Figuring out the whole social network network...

I recently went to speak to a lovely group of readers in Scottsdale (thank you Diana, for inviting me. I had a great time!) and one of the Q&A's that they found interesting had to do with the life of a writer. If you've read my blog before, you know I work full-time in addition to writing. I'm also a mother, although my kids have reached an age when it's more about keeping track of where they are then anything. Still, sometimes keeping track can be a...well...a full-time job. Then there's the marketing.

Most readers assume that the publisher does all of the leg work in promoting a book. And that may be true for some writers, but for most of it, spreading the word is the writers' responsibility. With the ever changing world, that word spreading can be a challenge.

For example, when my very first book released many, many, many moons ago, the Internet was still in its infancy and only a handful of people knew how to use it. Email was just coming into the spotlight and had yet to change lives and bring the world closer. Social networks weren't even in a twinkle in their PCs eye yet.

Fast forward to today. I have 2 websites I design and maintain (http://www.erinquinn.info/ and http://www.eringrady.com/ ), a blog I try to update regularly, a facebook account, a twitter account and identies on goodreads.com and shelfari.com. I have a myspace account too, but honestly, I hate myspace so I never even go there.

All of these require time to learn, create and maintain. Facebook was easy and I love facebook, but it's taken quite some time to figure out twitter and how to do it and to what purpose. The websites too require some skill, some hit and miss designs, and time to keep it updated.

In the end, I'm always left wondering if I'm wasting my time or it is really connecting me to readers (which is my whole purpose. I love readers. I'm the person craning her neck to see what you're reading when I walk through a park, past a cafe, in an airport. :-)

Anyway, since I just learned to tweet from my phone, I thought, I'd blab about it on my blog.