I've got a Twitter account. I still can't call it X with a straight face. Ideally, if I'm trying to sell a book or build a following, it seems there should be a singular theme to what I post. Look at Three Year Letterman's satire or Amy Lofgren's ongoing crusade. But my feed is a random emotional purge, sometimes happy and sometimes funny and very often angry when I mean to be funny.
I went on a rant not long ago about the USA Track and Field Championships. They're very poorly managed and the people in charge at USATF have driven the sport into the ground. High school meets are better attended than last week's amazing racing up in Eugene. In fact, they shouldn't be at Eugene at all, if only because an event so prominent should be run in a major market where thousands have easy access, not lovely Eugene, which is almost impossible to reach without connecting flights.
That's the kind of rant that ends up on my Twitter feed. It's a reasonable argument but is it promoting my books? I don't think so. Just makes me sound cranky, rather than like someone who actually plans to do something about it.
Same with Facebook. I don't post much, other than when I want to show my friends where I'm traveling. Sometimes a photo of Callie looking beautiful. Instagram has become the domain of my cross country team, mostly during morning practices. I am inspired by the sunrise and the dedication of these wonderful kids I coach, so I spontaneously take a picture of the workout white board or dawn landing on the track as they launch into a 6 am session.
I don't do Tik-Tok, or that would turn into some other tangent.
In a world where social media influences books to be bought and movies to be watched, I'm still a Luddite. I have no intention of becoming an influencer because that sounds exhausting. But I need to focus on a singular message. I don't want it to be political. No need to take sides. There's plenty of room at the table for everyone, no matter their beliefs. As far as I'm concerned, if you're a reader you're a friend of mine.
Yet I'm at a crossroads: my next book is a step away from WWII history to focus on the Olympics and running. The history people know me but I'm still a mystery to the larger running world. I'm not sure many people will stick around if I go all-in on running posts. History is still my jam.
(Spoiler alert: to confuse the issue even more, my next book is a work of historical fiction. I was already leaning that way when the universe in the form of my friend and local mayor Brad McGirr randomly suggested I give it a try. I'd already been thinking hard about doing just that, so it felt like confirmation.)
Taking Midway is already in its fourth printing. The Long Run comes out in April. I can't very well abandon TM on my socials to focus on TLR. The irony in all this is that socials are all about baring your individual soul. I do a whole lot of that in The Long Run, so much so that it's a little uncomfortable how much the world will know about me when it's published. Gone forever are the days when a writer can hide in his office with his words and expect to sell a million books. Fewer bookstores. Not even Costco sells books anymore. So socials matter. I'll start with fewer rants on Twitter. Add more videos on Insta (that one scares me most). Maybe even Tik-Tok! A little running, a little history. A whole lot of Martin.
Follow me. Tell your friends. Let's see how all this evolves.