I’m Twitter Famous….Except I’m Not

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I woke up to 30 new followers on Twitter this morning. This kind of freaked me out. Where had they all come from? Had I been sleep tweeting? Is that even a thing? As I was pondering this, I received another three followers. What on Earth was going on? This must be how Justin Bieber feels when he wakes up and checks his phone in the morning. Although he probably has people to do that for him.

Turns out an established author had included me in a tweet, asking his followers to support new writers on Twitter. And by golly, they did. The idea is to build up an online writing community where authors can advise and encourage one another. I must admit, this is a very different Twitter from the one I inhabited many moons ago. Support? Encourage? These were an alien language back in my Twitter heyday.

Back then, I had no purpose on Twitter other than to spout (usually) drunken nonsense and hide from my real life responsibilities. I was an inebriated ostrich with my head well and truly wedged in the online sand. Not a pretty sight, let me tell you. And not a very nice person, either. I had no focus, no passion, no ambition. Other than walking to the fridge to get another beer. And possibly a packet of crisps.

The 2018 version of me is hopefully a very different beast. I’m on Twitter to broaden my online presence, a seeming prerequisite for any aspiring authors seeking literary representation. There is a method to my madness. For that’s what it is, madness. Trying to seek literary representation is the long shot to end all long shots. But God loves a trier, and believe me I’m trying.

I’m writing this post as much for myself as for anybody else. It’s a reminder. A reminder to keep my feet firmly rooted to the spot as I reach for the stars. The maths, are math as you lovely North Americans insist on calling it, are simple. For all the multiple followers, I still haven’t sold a copy of this blasted book. I don’t have a publishing deal. I don’t have literary representation.

Nothing. Nada. Zilch. That’s where I’m at, that’s my starting point every day. That’s what I focus on. I need to remain humble, accountable and transparent. For otherwise, what’s the point? It’s easy to hit a retweet button and acquire new followers. Money for old rope. But the people that matter? That’s a whole different ball game. And they are who I most focus on as this crazy rollercoaster ride to publication takes another unexpected twist.

Published by Fractured Faith Blog

We are Stephen and Fionnuala and this is our story. We live in Northern Ireland, have been married for 17 years and have three kids - Adam, Hannah and Rebecca. We hope that our story will inspire and encourage others. We have walked a rocky road yet here we are today, together and stronger than ever. We are far from perfect and our faith has been battered and bruised. But an untested faith is a pointless faith. Just as a fractured faith is better than none at all. We hope you enjoy the blog.

38 thoughts on “I’m Twitter Famous….Except I’m Not”

  1. 30 new followers?! Crikey! Is this really what we need to be doing to get published? Joining Twitter? I simply don’t know how you manage to achieve so much … I think I need to go on a Twitter and tweeting course. Please don’t forget me when you’re famous … 🙇‍♀️

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      1. I’m going to use a word from many moons ago … “Poppycock!” What you are failing to remember is that they haven’t yet read your book! Imagine how much trash they have to sieve through every single day. To use the words from Dad’s Army, “Don’t panic Mr Mainwaring!” Keep on going, it’s just a process. And of course you will only have to do this once. For the next books you won’t have to lift a finger, they’ll be begging you to simply write.

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  2. This really touched me. I hate to think of you starting every day with nothing. I hate to think of anyone starting the day that way. I’m a song writer so I am very familiar with creating a ‘masterpiece’ only to see it sit, unnoticed and unloved. The answer to avoiding depression and despair (for me at least) is to write another one. That way I stay deeply entrenched in the process rather than the outcome. Does that make sense? Ha, I know writing a book is a little different from writing a song though.

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  8. Woohoo twitter famous! Even though I say idc about people following my blog. I do care. I do want to touch more than more 20 loyal blog readers. I feel I have something to say that others can relate to. Connection – isn’t that what we all crave?!

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