F. P. Dorchak

Speculative Fiction (New Weird) Author

Social media

Follow Me If You Wanna Live

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The other day, as I was working on my newest manuscript, an action/adventure conspiracy theory, and fielding some tweets and such, it dawned on me in a way it had never really “reached me” that when you gather a following, you’ve created, well, an extended family. And as with your traditional family, you don’t really want to let your family “down” in anything you do. This includes (in the not-exactly-saving-the-world writer life I live, cause I know some are actually saving lives out there…) blog posts, tweets, responding to e-mails, grippin’-and-grinnin’ out in the “wild,” in public, et cet.

Yeah, I knew this on an intellectual level, but it just kinda hit me in a way that made me shake my head as if hit by a haymaker.

It’s not anywhere near like I’m any kind of a household name, but I do have a growing list of followers…and these people—yes, they’re flesh-and-blood people, not just “followers”—are following me for a reason. Now, sure that reason could be “just” to further their own purposes, and that’s fine, but it’s also because they might have found something of interest in me and my efforts—just like with any of you out there. When each of us clicks that “Follow,” I’m thinking many-to-most of us don’t just do it willy-nilly. That we kinda pick people who do something that interests us or aligns with us in some way. So, the reverse is true. That just hit me in a deeper, Zen-like way the other day.

We’re upholding a “public trust,” of sorts. We all are, those of us who publicly perform anything. And it behooves us to do our best in not letting people down with our efforts. Not discounting our audience. Putting forth our best efforts. Caring about what we put out into the Universe.

And then I thought about my work. Good Lord, what would happen were I to actually sell this series of mine…where people were to buy my efforts and actually want to see more?

Again, intellectually, knew all this. Was just experiencing this idea from another point of view.

And, no, I’m not jumping the gun. Just toying with concepts, as I usually do; finally fully grasping the emotional gravity of “just trying to sell a book.” Cause it’s far more than that—just selling books—about making money. It’s about creating relationships. It’s about

People.

Flesh and blood (you know…as opposed to zombies and all that undead rot—not that I’d turn any of them away, either!)

It’s about not letting anyone down with sub-par efforts. Respecting the readership.

That’s what I felt. A kind of far-reaching feel to everything, of an emotion depth extending out into the world. That everything I feel and do about what I read…each and every one of you do, too. You’re not just a stat number, a mere point-of-purchase drone. You’re a person, with real likes and dislikes, troubles, goals—a life—and you’re taking time out of your day to check me out, see what I’m about. Spend some time reading my words. And I need to respect that.

Perhaps I’m overthinking it, but I respect your choice in following me and I deeply thank each of you. I always promise to put my best effort forward, and I thank you for taking the time out of your day to stop by and read my posts, short stories, or novel.

Promotion vs. Promotion

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Spy vs. Spy
Image via Wikipedia

Such an ugly word to some, choiristic (that a word?) angels and bright lights to others. But a genuine concern to anyone who has anything to sell.

How much is too much?

Just yesterday a friend and I exchanged an e-mail on why some booksignings may or may not be getting the quantity of people to them they used to in the past. The topic arose about social media. That now, on Twitter,  Facebook, and you-name-it, everyone knows about everyone’s nosepicking, butt-wiping, teeth brushing habits, so there’s little left to the imaginaton…little mystery left to authors. Many claim social media the cure-all to selling anything, others, like The Red Pen Of Doom, decry diametrically. I am somewhere in the middle, but basically subscribe to the notion that it’s all “word of mouth.” Pick your platform, pick your poison, but I feel it doesn’t necessarily matter what your poison is, if it’s at all interesting to anyone, it will sell. I also believe in the Zen of life, and that applies to everything (so there’s always a Zen reason for why anything may or may not succeed as the owner may wish it to, and that trumps most of this discussion…). Sure, it has to get out there, but that’s where one’s poisonous platforms come into play. Once it’s out there, there simply has to be interest, and I feel basic “backyard clothesline telegraphy” can get the job done just was well as any TV advertisement, YouTube, or tweet. Because it all comes into play when people are interested in anything.

So, while I agree with much of Mr. Red Pen, and greatly like what he has to say, I disagree in that anything can sell anything. There just has to be some kind of a fire lit under it. And I can’t tell you what that fire is. It could your burning wit, your good looks, your eloquence. Your tireless promotional energy. Yes, it could still be Oprah.

Hell, it could even be your powerfully delivered story, characters, and message.

Now, I’m a huge fan of mystery. I realize long ago, I don’t really and necessarily want to know a movie star’s political alignment, nor an author’s brand of toothpaste. We all have our quirks and weirdness, and I don’t think we need to broadcast every little thing about ourselves. I love the imagination, and I love to What-if. I think we all need a little mystery left to our lives, left to our imaginations…these will help fire our imaginations. Imagination is important. It fuels pretty much everything about our lives. We imagine to do better, to go farther, to grow and improve. If every little thing about about every little thing is laid out bared and eviscerated, it can well kill (at the very least blunt) the imagination. An ability not used atrophies. It also takes away the fun, and there’s something to be said for experiencing more fun in our lives…perhaps now more than ever. Deadening our imagination takes away our ability to think for ourselves. Leave a little meat on the bone, for crying out loud, and let your imagination run wild, not your tweets.

So, in summary (I’m imagining myself before a packed lecture hall…), all I’m saying is, is that anything could sell your wares. Literally anything. And that we need to allow mystery back into our lives. Not always going for the explicit the minutiae inundated lifestyle that seems to have overtaken us. I hope to prove this in the near future, but it’s what I truly believe.

In the interests of promotion, I’ll be in Longmont, Colorado, April 13th, for an en masse booksigning at the Longmont Public Library. I’ll be signing my novel, Sleepwalkers. Hope to see you there!

Also, in interests of promotion, I’ve created a new blog site, called Reality Check. We’ve all had weird things that have happened to us throughout our lives, so I thought I’d try a new site to handle this stuff, which greatly interests me, ever since I was a wee lad, and which factors in my fictional work.  I’m preferring to make this a positive site, not about the dark and the nasty.  There’s enough of that out there. This site is about the GOOD in life. Please check it out!

Just had this epiphany after having posted this earlier today (and maybe it’s not new to you, but it just hit me while I was washing lettuce in the kitchen sink): what if the real secret to utilizing social media in selling anything is not so much sellers and authors using it…but customers? That it’s in the customers’ best interests to FB and tweet the hell out of their praise for an item, since so many get upset at people sell their wares on Twitter, by e-mail, and perhaps even FB?

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for taking the time to read my posts!