KATHLEEN O'DONNELL
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If A Writer Falls In The Forest

8/23/2013

3 Comments

 
Picture
Is it pathetic to check every say, five minutes or so, to see if anyone "likes" you?

I already know the answer, but that's where I'm at these days. 

Now don't misunderstand, every time I get a new "like" on my author Facebook page I'm excited, grateful. Time is a precious commodity, so when someone chooses to spend some with me, however fleeting, it's a pretty big deal.

But, I wish it didn't have to go this way.

Getting a book published these days ain't what it used to be. Back in the day, writers wrote, agents found one of the six major publishers to take your book and publishers published...and then sold your hardback book to giant bookstores and distributors, then the paperback. 

Now, a writer writes, an agent (that is, if you even have one) finds one of a kajillion publishers to take your book (after multiple rejections from the major six and most of the other kajillion) the publisher publishes in e-book and paperback only and the writer tries to sell their own book in cyber space cause there are no more giant bookstores and distributors. 

So, here I am, in cyber space where it is surprisingly crowded...considering it's space and all. Throw in the self-published  - who pretty much corner the market on outrageously successful self-promotion - and it's a free for all.

I feel like I've been thrown into the roller derby with one skate. 

I'm getting killed.

I don't understand most of what's happening out here.

What the hell is this? TYSM @aWRITERchick Happy LOVE @Awannabeangel @BobbeBrooks_ @Angie_Mac @managementbrad @Etibom |||> Be a @JoYAmbassador

You probably recognize it as a tweet. A tweet with a bunch of hashtags. 

Aren't hashtags what your mother warned would get left in your underwear if you didn't wipe? Did I miss something?

I don't understand that tweet. My eyes cross. I start to sweat. Worse, there's five hundred more where that came from. I simply can not read them.

What's a Vine?

Pinterest is what?

I've got to have a deep well filled with clever, timely, and hopefully illustrated "stuff" to post on my Facebook page. I've got to wrack my shrinking, overloaded brain for pithy, funny and wise observations to blog about. 

Oh...and my second novel. I've gotta write that too. 

I realize this all sounds ungrateful. Which is the exact opposite of what I am. 

I just can't help but wish for a simpler time when writers shut themselves in their rooms with a bottle of whiskey, a carton of cigarettes and some aspirin. 

Writers were read, not seen. 

You could be a hugely successful writer and a complete recluse.

Then, I realized...

In order for anyone to know, or care, that you're a recluse - they've got to first know who you are.


And, we're back to square one.



3 Comments
William Martin link
8/23/2013 04:56:51 am

Color me pathetic. I actually get a bit depressed when my 'likes' lay stagnant and I find out my own daughters haven't stopped by my site.

Used to be isolation with an occasional acknowledgment from live people. Now it's isolation with mysterious 'likes.' There should be a way to 'like' a person who 'likes' you. Maybe the reciprocity would help.

Reply
Kathleen
8/23/2013 06:51:34 am

Well, you can click on your Likes button and it takes you to another screen where you click on Likes again and all the people who liked you will come up. You can get to their pages like that. I get people who Like my page and then message me asking for reciprocation. But if you have a lot of followers, it's really hard to actually follow hundreds of people, unfortunately.

Reply
William Martin link
8/24/2013 02:01:18 pm

And therein lies the rub. "Reciprocity." I just want to like someone and appreciate and admire their creativity and/or real friendship. If they like my stuff, then I appreciate a thumbs up or a private email, but it shouldn't be about tit-for-tat. The more it moves in that direction the less 'real' it is.

But I also recognize that the world, the 'cyber-world' is what it is.

Maybe there's a way to recognize the one within the other so that real meaning comes from it.

But I know I'll have to become much more techno-savvy to figure that one out. At least with some people.


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  • Home
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