It Feels Like Peer Pressure Sometimes

[dios4vida]

Hi folks. (Wow, so this is what the Social Media forum looks like...)

So. I'm sure everyone's aware of the publishing industry's view on author blogs. (MAKE ONE! MAKE ONE NOW!) They say it's never too early to build a readership, and if you have a good solid following on your blog we'd loooove to see those pages we'd probably pass on otherwise. So if you're a writer, you'd better be a blogger, too.

I've heard this so many times that I've started feeling like I'm not doing everything I should be doing as an unagented, unpublished author. Sure, I write, I study writing, and I'm still working on getting my foot in the door (without it getting smushed). But I don't blog. I don't have much interest in blogging, I don't have a whole lot of interest to say, and it's taken me so long to get onto a real, productive writing schedule that I worry putting a blogging schedule on top of that would just be too much. Besides, if it's not something I really want to do, I wouldn't enjoy it and neither would any readers.

Which leaves me at a bit of a mental impasse. I don't want to start a blog (though I enjoy guest posting), but I feel like I should if I want a decent shot at getting published.

What is your advice, dear writers/bloggers? What are your personal pros and cons to running a blog? Do you feel that building a platform through blogging is helpful, or should I just stick with writing and start the whole author blog thing when and if an agent suggests I do so?

[Ryan]

Blooooooooging in a traditional sense is a ton of work but it's a good idea to have a place to archive and post your writing. Being able to refer people to a place to read your goodness can help.

There are already too many "I'm trying to get published and need a blog" Blogs out there already so if you do it just do what you can and have fun with it. Life has enough "shoulds" already so don't add another! Your blooooog doesn't even have to be strictly about writing and publishing either so if you have other passions then make it about that.

I sort of keep up with a surfing and fishing bloooog (http://chincurrents.wordpress.com/) and am in the process of updating my general writing blooooog (http://thechinproject.wordpress.com/) so I can start writing a little about my parenthood meanderings. Both blooooogs have helped drive some books sales and traffic to my book's website. It allows me to have a varied web presence without cluttering my book's site with ramblings. All this stuff takes a lot of time to set up and add content so take it nice and easy.....no pressure!

As many people on this forum have stated before, there is no single mold for success. Do what you like and do it well.

[Sommer Leigh]

Last year I would have said there's a lot of pressure to have a blog and it's worth considering.

This year I say, that ship has sailed. Especially if you're not interested in it. Blogging is no longer the "it" thing to do.

The pressure to blog came mainly from pressure to reach out to people, network, and find others not only like yourself, but others who would buy what you're selling. That proved to be a fast way to failure, though. Most of the people who jumped in and stayed in do it for the social aspect and the exploration of ideas. Readership has plummeted, mostly, and blog burn out has been a contagious disease since about January. Blogs are too time consuming if all you want is to build this crazy indefinable platform thing.

I love to blog, but I blogged long before I dedicated myself to the profession of writing and I'll blog long after. There's no platform involved here.

What I can recommend is this - social media has its place, but blogging is just one aspect. I highly suggest investing in SOMETHING, but for you, blogging's not the answer. I suggest Twitter or Facebook or Google+, even Pinterest. Tumblr is an option you might like, but Twitter is probably the least time consuming with the most benefit associated with it.

Because you don't need to build a platform or worry about any of that before you've even finished writing something (my personal opinion only.) But getting connected to industry professionals, authors, and other writers, is beyond rewarding. There are Twitter chats almost daily run by authors, editors, and agents. Many authors run writing sprints you can participate in and then discuss with afterwards. News is shared quickly. And that's just the industry side. Some of the best web moments I've had in the last year have been with other writers (and Bransforumers) on Twitter. In my opinion? Invaluable doesn't do Twitter justice for writers.

My very personal opinion is that we're going to see a shuttering of a lot of blogs this year, especially agent, editor, and unpublished writer blogs. Instead people are going to turn to professional looking websites with a minor blog aspect to them where they can post infrequent updates but also where a Twitter gadget will allow people to connect to where the author/agent/writer/editor/etc can be communicated with directly. Tumblr and Pinterest will replace our need to share cool web stuff with each other. Core blogs will make it out the other side and become "go-to" places for information and discussions, but these will be frequently updated and feature unique content and industry news. Their usefulness will have to quadruple in order to survive. Group blogs are probably going to morph into something else as well.

[Hillsy]

Hehe - yeah I can share that feeling.

###Please note the folowing rant is from a position of near pathological timidity and therefore probably null and void###

Blogging probably sits closest to the "writer as marketeer" analogy. You like writing a blog, great! You churn out post upon post, but no one reads it until you're either a) lucky or b) willing to drive traffic to your blog. Welcome to opportunism over meritocracy. Everyone else is jumping through the social media hoops to get a leg up on other people, rather than just relying on the work itself (which, by the way, may still be utterly astonishing). A lot of people say the social aspect is the important part - the thing is you're still targetting those you want to be social with in order to achieve something. That's still media, straight and true.

For me the worry is more pervasive than that. I mean networking in general sounds so painfully contrived to the point where I think I'd loathe myself for trying to befriend someone for little other reason than to further a career or opportunity. I mean sure, they may be genuine, fun people (Nathan being a prime example) and who wouldn't want to chum out with them - but there are hundereds of other people, equally as charming and fun and, alas, lacking in the social connections I desire, that I simple don't have the time or inclination. The reason I choose one over another becomes a conscious, self serving decision that is impossible to apply broadly, and thereby contrived. Personally, it makes me feel...icky.

I could't do that without needing a full exfoliation and an acid shower at the end of each and every day - how the hell am I going to cope with the more blatant marketeering jobs required of the modern writer. I heard an anecdote by John Scalzi about standing outside a bookstore he was doing a signing in, cajoling people to come inside. I mean I felt physically nauseous just thinking about it

What next? "Come in, be my friend, I'll sign this book for you - Hell I'll let you have it for free if you visit my website...look free books for everyone so you can spread the word and tell your friends......." Ah, we've already got there haven't we......

So then - if you're not Entrepreneurial by nature, is there any point trying to get published at all?

P.S I've just read this back, and yeah a lot of this is exaggerated and extrapolated to the nth degree - but the points, I believe, are still reasonably valid.

[dios4vida]

Thanks, guys, for your input. That's immensely helpful.

how the hell am I going to cope with the more blatant marketeering jobs required of the modern writer.

I feel exactly the same way. In real life I'm quite shy - hush you Bransforumers who met me in Vegas!! - I talk and talk and talk when I'm nervous so I seem outgoing, but I will always choose to stay home and out of the spotlight if I can. I have to work myself up to meeting people and going to social events. And when they're done, I'm more than happy to lock myself in a closet with my husband, books, cats, and video games. I stay home all day, nearly every day, and I just don't get cabin fever. I like being alone, in my home, and meeting people makes me super nervous.

The thought of not only meeting people but having to sell myself to said people - EEK! It's almost enough to make my drop this publishing dream once and for all. If I wasn't so freakin' passionate about books and writing, and if publication wasn't a dream I've had for my entire life, I wouldn't even consider it. But I can't help myself. I can't stop. So I have to plow through, but I have no clue how I'm gonna handle the modern marketing requirements of a writer.

Oh, how I long for the days of the hermit writer...

[MattLarkin]

I think a website is compulsory. A blog is optional.

[CharleeVale]

I have a blog, (Obviously) But I don't stress out about keeping to a schedule. I post whenever I want. It's much less stressful that way!

CV

[Claudie]

So, I've done the blog, and it was fun, but it's a lot of work. Like, lots more than it seems, especially if you're trying to be regular and build a following and all that. And while I know there's a lot of talk around the net about how it's necessary now, I personally disagree. All that time spent writing a blog is way better spent just writing. It's not that blogging is a waste of time. I'm really glad I did it, and hung out on these forums and met so many awesome people. It's great to connect.

I find, though, that I'm much more comfortable with the Twitter/forums format. I can exchange about writing and meet new folks, but if I have to vanish / want a break, it's a lot less stressful. Because people's twitter feed keep going, and this forum is active without me too. Sure, some will notice, but I don't feel like I owe people to be around (which you don't really with a blog, but it gave me that feeling a lot more). And Twitter is such a great way to just exchange a few quick, semi-private hilarious conversations. I adore it. (Of course Brenda you realise I've been trying to get you on twitter since March, so this is me not giving up )

If you don't feel like blogging, don't. It'll be a burden and a stress and it's not worth it. And you certainly don't need it to have a decent chance at publishing.