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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Yaa Gyasi is not only not on social media, but does not even have a website.

Karin Tanabe, a local writer of historical fiction, has fewer than 4K followers on Twitter and fewer than 2K on IG. Her book is being adapted by Reese Witherspoon and Zendaya.

I'm not published, but would like to be and follow the industry. What I've heard is that if you write an amazing fiction book you don't need a following, though the publishing house will still want you to help with promoting it. In general, recommendations are for at least 1K followers for fiction and 10K for NF. The latter requires more because people really buy if they are already following the expert.

Don't get discouraged![/quote]
I'm sure Tanabe didn't benefit from the fact that her father was Book World editor at Washington Post. [/quote]

Ok, sure she writes really good books, but you want to cross off her off the list.

How about local writer Kathleen Barber, who has fewer followers than Tanabe and has a book of her adapted for Apple TV. How about local writer Dolen Perkins-Valdez? Or, Saumya Dave, Kathleen Grissom, Jhumpa Lahiri, Jennifer McVeigh, or Finola Austin? What about Sarah Penner, who is now shortlisted as the BOTM award finalist for her debut novel, who says that she had zero following when she got the book deal?[/quote]

I am the PP with the two-book deal. I agree with you (and I know Sarah Penner!) There are so, so many authors one can list who had/have minimal SM but some people really need to believe it is necessary in order to justify not trying to get their own writing out there.

Is it hard? Yes. It took me years to get published. I had a lot of learning to do -- both about craft and about business -- like how to write the kind of novel people will actually pay money for. I had years of rejection and then boom, success.

And absolutely none of it had anything to do with SM, or "knowing" people. I had no connections. I wasn't on social media at all.

As they say at the end of every #amwriting podcast (which I really recommend) keep your head in the game and your butt in the chair.

Meaning, there is no subsistute for the work. Keep writing.

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