My Social Media Strategy is Hot Chicken

Mmm, hot chicken.

Here is my social media strategy: put stuff out there and see what sticks.

This might sound similar to the social media advice peddled by course sellers and self-described gurus. Theirs involves a lot of data and metrics. I’m a software engineer. I understand both the appeal and the merit of data and metrics.

I’m going by vibes here, folks.

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that in this century, writers need to market themselves. Particularly if they want people to actually read their work. But as writers, we don’t imagine ourselves as marketing professionals. We picture ourselves alone in a room where any wall space without a window is lined with books. The older the books, the better. We have a cup of coffee or tea. A notebook sits beside us, an aesthetically pleasing pen resting on top. The words flow smoothly as the rain pours down the window panes, creating the perfect ambient song. A cat rests on a cushion nearby.

You know what we’re not doing in that imaginary scene? Posting on Instagram. We’re not creating graphics in Canva, we’re not creating TikTok videos, and we’re most surely not posting bite-sized content on the dystopian social networking site formerly known as Twitter.

Yet, I don’t want to merely whisper into voids forever, as comfortable as they may be. And so, with some trepidation, I branched out. I started posting more on Threads. I found a wonderful community there, and my follower count grew organically. I have no strategy for Threads. I post about writing, what I’m writing, how I feel about writing, the lit mag submission trenches, or a tiny quote from my novel draft. I hype up my amazingly creative friends. I post pictures of my cat (always popular), write about books I’m reading, or describe how I long for hot chicken. I post a lot about hot chicken. Hot chicken is delicious, y’all.

I started posting quotes about writing, reading round-ups, and aesthetically pleasing bookstagram photos on Instagram. I’m photographing all the notebooks I have but dare not use because they are too pretty. I have a color scheme. I’ve gained a few new followers, mostly from Threads. Mainly, I’ve gotten responses from existing followers (family and friends) about the books I post. People are actually going out and reading books, I recommend. This isn’t boosting my follower count, but it feels spectacular! Remember I said I was going by vibes? I’m going to keep posting books.

On BlueSky, I…haven’t done much at all.

Meanwhile, this newsletter has an embarrassingly low follower count. However, my last post about writing did elicit some incredibly positive responses from members of one of my writing groups. After that little boost of dopamine, I’m writing about writing again.

What’s sticking? Book recommendations, being my genuine self, and hot chicken. Always hot chicken.