This blog post is not going as I had anticipated, but sometimes you have to follow your muse where it will lead you and not force it into any creative corner. Yesterday I attempted to set up a Twitter account. I say attempted because about 64% through the set up process (according to the helpful indicator), Twitter froze my account.
You see, in Twitter’s efforts to make my signup a breeze, the program actually suggested that instead of using my own birth date for my account, I use the anniversary of my company or something similar. Since my Twitter account is supposed to be for promotional and not personal purposes, I thought it was a good idea and put down the date of my WordPress blog. Twitter had forgotten to mention that you have to be thirteen years or older to have an account. So upon entering the date of my first blog, it detected an underage user and suspended me. Now I will have to jump through a series of hoops to get the account unlocked, and my suspicion is that no one is actually going to be working at Twitter until after the first of the year.
All of this frustration and anxiety because of the cutthroat world of publishing we live in. If you are an aspiring author like I am, this probably sounds familiar. It’s not enough that I might be a fabulous writer (or maybe I’m actually horrible, and no one has had the moxie to tell me). In order to be published, I need a gimmick. I need an audience. I need something that will make an agent and, later the publishers, take a chance on me.
I started this blog in November, then did more research and realized that most bloggers cross-post on different social media platforms. Yet I only had WordPress and Facebook, and neither of them have been garnering many followers. So I took the plunge and opted to start a Twitter account, and this is what I get for my troubles. It’s enough to make one an Ebenezer Scrooge on this night before Christmas Eve.
But instead of dwelling on the negative, I want to take a moment to reflect on my blessings. I have gained 18 followers since November, and hundreds of views. Considering some bloggers have generated 100’s of followers in several months, I realize it’s not that much, but it’s something. So I wanted to give a shout-out to all of you for liking my work enough to follow me. I hope you will continue to stick with me during the new year.
I’m currently looking for beta readers for my first manuscript, and I’m half-way through a second one. I’m going into uncharted territories with these projects, but I hope to have favorable experiences, regardless what happens. Hopefully, I will have some more information to tell you concerning my manuscripts in the weeks to come.
I also have a question for you readers. What have you done to generate followers and views on your blog? Is there some trick that I am missing? Perhaps I’m using the wrong tags? Or do I simply need another social media account? If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment. I would be most grateful!
And thanks again for reading! Have a very Merry Christmas!
Peruse and Muse 