The Monster Has Invaded!

 

   

     It's Halloween and a monster has invaded. It's been slow and insidious, and I'm to blame.  I've invited the species in. They've crept from my computer screen to my brain.  
     I don't mean vampires or parasites or flesh-eating bacteria.
     I mean SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITES.  I want to opt out, but it's impossible.
     I'm a writer and love what I do...when I can do it.  A writer is living in the best of times (for self-publishing) and the worst of times. Too much promotion on social media means too little writing!
     I just attended the annual Florida Writer's Conference.  It was three days of nonstop seminars, information sessions, and networking with dinners and more networking.  Fun, exhausting, and now I'm on information overload.  The monster inside my computer waits for me every day.  "Interact, interact, interact!" it tells me, before I begin writing substance.
     I took twenty pages of notes at the Conference. I already had a website (www.minorleaguemom.com), a Facebook presence (Pamela Carey), a LinkedIn presence, a Goodreads presence, and a Pinterest presence.
     Now I'm supposed to add a Twitter presence.  And post on it four times a day.  And contribute to Goodreads, LinkedIn, and Amazon discussions.  And post a blog at least once a week and answer my loyal followers who respond to my blog.  All of these sites should lead back to my website, where my book is sold.  The website must be updated regularly.
     My work is stored on "clouds" in the sky.  For my new book (ELDERLY PARENTS WITH ALL THEIR MARBLES:  A SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR THE KIDS), I'll need a video trailer that is titillating and informative.  I'll need CD spinoffs and e-book supplements.
     At the Conference I met publishers and agents.  One agent gave me a blank stare when I described my presence on the web.  "How many followers do you have?" he said.
     "Five hundred and a data base of twelve hundred from the sale of my first book."
     "You need 100,000 for national presence.  Why don't you become a spokesperson for a national caregiver or geriatric association?"
     I gave the agent a blank stare.  The monster was creeping out of this man's mouth!
     I know people who are great marketers.  They aren't writers.  I'll do what I can, until I find a publicist who works for nothing.  Halloween will be over soon.