By now, everyone who’s within wi-fi distance of a device that’s connected to the Internet but shouldn’t be (I’m looking at you, stoves) has heard the phrase “digital footprint.” If you haven’t, then I either envy you or am afraid for you, and I implore you to go sign out of Chrome and clear its history. Like, right now. I’ll wait.
All done? Great. Unfortunately, resetting your browser’s encyclopedic knowledge of your weirdest Wikipedia binges isn’t enough. You’re not your retired aunt who thinks that Facebook is best used as a diary of petty grievances; you’re an author. Your entire business can thrive or die based on your online behavior (or misbehavior).
“But Derek,” you might say after double-checking who wrote this article, “I’m not a business! I’m a person. I’m a person with thoughts and feelings and thumbs that won’t stop itching to chime in on today’s hottest controversies!”
Look, I understand. The Internet has given all of us a platform, and the more crowded that platform becomes, the tougher it is to get noticed. Your job as an author is to cultivate a relationship with would-be customers such that they see your words and want to purchase as many of those words as possible. So why not throw a whole bunch of them at every social media app and see what sticks?
Sometimes, the wrong things stick. It’s easy to forget that the Internet doesn’t forget. You can delete tweets, but you can’t delete strangers’ screenshots of how you type after you’ve skipped a couple of meals. Your low blood sugar may not matter if it’s directed towards a bad episode of a television show, but what if a fellow author jumps in front of your crosshairs?
I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t be yourself, and I’m definitely not trying to scare you away from using the Internet to your advantage. Look at it this way: if you were to leave your phone unlocked around your Evil Twin, what havoc could they wreak with your public-facing accounts?
1. Don’t overshare.
We all like a little mystery, right? Or a lot of it? Or at least enough of it that we thankfully don’t know anything about our favorite author’s childhood skin condition?
Treat your podium like it’s on a first date with your customers. Broadcast what’ll appeal to them and entice them to stick around for more of you. Tell them about what interesting stuff you’re doing, share funny stories – anything that puts your best foot forward. Leave the foot with toenail fungus at home where it belongs (but also, please seek medical treatment for that mess as soon as possible).
2. Don’t respond to reviews.
Have you ever decided to throw caution to the wind and check out a nearby restaurant that isn’t Taco Bell? You don’t wanna throw caution too hard, though, so you look up reviews to ascertain whether other locals agree that Not Taco Bell is worth their cash. Then you discover that, wherever there’s negative feedback, the restaurant’s owner has written a far longer treatise as to why that customer’s terrible experience is actually their own fault.
When readers review your book, don’t be like that restauranteur. Even if their armchair psychoanalysis of your plucky heroine would embarrass Sigmund Freud, the supercomputer from that movie about simulated nuclear war was correct: the only winning move is not to play.
You’ll never please everybody, so when you receive a bad review – and you will – your best course of action is to pluck out whatever’s actionable and use it to better your craft. If a reviewer is determined to hate your work for no good reason, then nothing you can say will change their mind, anyway.
3. Stay out of The Discourse™.
No, I’m not talking only about politics, but addressing the elephant (or donkey) in the room is a major component of this no-no. Over the last decade-plus, I’ve watched artists and writers of all sizes lose work and their livelihoods over loudly declaring support for (or even just clicking “like” on) contentious takes regarding whatever headline everyone was upset about that afternoon.
Which isn’t to say that being upset is wrong or that your opinion doesn’t matter. Your latest novel might even be metacommentary as to today’s most controversial sociocultural topics, and that’s wonderful! I salute your bravery and timeliness. However, just remember how betrayed you felt the last time a public figure who you’d previously adored said something that deeply contradicted your values. Do you want to put your customers through that?
4. Don’t be a Gloomy Gus, Negative Nancy, or an elitist jerk.
All of us can relate to rejection, other people being mean to us, nobody paying attention to our latest six-hundred-page opus, and…actually, maybe that last one isn’t quite universal. On the other hand, we’ve all felt like bragging about our latest accomplishments or declaring that certain books or movies or creators are beneath us and unworthy of our valuable attention.
It’s a cliché, but you really do catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. Granted, with how acerbic social media is nowadays, you will catch flies with vinegar, but it’ll smell bad and feel even worse.
Focus on what excites you, is fun to discuss (without being so snarky that you circle back around to being callous), and what might prompt a potential customer to think, “Wow! That author’s enthusiasm and energy have gotta make them an amazing storyteller. I should buy everything they’ve ever published!”
5. Don’t share content generated by artificial intelligence.
Your Evil Twin wants your books to look like every local dive bar that discovered ChatGPT over the last couple of years. While not everyone is familiar with data centers’ concept of “art,” enough commenters are – and will be very annoying about saying so – that they’ll focus not on what you’re selling but on how you’re selling it wrong. Regardless of how you feel about this controversial topic, it is controversial and will alienate virtual passersby.
In Conclusion
Exercise caution when you’re behind the wheel of your social media accounts. Check your blind spots before you hit “post,” and definitely don’t drink beforehand, either.
– Derek, Forgemaster of Editing
