Writer News and Social Media

I have two humorous short shorts forthcoming in the spring issue of Dawn Vogel and Jeremy Zimmerman's Mad Scientist Journal, which are prequels to the story I wrote for them last year, "Monsters of the Id".  Eventually the series may grow into a novella or novel.

Also forthcoming is a speculative poem in David Kopaska-Merkel's Dreams & Nightmares.

Writers are caught in a curious trap:  They're told, on the one hand, to self-promote.  On the other, if they self-promote, it's self-aggrandizing. Ploughshares posted a humorous piece about Facebook folks for whom it appears it's all about ego-stroking.

Let's skip to the subtext.  I don't often post about my own writing.  The blog didn't even have my name on it until last year, so this is not self-defense but a defense of other writers with much to announce. It's curious that the article's complaints are only things writers would care and grow jealous about. Regular folks will think "I ain't never heard of that writer dude, so he must be a nobody."

Most writers are human beings, and human beings need validation. Why do people post videos and pictures of their kids?  "Behold:  My kid walks!  Isn't my kid the awesomest ever!"  (And you respond, "Who'da thunk a kid of yours could ever walk?"  or possibly, "It's alive!  Alive!")

Celebrate life's triumphs, big and small. (I probably will throw in the joke on your status, after celebrating.)

Some folks need more validation than others, which isn't to say that some overdo it. But who cares? Are any of us card-carrying officers in the morality police? Either celebrate with people or unfriend them. Jealousy will eat you up.

In terms of etiquette--not that there is any or should be--if you wanted to be safe, you could build up your news over the week.  But news tends to come in waves, with peaks and troughs--troughs that could last months or more--so this is not a prescription.