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The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World…Word by Word

The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Social Media

Social Media

Personal vs. Professional Social Media

By Dan Balowon April 20, 2023
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As more and more people work from home full-time, the lines are blurred like at no other time.

For writers, mixing personal and professional lives often doesn’t go well.

Years ago, I recall speaking with a young man who owned a store that was part of his family for several generations; and he and his young family lived in a nice apartment located upstairs from the store.

To me, who at the time commuted 30 minutes each way to work, it seemed like an ideal arrangement.

I quipped, “You certainly save money on gas commuting to work each day!” He smiled but then made a semi-whispered comment that it would be nice to put some space between his personal and work lives.

Today, many of us live with blurred lines dividing our work and personal commitments. For certain, it’s affected the way writers view their social-media work. I think it is important to keep personal and professional social media separate.

In one, you put pictures from the latest vacation or grandkids or a sunset. On the other, you stick to your brand, whatever it is, and don’t merge the messages.

If you are an author and can have only one of these, make it the author page. With our ability to exchange messages and pictures with our friends on phones, maybe a personal social-media effort is only added work for someone with a professional page. At best, it confuses your audience. At worst, it opens you up to uncomfortable interactions with people who are better kept at arm’s length.

In a sense, you need to start acting as if you are well-known before you might become well-known.  Most high-profile people keep their personal lives far away from social media. Unless they are completely self-absorbed and desire any attention. (I wonder what the record is for hyphenated words in a paragraph?)

All of this points to the need to establish and closely manage your author brand.

What are you known for?

What do you want to be known for?

If you write travel books, then, yes, post pictures of your travels.

If you write books about food, then post pictures of your lunch.

Frankly, you should not want people to know where you went on vacation or had lunch. These days, when creepy and strange things are happening every day, putting a good deal of space between your personal and professional social media is something to strongly consider.

If this is confusing to you, take a workshop on author branding. If you don’t have a clear sense of what your author brand is, I recommend you stop posting anything on social media until you get it settled in your mind.

Issues like this are why this agency keeps this blog going and why Steve Laube owns the Christian Writers Institute. Sure, writing is a creative venture; but without some framework, it can become less than it could be.

Without a clear idea of your brand, you might be wasting a lot of time building something that won’t help you sell books.

 

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Category: Career, Social Media, The Writing Life

The Friends You Make on Social Media

By Dan Balowon March 30, 2023
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Let’s talk about the people you meet and befriend on social media. They are different from actual friends. For the most part, they aren’t real friends. If you have a nice social-media presence with five hundred people, you can enjoy the conversations and connections since it’s on the level of a good-sized church or high-school graduation class. But as you grow your social platform into thousands …

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Category: Career, Marketing, Social Media, The Writing Life, time management

Building Your Platform Without Becoming a Narcissist

By Dan Balowon October 19, 2022
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Authors in the process of building and maintaining their media platforms can easily slip into a self-focused effort, evaluating every relationship with an eye toward their personal benefit, seeking attention in any way possible, and exhibiting all the traits of destructive pride. Well now, there’s a cheery thought to start the day. Some little hairs must have gotten under my collar after my last …

Read moreBuilding Your Platform Without Becoming a Narcissist
Category: Branding, Marketing, Social Media, The Writing Life

Not Only the Lonely

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon March 16, 2022
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Since many publishers ask that authors have a robust online presence, I’m revisiting a topic that, sadly, hasn’t gone away since I wrote about it a few years ago. This article is worth everyone’s time if I can save even one person from being scammed. Recently, I received a private message on Facebook from a man I didn’t know, saying that he liked my profile and would like …

Read moreNot Only the Lonely
Category: Career, Social Media

Too Much Social Media?

By Steve Laubeon October 25, 2021
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The following article appeared in the UK on November 5th, "Facebook Users Spend Three Solid Days a Year on the Site."

Three full 24 hour days on Facebook per year! Or nearly two full work weeks if you count a work week as 35-40 hours a week. And I suspect the statistics hold true in the U.S. as well.

Not all writers are full-time. Some must juggle day jobs or home-life responsibilities …

Read moreToo Much Social Media?
Category: Social MediaTag: Facebook, Social Media, Time Management, Writing Craft

Books, Hooks, and Good Looks

By Bob Hostetleron September 30, 2021
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I love hooks. As a writer, I work hard on my hooks. When I was a magazine editor, the hook was often the best way for a writer to make a good first impression on me. And now, for me as a literary agent, the hook is the first and one of the most important criteria I use in evaluating a book pitch, proposal, or manuscript. A good book hook will often prompt me to give a project a more careful, …

Read moreBooks, Hooks, and Good Looks
Category: Book Business, Book Proposals, Career, Get Published, Pitch, Pitching, Platform, Self-Publishing, Social Media, The Writing Life

What the 2021 Facebook Changes Mean for Authors

By Guest Bloggeron February 22, 2021
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Thomas Umstattd, Jr. wrote this post as part of his podcast at AuthorMedia. I asked permission to make it available to you as well. This is extremely important to understand for authors and publishers trying to use Facebook as part of their marketing efforts. Check out the great work Thomas is doing to help authors navigate the labyrinth called “publishing” at AuthorMedia.com. …

Read moreWhat the 2021 Facebook Changes Mean for Authors
Category: Marketing, Social MediaTag: Facebook

5 Social-Media Mistakes Writers Make

By Bob Hostetleron October 21, 2020
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There are many ways to shoot yourself in the foot as a writer. For example, using clichés, such as “shoot yourself in the foot.” The advent of social media (Facebook, Twitter, Tik Tok, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.) has definitely added to the list. Here are what I consider five of the most common mistakes authors and would-be authors make on social media:  Mistake #1: Don’t “do” social media I’m …

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Category: Marketing, Social Media

More Favorite Blog Comments

By Bob Hostetleron July 15, 2020
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If you read this blog regularly (or, even better, subscribe to it), you already know something about the wealth of free information that appears in this space every weekday, week after week, month after month, by the agents of The Steve Laube Agency. Posts like this one—okay, like the ones by Steve and Tamela—are a major contributing factor to this site being named as one of the “101 Best Websites …

Read moreMore Favorite Blog Comments
Category: Get Published, Social Media, The Writing Life

Responding to Criticism

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon June 18, 2020
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When someone tells me she’s not sure she wants me to read her manuscript, I know she’s not ready for publication. Such sentiment shows a lack of confidence and a fear of both rejection and criticism. Even though readers usually treat writers with respect, a critical word can puncture the heart.

Imagine the wounds delivered on Internet sites such as Amazon from readers who lack that respect. A …

Read moreResponding to Criticism
Category: Book Business, Career, Social Media, The Writing Life, Writing CraftTag: Book Business, Criticism, Rejection, Writing Craft
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