I have been thinking a lot lately
about social networking, Twitter and Facebook, mainly and have been given to
wonder, how did authors sell books before these options existed?
Margaret Mitchell, Harper Lee,
Shirley Jackson, and Daphne du Maurier come to mind first. Women writers who
were also very private people and in some cases, introverted, and it would seem
to me that they would be at a distinct disadvantage now. Would they be willing
to blog, to Tweet, to post on Facebook? Would their great works ever be known?
How about the Bronte sisters? Neither one was much for the spotlight, would
Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre be the classics they are if they were published
today?
I spend a good amount of time
every week on social networking and marketing although I am not really skilled
in either one. I don't know the "rules" of Twitter...all the thanks
for the retweets...and what is fair game to retweet? How much time should I
devote to these things when I should be writing?
I took a marketing class several
years ago but I don't remember anything from it, in fact, the only thing I do
remember is how much I hated it.
My nephew is publishing his work
the traditional way, I don't know what that will entail for him in the future
but I am hoping he gets help with his publicity and marketing although he has
more training than I have in these fields and has a natural gift for social
networking...apparently it is not in the "family genes."
I want to write, period. I am not
fond of the editing that I know must be done but I understand that is part of it.
But right now I spend more time doing the things I dislike the most and less time
writing than ever before.
And in this world of obligatory social networking, I wonder of all the great
authors out there that we might never know...
Whisper in the Dark is going on vacation for the month of April! 
