I was reading the blog over at Genreality today and one of the points Lynn Viehl mentioned was saying no.

Good advice.

Authors get asked to do a lot of things.  A lot.  Now, some of these, it is in our best interest to do.  Like promo.  Finding some way to get the word out about your books.  It’s not an easy thing to do, sometimes, finding what works for you, what doesn’t, what you can afford, etc, etc, etc.

But sometimes, these things become a huge time suck.  They take away from the time that should be spent writing.  Or they stress you out.  Or they just make you too uncomfortable.

I’ve got a myspace page, but I don’t much care for myspace.  I keep it up because I do get hits from it and it’s free.  Plus, once you get it set up, it’s not much of a time investment, unless you go in and hit other people’s walls on a regular basis.

I’ve got a facebook page, but I’ve cut down how much I get on there, because it’s a huge time suck.  It’s a fun one-I love facebook, but the time I spend playing there is time I could have been writing.

Admittedly, I’m addicted to twitter, but I’ve got that one under control.

Interviews can become very time consuming, and radio interviews tend to make me uncomfortable.    If it’s done by a friend, like Mandy Roth/Michelle Pillow, or one of the shows run by Sheila English/Circle of Seven, I’m much less likely to be uncomfortable, which means I’m more likely to do it.

And that’s what everything has boiled down to.  It depends on my comfort level.  I don’t like myspace, so I don’t spend much time there.  I like facebook too much, so I don’t spend much time there.  Online/print interviews, depends on the time constraints.  Radio interviews, unless it’s in a place where I already feel comfortable, I’m probably going to say no, and once I say no… I do mean no.

Writers already invest so much time in stuff other than writing and while there may be benefit, I’ve decided I need to way those possible benefits against the stress it causes me.  And I’m kind of tired of stressing.  So unless I perceive one huge benefit, I’m passing on the new stuff, the extra stuff and just focusing on what seems to be working for me already.