I’m experiencing a little media overload. In fact, I’m so overwhelmed by all of my social media options that sometimes I sit paralyzed, fingers poised to type in an address but uncertain where to go first.

Facebook is my favorite. Not only can I learn what writers and non-writers are up to, but I can also see pictures of my grandchildren, laugh at amusing anecdotes, and see Pinterest updates. I have a Facebook author page that I try to update on a somewhat regular basis, but it doesn’t get much traffic. One of my daughters says it’s because I never offer anything for readers.

“What? Excuse me, Dear, but what are you talking about?” I asked.

That’s when she reminded me that other “liked” pages offer promotions, interesting information, pretty pictures, freebies, or announcements. Okay, I’ll work on that. At my daughter’s suggestion, I did just offer a free copy of Crossing the Bridge to anyone who liked the page within a two-day time frame, and I got two new likes. Yay! Now I just need to mail the books.

Then there’s Goodreads. I love Goodreads. Sometimes the navigation is a little tricky, but I’m sure I’ll get the hang of things eventually. Six weeks ago I entered Eve’s Sisters in a giveaway as a promotional event. It sounded like a good idea at the time, and I was thrilled to learn that over 500 registered to “win” it. Then I looked at the 1,599 people who registered for a book that I had also signed up to win. Hmmm. There went my bubble.

Next step: Go to Goodreads and find out who registered for my book and what the criteria for “winning” are. Then I can figure out who won and discover what their addresses are. Looks like tomorrow is going to be a busy day at the USPO.

Then there are the blogs. I believe in Karma. You get what you give. But……when you spend so much time reading and responding to other people’s blogs, you don’t have as much time to write. What I want is a website where all the blogs can be listed and assessed, but I don’t know how to do that…yet. I like the WordPress layout and navigation. However, sometimes I want to talk to a real person or at least write to one, but so far that hasn’t happened. For instance, right now some of my pictures are not showing up, and I need to know why.

Then too, there are sites like StumbledUpon, LinkedIn, and the Limebird Writers. There are many, many others; those three are just the ones that crossed my email earlier today. What’s the best way to use them?

And Twitter? How can I forget that cute little blue bird who delivers my tweets to an unseen and mostly unknown network? I don’t have Twitter mastered by any stretch of the imagination. So far my strategy is to have my blog posts automatically linked to Twitter. Also, whenever I review something on Amazon, that information gets tweeted. BUT, I don’t spend much time reading other people’s tweets, and I wonder how much time others spend reading mine (or anyone’s).

This weekend I’m going to the South Carolina Writers Workshop Symposium in Columbia, and I’m hoping to get some clarification on the best avenue to take. At the moment, I’m throwing a lot of “stuff” out there in many different directions, but I know there must be a more effective and efficient way to network. There has to be something that will allow me to write AND to get the writing out there.

For tonight I need to get those addresses from Goodreads and package copies of Eve’s Sisters to send to the lucky recipients. And did someone mention listing books on Pinterest??