Farewell to Google Plus

When I published my first novel, I read a lot of advice online about the best way to publicize it. Several people/sites said it was imperative for me to put myself out there on social media so that any potential reader could find out more about me and might be inspired to buy my novels.

As a result, I opened accounts with Facebook, Goodreads, Amazon Author Central, Blogger, iAuthor, Youtube, and Google+. I soon realized that each of these needed to be somewhat different since no one wants to read the same information over and over.

I decided that Blogger would have snippets of my fiction, in addition to actual updates and my thoughts on the world, while Facebook would be more about the novels and general space news.

iAuthor, Goodreads and Youtube are sites where I mostly posted items (names & information about the novels, videos about the novels) and then left them alone. Amazon Author Central was the place to post general information about me as an author, with a picture or two.

Then there was Google+. I wasn’t sure what to do with it at first. All of my blogs automatically show up there, but that seemed a little boring. I did some exploring and found out that a lot of people use Google+ for photos, especially collections of photos, so I decided to do the same. At first, I simply shared photos from others that I thought were noteworthy. After a while, though, I posted a few of my own photos. Eventually I posted a few collections. It was always a good place to find amazing photos of birds, wildlife, nature, beautiful things, etc. I liked how easy it was to explore and find others’ collections. And I had around 42 followers!

Now comes the news that Google+ will no longer be available for non-commercial users like me. This makes me sad. It was one place where I could post little items about something cool I’d seen in Wilderness Park or on the flowers out front or while I was traveling. I wasn’t really an author there; I was just one person among many wanting to share some photos.

There weren’t a lot of ads. If I followed someone, I saw ALL of their posts, not just some. If I wanted to explore, it was simple. If I wanted to share my photos with someone, that was simple, too. Google+ never seemed overbearing or difficult; it just seemed like a nice place to hang out once in a while.

I guess those of us hanging out together weren’t generating enough revenue. Also, Google apparently had a data breach and decided it wasn’t worth it to revise Google+ for added security. Whatever the reason, they’ve decided to end the Google+ product, except for business owners.

I’m not the only one who will miss Google+. I’ve read several posts there as people try to figure out where to move their photos and how to notify their followers (sometimes numbering in the tens of thousands). They’re scattering to the wind; I guess it’s a lot like when you leave high school or college in the “real world”: you realize you won’t be with that particular set of people anymore and won’t see some of them ever again.

I suppose it’s for the best. I’ve met a lot of good people since college. I’m sure I’ll find somewhere else to share and enjoy photos.

But I’ll miss this one. Goodbye, Google+.

On My Own ... For Now

I came home from work this past week to find a message on my answering machine. Before we get to the message: yes, I have an answering machine! No, I don't have a smartphone yet. (Insert amazed gasp from the audience here.)

I guess it's ironic that I write science fiction, which involves changes in technology that I haven't always embraced myself. My characters fly in a spaceship and I'm still using an answering machine. I never said I always make sense!

Anyway, the message was rather hard to understand but it appeared to be a publishing company. This gave me an instant rush of excitement: this was my big break! Next stop, New York Times Bestseller List! Fortunately, I do have some common sense, so I looked up the company online. I then realized it was not a publishing company, but a publishing service. They want me to pay them to format, design and market my book. (I'm not going to name the company since I decided not to go with them.) Thanks, but no thanks.

It made me think, though. If an actual publishing company called, would I go with them? At first, I thought, "Heck, yes!" But then I thought more about it. It's true that my marketing attempts are feeble and would be wildly improved by a national publisher, but that's one of the few benefits they could offer. Right now, I control my future and my novels. No one else has told me how to format the next novel or when to release it. No one else has told me what to blog about or what I need to put on my Facebook page. No one else has told me what my next story should involve. Those are the advantages of self-publishing.

I'm definitely not saying I wouldn't change my mind. If anyone at Tor is reading this, for example, I'd love to hear from you! But you'd better have a very good offer. The one thing a big publisher could do for me is this: they could spread the word and interest a whole new group of readers. I'd like that.

For now, I'm on my own. And that's okay.

For those of you who have been asking, I'm hoping to release the next novel in January. Thanks for your continued patience!

P.S. Happy Flag Day!

Reminder

Please don't forget that my book signing will be a week from today at the Hastings store in Pittsburg, KS, from 1:00 to 3:00. I'd love to have you stop by and say, "Hi!"

I ran around town yesterday and today, getting permission to put up my posters about the event. Most of the people I encountered were very nice. A barista at Starbucks offered to tell her regular customers about me. A man told me his wife's first name is the same as mine and introduced me to the woman running a small bookstore in the mall. A librarian moved a few posters to make room for mine on the bulletin board.

This all reminded me of a fact: I am not just a writer. I am also a marketer, as uncomfortable as that title makes me. I don't have a whole team of marketing specialists writing copy and putting my name out where everyone can see it. It's just little ol' me, setting up a book signing and posting away on the Internet.

But it's really not just me. It's you, too. I can sit at a little table in Hastings with a stack of books beside me, post as often as I can and even stand on a street corner waving a sign with the titles of my novels (although I haven't resorted to that last one yet), but it won't do much good if the word doesn't spread. In that sense, YOU are my marketing team. That's right: you! This doesn't mean you have to get Oprah to read one of my novels. It means that every time you mention one of my novels to a friend or relative, the word has spread that much farther. Maybe that person doesn't want to read my novel, but that's okay; maybe that person will mention it to someone who does want to read it. Maybe that person will mention it to two other people, who will mention it to two or three other people... See how that works?

This doesn't mean I'm going to sit back, put up my feet and wait for the world to rush to my door. What it does mean is this: I'll keep posting to this blog every week, but it's about time for me to start concentrating on writing again. Marketing is important, but it's not why I got into this. I did it because I love to write, so I'm ready to go back to that. I suspect my characters have a few more tales for me to tell!

Thanks for all of your support. I'll be working on the third novel!