Today, writing a book isn't enough. Writers are told to start a blog, make short videos, show their desks, invent a hook for the first three seconds, and explain exactly which trope appears on page 147.
Preferably every day. Better still, several times a day, because the algorithm, like a house cat, quickly forgets who feeds it.
I watch authors who speak easily to a camera, arrange books beside a cup of coffee, and make you want to read in fifteen seconds. It is a real talent. I can spend fifteen minutes moving the cup, notice the coffee is cold, drink it, and forget to make the video.
What frightens me is when an author begins looking at a book through the eyes of the feed. Not “Is this true for my heroine?” but “Will this fit in a video?” Not “Does this scene need silence?” but “Is the hook strong enough?”
Through social media I have found readers and received messages from strangers. One honest post can sometimes open a door. The problem begins when that door becomes a treadmill: stop for a week and it's as though you don't exist.
If a post reached few people, I would start editing not the post, but myself. Maybe I'm boring. Maybe I need to speak louder. Maybe my story should begin with capital letters: “I LEFT EVERYTHING AFTER FORTY-FIVE.” The sentence is true. But if every truth becomes a shout, one day you stop hearing what it wanted to say.
So I separated two jobs. One is writing books. The other is helping them meet readers. They are connected, but one must not command the other.
BookTok, Reels, and whatever comes next are ways of talking. They are not editors or judges. Building a book around them is like moving your house whenever the wind changes.
Perhaps writers benefit from being a little like bloggers—not to dance for the camera, but to explain why their book matters. “A little” is the important part.
I want someone to come from the feed and find not more feed, but a book: a place to stay longer than three seconds. Books are written more slowly than a feed can scroll. That, I think, is their advantage.