Making the Choice Between a Public or Private Social Media Life

In response to my blog post on Your Career and Social Media, a reader asks:

I’m curious, wouldn’t keeping your personal social media private be okay? There’s a difference between what you do under an account that might be seen professionally and one that is your personal life. What if someone hasn’t needed to use social media in a professional capacity, would that still be a red flag if you can’t see past the privacy settings?

I think there has to be a balance. Yes, it is perfectly acceptable, and sometimes suggested, that you have a personal social media account. Not everyone wants to publicly share all their thoughts and photos, but if you are looking for a career in publishing (whether as an author, editor, agent, or production manager) you’re also going to need at least one public social media account. And the minute you determine that the book you’re writing is one you want to publish you are on the path to a career.

Well before you get a contract in hand you should have a professional social media account. With whatever platform you choose, this will be the account that will allow you to start your research and kick off your career. It is through this account that you start to connect with agents, authors, and publishers. It will allow you to begin the research you’ll need to learn about the business, to watch what sort of promotion other authors are doing, to get to know agents and to find out if this particular platform is one that works for you.

If you are checking this blog regularly and querying you are already taking the beginning steps to your publishing career. Adding a social media account at this point can only aid in your search.