F is for...

Facebook.

It seems this is being considered more vital to writers in promoting their books and themselves. Authors use it for various purposes, including reaching new people and speaking to those who already know of them. Authors can easily reach their fans who have "friended" or "liked" them on Facebook, depending on what kind of page or account they create. They can announce book tours and signings, book details, releases and various details. They can also have giveaways and contests via Facebook. Thanks to the photo option, they can post pictures of book signings, even allowing fans to tag themselves in them. They can upload book cover photos and author photos. It's a great tool for self-promotion and marketing, in an era where publishers are doing less in the way of promoting their individual authors, thus making it so authors must do their own promotion.

It can also be a time drain. Between keeping up with others' status updates and news items, as well as replying to those who have left them messages, it can draw them in for a longer period of time than intended. Any time spent on marketing can be considered time not writing, though marketing is important, as well.

In honor of "F" day, I have created a Facebook page for my blog. It can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/The-Warrior-Muse-Blog/157021684357742. Please stop by and "like" it if you have a Facebook page! Eventually, I will take the time to figure out how to put the Facebook link on my sidebar.

F is also for...

Family.

Finding the perfect combination of time to write and time to spend with my family can be tricky at times, especially when I have some good writing mojo going. Sometimes I am more drawn to family time and have a hard time sitting down to write, using my mother's guilt as an excuse not to write. Other times, I am pounding away at the keyboard, but that same mother's guilt seeps in, because I should be building Lego castles with my son or playing My Little Pony with my daughter. I try to make a point of spending time with them around my writing schedule. I play first, write second, and then we take a break together for lunch. During my writing time, while my son is in school, my daughter likes to "work" in my office with me, which is incredibly helpful, much of the time. Yes, she's playing and talking, but I find that when things are going well, I can keep going. It's when I'm stuck that it's an issue, and that means I need to take a break anyway in order to let things percolate.

I don't write through dinner, even if I'm doing well. I like having dinner as a family, though the older they get, and the more activities they take part in, the harder that gets. Still, I work at it until it no longer makes sense, because they are important to me.

Writing can be quite a job of juggling. Sometimes we have the time to write, but not the inspiration/urge/will power/muse. Sometimes the story is pushing to get out, yet we don't have the time to sit down and work on it. We have to figure out the best ways to use our time, to accomplish everything we need, but our minds and our creativity don't work on our time line.

So, do you have a Facebook page? Is it business related, personal or both? If business related, how do you utilize it? Do you feel Facebook is useful, just a time suck, or a bit of both?

Happy Writing!