Consistency is key. The more often you post to social media, the better, but even if it's just one post every two days, it's something I can look for as a reader. Something to make me think--I wonder if X is okay, they usually post on Wednesdays and I haven't seen them in awhile.
Something that makes you a constant in someone's world is great. And even if your social media is like mine--cute dog videos, memes, and generally just stuff that can make you happy--it's noise. But sometimes listening to that noise and even adding to it with your own posts, is too much. By now, it's well known that authors work all of the time. Not just at writing stories, but in converting their presence into a small business, whether they intend to or not. Their social media posts, the conventions they go to, the hunt for covers and editors, and even stepping away from the keyboard to go outside and snort a line of pollen off their lawn furniture, it's all part of the process. And it's all noise. Even when they go outside to "rest"--because it's all of the pressure on that break. That break is supposed to stop you from burning out. It's a break to prevent your mind from racing, your soul from being tired, your back from being tense, your stomach from being in knots, a break from checking your phone constantly... That's a lot to expect from standing outside with the bugs for five minutes and realizing you need to cut grass. I don't know if real weekends ever existed. I've always been guided by off-beat people--people that worked for themselves, or people with a guilt complex over their 1950's lifestyles, who made up for the whole house wife routine, by working three times as hard to prove their worth. This led to literal broken backs (fractured vertebrae) and a litany of health problems. That being said--I know how bad it is to go and go and go and go without a break. And most authors do this. I do this. I get angry at myself when I can't do this, because that's falling behind from doing what I want to do, a.k.a., all of the things all of the time. I wish I could wave a magic wand and prevent burnout, I really do. I would definitely use it on a few of my authors, and more than a few swipes at myself. Okay, more than a few swipes at myself. I'd be a magic wand addict, but I digress... There's no one thing I know that will stop burn out. Not if you go down to some water and stare at it for half an hour. Not if you sit in the yard. Not if you meditate in the bedroom. There are no guarantees, but I recommend you try something. Try it repeatedly. And be kind to yourself. Consistency is key in more than just sales and posting, consistency is the key to keep from falling apart.
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