Influencer

Instagram doesn't seem to be working to sell books. Or, if it does, I’m doing it wrong. I wonder if it’s because my posts are too “thinky”--which I promise is *NOT* meant as a self-compliment ("thinky", in this regard, may be pompous, drab, and uninteresting). The people who become “influencers” tend to be very pretty people who portray themselves and their lives as glamorous (whether they are or not doesn't matter as much). Myself, I don’t portray myself or my life at all on Instagram. There’s no pictures of me, no attempts to pretend I’m leading a glamorous life--i.e. I'm not selling myself, so maybe my followers don’t pay attention to what I *AM* selling.

Some would say that I should take this as the true appraisal of the quality of my books. However, the online community has explicitly proven that *ANYTHING* can be sold and be successful.

If I were as smart as I want to be, I’d figure out a novel approach. A new way to market and get the word out. Maybe I should diversify. I could download some music production software and drop an electronic album. Either that, or maybe I should hire some young, good-looking guy to take selfies of himself doing interesting things in exotic locations. Maybe if everyone on Instagram thinks I’m young, good-looking, and rich . . . then they’ll listen to me. That’s a joke, but I wonder if it's true. Which is very sad. I can’t tell if I was born too late or too early. Either way, I’m a person out of time.