Fake Friends and Other Time- Management Traumas

Ok. I jumped ship on trying so hard to promote my books.  

After a lifetime of using my heart and head to guide my writing, it hurt my brain to have to tweak my words just for a better chance at being found in a Google search, aka SEO (or “search engine optimization.) I tried. Really. Not only was it a time suck, it seemed to vacuum out my creativity, too. 

I also dove head-first into another “must-do” for authors: making new friends. Online, that is. I followed a bunch of Bookstragrammers, commented on posts, tweeted, and joined “relevant” Facebook groups. I spent hours linking and reading and just plain sighing as I strove to come up with pithy replies. 

And you know what? My social media deep dive might not have been as black a hole as SEO, but it definitely was a sand trap that left me feeling, well, lonelier.

It’s not that I don’t like any of my new “friends.” But I’m pretty crunched for time, and I’d rather not make idle screen chatter or spend an evening frenetically figuring out how to pick the “right” online book reviewers from endless lists. 

When I think about it, my goal is to connect with people looking for more inner peace, more time in nature, and greener living in their daily lives. In other words, I need to find what Seth Godin calls the right tribes. I must remain true to my own words and my own ways. If I do this, things will work out organically with far less stress. 

No sooner did this Aha! hit me, when I received a surprise email from the events coordinator at Holland Free Public Library asking if I would give a presentation about my book, Eye Rolls & Awe: A National Parks Road Trip with Teens. 

Then, I heard from the manager at REI in Princeton, NJ, that they would carry the book, a serendipitous result of my mentioning it when my husband and I shopped there a few weeks earlier. 

Excuse the new-age speak, but these were signs from the universe that even though I could commit endless hours to social media and SEO strategies, I’m much happier letting them go. 

Yes, I still plan to engage with some of my new author pals, for inspiration, encouragement, camaraderie, support. But I’m learning the difference between frenzy and friendship. 

What areas of YOUR life would be better served by not jumping on the “should-do” bandwagon?