feed.

A good friend of mine is very tech savvy (I’m a techie idiot). And she knows much about networking and social media. When I decided to join Facebook, she told me I needed an author page as well as a personal profile. I balked. She insisted. And she won.

So for two years, I’ve posted the same type of posts on each one and struggled with how to make the two different from one another. And I think I finally found a way. Time, of course, will tell.

Beginning February 1, my author page is now devoted to all things Book. We’ll chat about reading, favorite books, favorite authors. I’ll post new releases from authors I know. I’ll talk about my books, give some story behind the story and inside info on new releases. And the first Tuesday of each month will be a “Tuesdays Are Texas” feature. All my books are set in Texas, and I will post photos and tell things I know about the place or event or whatever the photo is about. All posts will be short. Everything will be open to comment. You’re invited to chat with me and with each other. And to post on the page.

My personal profile/timeline (and see, I still don’t know what to really call it) will be devoted strictly to writers. Same rules apply except my posts will be something related to writing or something I find so funny I just have to share. Mostly my ‘posts’ will be one-liners about a shared image.

My goal is for both page and profile to become totally interactive and destinations for readers and writers. I say ‘destination’ because Facebook won’t supply my posts to everyone’s news feed. The trick will be for readers and writers to add my sites to their favorites and remember to visit every once in a while.

Sure it’s a gamble, but it costs me nothing except a little time. Will I succeed in reaching my goal? I have no idea. But it’s better than muddling around like I’ve been doing.

So my best advice to you?

Try anything and everything. The established places like Facebook. Newer places. Places no one knows about yet. Find what works best for you.

And above all else … do it your way. Be yourself – your individual, unique self.

How do you handle social media? What works for you?

I hope you’ll share your secrets and give me new ideas to ponder.

And while you do, I’m sneaking off to the beach to dig my toes into some warm Aussie beach sand :-)

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No home. No family. No place to hide. For Summer Newcombe, that's only the beginning.

The night Summer escapes from a burning Padre Island eatery and discovers the arsonist is stalking her, is the same night she meets Fire Captain Gabriel Duran. As much as she's attracted to Gabe, five years in the Federal Witness Security Program because of her father’s testimony against a mob boss have taught her the importance of being alone and invisible.

No matter how much she yearns for a real home, Summer relinquished that option the night she killed the man who murdered her father. But Gabe breaks down her guard and places both of them in danger. Summer has vowed never to kill again, but she's frantic she'll cost Gabe his life unless she stops running and fights for the future she wants with the man she loves.

Available at Amazon
Kindle and Paperback

A missing belt. Buried treasure. And a sexy former SEAL who makes her crazy. What more could any woman want. Right?

U.S. Coast Guard Commander Taylor Campbell is on a quest to unearth her uncle’s buried treasure. There’s one other minor glitch. She's certain the buried treasure was all in Uncle Randy's dementia-riddled mind. Now he’s dead.

Jake Solomon is in Rock Harbor under false pretenses. He doesn't like the charade, but if he doesn't follow the plan, his dad will make Jake's SEAL training feel like a day on the monkey bars in kindergarten.

Jake is definitely not supposed to become involved with her. That was his first mistake.

Available at Amazon
April 2, 2013
Kindle and Paperback

7 Ways to Cut Back Without Losing Out

Last week I explained how social media can be both a great investment and a drain on our time. I also explained how to find a balance with social networking and other priorities. This post will offer some specific ways you could cut back on that social media time without losing out on all the great things it can offer.

1. Be selective with your media of choice. You don't have to be everywhere or do everything in social media. Pick your favourite/s and do them well. The rest you can either ignore or use maintenance mode (see the next point).
2. Use maintenance mode. This is what I call doing the minimum to maintain the following you've already built. I use this mode for Twitter by acknowledging any retweets, new followers, or mentions I happen to get. Although I will always follow back if someone follows me, I tend not to seek new followers or conversations here. This way I maintain my numbers and have more time for other priorities.
3. Use email alerts. Most social networking sites offer customisation in email alerts so you don't even have to visit the site to know what's been going on. For Facebook, I've set my alerts so I know when someone has tagged me, written on my wall, or posted in my favourite group.
4. Maintain no more than one blog. I used to maintain two blogs aimed at completely different audiences. Time inevitably became an issue so I had to choose. This turned out to be a good thing because my readers no longer had to guess which blog to visit.  Note: if you have old blogs that you no longer maintain, make sure you remove the address from your profile.
5. Reduce the number of times you post on your blog. When I first started blogging I posted every day. I reduced this to Monday-Saturday and again to three times a week. I currently post twice a week which seems to work best for me. I'd suggest if you are trying to build a platform then three times a week is the best number without overdoing it. The absolute maximum is once a day and the absolute minimum is once a week (unless you state you're on a break).
6. Cut back on personal responses. I used to always give a personal response in the comments to everyone who commented on my blog. While I will always visit the blogs of those who have taken the time to visit mine, I've had to cut back on the personal responses to their comments. Even though I know a couple of people come back to read those responses, I'm not convinced everyone does. I know a few bloggers who don't respond at all to their comments and they don't seem to have suffered. I would love to hear your opinion on this issue.
7. Cut back on blog visits. This point is the most obvious time-saver, but also the most difficult. However, it's also necessary if you follow more than 200 blogs. I follow more than a thousand blogs so obviously it's impossible to visit everyone every day. I've had to become highly selective. I will always try to visit my favourites, my new followers, my commenters.

Can you think of other ways of cutting back on the social networking time without losing out on its benefits?

Platform Building

What is a platform?
There has been much weeping and gnashing of teeth since the days when writers just wrote. We can no longer stay in our artistic dream dimensions to weave genius into our words. We have to step out from our creative cocoons and tell the world we have arrived. So, what is a platform? It’s all the relationships we form and all the things we do to announce our presence to the world.

Why do we need it?
We need a platform because the hard reality is we must prove to publishers our work will sell. We need to show them we have the know-how, the connections, and the motivation and drive to do what it takes to sell a book. And we need to do it before we start to query. The sooner the better because it takes time to develop relationships.

How do we build it?
There are many ways to build a platform. A popular, effective, and inexpensive way is to plunge into social media. Blogging, Facebook, Twitter, and forums are all free, fun, and informative. The writing community is a generous one, full of wonderful people willing to help each other out. The main thing we need to remember, though, is that social media is about the relationships. This means the benefits of the connections should run both ways. Give back. Be generous. Offer people help, advice, encouragement. If you promote other people’s work as much as you promote your own, then it will become a rewarding experience.

Another way of building relationships and finding connections is to get involved. Join your local writing group, attend writer’s conferences, offer to teach writing or take part in speaking engagements. I’ll be attending the Sydney Writer’s Festival in May. Send me an email if you’ll be in the area for it.

How have you built your platform? When did you start? How important do you think it is?


Note: This post is part of the A-Z Challenge. To learn more about the challenge click the image on my sidebar.

Reminder: Please vote for my blog here. I’ve entered it into the bonus People’s Choice Award as part of the Sydney Writers’ Centre Best Australian Blogs Award 2011. My blog is listed under W.I.P It: A Writer’s Journey -- Lynda Young.