Do you...uh, sur-vey-ey?

I spent a great deal of time this past weekend on MySpace, updating my seriously outdated page. Through sheer determination and a lot of uh-ohs, I learned a bunch of things--how to change my background, how to add a fancy cursor, how to upload--download?--images and post them on my homepage--but the thing that stuck with me the most after all my time on there is how popular surveys seem to be on MySpace.

I don't get that. I mean sure, I read them, but I never fill them out Besides, if I was going to take the time to fill out a survey, I'd probably choose one of those that promises something in return. You know, like those that pop up on the Internet at times, offering free laptops or a gift certificate to some restaurant or even money if you'll just take a small survey--yeah, right!

So, I'm a survey voyeur. I read them, even think about how I would answer some of the questions, but you won't ever see me filling one out. It's not that I don't have the time...well, maybe that is the reason. You see, I know how my brain works, and one suvey might take me hours to fill out. I'd agonize over every question and once I posted it, the chances are very good that I'd read back over what I wrote, cringe at some of the answers and think what a boring person I really am.

I don't need a survey to point that out to me. I know I'm boring and I'm actually okay with that. I'm a homebody, one who's uncomfortable being in the spotlight--unless it's in front of a bunch of elementary students, that never bothered me at all--and one who could very easily become a hermit. Yes, that's right, if I had my druthers, as my grandpa used to say, I'd cut myself off from the rest of the world without blinking an eye.

The thing is...if you're an author, you just can't do that. You have to put yourself out there, you have to promote yourself and your books, and you have to be a participating member of society, even if it is just in cyberspace.

And thank God for cyberspace. I don't mind promoting myself or my books on the Internet, but I have a feeling next year when the two print anthologies which will include a story from me are released, I'm going to be wishing I'd stuck with ebooks. I know I'm already dreading it, but I'm going to have to suck it up and do what needs to be done...

...I'm going to have to put on something besides jeans and a sweatshirt, go out in public and talk to real, live people--and I'm going to have to be nice to them.

Oh, horror of horrors!

Some day in the far-off, distant future...

I now have three blogs, one on LJ, one on WordPress, and a new one I just set up on Blogger. In addition to that, I have a page on Author's Den (which I really need to do more with), a page on MySpace (which I can't figure out and don't like to use because my Internet security program keeps popping up and flashing little warning signs at me about it being a "dangerous" site), and a page on Gather (also which I really need to pay more attention to). Plus, I'm signed up to post on the 20th of every month on the Twilight Fantasies Blog (one of my publishers), which shouldn't be too much of a chore since I can probably use one of my posts from one of my many blogs. I also have a page on several Yahoo romance sites which I rarely, if ever, do anything with. Last, but not least, I'm trying to re-vamp my web site and learn the ins and outs of creating and maintaining a successful small business on the Internet--and don't let anyone tell you that being an author isn't a business. I think any author you talk to, will back me up on that one!

I don't plan on keeping all the blogs, I'm just trying them out and when I find the one I'm most comfortable with, that's the one I'll keep. MySpace is out for me, because I get a serious case of the heebie-jeebies every time I log on to that one. AD, Gather, and the various romance sites on Yahoo, I'll keep because I think they'll be valuable--at some point--for promoting my books.

Which brings me to my point in all this; with my second book coming out in less than a week, I know I need to be promoting, but I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. All this is taking a major chunk of my time and I haven't written more than a couple hundred words all week. So, where do you draw the line between promotion and writing? I don't have a clue, but I think it's something every author must figure out for herself.

Since this is only my second book, I'm telling myself not to agonize over it too much, just do what you can and hopefully, as I gain more experience, it will get easier. Maybe, some day in the far-off, distant future, I'll get the hang of all this and then I'll not only be a multi-published author, but I'll also be an efficient and productive promoter!

Only time will tell.