Authors need platforms.

They didn’t always. Michael Crichton didn’t have a website with a newsletter link when he released Jurassic Park more than three decades ago. Yes, he was well known for The Andromeda Strain, among other works. But he wasn’t tweeting, posting on Facebook and doing a Book-Tok dance.

Do people dance on Book-Tok? I honestly don’t know.

Anyway, to appeal to agents and publishers, even though you technically don’t need one, it makes sense to have one. I’m updating my website this year (much needed after a decade). And am trying to get followers. I’m terrible at it. And, frankly, I don’t want to, but not for a reason you’re thinking.

I’d love to have thousands of followers, and you must work to get them. That’s fine.

But with Twitter/X especially, you invariably get bombarded with the day’s events and what people think about them. Again, fine.

Once you start reading the tweets, you’re bound to get angry or annoyed because almost everyone on Twitter seems angry and annoyed. Take any political issue–Greenland, Minnesota immigration, the Buffalo Bills collapsing again (OK, that’s not political, but it’s up for discussion–and you will get heated, f-bomb-laced screeds on both sides of the issue, and it’s easy to get sucked in.

I rarely comment on anything besides joking to point out absurdity, or chiming in on something that’s universally accepted, like praying for Rob Reiner and his wife after their son murdered them. Yes, there was one lunatic who felt compelled to behave indecently, but he’s not worth mentioning.

You lose time (when you should be writing) and your mental health when you descend into that hole. So, loath as I am to do, I will venture on Twitter to post author-related things (not incessant sales pitches, which are tedious). But, like a bank robbery, I want to be in and out as quickly as possible. And if someone likes whatever I post or wants to engage in a civilized back-and-forth, great!

It is possible to ignore the noise. It is possible to disconnect (putting the phone away)! Hard as it is to do, you will feel better. Maybe that’s the key to true happiness. Powering down.

And reading a book.