Ten years ago, being an author was, in a sense, fairly straightforward. You wrote a book. You attempted to sell that book to agents/publishers. If successful, you took part in some limited marketing activities (a radio interview, say, and writing an article for the press), but for the most part you happily got on with writing your next novel.

Today, the landscape for authors is radically different.  You write a book. You attempt to sell that book to agents/publishers, or you sell it directly to readers via self-publishing. And you take part in myriad marketing activities, offline and – crucially – online via social media: blogging, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter; the list is seemingly endless. And although you yearn to happily get on with writing your next novel, you find yourself somewhat torn between being a marketeer and a novelist.

The key question today, then, for any author is this: How much time should I dedicate to writing, and how much time to marketing?

Certainly, there is no definitive answer, and each author must strive to strike the balance that best works for them and for their writing and publishing projects. Personally, I believe the key is to have discipline and organise yourself effectively to do both – then you are always on top of the business of being an author. But remember always that your dream is to write, and ensure that the writing itself is the weightier portion of your daily, weekly, monthly efforts.

‘What impact has social media made on your writing in recent years?’ is a question recently posed by Mslexia, ‘the magazine for women who write’. The findings of their survey offer a good insight into how writers feel about social media, and how much of a role and impact it has on their lives.

• 60% blog; 75% Facebook and 55% Tweet – but 8% have never used any form of social media.
• Over half spend one to five hours each week on social media, but 2% admitted to spending more than thirty hours!

On the positive side, some respondents found social media great for publicising work, finding opportunities and building connections. But a dark side was also exposed in the findings, with issues such as privacy, addictiveness and cyber bullying coming forth, plus a sizeable proportion (43%) felt social media is a distraction from writing.

While I’m well versed with the limitations and drawbacks of social media (how much easier it is to chat on Twitter or write a blog post than push through a challenging chapter of writing), I’m certainly of the opinion that social media is an excellent tool for authors. Let me draw you back to the opening of this post:

Ten years ago, being an author was fairly straightforward. You wrote a book. You attempted to sell that book to agents/publishers.

Today, you write a book. You attempt to sell that book to agents/publishers, or you sell it directly to readers via self-publishing.

The key difference? It comes down to that word ‘sell’. Ten years ago, authors were relatively powerless in the selling process. But today… Social media gives the author leverage, a kind of power. An agent is more likely  to be interested in your book if you’ve already built a sizeable Twitter following, for example; and you’re far more likely to sell well directly to the reader if you’re already connecting with them online.

Well, that’s my take on the subject, and now, having spent some time writing this blog post, it’s time to close WordPress and go back to the novel. The modern-day author: juggler extraordinaire.