Googling Yourself

Once upon a time, there wasn’t a way to see if you were out there in the world, being remembered, searched for or watched. We all went through our day-to-day lives oblivious to anyone giving us any attention or paying us any sort of mind. It was a lovely feeling and we can long to go back to such days; to return to “the good old days”, as the saying goes.

I believe that view is limiting and, in some ways, very narrow.

Don’t get me wrong. There are many cons about the internet and social media as a whole: no privacy, compar-a-titis, once you post something, it is out there for the millennia, etc. Not to mention the terrible, dark side of the internet, which I will spare the details here.

While these things are all cons, I have a bit of a different view, as an indie author. Without the internet and social media, I would have a much harder time sharing my books with my readers and potential readers. Self-promotion would be a thousand times harder without social media posts, websites and even TikToks to share progress.

I know what you are thinking: why is this on your mind, Amanda? And why call this post “Googling Yourself”? 

Well, I have a new novel coming out in the next few months. That means that this is the time to update my website, start really engaging my audience, and make more posts. It is a fine line, however, to post just enough to make sure they are thinking about me to remember I have a book coming out and not too much that they get sick of hearing from me. 

As a result of this time that I am dubbing “The Great Social Push”, I decided to see where I stand when I Google my pen name, “Amanda J. Grant” or my first novel, “Along the Pipelines”. There were no major surprises, as my book is found in the regular places like Amazon and Indigo (just online, though — you won’t find a hard copy anywhere). 

The most surprising thing was seeing how quickly my name comes up for links to my social media pages. Which is good and bad. Good in that I want my name to get out there. Bad in that I am a public entity, and my social media is public for the sole reason that I am an author. 

After the updates to my website and working on my social media presence, I am thankful for this space called the Internet. I am thankful that I am able to share my books easily with those who may want to read them. But the Google search was also a stark reminder that the internet is forever, so anything you post, you will be remembered for, so post well.

With those sobering thoughts, I am off to finish updating my website. You can visit it at amandajgrant.com. Also, did you hear I am an author with a second novel coming out?

Always writing, 
AJG