If I’m going to grow my numbers next year by 20%, I should capture a baseline of those numbers, yes?  And be warned – some of them are quite low!  But who am I comparing myself to?

In a semi-related tangent, I rarely (like, maybe twice a year) announce to my 550 facebook friends of anything related to my writing (that includes trying to sell my books or mentioning this blog).  I do this because it’s a pet peeve when people use their personal lives to sell their professional ones.  My books fit some of the demographics of people I know, but certainly not all of them.  Same with my food blog.  I guess I’m kind of always at war with myself about wanting people to know what I’m doing and growing my numbers, but also knowing that I prefer it when people find me/this blog/my writing organically.

Right, so, time for the numbers!  (Plenty of room for improvement).

68 likes – Ann Benjamin facebook page

6 likes – A to Za’atar facebook page (totes amazing, I know)

439 followers – this blog (thank you!)

13,324 followers – my marching Tumblr account, grown from its start in 2011. As I’ll be publishing YA next year (and years to come), I’m keeping this active.  I won’t post as often, mostly because I feel the core group is now more active on Instagram (and I missed the boat).

699 followers – Pinterest, heavily populated by manuscript ideas and travel.  Can someone please follow me so I have an even 700?

351 followers – Twitter. I have a love/hate relationship with the whole concept of Twitter, but I can see how it does well for some people I know.  Twitter is usually an afterthought for me.  I’m probably doing it wrong.

0 – newsletter follows or e-mail addresses for any type of listserv.  In much of my research for marketing/self publishing types, there seems to be a HUGE focus on creating newsletter lists, but all I can think is how much I hate getting spam e-mail and extra crap in my inbox, so why would I supply that nonsense for others?  I’m probably doing it wrong.

201 followers – Instagram.  I really do enjoy IG – it seems like one of the best platforms to interact with people.  Especially The Rock.  No seriously, his Instagram account is amazing.

Anyway, I know it’s not a competition, nor does followers/likes = book sales.  However, I do like a challenge and I’m ready to step things up in the next year.  Not to mention, I truly enjoy the creativity and discovery for both the Pinterest and Instagram platforms.

I also have accounts on WattPad, FanFiction.net, Goodreads and other writerly places.

Which social media platform do you most enjoy?