Finding a Schedule That Works

One of my CP's is going to laugh at me for writing this, but, I'm not a planner. Like not at all. I don't even plan things a day in advance, let alone months. So you can imagine what gearing up for a book release has been like for this non-planner. It's not the sort of thing you can do at the last moment. There's no, "Oh, my book comes out next week. Guess I'll do a couple of things." No, this is a months-long process.

And since I'm not much of a planner, my agent suggested I keep a calendar to keep track of my various social networking and platform building activities leading up to December and my release. So far, the calendar has been great! It's allowed me to see the days/weeks/months right there in black and white and since I'm a very visual person, I can schedule my activities in a way that works for me. I've decided to blog twice a week. I've admitted time and again that blogging isn't my strongest social networking medium. So, I'll blog once a week here, and once at week over at Magic and Mayhem. I'm going to post five days a week on my Facebook page. I LOVE Facebook. The posts can be as short as a sentence or as long as a small paragraph. And I get to interact with primarily readers, which can be really enlightening. I'll pop in and out on Twitter once or twice a day, but I have to admit, being witty in 140 characters or less is really HARD! ;) And I'll be giving away ARC's and jewelry and other goodies on all three social networking sites from August until the SHAEDES OF GRAY release on December 6th.

I have to say, it feels good to have a plan in place and a schedule to go by. How about you guys? Are you the plan-it-out, scheduling sort? Or do you fly by the seat of your pants?

You are Not Alone

I'm a guest over at the Gem State Writers Blog talking about networking and living in a small town. I'd love it if you stopped by! :)

Blog Chain: Are You a Social Networker?

Hey everyone!

I'm still on hiatus, but I'm going to go ahead and start a round of the blog chain. I've been really busy lately and the next couple of months are going to be busier still. I've had a lot to think about since my book sale, one of those things being my platform as an author. So for this round of the blog chain I'm wondering:

Are you a good social networker? What aspect of platform building do you focus on the most? Which aspects freak you out?

I'm incredibly introverted. One on one, I think I do pretty well. My personality comes out with my close friends. But put me in a group and I sort of freeze up. I'm shy. I don't talk a lot. I often find myself hanging out in the fringe where no one will notice me. But with my book releasing this year, my agent and editor have advised me to work on building my platform. Get out into the authorly world. Make some friends, some connections. Put my name out there.

I'm not a very consistent blogger. Mainly because I wonder, what do I have to offer that someone hasn't already covered? I don't tweet very much. I can't ever think of anything witty to say in 140 characters or less. Facebook? Yeah, I post a status update every once in a while. I have a Tumblr account that I've never used and though I read a TON of blogs, I comment on very few.

I think social networking is hard for me because I'm very self-conscious. I'm always worried about what people might think of me. That I'll be snubbed by the cool kids and outed for the socially awkward person I've always thought myself to be. Fear more than anything keeps me from reaching out to other authors, no matter how much I want to join in. One of my friends and CP's said something pretty profound to me yesterday. I think it might be a quote from someone or somewhere, she's good for deep thoughts like that.

"It's none of your business what other people think of you."

Sounds sort of harsh at first. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized she was right. It isn't any of my business. I can only be me. I can't please everyone. I can't always be witty or charming or outgoing. I can only put my thoughts out there and it shouldn't matter what anyone else thinks about it as long as I'm happy with it. I shouldn't be afraid to dive in to the deep end of the social networking pool. I can always tread water for a while until I'm really ready to swim.

I don't focus on one social networking aspect more than any other. Frankly, they all scare the holy living crap out of me. But I figure if I do a little here, and a little there, sooner or later I'll find a rhythm that works and I won't worry so much about what everyone thinks. I can only be myself. And that's good enough.

Be sure to check out Margie's post after mine!