Hi all, happy Friday.
Today was a day and a half. A full work day, a total of 3 hours in the car, and general exhaustion hitting all at once made for a slight, little, maybe possibly breakdown about the fickle nature of the Instagram algorithm and how a lot of book promotion when you're doing it for yourself often feels like yelling down a dank, dark hole that never seems to end. And I love talking about books; hell, it's my job, and I truly love being an advocate for other people's work. It just seems that when I'm doing it for myself, the same grace, that same enthusiasm, is diminshed. And I'm incredibly happy about the book coming out, don't get me wrong. It's been a thrill from the start.
But I would be lying to you, dear reader, if I said that I didn't feel self-conscious about posting about it. I try to limit my time on social media outside my work, but the flip side of that is, I only post when I have something exciting to post about, and the main exciting thing in my life of late has been the book. It seems like it's all I have right now in comparison to my friends who are out there doing exciting things, going to exciting places. Someone once told me that comparison is the thief of joy, and lately, all I've experienced has been that theft, that feeling like I've been doing my best and working and working, and everyone sees the duck bobbing serenely on the surface but no one really stops to consider the furious paddling underneath. This all goes back to my working theory that personal social media is a cesspool that never makes anyone any happier.
So, I think that for my own personal sanity, once Bad Animal is out and book tour events are in full swing, I'll be taking a break from that most impersonal of social media platforms, Instagram, and devoting my outside time to things like reading, drafting this new book project, fixing another manuscript, etc. If I could get the hours I agonize over who is or isn't liking my posts back, I think it could make up a life in and of itself. And what a life that has the potential of being. Who would I be if I weren't convinced I needed to apologize for my life and talking about what I have going on in it? I'd like to meet that person. I think they'd probably would be a lot happier.
Book tour news coming soon; Philly, Bad Animal and I are coming for you in July and August, so consider yourselves warned.
Kathryn
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