Does your writing matter if you are an author with no social media presence?
I have been pondering this question for a while now, especially after my interview on my podcast "Read and Write with Natasha" with author Dr. Susan Landers who wrote the book "So Many Babies" about her experience as a neonatologist.
Dr. Landers was told by several agents that her work was effective and her writing was solid, but they couldn't take her on as a writer because she didn't have a significant social media presence.
Is this the situation we are faced with these days as authors?
Does your writing not matter without followers, likes, and reposts?
What would have happened if Stephen King faced the same obstacle in the early days of his career?
Would we have been deprived of his genius due to a lack of a significant social media following?
Would The Stand, Misery, and others have not come to fruition because an agent looked at his X followers and said Nah, his writing doesn't matter?
How important is it for authors to put their writing aside and invest time in posting, retweeting, and creating reels and YouTube videos?
Are we at a period in our lives where the time you spend posting on social media trumps the time you spend writing?
I don't know.
All I know is that agents and publishers will more likely not pay attention to you if you are not active on social media. That you are writing will be perceived as futile if you are below a certain number of followers.
The business of publishing aside, your writing matters.
It always matters.
Reels or no reels, keep pouring your heart out on the paper because writers can't NOT write.
Keep creating.
Keep the spark.
You matter.
Does your writing matter with no social media presence?