As I’ve been getting my head together and trying to figure out the best way to build a brand and market myself as an author, I’ve realized how awful this process is. Yet, in today’s literary landscape, it seems unavoidable. You want to build a following. You want to gain traction. You want to reach people. By and large, social media is the most efficient way to do that. Even creator-centered platforms like Substack still rely on algorithms, likes, comments, subscriptions, etc. to drive engagement. Trying to determine which platforms to give my energy to and which do more harm than good has been difficult, and I’m still playing around.

I created this website to have an official record of my querying projects, works in progress, thoughts on writing as a whole, and (eventually (fingers crossed)) publications. I got on Instagram and Threads to focus on my poetry. I got on Substack as a way to share the darker side of all this. I got on YouTube to have a place to store videos of my readings. Obviously, spreading my time between all these equally isn’t sustainable, so I think I’ll ultimately be picking Instagram back up and ditching YouTube.

If you enjoy the musings I post on here, I highly encourage you to subscribe to my new Substack for free! Being a creator today comes with many challenges, and I’m opening up about my struggles on that platform in the hopes that it makes other writers/thinkers/dreamers feel less alone.

Stick with me, folks. I’m going to get this right.

Love, Claire 💜