An Old Dog
When you write a book, the result you hope for is simple: you hope that people buy it, read it, and like it. For this result to come to fruition, several things have to happen. I would say the first and most important thing is that the book has to be good, but I can’t say it because it isn’t true. I have one book in mind (won’t mention which one) that in my opinion was horrendous—I couldn’t even get halfway through it—but it sold millions of copies. The reason it sold millions of copies is simple: whether a book is good (or bad) is subjective.
One very true statement is in order for people to buy the book, they have to know that it exists. This means marketing, which includes a presence on social media. My publisher suggested that I get this going well before the release of my book, which I’ve done… well, sort of. I made a Facebook page where I could post my weekly blog. That was pretty easy to do because I’ve been actively using Facebook for years and I’m comfortable with it. Instagram, though? Um, no—I’m not good at that.
I’ve had a personal Instagram account for a while but, honestly, I never used it. I didn’t understand it and being the type of person who finds comfort in familiarity, I avoided it like I avoid people I know in the grocery store when I’m sporting my crazy cat lady look. When it was time to set up an account on Instagram for my writing stuff, I set up the account, made a profile picture, added a picture of my book, and then ran straight back to my Facebook page—ah, home sweet home.
Once a launch date for the book was set, I had to return to alien territory; I had to go back to Instagram. I followed book reviewers. I followed other authors. I followed avid readers. With the help of my publisher’s marketing and publicity team, I have made some of my own posts. I’m learning how to use hash tags, and I’m guessing there are a bajillion of them to choose from.
The photos are a different story. I have developed a severe case of photo-envy. The authors, readers, and reviewers post stunning photos—photos of books in a beautiful green meadow with a Weeping Willow tree in the background; photos of their latest read, displayed on a cozy sweater with a pair of reading glasses, a cup of coffee, and a bundle of what appears to be Baby’s Breath. One reviewer even has a crushed soda can in his photo and it looks fantastic (who thinks of this stuff?). Then here comes Amy rollin’ up with a screenshot or a picture of my laptop and a cup of coffee (totally cropped so nobody can see the mess in the background).
Luckily, the marketing and publicity team took photos with professional equipment; the photos turned out nice and are sprinkled in with my less-than-average-looking iPhone shots. Here’s the catch: I’m not always going to have them to help me, so it looks like I gotta step my game up. I guess I’ll do what I’ve always done—I‘ll learn by observing the pros, looking up tips on the Internet, and keep trying until I’m good (or at least somewhat competent) at it.
Most of the time, even when we have a small amount of talent at something, we don’t get good at it until we do it. When I was writing my book, I paid special attention to the things my favorite authors did in their books; I researched and took two online video courses, but most importantly, I wrote.
As I continue to learn Instagram, you’ll see photos that aren’t aesthetically pleasing. You’ll see hash tags that make absolutely no sense (e.g. #squeakymeowingkitty #stillgotthatchristmasstockinghangingup #oldmacdonald #wheredidthisrashcomefrom?). When you see these things, please bear with this old dog as she learns this new trick. I won’t be offended if, in the meantime, you laugh.
