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IWSG #11: An Observation About YA Authors


It's that time again for sharing with the Insecure Writer's Support Group.
What is that you may ask, well their mission statement is this:
The Insecure Writer’s Support Group is a home for writers in all stages; from unpublished to bestsellers. Our goal is to offer assistance and guidance. We want to help writers overcome their insecurities, and by offering encouragement we are creating a community of support.

The first Wednesday of each month, we blog about our fears, insecurities, or even an accomplishment we had. 
I wasn't sure what to write about this month. My fears and insecurities haven't changed and luckily for me I've not gained any new ones. So I sat and pondered while scrolling through Twitter and it came to me.

As part of my goals for 2017 I wanted to get better at using social media. I wanted to make real connections with people through online interactions. I have an Instagram that I rarely use, and an author Facebook page I use even less. Honestly FB makes it hard to interact with the author page so for groups and things I use my personal account. But I digress. One account I have started to use more as been Twitter. 

I write adult, contemporary romance but I follow a variety of authors on Twitter. I've noticed though in my interactions, that the YA authors have really seemed to have figured things out. They seem to be a tight network group. Of the various authors I follow, it's the YA ones that are on my feed most often. They are a supportive bunch tweeting, retweeting, liking, commenting on posts by others. Of the hashtag games that I participate in, they are all led by a YA author with the exception of one. Now of course they are very welcoming to authors of all genres, but it got me thinking. What do YA authors know that others (or just me) don't about the networking thing?

Maybe it just happens to be that I've not followed the right set of romance authors and there may be some out there that are just as active with the whole social media thing. Even with my limited interactions on Instagram, I've found that it's YA authors that have the 'challenges' monthly and know the ins and outs of the game. It's kind of amazing. It's like they all have the book of how-to with social media and it's working. And I know that the biggest secret to social media is being genuine in your interactions, but it seems like they have something extra. Or I could just be weird which has been the case before. 

My exposure is limited, and there could be just as active authors in other genres that I've not come across yet. If anyone knows where I should look, feel free to direct me in the comments. Either way, my social media experiment, at least where Twitter is concerned, is going well. I'm attempting to reach out more and talk to people when their tweets are something I can relate to. Doing some of the hashtag games has helped me think about my current characters differently which is always a good thing. I'm thankful for the well organized YA authors who put them together. 

Have a wonderful month and thanks for stopping by.
~Meka

Comments

  1. I am right there with you. From what so know so far, send folks little tweet comments and retweet with a comment at the top. Also, I have noticed when people want to reciprocate a share they like to see your real posts too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep. That's what I've been doing. Liking, retweeting, or commenting on posts I see and find interesting. I'm getting people that are doing the same to my tweets so it's been fun. I don't post a whole lot that isn't for one of the hashtag games, but I've had some here and there.

      thanks for stopping by

      Delete
  2. I wish YA was as popular when my series first started out.

    I think it mostly has to do with how many YA authors are out there. I was watching a recent Twitter pitch session and 4 out of 5 pitches were for YA. That's a lot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's becoming super popular. I agree there are a lot of YA authors out there now, and most seem to be YA fantasy. Even some book youtubers I've seen are mainly fan of YA fantasy. Guess it's the trend now and time will tell if it'll remain or fade like most trends do.

      I've not done a twitter pitch but having 4 out of 5 of them being from the YA does sound like there's a lot on the market.

      thanks for stopping by

      Delete
  3. Yeah, I'm with Diane. Because there are so many YA authors, they're really battling for attention, which means they have to be savvy to gain any ground at all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agreed. Hard to get noticed in a sea of so many, so guess they have to do what they can to stand out.

      I know there are plenty of romance writers out there, but their voices just aren't as loud I guess on twitter. I still look for them and have followed plenty.

      thanks for stopping by

      Delete
  4. I think it's because YA is so popular. Even adults read it. And it's the younger generations taking over social media, so YA authors benefit greatly by being on Twitter, etc. Also, as Diane and Crystal said, there are so many YA adult authors out there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is popular. I remember back in the Twilight craze I first heard about it from adult in an online group I was part of. When my daughter wanted to read it I was skeptical because I thought it was more along the lines of Dracula since I know some vampire books could get racy. It wasn't until she said it was in her school library that I realized it was a book about teens.

      I still feel out of my element on social media, it is more for the younger crowd to me, but I try.

      thanks for stopping by

      Delete
  5. Sometimes you have to look a little harder to find your group on the social network. Some people do seem to have it figured out, and they offer great support. Like IWSG!
    Thanks for visiting my blog today!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. True, and I'm still looking. I don't mind it being mostly YA I just noticed they were the majority out of those that I follow. I appreciate the support and community regardless of what genre.

      thanks for stopping by

      Delete
  6. I see a lot of fantasy authors on my Twitter feed, which isn't a genre I write. I think my fellow hist. fic writers may prefer carrier pigeons instead of Twitter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL carrier pigeons. Well guess that works also. But I agree, most of the YA authors I do see are on the fantasy side.

      thanks for stopping by

      Delete

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