If you commented, I suspect you did so knowing that there’s always a risk associated with taking a stand. If you didn’t know that before you shared your position, I’m sure you found out quickly.

A social media case history

Take the case involving my publishing industry colleagues A and B. I like and respect and respect both of them.

I started paying more attention to Colleague A’s content when a post that wasn’t related to the election caught my eye. It was on her personal profile timeline, not her business Page, and the privacy setting was “public.” It was visible to anyone visiting her page.

What Colleague A shared was uncharacteristically confrontational. In the discussion that followed, she appeared to be cranky and close-minded — nothing like the person I know. A mutual acquaintance commented to me privately that she had unfriended Colleague A because of that discussion.

Uh-oh. Not good, right?

I wondered if Colleague A was struggling with something. I thought about calling to ask if everything was okay, but we are acquaintances, not good friends, and it was possible that my concern would be misinterpreted. So . . . I kept my thoughts to myself.

Election commentary

Her uncharacteristically dark mood continued with sarcastic pre-election posts. After the election,  she commented about the results — and how some reacted to them — in a way that communicated that she was pleased with the outcome. She criticized those who stated their disappointment.

While her criticism didn’t disturb me, I was surprised by it. There seemed to be a disconnect from her usual cheerful, fun commentary. It felt like there were two social media personas posting on one Facebook account. The upbeat person who used to show up there had been replaced by someone who was sarcastic and angry. It was odd . . . and I started to wonder which persona best reflected the “real” Colleague A.

And as the “Deal with it!” postings continued, I thought, “This can’t be good for her business.”

And I was right.

Point counterpoint

Enter Colleague B.

Colleague B was offended by Colleague A’s post-election commentary and called her out on it, by name, in a response on her own timeline. She described Colleague A’s position and attitude accurately and explained her own views, and why she held them.

Some might say that Colleague A came across as a bully and Colleague B as a victim; others might say the opposite. But one thing is certain: Colleague B’s post generated an angry backlash against Colleague A.

I wasn’t surprised that Colleague A became a target, but she was.

She complained that Colleague B had aligned her with some of the negatives linked to the election victor and in doing that, Colleague A said, Colleague B was thoughtless and cruel.

In other words, Colleague B’s response was irresponsible.

But predictable.

Consequences of controversy

Colleague A had every right to post whatever she wanted on her Facebook timeline. I liked her honesty and as I read the comments on her posts, I could see that she had many like-minded connections.

But when you write something that will feel confrontational and antagonistic to others, you shouldn’t be surprised when someone who doesn’t agree with you responds to it. It’s a risk you take when expressing an opinion on Facebook or any other social platform, and you have to accept that risk. If you can’t, keep your opinions to yourself.

Are you glad the election is over? Let us know in a comment! 

Here’s why: I spend a lot of time participating in online discussions among self-published authors so that I can learn as much as possible about their book marketing challenges and help them solve their problems. I’ve noticed that some people come off as knowledgeable, competent, and just plain smart while some do specific things that make me think, “I won’t buy anything written by that person.” Their online behavior makes me think  that I won’t enjoy reading their books.

The importance of a writerly social media persona

Think about it: I’m getting the information I need to accept or reject books sight unseen from social media personas.

The rejections come from four author patterns I’ve noticed in social networks. Perhaps these behaviors don’t influence anyone but me — but I doubt it. I can’t be the only reader who wants an author to use their/they’re/there correctly on an ongoing basis.

The influencers for me don’t relate to foul language or political preferences (although I will admit to disconnecting from people who make racist statements). They’re specific to an author’s ability to craft a book that meets conventional publishing standards.

Are any of these four behaviors interfering with your self-publishing success?

1. Arrogance.

If you act like you know everything there is to know about just about everything, I’m going to think that you haven’t bothered to research your topic or craft. If you’re writing nonfiction based on your own knowledge only, your book won’t be thorough enough for me. If you write fiction, I have the impression that you haven’t taken any courses on novel writing or haven’t been open to feedback on your manuscript. There’s a good chance that your book isn’t as good as it could be (or as good as you think it is).

2. Consistent typos or spelling mistakes.

Most people make mistakes now and then and it’s no big deal. But if you’re somebody who consistently writes “your” instead of “you’re” or just plain can’t spell on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or anywhere else, you’re giving me the impression that your book will be riddled with those errors, too.

This is less of an issue if you have a traditional publisher because that model includes professional editors who catch and eliminate those mistakes. But too many self-published authors skip that professional editing step, so what you see in social networks is also what you get in the finished product. I know that some people can overlook these issues in a good story, but I can’t. There are many other books without those problems that will be less frustrating to read.

3. Jack of All Trades Syndrome.

Perhaps you truly are gifted, but most great writers are not great cover designers or manuscript editors. Pay for specialized help. If you don’t, your book won’t live up to your own expectations.

4. No rules at all. 

I suppose some people are just too busy to even use the shift key when posting on a social network, let alone try out a few commas or an occasional period. Sentences that have no capital letters at all and no punctuation give me the impression that the poster is either e e cummings or a lazy writer. Lazy writers don’t write good books (and e e cummings is long gone).

Tips for presenting the most writerly social you

You can pay a copy editor to find and correct the misspellings and grammar errors in your book, but what can you do about those problems in social media?

First, learn how to spell. This probably sounds petty, but it’s more important than you might think. One of the best ways to learn how to spell is by reading articles and books. Not so coincidentally, the people who write those articles and books also read a lot of articles and books — because they know that to be a better writer, they have to read a lot. You learn from the work of others. The best writers — and spellers — are typically big readers.

You can also run everything through your word processing spell checker before posting it.

Second, proofread what you write before hitting the submit button. Honestly, when I forget to do this, I always regret it because I make mistakes when I type too fast. Even worse (quite frankly), sometimes my brain isn’t forming sentences that makes sense to anyone who isn’t in my brain! So I need to fix them. Proofreading gives me the chance to do that.

If you re-read your tweet, status update, or discussion comment just once before sharing it, you’ll not only find any mistakes, but you’ll have one more opportunity to ask yourself, “Is this what I really want to say about this topic to these people?”

I want to buy your books, but I need you to show me that you’re a good writer before I do that.

Am I being unfair? Does an author’s social media persona reflect what we’ll find in a self-published book, or not? What do you think?