I’m a web dev by day and a writer by night. I write poetry and essays about sexuality, gender, journaling, mental health and much more, as well as LGBTQ+ short stories.
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On this blog you will find my thoughts about writing, mental health, journaling, as well as some poetry and short stories.
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Find me on Mastodon @cookie@courgett.es or by email (quinn.morrigan(at)proton.me).
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Who am I?
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I am a 26 year-old queer aspiring writer.
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Some of my interests are:
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⌨️ writing: I spend a lot of my time writing, whether it’s in my journals, for this blog, or some book projects. I have drafted 2 dystopian young adult novels and a murder mystery since I started writing seriously in 2018, as well as some short LGBT novellas. The next step for me is actually committing to revising those projects!
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📚 reading: mostly sci-fi and LGBTQ+/feminist books, you can see what I’m reading on thestorygraph. My favorite series is The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin.
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🏳️🌈 feminism/LBGTQ+ rights: I don’t really think I need to explain this one! Some of my favourite resources are Liberating Motherhood for feminism and a bit fruity by Matt Bernstein for LGBTQ+ rights.
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💻 tech: I follow closely what happens in the tech industry and how it affects politics. I am anti-LLMs and anti-crypto. Some of my favorite places to follow these news are citationneeded by Molly White and Tech won’t save us by Paris Marx.
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🪴 plants: I live in a small appartment but I manage to keep a few aromatic plants (basil, mint…) alive,
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🍝 cooking: I like to cook comforting meals and I am known for my cookies 🍪.
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🎮 video games: I recently discovered a passion for Demon’s Souls and Elden Ring.
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Where am I?
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You can find me on the Fediverse @cookie@courgett.es or by email (quinn.morrigan(at)proton.me).
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If you’re looking for me IRL, I live in Normandy, France.
diff --git a/archives/index.html b/archives/index.html
index 0d9076b..b16b6b5 100644
--- a/archives/index.html
+++ b/archives/index.html
@@ -38,12 +38,12 @@
-
+
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@@ -477,8 +477,8 @@
- 28
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+ 28
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Oct
Does social media sell books, and starting off as a new author - Recent favorites
diff --git a/assets/js/data/search.json b/assets/js/data/search.json
index ed42028..0ce43f0 100644
--- a/assets/js/data/search.json
+++ b/assets/js/data/search.json
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
"url": "/posts/writing-social-media/",
"categories": "English, Favorites",
"tags": "writing, tech",
- "date": "2024-10-28 19:55:00 +0100",
+ "date": "2024-10-28 21:50:00 +0100",
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
"snippet": "A lot of people will tell you that you need to create a solid social media following before you can publish a book, even if you’re pursuing traditional publishing. And that if your platform isn’t g...",
- "content": "A lot of people will tell you that you need to create a solid social media following before you can publish a book, even if you’re pursuing traditional publishing. And that if your platform isn’t garnering enough views, it just means you’re not posting enough, not putting in the work.That’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about (and writing about here), as I want to find readers who enjoy what I write, but at the same time don’t want to sell my soul to a private platform with an unpredictable algorithm, which will not respect my privacy and try to sell me a lot of stuff I don’t need.So when I found those two videos in my YouTube subscriptions this week, I knew they would bring me some great new perspectives on this subject, from people who have more experience than I do. Here is what I learned from them, and some of my thoughts!Does Posting Everyday Sell Books? A 90 Day Experiment by Liselle SamburyLiselle, a traditionally published author, undertook the colossal experiment of publishing to TikTok and Instagram every day for 3 months. She gives a very in-depth description of her process: how she created these short videos, the statistical results she could gather in terms of views and book sales, and her reflections about this experiment and social media for writers in general.After posting every day for 90 days, she didn’t see any incredible growth either in her views and subscribers, or in her book sales. The most noticeable peaks in book sales were linked to a sale that her publisher put in place, not her posting.This experiment shows how uncontrollable virality is, and how even if you try your best to post a lot, that might not create a noticeable change. It can take some pressure off of your shoulders to know that the results of your posting are unpredictable and that you shouldn’t focus so much on numbers or guilt yourself over not posting enough. Marketing is very different from writing books, and we should not expect all writers to also be marketers.New Author Q&A | How I got started as a “new” author | Natalia Leigh by Natalia LeighI’ve been loosely following Natalia Leigh for quite some time now as she’s built a career in indie publishing. In this video she gives great insight about starting that process all over again under a new pen name. She answers questions from her viewers, explaining how different the process is from posting on social media with her existing author name.She decided not to mention her pen name on her existing platforms and create brand new social media accounts. Starting from zero is challenging, and it was even more difficult for her as she didn’t want to show her face in any of her posts. She explained feeling frustrated that short form content where authors simply hold their books, showing their faces, performs much better that the posts where she doesn’t show her face and has to think of more original content.She writes romance under that pen name, which is a genre that gathers a lot of readers. She was able to find a readership through Kindle Unlimited, where readers don’t need to buy your work to see if they like it. Romance readers being very dedicated, she found readers who liked one of her books and decided to read more. Her series were more successful than her standalones as readers only need to like the first book and will keep reading after that.In the end, she thinks that her social media platforms didn’t actually bring her a noticeable amount of readers.Some thoughts!These are some of my thoughts around these videos: You never know if a post is going to be successful on social media, it’s all about luck, and even if you post a lot, there is no guarantee for success. Starting off on social media is HARD, you have to be prepared to get very little views and followers for months in the beginning. Social media is not always the biggest factor in sales: in traditional publishing, publishers are the ones who have the most power to make a book sell. In indie publishing, the Amazon algorithm can do a part of the work for you. Whatever we do, we are dependent on external entities: publishers, or Amazon and other platforms, in order to sell our books. We can’t predict how much attention will be given to our books, and there is only so much we can do on our own."
+ "content": "A lot of people will tell you that you need to create a solid social media following before you can publish a book, even if you’re pursuing traditional publishing. And that if your platform isn’t garnering enough views, it just means you’re not posting enough, not putting in the work.That’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about (and writing about here), as I want to find readers who enjoy what I write, but at the same time don’t want to sell my soul to a private platform with an unpredictable algorithm, which will not respect my privacy and try to sell me a lot of stuff I don’t need.So when I found those two videos in my YouTube subscriptions this week, I knew they would bring me some great new perspectives on this subject, from people who have more experience than I do. Here is what I learned from them, and some of my thoughts!Does Posting Everyday Sell Books? A 90 Day Experiment by Liselle SamburyLiselle, a traditionally published author, undertook the colossal experiment of publishing to TikTok and Instagram every day for 3 months. She gives a very in-depth description of her process: how she created these short videos, the statistical results she could gather in terms of views and book sales, and her reflections about this experiment and social media for writers in general.After posting every day for 90 days, she didn’t see any incredible growth either in her views and subscribers, or in her book sales. The most noticeable peaks in book sales were linked to a sale that her publisher put in place, not her posting.This experiment shows how uncontrollable virality is, and how even if you try your best to post a lot, that might not create a noticeable change. It can take some pressure off of your shoulders to know that the results of your posting are unpredictable and that you shouldn’t focus so much on numbers or guilt yourself over not posting enough. Marketing is very different from writing books, and we should not expect all writers to also be marketers.New Author Q&A | How I got started as a “new” author | Natalia Leigh by Natalia LeighI’ve been loosely following Natalia Leigh for quite some time now as she’s built a career in indie publishing. In this video she gives great insight about starting that process all over again under a new pen name. She answers questions from her viewers, explaining how different the process is from posting on social media with her existing author name.She decided not to mention her pen name on her existing platforms and create brand new social media accounts. Starting from zero is challenging, and it was even more difficult for her as she didn’t want to show her face in any of her posts. She explained feeling frustrated that short form content where authors simply hold their books, showing their faces, performs much better that the posts where she doesn’t show her face and has to think of more original content.She writes romance under that pen name, which is a genre that gathers a lot of readers. She was able to find a readership through Kindle Unlimited, where readers don’t need to buy your work to see if they like it. Romance readers being very dedicated, she found readers who liked one of her books and decided to read more. Her series were more successful than her standalones as readers only need to like the first book and will keep reading after that.In the end, she thinks that her social media platforms didn’t actually bring her a noticeable amount of readers.Some thoughts!These are some of my thoughts around these videos: You never know if a post is going to be successful on social media, it’s all about luck, and even if you post a lot, there is no guarantee for success. Starting off on social media is HARD, you have to be prepared to get very little views and followers for months in the beginning. Social media is not always the biggest factor in sales: in traditional publishing, publishers are the ones who have the most power to make a book sell. In indie publishing, the Amazon algorithm can do a part of the work for you. Whatever we do, we are dependent on external entities: publishers, or Amazon and other platforms, in order to sell our books. We can’t predict how much attention will be given to our books, and there is only so much we can do on our own.Further readingMy previous article about artists and social media: As an artist, should I be on social media?Another interesting article on this subject: Don’t build your castle in other people’s kingdoms"
},
{
diff --git a/assets/js/data/swconf.js b/assets/js/data/swconf.js
index 9e96f52..2e17a97 100644
--- a/assets/js/data/swconf.js
+++ b/assets/js/data/swconf.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
const swconf = {
- cacheName: 'chirpy-1730153383',resources: [
+ cacheName: 'chirpy-1730309392',resources: [
'/assets/css/jekyll-theme-chirpy.css',
'/',
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index 397fe49..d87a5df 100644
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index cb991c9..d6f0c7a 100644
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@@ -482,7 +482,7 @@
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index 744f977..e3897f8 100644
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index cd6f879..89a2b63 100644
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https://bookshelf.thequinn.fr/Quinn's BookshelfA blog about writing, mental health and other LGBTQ+ things
- 2024-10-28T23:09:42+01:00
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@@ -22,9 +22,9 @@
Does social media sell books, and starting off as a new author - Recent favorites
- 2024-10-28T19:55:00+01:00
+ 2024-10-28T21:50:00+01:00
- 2024-10-28T19:55:00+01:00
+ 2024-10-28T21:50:00+01:00https://bookshelf.thequinn.fr/posts/writing-social-media/
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index 9f99fe2..274b2b2 100644
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@@ -796,6 +807,12 @@
Whatever we do, we are dependent on external entities: publishers, or Amazon and other platforms, in order to sell our books. We can’t predict how much attention will be given to our books, and there is only so much we can do on our own.