And I’m Talking about Real Gifts, too!

Are you like many people, new authors especially, who get queasy  when they contemplate diving, or dipping a toe into the teaming waters of social media? Are terms such as SEO, analytics, call to action, optimized engagement always accompanied by the theme music from Jaws?

Do you have an SEO dashboard? Do you know the 40 essential terms that all marketers should know? I don’t either. But I do have friends! And social media friends are all you need!

One of my first friends on Twitter was Sam Bunch, @collectingconvs She tweeted about her blog, a site where she collected conversations from regular women. I was charmed by the way these women shared their hearts with her about every day topics. Sam, I think of her as “Conversations”  based on her Twitter handle, and I exchanged some tweets, retweets, stars (now hearts) and then I lost track of her. (Which is one of the reasons I have become more diligent about keeping lists on Twitter, so I don’t lose track!)

A month ago, Sam/Conversations direct messaged me with the wonderful news that her  conversations were now a finished book! And here it is, from London,  and it’s the most precious, wonderful book!

Here’s Sam’s website which will give you a taste as to just how charming and vibrant her book is. I agree with this blurb on her home page, “The book is beautifully written, funny, sad, gritty, poignant, honest, and real.” The book is also a thing quality book- well designed, illustrated and produced. It a pleasure to read, and a delight to just page through it. Destined to be a cherished heirloom!

Sam was inspired to write the book after her mother died. she spent some time rereading her mother’s diaries- which she had kept for 30 years. Her Mom’s quirky and everyday observations gave her an idea- to search out the wisdom and stories from other women- 100 women!

She chatted with each woman, one by one, usually for several hours, and quite often over a meal. The conversations in the book are collected by question, and then organized by age. Question 3 is “How do you think other people see you?” Question 17 was “How do you eat express yourself?” Sam presented some conclusions at the end of the book. No surprise that “confidence and body image issues were off the scale.” But I was surprised that “loneliness echoed throughout.” Thank you Twitter for guiding me to Sam Bunch and Collecting Conversations.

Now I want you to meet another social media friend. Because of a Facebook post, I received a gift from a ground hog! Margot the groundhog and I share the same friend, Lieve Snellings. Lieve is a passionate nature photographer and she sent me her darling and whimsical book, Margot Gets an Unexpected Visit. Margot is an open and amiable creature, and she has taught me about herself and her animal family. Author Lieve Snellings creates lively posts and videos and she is a fun and caring person to know.

What a joy it is to received packages from overseas with gifts of books that share the joy of the writer. Among all the numbers, graphs, and data online, are happy, creative people who want to make friends. And these connections are the special gift of social media.

I hope we are friends!