One of the panels at DragonCon this year was all about social media. Most of the authors agreed that it was a “necessary evil.” What you have to remember is that the more time you spend on any social media, the less time you’re actually spending writing.<\/p>\n

Here are some tips I’ve developed for maximizing your time on different social media sites:<\/p>\n

Facebook<\/strong> – I follow\u00a0a lot of other writing pages, and every day I cycle through the list and share anything interesting. I usually post a link to this blog, and also may add a very short blurb about what’s going on with my author self. I also have a file of writing quotes that I spent a few hours making\u00a0on one of those “create-a-sign” sites – I can upload one of those if there’s nothing else interesting going on. Facebook usually takes me 15-20 minutes a day.<\/li>\n

Twitter<\/strong> – I post one writing prompt every day, and I post a link to this blog. About once a week or so, I cycle through my Twitter contacts and “retweet” interesting tweets. Twitter takes me less than 5 minutes a day.<\/li>\n

Instagram<\/strong> – Again, I have a file of interesting photos that I draw from. I try to post 2-3 images a day, and I usually do that\u00a0while waiting in line for my coffee. Instagram takes me less than 5 minutes a day.<\/li>\n

Pinterest<\/strong> – It took me several hours to create a good Pinterest board for Devon Day and the Sweetwater Kid, plus I also have one for general history (Back in My Time). Now, I only post to the board when I find an interesting photograph during my research – pinning a photo to your board takes less than a minute.<\/li>\n

LinkedIn<\/strong>\u00a0and Google+<\/strong>– I’ll admit that I don’t do much at all with these\u00a0sites. I have a presence, and I do link to other authors and editors, but I don’t actively post anything because I just don’t hear the “buzz” about these compared with the first four sites.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
As you can see, I’ve pared my social media time down to around 30 minutes a day, which isn’t a horrible slice cut out of my writing time.<\/p>\n
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Other time-wasters I admit to:<\/p>\n
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This blog<\/strong> – I try to post once a week with a “real” article, but I’ve started putting in those “short-shorts” giving my readers links to fun and interesting things I find during my research. Short-shorts take about 5 minutes a day, but the big articles can take up to 30 minutes to compose and post. I think it’s worth the effort because of the connection with the readers.<\/li>\n
Western Fictioneers<\/strong> – I have a monthly column (every second Friday), and usually spend 30-60 minutes writing the post. This is more involved than my personal blog because I have to research historical data and locate old photos to include, but I enjoy sharing my research and networking with other Western writers.<\/li>\n
WikiAnswers.com<\/strong> – I’ve been a supervisor with Answers.com for nearly 10 years, so it’s a habit I’m not willing to break myself of. I usually spend less than 15 minutes a day, however, with occasional bouts where I take an hour or so and try to answer some of the older questions that are languishing, or greeting new members.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
How much time do you<\/strong> spend on social media? Do you think you spend too much time or not enough?<\/p>\n
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