Writing and Social Media: Trying to Keep My Head above Water

            The Internet has changed many aspects of our lives.  Social media, in particular, has turned the world upside down.  As a writer looking for ways to showcase my work and “build my brand” as many writing experts would say, it can be a bit overwhelming.  There are so many different websites at one’s disposal – Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Wattpad, Goodreads, Pinterest, and the lists goes on.  It seems as soon as you learn about one site, a new one comes along.  Just this past weekend, I discovered another website for writers called Tablo.  I only learned of them because they apparently liked one of my tweets.  I did take a quick peak at their website to find out what they were about.  It seems interesting, but at this point I’m not sure I want to join another social media website.  I don’t want to be inundated with having to keep up with multiple website profiles and posting, along with my blog.  I do have a full-time job, which I actually get paid for, to pay my bills. 

            I do, however, think it is important to explore all possibilities when it comes to sharing your work, finding an audience and building a name for yourself.  There are multiple avenues to get your work out that didn’t exist twenty or even ten years ago.  It is all about finding what works for you.  I recently joined Wattpad.  At first I thought Wattpad was just for fan fiction writers, until I learned that Wattpad covers many different genres of writing.  So far I have read some good writing, and received feedback on some of my poems.  I’m interested to see where this will take me.

            On the other hand, there is always the question about what you want to post online.  Many literary journals do not accept previously published work, including work that has been posted online.  There are some journals who give exception, such as work posted on a personal blog.  Others have no exception – if it can be found online, it is considered “published”.  This presents a dilemma as to what you should post if you want to submit your writing to literary journals.  I have come up with a balance approach.  I post some of my best writings online and others I keep offline for submissions.  So far I have leaned toward keeping what I considered my “top” poems offline, because I want to make good impressions when I start submitting to journals.  However, at the same time I don’t want to post mediocre poems on my blog or elsewhere.  I think my online audience deserves to see my best work as well.  Whether this approach will work, only time will tell.

            I’m sort of new to this, but I am learning as I go along.  I’m sure I am not the only one out there trying to stay afloat in the writing and publishing world.  Yet I refuse to let it get me down and will keep pushing and posting.  Have a good day and look out for my new poetry posting.