Social Media and Me

Hmmm...I'm beginning to think that for all the time I spend on the computer writing word after word, I'm not very social--at least as new media is concerned.

I have a Facebook account and keep up with pictures of my grandchildren that way.  But am I a big poster?  No way!

I now have a Google + account and a long list of potential "friends" or "acquaintances" I've never heard of.  Should I befriend them?  Or should I just ignore them?

But don't I want to get the word out to everyone who reads vampire books that my book is available?  Obviously, hermits don't sell many books, but they do have time to write them.  What's more important now?  Writing the second book in the series (Shawn Goes to Hell, uh, actually titled The Vampire's Food Chain: Devil's Food) OR promote the book that's published?

Sigh.  Being a writer (and that's what I think of myself), I'd rather write.  But is that counterproductive?

What a dilemma writers put themselves in when they opt for the self-published route.  Maybe I should have tried harder to get an agent and go the "traditional" route of getting published.  Maybe.

But I really do like this brave new world of self-publishing and its promise to readers that more is available than the works selected by agents and marketing professionals who worry about bottom lines instead of written lines.