(Or you still are.)
Sure, it was obsessive and mildly creepy, but I came to the conclusion that every aspiring writer did it and if I wasn't lurking about on Twitter, I might miss something, like the chance to overanalyze that befuddling tweet.
Was that MY query that got a yes? Were those MY sample pages he adored? Could that be MY ms that so delighted her she forgot to get off the train?
But mostly it was worse... WHY is he on Twitter when he should be reading my submission? WHY is she complaining about boredom when she's had my partial for 3 months? WHY did that person hear back when I can tell from Querytracker that I queried first!?
What a relief it was to leave that behind when I made the decision to write for adults and publish it myself.
However, I still have a stalking problem. Only now I stalk myself.
It's a lot less creepy but no less obsessive. Why didn't anyone warn me about this?
I started by stalking my number of Twitter followers, Facebook friends, and author page Facebook likes. Harmless, right?
Then I added my book on Goodreads. And started a giveaway. My stalking tendencies have returned full-force, my excitement climbing every time those TBR adds and contest entries go up, and my book isn't even available yet! NOTHING guarantees those people will actually buy/read the book!
And yet this is what I do when I see them rising.
Friends of mine who released books already this summer have warned me about the stalking I will do on Amazon, and I'm afraid. I'm very afraid.
But at least I know I'm not alone. And maybe someday I will lose interest in this kind of stalking; perhaps it's just a novelty right now because it's my first book coming out.
And it's kind of a relief not to have mildly violent thoughts about perfectly nice Agent People who just want to go about their day taking trains and eating sandwiches and drinking coffee and reading words that are not mine.
For now, anyway. :)
Happy Stalking this week, everyone!
Posts
Happy Stalking! I also stalk myself. It's weird, but I like it. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, I stalk you too. Did I forget to mention that? ;)
ReplyDeleteI am a self-confessed stalker. My husband actually yelled at me when I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep, so grabbed my iPad just to "check the numbers on Amazon real quick"... Even when the numbers aren't that intriguing...I can't help it.
ReplyDeleteI waste so much time stalking, I feel ill about it. Though I'm glad to not be alone, I want it to stop! I wake up in the night for half a second, pick up my phone with one eye half open and check my rank. I'm sick, I tell you. SICK!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I am in love with that Tom Hiddleston gif. Second of all, I stalk you too, because you are beautiful and talented :) Third of all, I'm counting on you to lash me to the masts when Landry Park comes out.
ReplyDeleteSelf-proclaimed stalker here as well! And I stalk all my writer girls, it's my favorite past-time. ;)
ReplyDeleteIt's decided! The only thing more fun than stalking ourselves is stalking our friends! Wheee! (I see you.)
ReplyDelete