Do the hustle
On doing more and more for less and less
I decided at the beginning of January to take a break from the hustle, which for me meant constant promotion of my books, workshop, and other projects. I enjoyed it so much that I let it slide into February. Here's a little report of the results:
-I've lost followers on both Twitter and Instagram
-My book sales have dropped off dramatically.
On the other hand, I've
-Read fourteen books in six weeks
-Had lots of great conversations with friends
-Written poetry
-Taken up the ukulele
-Finally gotten back into the routine of getting off screens an hour or two before bed
It's a little hard and sad to lose IG and Twitter followers, especially since I've spent the last several years diligently building community there. And it's a little discouraging to see book sales drop off, especially since I could use the money. But with the changes over at Twitter, as well as the ever-mysterious algorithm, the game has become more and more hustle for less and less rewards. And it's hard to deny that my life has been better in many ways without it. I think my mental health is benefitting, too. So I'm taking some time to reflect, before I jump back on the hamster wheel, whether I actually want to be back on that wheel, or whether it's time for a new approach to being a writer and a human being in general.
Are other folks having similar experiences?
I'm definitely scaling back my time on Twitter and other platforms lately. Finding much less benefit than I used to. It's hard for me to abandon them completely, because I value the people and conversations that break through the rest of the noise!
I've been treating my first traditionally-published book launch as a test case for whether I can do this thing sustainably or whether I just don't want to be a professional author. There are plenty of writing and marketing things I like to do, but I mostly refuse to do the ones that suck my soul out of my body. As a result - for example - I have a relatively puny social media following. we shall see about book sales.
Wondering lately whether we just missed a golden age where regular people could make a real living as writers who write books (not write + graphic design + freelance + market + etc.). It was a short and lovely time.