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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 » The Writing Life » Page 13

The Writing Life

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

What to Expect at the Write to Publish Writers Conference

By Thomas Umstattd, Jr.on April 4, 2023
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Find out what to expect and how to make the most of your first in-person Christian writers conference.
You can listen to this episode What to Expect at the Write to Publish Writers Conference on Christian Publishing Show.

Read moreWhat to Expect at the Write to Publish Writers Conference
Category: The Writing Life

What to Expect at the Write to Publish Writers Conference

By Thomas Umstattd, Jr.on April 4, 2023
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Find out what to expect and how to make the most of your first in-person Christian writers conference.
You can listen to this episode What to Expect at the Write to Publish Writers Conference on Christian Publishing Show.

Read moreWhat to Expect at the Write to Publish Writers Conference
Category: The Writing Life

What to Expect at the Write to Publish Writers Conference

By Thomas Umstattd, Jr.on April 3, 2023
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The director of the Write to Publish Christian writers conference shares what to expect from your first in-person conference.www.NovelMarketingConference.com Support the show

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Category: 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 …

Read moreThe Friends You Make on Social Media
Category: Career, Marketing, Social Media, The Writing Life, time management

Define the Takeaway First

By Bob Hostetleron March 29, 2023
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A few months ago, one of my friends (don’t worry, Sarah, I won’t mention your name) asked this question on social media: Writer friends: Do you ever write something, think it’s nearly finished, and fail to be able to define the “take-away?” So, “writer friends,” I’m about to do you a favor. I will suggest an approach that will save a lot of time, stress, regret, and other bad things. Ready? …

Read moreDefine the Takeaway First
Category: Craft, Get Published, Pitch, The Writing Life, Trends

The 2023 Book Launch Blueprint

By Thomas Umstattd, Jr.on March 28, 2023
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Thirty days. That’s all you’ve got. Do it wrong, and you’re toast. Do it right, and it’s crème brûlée that will last for months, maybe even years.  What 30 days are we talking about? The first 30 days after you make your book available to the world.  During the first 30-60 days after your release, […]
You can listen to this episode The 2023 Book Launch Blueprint on Christian Publishing Show.

Read moreThe 2023 Book Launch Blueprint
Category: The Writing Life

The 2023 Book Launch Blueprint

By Thomas Umstattd, Jr.on March 28, 2023
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Thirty days. That’s all you’ve got. Do it wrong, and you’re toast. Do it right, and it’s crème brûlée that will last for months, maybe even years.  What 30 days are we talking about? The first 30 days after you make your book available to the world.  During the first 30-60 days after your release, […]
You can listen to this episode The 2023 Book Launch Blueprint on Christian Publishing Show.

Read moreThe 2023 Book Launch Blueprint
Category: The Writing Life

The 2023 Book Launch Blueprint

By Thomas Umstattd, Jr.on March 27, 2023
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Thirty days. That’s all you’ve got.Do it wrong, and you’re toast. Do it right, and it’s crème brûlée that will last for months, maybe even years. What 30 days are we talking about? The first 30 days after you make your book available to the world. During the first 30 days after your release, bookstores decide whether to keep your book on the shelves. If you have a strong launch, bookstores will …

Read moreThe 2023 Book Launch Blueprint
Category: The Writing Life

Voices of Hope: Why Young Writers Are Important

By Dan Balowon March 22, 2023
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In the last month, I suggested some writers who might be worthwhile for the Christian publishing world to give attention. Those with a military or missionary season in their lives could be helpful to the Church today since they both lived a good piece of their lives in positions where personal preference, comfort, and fulfillment were far down on their priority lists. Submission, courage, …

Read moreVoices of Hope: Why Young Writers Are Important
Category: The Writing Life, Trends
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