Lemon Poundcake Shenanigans

 JENN McKINLAY: Social media can sure feel like a giant cesspool, but every now and then a little gem comes along that entertains me and reminds me that there are some seriously funny people out there. So, last week as I was harvesting lemons and trying to figure out what to do with them, I came across a dude called Afroman and his song about a deputy who was searching his house and paused to eyeball his mama's lemon poundcake. Naturally, Afroman wrote a song about it.

Now, the stars (read Sheriffs) who were featured in Afroman's video which was posted three years ago, took offense to the video and sued Afroman for defamation. This was where it came across my radar because the court case was bonkers! You can Google the case to find out what happened as there will be no spoilers here! But I will say Sheriff Poundcake's ex-wife was Afroman's lone witness. 

In any event, the whole thing gave me a hankering for lemon poundcake, so I made one! 

Here's the recipe, inspired by Seasons & Suppers but tweaked a bit:

Loaf:

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature

  3/4 cup white sugar

  3 large eggs, room temperature

  2 Tbsp lemon zest,1 large lemon

  1 Tbsp lemon juice

  2 tsp vanilla

  1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

  1/4 tsp table salt

  1/4 tsp baking soda

  1/4 tsp baking powder

  1/3 cup Greek yogurt

  Glaze:

  1 cup icing/confectioners' sugar
  2 Tbsp lemon juice or whatever amount achieves desired consistency

• Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease an 8x4-inch loaf pan.

  2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter with the sugar at medium speed until light colored and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat in well after each addition, scraping down the sides of the bowl, as needed. Beat in the lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla.

  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. With mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the Greek yogurt.

  4. Scrape into prepared 8x4-inch loaf pan and level batter. Bake in preheated oven for 50-55 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

  5. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then run a knife along the edges to loosen and remove from pan. Allow to cool on a cooling rack.

  6.  While loaf is still a little warm, prepare the glaze in a small bowl, adding enough lemon juice to make a pourable glaze. Drizzle on top, allowing it to drip down the sides a bit. Cool completely, then slice and enjoy.

• So, who else watched the Afroman court saga? Or more importantly, who loves lemon poundcake?

What We're Writing Week: Julia's To-Do List

 Julia Spencer-Fleming: I'm at a weird point in the process of seeing a new book into the world (and you'll have to pardon any birthing metaphors I make; my oldest, Victoria, is having a baby this fall, and it's taking up a ridiculous amount of my brain space, considering I don't have anything to do with it.) 

At any rate, the words-on-paper portion of my work is done. AT MIDNIGHT COMES THE CRY has been edited, and copy-edited, and galley-edited. (This is why authors will often say they never want to think about their current title ever again.) I'll kick into high gear again sometime in October and through November, with, I'm sure, some events in December, because we all know books make the best holiday gifts, don't we? 

In the meantime, I'm left working on my To-Do list. It starts like this:

 

1. Have website rebuilt

    1.a  Research current best practices for author websites. What to                       include vs. what's too much? 

    1.b   Get recommendations of web designers

    1.c  Contact and interview web designers

But then I start thinking, wait - what do I want the new website to look like? Remember that discussion on author branding we had a couple weeks ago? Should I use the same fonts as my book covers? (and what are they, anyway?) Do I use pictures of moody Adirondack landscapes? Maybe small towns? Shoot, should I have something that reference the military in there?

So then I go back and start:

 

1. Determine branding - what message to I want to send to my readers?

    1. a  Who are my readers? 

    1. b   What are the three/four words they use for my work?

    1.c  Do I need a tag line? Is that old fashioned? Oh, crap, I'm going to               have to do more research, aren't I? 

And of course, if I have a brand new website, I want my social media - Instagram and FB - to reflect the same look.  Also, I'm terrible with posting regularly, and that's not going to fly with a new book coming out. I promised Steve the Marketing Guy I'd do a better job. So if I renumber the website stuff to 2...

 

3. Update social media with new headers, etc.

    3. a  Come up with a posting schedule 

    3. b  Don't forget to schedule time to answer readers, comments!

    3. c  What the heck to I post about?  

 

Now I'm thinking I'd better go back to 1. b and add in

1. b. 1  Determine topics based on description words for books

1. b. 2  Figure out what kind of photos and graphic work with the brand 

 At this point, I'm getting increasingly overwhelmed, and I haven't even touched on everything I need to do to revamp and relaunch my newsletter. That's probably going to be points 4 through 6 all by itself.

Honestly, dear readers, this is not what I thought I would be doing when I became a published author. (I also didn't think I'd still be changing the cat pan and mopping the kitchen floor after becoming a NYTimes bestseller, but the life of an author is much less glamorous than advertised.)

Do you ever get overwhelmed by the unexciting but necessary part of your work? And does writing out your to-do list ever make you want to recline with a cold drink, as it does me?  

A Brief Question about Social Media

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I am flying home from Nashville today, and yes, I know those are song lyrics. Do you recognize the song? 

But I’ve been thinking about social media, and how much time I spend on social media, and I think the answer to that is: too much.

Watching funny videos of cats and little kids is incredibly entertaining, but so easy to fall into the rabbit hole of entertainment, you know? When I am supposed to be writing?

And yes, it is really truly fun to see what everyone else is doing and what everyone else's lives are and their coming and goings and ups and downs and successes. And failures, sometimes we hear about those as well.

But how much time is the right amount of time to spend on Facebook and Instagram? And, I suppose, Twitter, if you must.

Can you give me some ideas about how much time you spend on social media? What you do and where’d you go? How’s your use of social media changed?

I will be home this afternoon, and cannot wait to hear what you all say! 

Time of Death by Jenn McKinlay

 Recently, I went through a breakup. It was a standard "it's not you, it's me" situation where I felt that I was becoming someone I didn't want to be and so it was time for me to end it. Before you panic, it's not me and the Hub. He's awesome, we're awesome, we're absolutely enjoying the empty nest chapter of our lives together. 

No the breakup was between me and Twitter. I'd originally joined in 2009 and just had my FB posts repost over there and I literally never ever went on the platform, much like 80% of the population. But then I demolished my FB to make a professional page, and I started to use Twitter and Instagram more regularly. Little did I know how cranky it would make me. Don't get me wrong, there are some spectacularly funny posts on Twitter, which was mostly why I stayed but it's also a real platform of divisiveness and yelling into the void. 

So, I woke up one Saturday, opened up the little bird app, saw all the ranting and raving and performative outrage, and thought Nah.  Then I declared the time of death on my relationship with Twitter and deactivated my account. I didn't plan it. I didn't overthink it. I just tapped out. 

I'd like to say it was like a miracle and I was suddenly more productive and everything was sunshine and buttercups. It wasn't because you can't escape the news. BUT I found my anxiety dropped significantly and the time I normally would have spent doom scrolling, I used to do the projects I'd been putting off like replanting the small forest of draceana I've been growing in front of the arcadia doors (three plants have morphed into eight) and painting the spare bedroom. Yes, technically, I'm still choosing the color but I'm getting there!

Of course, now we have the rise of Snapchat and Tik Tok to contend with and I'm just going to lead with...no, just no! I love my family, friends, and readers, I do, but honestly, I do not want to be connected to everyone 24/7. It's exhausting!

I genuinely believe that there are two commodities that the world will suck right out of you if you let it--your privacy and your time--and I am determined to "reclaim my time" and maintain my privacy because, really, why would I just give it away in a toxic space that does nothing for me except give me the occasional laugh? 

How about you, Reds and Readers, what social media platforms have you had to break up with? How do you manage your time on social media? What do you think the future of all this connectivity is?

Social Media Fatigue: Also WTH is Happening?

 JENN McKINLAY: That's it! If Chrissy Teigen can leave Twitter, so can I. So I did. Last week, I deactivated my Twitter account. When I go to log in, primarily out of habit, what greets me is this:

Reminding me that I no longer belong to Twitter like 80% of the population. Do I miss it? The place where I used to virtually shake my fist at my local politicians and get all in a tizzy? Surprisingly, no. I don't miss it at all. Huh. And here's the important point -- you don't sell books on Twitter. I don't think anyone on Twitter ever went and bought one of my books because I called my representative a moron, so really, what is the point? 

The toxicity is, I daresay, worse than the pandemic. Why would I want that in my life? The truth is, I don't. If I ever go back to Twitter, I will start from scratch and it will be a positive vibes only situation. I simply can't deal with all of this negativity (of which I am also culpable) all of the time. Truly, I think it's making my hair fall out!

But it's not just Twitter. Social media is changing, y'all. The kids who are now in their teens and twenties are all Snapchat and TikTok. Instagram seems to appeal to all ages but is owned by Facebook. Facebook is and has been, by and large, for middle-aged/old people, and Facebook's verified pages have just become a bloody mess. I'll explain.

In December of 2020, I had 14,000 people who liked and followed my professional page. Fast forward to March of 2021, and I have 14,500 people who like my page and 45,000 who follow the page -- where did those new 30,000 followers come from? Did I get elected to office? Win the lottery? Become a movie star? Nope, nope, nope.

Seriously. What the heck happened? I have no idea. My publisher has no idea. And Facebook has no idea. Here's what I do know. Those followers are predominately men from Russia and Africa and South America (assuming their profiles are legitimate) and they like to spend their time replying to the women who comment on the posts I put up on my page with little gems like this: 

Argh! Same dude hit at least four women who commented on a picture of cake (it's always cake) on my page. I thought it might just be me. Like maybe I clicked on some random ad, probably for cake, that opened the trolling male hellmouth and unleashed it on my page. Nope. I checked out other authors' verified pages and they're getting slammed, too. Our Rhys has also seen the weirdness. I then checked out some celebrity pages and the same nonsense is happening on their blue checked pages.

Frankly, social media is looking a lot like the mouse plague in Australia! 

Then my Facebook page got duplicated and the hacker was sending out friend requests using my pictures, bio, and name and offering free books of mine (insert your credit card number here -- but free books!!!! ACK!). Facebook insisted there was nothing wrong. Mother of pearl! You have got to be kidding me. 

My publisher reached out to Facebook and their response was essentially a shrug and a head scratch and a mumble as they exited the room. Really? You can write an algorithm to make sure an ad for dog booties pops up in my feed every three posts, but you can't write one to weed out the trolls? Huh.

All of this is to say, there is some weirdness afoot and I don't think it is going to end well. And because the momentum of social media is like that of a shark - it must stay in motion or it will die - there is now a thing called #BookTok (like #Bookstagram on Instagram) where authors and readers promote books on TikTok and I just have to say...I can't. I just can't. 

You know, I've heard for years that blogging is dead, but I have to say that compared to all of the insanity I am witnessing out there, I love this safe, positive, interesting, funny, charming blog of ours with all my heart. 

So, Reds and Readers, chime in! What weirdness have you seen out there? What sites do you trust? What do you think the future of social media is?

Lastly, please be careful out there! 

Time for the Jungle Reds Social Media Round Up

Okay, so every time I turn around there's a new social media thing-a-ma-jig. Honestly, I'm not sure how we're supposed to maintain all these things all the time and actually get books written, but I digress.

The Reds are all pretty active on various platforms, so I thought I'd update everyone on where you can find us by listing our social media handles and websites. 

Life moves pretty fast, you have to double back every now and then to keep up! Speaking of which, the Jungle Reds will be chatting live with the Poisoned Pen on Saturday, Feb 13th at 2pm MST. Don't miss it!

Readers, hit us in the comments to tell us what social media you're following and also if you have a handle, post it so we can follow back!

Jungle Red Writers 

Website: https://www.jungleredwriters.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jungleredwriters/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jungleredwriters/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/junglereds

Julia Spencer-Fleming

Website: https://us.macmillan.com/author/juliaspencerfleming/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juliaspencerfleming/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliaspencerfleming/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JSpencerFleming

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/julia-spencer-fleming

Lucy Burdette

Website: https://lucyburdette.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LucyBurdette/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucyburdette/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LucyBurdette

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/lucy-burdette

Hallie Ephron

Website: http://hallieephron.com/home/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hallie.ephron/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hallie.ephron/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HallieEphron

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/hallie-ephron

Rhys Bowen

Website: https://rhysbowen.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RhysBowenAuthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorrhysbowen/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rhysbowen

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/rhys-bowen

Hank Phillippi Ryan

Website: https://hankphillippiryan.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HankPhillippiRyanAuthor/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hankpryan/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hankpryan

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/hank-phillippi-ryan

Deborah Crombie

Website: https://deborahcrombie.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deborah.crombie

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deborah.crombie/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/deborahcrombie

BookBub:  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/deborah-crombie

Jenn McKinlay

Website: http://www.jennmckinlay.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JennMcKinlayAuthor/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mckinlayjenn/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JennMcKinlay

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jenn-mckinlay

Bad Breakfast Choices by Jenn McKinlay

Jenn McKinlay: I remember the exact day it happened four years ago. It was early morning. I was running on no sleep and feeling rather sad as my father had just passed away. I couldn't manage to get it together to eat breakfast before I needed to go do the things I needed to do that day so I grabbed a fistful of red, white, and blue peanut M&Ms and decided that was breakfast. As a joke, I snapped a pic and posted it to my social media account with the hashtag #badbreakfastchoices.

Little did I know that the post would become so relatable! Turns out a lot of people make #badbreakfastchoices or IMHO very good breakfast choices and they love to share them in the comments, which cracks me up!

Naturally, #badbreakfastchoices became a thing. So much so that a few years ago a friend sent me this very apropos mug. Yes, it's my fave!

Being the author of the Cupcake Bakery Mysteries has certainly helped give me reasons to keep eating...er...researching my passion for dessert for breakfast, including this lemon-lavender cupcake which was a bad breakfast choice from 2018 - soooo good!

I have also pulled my fam into my love of inappropriate dessert shenanigans. My nephew Austin scouted a place in Massachusetts with donuts as big as our heads. Amazing! Of course, donuts are perfectly acceptable for breakfast, but do you see the size of this thing? It is clearly meant to share. Spoiler: I did not share and ate the whole thing!

Yes, I'm quite sure literary historians in the future will clamor to discuss the meaning of my hardcore breakfast-dessert eating just as they opine about Sylvia Plath being a bee keeper, Emily Dickinson a baker, and Flannery O'Connor an aviculturist (she was partial to pea hens and peacocks). 

In looking up the hobbies of famous authors, I have to admit I was disappointed that we didn't have social media back in the day. I really wanted to see Sylvia Plath in beekeeper's garb and Emily Dickinson covered in flour. Ah, well...

So, what about you, Reds and Readers, what are your go to #badbreakfastchoices? 

Avoiding the Rabbit Hole aka Procrastidoodling by Jenn McKinlay

JENN McKINLAY: 

First, the winners of Leslie and Ellen's books from Wednesday are:

Chris (cking78503 - send you rmailing address to jennmck at yahoo dot com) -- Death al Fresco by Leslie Karst!!!
Anne Mason (send your mailing address to jennmck at yahoo dot com) -- Mardi Gras Murder by Ellen Byron!!!

It all started with an upgrade to my cell phone. One of the new features was a weekly accounting of how much screen time I was accumulating. When the first numbers came up, I thought it had to be an exaggeration or maybe the cat was using my phone when I was asleep. Because, surely, there was NO WAY I was racking up four hours a day online. How could that be when I only use my phone for quick research questions and occasional forays into social media. Yeah, those forays were turning into bottomless pits, and I was sinking fast.

My book came out this week, so it's been
higher than normal - I swear! 

I started to pay attention to my time management and realized that I slid over into the Twitterverse, Instagramlandia, FacebookNation, or, heaven help me, Redditdom, whenever the words got hard. So, on a good day that’s every other paragraph and on a bad day it’s every other word. It occurred to me that I needed to find something to do that would stop the auto response of Gosh, writing is hard work so I’ll avoid it by hitting the cyber water cooler. 

First, I tried eating, because of course I did. I wore a path from my desk to the pantry and back. After a five pound gain from a steady diet of Cheez-its and Oreos, I decided this was not the best laid plan. Then I thought I’d do some yoga, get my chakra aligned and learn to focus. What I learned was how to nap, sitting up, in the lotus position. This called for desperate measures, which meant, you guessed it, cleaning.

While trying to avoid a slip and slide journey into the Interwebs, I decided to clean my desk. I found a cache of little used gel pens from some Christmas card project years ago. I was certain they must all be dried out. I tested each one by drawing a line which turned into a scribble that morphed into a doodle. Ah ha! I knew I had found my new stop gap from falling into the electronic rabbit hole. When the words got stuck I would use my happy glitter pens to doodle. I thought about getting a coloring book but I know me. My oppositional defiance disorder, a very mild case, didn’t like to have to stay within the lines so doodling was most def the way to go.

Jenn's procrastidoodling

So, here I am a month and a half later with a notebook full of a doodles AND a daily screen time total that is less than half of what it was. I’m down to one and a half to two hours per day of screen time. Huzzah! I don’t know how long the doodling will keep me occupied but so far so good.

So, how do you stay out of the cyber rabbit hole, Reds and Readers? Or have you just embraced the free fall?

Reach Out and Touch Someone

INGRID THOFT

Earlier this week, my husband called from the car during his commute to say that our friend Jonathan had just been interviewed on NPR.  It’s not unusual for him to be on NPR or TV news shows in an expert capacity, but as I brought up the interview on the web, I realized it had been over a year since I’d been in touch with Jonathan.

We’re not the kind of friends who talk every day, every week, or even every month, but a year?  That’s way too long.  I’m busy, and he’s busy, and the world is chaotic right now, but that’s all the more reason to reach out to our friends and family, even if it’s just a quick text or private message on social media.

So I’m challenging everyone today.  If you’ve been thinking, “I really need to be in touch with so-and-so,” today is the day.  Who is that person, and can you reach out to them before another day begins?

DEBORAH CROMBIE: What a great idea, Ingrid. I've been really bad at keeping up with people this year, especially my dear friends on the other side of the Pond. So I'm happy to report that in the last couple of days I've made plans to see many of my UK friends (when I'm not writing, of course!) You are so right—we need those connections now more than ever.

HALLIE EPHRON: This is why I love Facebook—it's easy (and so non-invasive) to refresh a contact with friends who hang out there. And I was just thinking about Christmas cards, and the time may be right for reviving my habit of sending them.

JENN McKINLAY: A couple of years ago, I made a New Year's resolution to have lunch/coffee/dinner with every friend I'd lost track of and I did. It was lovely but...life. I have come to accept that I can't hang on to everyone so I've lost touch with a few friends. Now I randomly text people when they pop into my head. It's the best I can do at the moment and it works because it's the best most of my friends can do as well. When did we all become so busy?

RHYS BOWEN: This is so true! While I'm great at keeping in touch with family, I realize I have dear friends whom I should call more often. I'm so glad when I do call them or see them in person but life seems so busy that I forget how important people are to me. That's one of the reasons I'm so grateful to be part of JRW. At least I talk to you ladies every week!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Ingrid, this is so increasingly important to me. Seems as if our lives are going by so quickly, and there’s no time, and we figure, oh, I’ll catch up with that person soon. And soon never comes. I always think about how semi-complicated it is to keep friendships strong—even conversations, well-meaning and affectionate as they are, are so brief and shallow. Sometimes, after a dinner or party or whatever, I’ll say to Jonathan, “Did anyone talk about anything real?” But those kinds of conversations are not instant, and only can come with care and time and attention.  And I am as guilty as anyone of having my life go by so fast that those connections falter.  Yes, yes, I promise to do better. Thank you, dear Ingrid. You are so wise.

It's your turn.  Who are you going to be in touch with today?

Judy, who loved Replique perfume, you've won a copy of Ellen Byron's new book.  Send me your mailing address at ingrid@ingridthoft.com.

Social Media Check In

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Dearest readers, we here at JUNGLE RED WRITERS do our very best to stay connected with you, and we would love to add new readers to our community. But that connectedness seems to get more and more complicated, so we thought we would ask YOU what sorts of social media you are using on a regular basis.

We all know there's been lots of hullaballoo about FACEBOOK lately (no need to rehash that!), but has it affected how much you're using FACEBOOK, if you do? Do you follow author pages, or blog pages?

What about INSTAGRAM? We're hearing that INSTAGRAM is the future, but it works in a very different way from FACEBOOK, so we are trying to figure that out. I know I started using INSTAGRAM just for fun--I mean, who doesn't like looking at, or posting, pretty pictures? But I had no idea what I was doing, and am now trying to take it a bit more seriously. Turns out it's a bit more complicated than it appears, especially in terms of reaching readers.

And then there's TWITTER. Who uses TWITTER? If you do, do you find new authors, or books, or blogs that way? I have to admit that my TWITTER account lies pretty much fallow. It is just not my cup of tea, and I find even looking at my Twitter feed gives me a headache.

PINTEREST, like INSTAGRAM, I started using just for fun, but I am surprised at how many people pin my pins. I have no idea, however, if any of them are readers or connect me with books.

And then there's SNAPCHAT. Does anyone use SNAPCHAT? Or do you have kids or know younger readers who do?

Have I left anything out? We would really love your feedback!

Publishing Surprises

INGRID THOFT

Every Q&A I do with a writer always includes this question:  "What has surprised you most about becoming a published author?"

A common response is how welcoming and supportive the mystery/thriller community is to newcomers.  For a group that murders on a regular basis, where actually quite kind.  On Wednesday, Mike Lawson mentioned the need for self-promotion as being a somewhat unwelcome surprise.  I would second the vote for the inclusive nature of fellow writers, but I also have another surprise to add.  I was surprised how much being published didn't change the work itself:  It didn't get easier!  Each book presents its own challenges and having a contract and an editor don't change that.

What about the rest of the Reds?  What has surprised you most about (or since) becoming a published author?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Huh. Interesting. Of course, as you say, the enthusiasm and congeniality of my colleagues. Astonishing. AND the wonderful people at events. I am constantly delighted with the level of welcome I receive.  But I wasn't surprised about the personal pressure to consistently be better, or the intense need to hurry hurry hurry. The level of how much stuff there is to do, though, is really incredible. I have massive to-do lists, and they grow and grow. This is not in the nature of a complaint, by any means--but the work that accompanies the writing is endless. Ah--I hope it's endless, right?

HALLIE EPHRON: I kept thinking it would get easier, but it hasn't. Not for me, at least.  At Sleuthfest this week Andrew Gross talked about how, as a writer you're harvesting your own experiences, and soon you run out of the low-hanging fruit. So true. That's one reason it gets harder -- you don't want to repeat yourself. But also, as Hank says, you keep raising the bar on yourself.

JENN McKINLAY: Honestly, I agree with all of the above. The writing community is amazing. I feel fortunate to have made some of the best friends of my life within it. Also, the amount of promotion (ugh) and that the writing does, actually, get harder was unforeseen, but it makes sense if you're striving to make each book better. What surprised me beyond all that was what little control I have. After the first contract, I thought I had wiggle room. Nope. After I hit the NYT, I thought, now I'll have more say. Nuh-uh. I am still mostly the content creator with very little input on the cover, the marketing, the schedule, etc. Mostly, I'm fine with it as writing is what I want to be doing but there are days...ahem.

RHYS BOWEN: Oh, how I agree with the warmth and generosity of the mystery community. I think all of us have developed real and close friendships among writers who should have been considered our rivals. And I agree too that it doesn't get easier. I am not an outliner and the first fifty pages of every book I write find me in pure panic mode. And the stakes seem to get higher with each book, especially after one wins a few awards. Each book has to be better or at least as good as the one before. It's a challenge after 40 books to make the next one fresh and exciting.

The Reds, prepping to write each day

Another surprise, and it's a humbling one, is how few people will know who you are. You say you write mystery novels and they say what's your name, and then they shake their heads and say "Never heard of you!"

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I was not surprised by the amount of self promotion--I'd been well-prepared by published friends and mentors. BUT, I could never, in the early nineties, have anticipated social media and the presence required there! Nor did I anticipate the sheer amount of non-writing work involved with being a writer. Or the fact that books just keep getting harder, or at least they do for me. As Hallie mentioned, trying not to repeat yourself becomes a big issue.

But on the very plus side, although I'd learned pretty early that writers were generally a friendly bunch, I continue to be amazed by the strength and generosity of the mystery community. I wouldn't trade it for anything!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Since I agree and would repeat everything already said, may I mention money? Don't worry, I'm not going to mention figures, but after hearing time after time after time that it's impossible to make a living as an author, it was a happy surprise to discover I could, in fact, support myself (and the family) as a novelist. 

The stories about financially successful writers always seem to focus around the blazing "It" debut of the year whose author got a $600,000 advance, or it's someone who's an international bestseller with a TV show/movie spin-off. You seldom see stories about authors like, well, many of us - people who write popular books year after year (well, not me, obvs., but the rest of you do!) growing their readership until sales and advances reach the point where they don't need a day job. 

When I talk to young people, that's one of the key messages I try to get across - you CAN make a living as an artist. 

Your turn!  Do you have tales of publishing surprises or a publishing question?  Ask away!

Four Steps to Social Media Emancipation

LUCY BURDETTE: Do you get the shakes if you think about going too long without checking Facebook or your Twitter feed? Are you terrified about missing out on the newest iteration of social media? Help is here! Our guest today, Chris Syme of CKSyme Media Group has some great suggestions for accomplishing more while doing less! Welcome Chris...

CHRIS SYME: We have lots of names for it: FOMO (fear of missing out), peer pressure, Shiny Object Syndrome (SOS), and more seriously, Internet Addiction Disorder. However we frame it, it can be debilitating for writers.

The amount of time people spend in front of screens is staggering: anywhere from 28 to 44 hours per week depending on the age group. If you write on a computer, your average number of hours per week is probably higher than that. According to Pew Internet, one-fifth of Americans report going online “almost constantly.” Social media use accounts for 28 percent of our online time, according to Social Times. And of that 28 percent, 22 percent is spent on Facebook and the other six percent is spread out over the various other channels.

We are distracted…and stressed.

Social media exacerbates the problem. The noise factor on social media is overwhelming. It’s almost impossible to be seen anymore online unless you already have a huge following or enjoy celebrity status. Too much information passes by too quickly. Eight years ago people were liking every Facebook page they could because it was the shiny new toy. In 2009, Facebook users liked an average of 4.5 pages. By 2013 it was up to 70 (Social Bakers). Add to that the average user has 338 friends. No wonder Facebook now has an algorithm.

So how does an author find success promoting and engaging on social media without spending all day trying? Contrary to everything you may have heard, my advice to authors is to pull back and quit trying to conquer every social media channel out there. The days of amassing followers and being everywhere are over. That is strategy from five years ago. Today, the trend in marketing is moving towards targeting more invested audiences. Less is more. You don’t have to be on every social media channel, just the right ones.

There are four steps to mastering this process of less is more:

1.     Finding your target audience with simple research. There are several ways you can do free audience research to define your target:

o   Use your Facebook Insights and check that data against other social media channel data you have

o   Use the Pew Internet Research 2016 social media update to look at the global data on social media use. Best resource, hands down.

o   Do a survey of your readers with a Google Form or free Survey Monkey survey to find out where your readers are. Send out links to your survey in email and in social media. You may want to offer an incentive such as a couple prizes to random responders.

2.     Designating your primary channel for engaging and selling. A primary channel is the one place where you engage personally with your readers AND earn the right to sell your books. For most authors that is a Facebook Author page.  There are five measures to use to find your best primary channel.

o   Find the best fit for your reader/audience demographics.

o   Look for the channel with the best overall global numbers. Consult Pew’s data for this. The answer is Facebook

o   Look for the channel with the best commerce tools or opportunities to buy a product without having to leave the platform.  Again, Facebook.

o   Look for the channel that is a good match for your genre. The difference between this measure and number one is that every channel that matches your demographic might not be a good match for your genre. For instance, if you’re a fiction writer LinkedIn may fit your reader demographic by age and gender, but in reality it’s a worthless channel for fiction writers.

o   Look for the channel with the best ability to help new readers find you and then convert them to a sale.

3.     Setting up outposts on other major social media channels that fit your audience where you only maintain a presence and redirect readers to your main channel. An outpost channel is a social media channel that doesn’t deliver the optimized opportunities of your primary channel but you still want to maintain a presence there. If you are already trying to engage on channels other than your primary channel, you’ll want to consider turning the rest into outposts. Have a presence but don’t engage.

4.     Learning how to craft more engaging content where you give more than you ask for and earn the right to sell. One of the chief pieces of learning to use less social media is to revamp your content strategy so that it offers value to your followers and earns you the right to sell without feeling sleazy.

You may need a paradigm shift. There are still be a lot of people out there who will tell you that you need to be everywhere, try everything. My objective is to teach authors how to spend less time marketing and more time writing. You don’t have to be on every social media channel, just the right ones.

You can dig deeper into this system in my new book, Sell More Books With Less Social Media. The book is accompanied by a free online course to help you learn how to implement the system. If you want to spend less time marketing and more time writing, this may be your path to freedom.

Chris Syme has logged over 20 years in the communications industry and is the principal of the award-winning agency, CKSyme Media Group. She is the author of four books on social media, including her newest Sell More Books With Less Social Media which also includes a free online class.  She is on Twitter as @cksyme, blogs at cksyme.com/blog and co-hosts a weekly podcast for authors with her USA Today bestselling daughter.

questions? comments? Chris will be stopping in over the day to answer them as she can...