September 27, 2022

Tell Me Something Tuesday: Do You Follow Your Favourite Authors on Social Media? Do You Interact With Them?


Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings in order to discuss a wide range of topics from books to blogging (and some slightly more personal matters throw in for good measure). After Heidi stopped blogging (apparently for good), five of us took over as hosts while providing new questions. The current team is composed of Berls at Because Reading Is Better Than Real LifeJen at That's What I'm Talking AboutKaren at For What It's WorthLinda at Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell and Roberta at Offbeat YA. This week's question is...

DO YOU FOLLOW YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHORS ON SOCIAL MEDIA? DO YOU INTERACT WITH THEM?

Apart from the authors I have a more personal relationship with (which includes beta-reading for them), only two of my very favourite writers are active on Twitter (the only social media I use, if you don't count Goodreads...which you...well, don't count πŸ˜‚. I mean, is GR a social media? Hardly...). They are:

Nova Ren Suma (@novaren


She isn't very active (and mostly tweets writerly stuff), but I've had the chance to interact with her a handful of times, if briefly (I try not to impose myself). Once I mentioned really missing/looking forward to new books from her, and she quote-tweeted me saying something about tweets like mine being a morale booster when writers are alone with their WIP and struggling with the age-old "is there anyone out there who actually cares?" authorial question. It was heart-warming.

Seanan McGuire (@seananmcguire)


Unlike Suma, she's VERY active, and doesn't shy away from sharing private slices of life when she sees a valid reason for it, but on the other hand, she doesn't usually engage in one-on-one conversations with fans - she doesn't even use the "like" button, though she retweets stuff all the time. I understand that, what with her level of popularity and social media being the pits at times, she needs to set some boundaries, and I respect it. (To be precise: she is available via her site contact form, though it might take a bit for her to reply. That's what she states on Twitter from time to time. I have no experience with it). I think she only retweeted one of my reviews of her books so far (and I'm sure it's because there's no way she can keep up with her notifications - she probably only retweets stuff that goes live while she's online, and probably only sees a fraction of it), and we only interacted a couple of times, very briefly (when I commented on one of her tweets and she replied, and when she answered a question I posed in a Twitter Q&A). Apart from her books, she tweets about disability issues, boosts other content creators/artists, shares pics of cats (hers but not only), amphibians, My Little Ponies, Magic cards and D&D dice sets (which she collects. The last three, I mean πŸ˜‰).

Well, that's it for now. Did you enjoy this post? Would you like to participate in the meme on a regular or semi-regular basis, and get emailed the prompt list? Just head over here and fill in Jen's form! (Of course, you can jump in anytime you like - you are under no obligation to actually do all the posts, or even most of them, just because you signed up, and you can remove yourself from the list at any time). And if you're interested in participating in a more casual manner, or only in commenting, here is the TMST prompt list for the months of October and November (because I don't know when I'll be around again - see below):

  • October 4th: Do you get emotional over books/movies/TV series? (a question I submitted)
  • October 11th: How long do you give a new-to-you series to decide if you like it? 
  • October 18th: Which genre/s do you enjoy the most?
  • October 25th: Share your favorite horror books or movies
  • November 1st: What was/were your favourite subject/s in high school?
  • November 8th: Do you belong to any book clubs?
  • November 15th: What activity that you've read a character doing in a book have you dreamed of trying?
  • November 22nd: Tell us about your favorite books as a kid
  • November 29th: Which books are you looking forward to reading this winter? (Dec-Feb)

Due to my ongoing home problems, I have no plans for the meme at the moment. Well, no plans for my blogging, though I will post a September recap in a few days. After that...hiatus again. I'll keep you updated about the whole mess I'm in, and I hope you'll forgive me for not being able to visit your blogs in the meantime. I'm completely overwhelmed and exhausted. I miss you. I miss normalcy. More of that in a few days...

Now tell me something...do you chat with your favourite authors on social media? or follow them at least?

24 comments:

  1. I used to interact with authors on social media, just to thank them if they wrote a book that I really enjoyed. Aiden Thomas, the author of Cemetery Boys, was so lovely on twitter. But, I find myself not tweeting that much anymore, so I simply don't interact with authors that much anymore.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sending hugs your way, Roberta. Take all the time you need.

    Back when I first got on social media, several of my favorite authors were very active and I'd have one-on-one conversations. But I think so many of us got so very busy and the internet space can be brutal. So many go on much less now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 🧑

      That's sad! But I totally get it. At least you can remember those times fondly.

      Delete
  3. I've interacted with a few authors on Twitter and it's fun. :) Some neat people. I've never read any of Nova Ren Sum's work but I've been curious. Twitter is weird for me- I like it but I don't use it as much as I used to. I log on every day and often get my news from it.

    Take care of yourself!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yay! And can I steer you towards Suma's books? I adore The Walls Around Us...

      Same about getting my news from Twitter (along with Google News).

      "Take care of yourself!!!"
      There aren't enough hours in a day...πŸ˜–

      Delete
    2. Yes- I just went over and read the beginning of Walls. Sold!

      Delete
    3. It was the same for me...I got a sneak peek of the 1st chapter and fell in love 🀩.

      Delete
  4. I hope things get better for you.πŸ’™ And we understand and will support you no matter what.

    I don't really follow any writers on social media, though I do follow Neil Gaiman's blog and a few indie author's blogs. But other than that, I have not followed that many authors.
    -Quinley

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you 🧑.

      It's neat that you follow Gaiman and a few indie authors via their blogs. Maybe it doesn't count as interaction, but it does as support!

      Delete
  5. I would love if they updated Goodreads to have FB style commenting. Where you can follow a conversation. I loved chatting with readers there. I find Twitter pretty toxic. I spend little time there, and I deleted my FB.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Goodreads is a mess. Even the update was just a restyling. Sometimes it says that I have a comment under one of my reviews, but I have to actually go to the review's page in order to read it, since I can't see it in my stream...

      Delete
  6. I'm sorry life is so rough right now, Roberta. Hugs. As for your question, I follow a bunch of authors and publishers on Instagram, it's my favorite social media outlet😁

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you!

      I thought Twitter was the favourite hangout for authors and publishers, and Instagram was more of a fan thing. Shows what I know πŸ˜‚.

      Delete
  7. I only interact with authors that actually interact back. If they never engage with their readers, then no, I won't follow them or comment on their posts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fair enough! Of course the bigwigs can't possibly keep up with every comment and tweet and whatnot, but as long as you see them making an effort at least...

      Delete
  8. I used to interact a lot with authors on Twitter but it got so toxic that I think we've all (readers and authors) have stepped back some. I follow a few and interact a little bit on Instagram but it's more of their personal accounts - talking about pets, food , travel and all that. Honestly, I stay away from most bookish SM now, except for my friends.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's sad. I wonder how some authors (like McGuire above) still manage to keep a SM presence, at least on Twitter (it looks like most authors don't use FB for professional reasons anymore?). It's probably easier for the smaller ones, who don't get targeted as much...

      Delete
  9. Did your Twitter get hacked?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, I'm so late replying, and we already talked about this. At least I managed not to pay the price of someone else's evil deeds this time...

      Delete
  10. I see no reason to chat or contact or connect with authors but I did once left a message about an art piece that I did for one author's books but really, not much interaction. I got an email saying something like thanks or something. I have since forgotten what they said and I don't think I saved that email.

    Frankly, one would enjoy books better if one didn't know too much about an author. I certainly heard now and then a lot of bad author behaviors. With social media, anyone do anything stupid, we all hear about it even those who don't use social media.

    I hope things work out for you.

    Have a lovely day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sometimes I miss the times when everyone (singers, actors, authors, whatever) came across as nice and innocent. But on the other hand, I'd rather not support people who do flat out stupid (or worse, harmful) things. Everyone has got a dark side, and everyone can make a mistake, but some famous people (like the author behind that beloved series about a young wizard) actively use their celebrity status to spread hatred, and that I can't ignore.

      Thank you!

      Delete
  11. Glad you had a nice interaction with the first author! It's always nice to be appreciated. I've seen some of Seanan McGuire's stories on Twitter, they were entertaining!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. McGuire sure has some interesting content. Suma comes across as such a nice person.

      Delete

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