The value of human interaction

Over the past weekend, I attended via the cloud, the 2024 THE ALLIANCE OF INDEPENDENT AUTHORS Publishing for Profit’ Self-Publishing Advice Conference. I could only attend a couple sessions. One that I felt I had to sit in one was Penny Sansevieri’s presentation on Selling books without Social Media.

Social Media itself does not sell books. I liken it to having a mailbox on your porch or on a post next to your driveway. You have to have one to get letters. You have to have a way to be found. Or ignored. But you have to have one. As a direct-to-reader author I have to be on social media and have over the years learned to use it fairly well, I suppose.

The most useful information, for me at least, from Penny’s hour was the chart below. So much for Tik Tok for authors. I put the numbers here and try to come up with a comparable time measurement with the photos of some of my recent book sign and sell events. Each person spent a bit of their own time with me. They bought a book or two. It occurs to me as I look at each photo now, recalling them in some detail as I do, that the value of each interaction with my fellow human has increased over time. Something that, as one can see, will never happen via the phone.

Shelf Life of a Post:

Twitter/x – 18 Minutes LinkedIn – 24 Hours

Instagram – 21 Hours TikTok – Instant Decay

Facebook – 5 Hours WordPress Post – 2 years

You Tube – 20 weeks Podcast – 170 Days