Social Networking Exhaustion

My dual role as both a fiction author and a freelance writer makes social networking somewhat of a tricky thing for me. Not only do I want to use it to market First Visions, but I’m also expected to promote articles on sites that I’m hired for. However, I like to actually use social networking as a break from work as well and catch up with friends and family.

Where do most writers draw the line? Although I talk about my book and writing on my FB page, I haven’t set up a separate author or book page. Right now, I’m going to relegate Facebook to my interactions with friends and family, especially since it’s my favorite place to post pics of my little guys.

I’m a big fan of Twitter for work, especially since I organized Tweeters into different lists. It makes it so much easier to find out book news, publishing tips, etc. The book links every five seconds can be maddening, but I try to check out a few when I can and retweet important author news. When I’m in the mood for mindless celebrity gossip, it’s easy to switch over to my other list.

Goodreads is a recent addition to my social networking list and I REALLY wish I had more time to spend on this site. If my life wasn’t so hectic, I could probably browse for hours on end and never grow bored. As soon as things settle down, I would really like to write more reviews, enter the giveaways and participate in the book groups.

Pinterest is pretty great for craft/home/kid ideas and for sharing my blog posts. I have been asked by clients to pin articles I’ve written for them, but I now only do it if I find it relevant to my boards.

Stumbleupon, Digg, LinkedIn and Google Plus are other social networks I’ve had clients request that I use. I think I would need a clone in order to actually find the time to manage these additional accounts. I have this feel it’s better for both time management and marketing to stick to only a few.

You also hear mixed things on the effect of social networking. Some people get turned off by the SN overload and don’t see a significant number of hits while others are crafty enough to turn their interactions into sales. You’ll find plenty of online advice on this along with pitches to hire “social networking” experts. I would be curious to hear of any experiences with hiring firms that specialize in this type of marketing and if they noticed a significant increase in hits/followers/sales.

Heather's Twitter, Pinterest Profile and Goodreads Account