A couple of months ago, your daily host and Overlord & Saviour here at the Legion was on the road to becoming something of an "influencer."
I say that in air quotes because I've loathed the term ever since some nerd coined it.
And just for the record, I'm not talking about academics, philosophical heads, or those who share their knowledge or craft with the world.
I'm talking about the talentless hacks who play idiot in public or eat Cheetos so close to the microphone, you can smell the impending root canal.
Anyway.
I was on the path to donning this new label because, somehow, the Facebook and Instagram gods enjoyed what I was putting out into the world, which was mostly me ranting about some of the ills blighting modern fantasy.
Like:
The long, slow narratives…
The difficult-to-pronounce character names…
Characters that are too soft to be heroes…
Randy elves and orc sex creeping into books…
All the usual suspects.
I'm not saying all modern fantasy stories are plagued with these things, though my lords and ladies already know that.
My horde are no fools, nor do we suffer them gladly around these parts.
But my goodness, did these posts attract a tonne of engagement!
In fact, one of my reels is somewhere north of 350,000 views, having scooped up dozens of sales and fresh Legionnaire blood.
(Greetings to you if you stumbled in from there.)
Yet despite clearly touching on real pain points the market had, I walked away from my social media account just as momentum ramped up.
I mean, I still check in from time to time and reply to comments, but as for posting…
NO MAS.
So, why did I commit this modern marketing sin?
Because it soon bore the scaffolding of a hamster wheel, and the last time I glanced at the mirror, I was neither a rodent nor a fan of running.
Then there was the time cost of posting these suckers.
Despite only putting out three one-minute videos per week, they hogged up more hours than I want to count — time that could have been spent publishing more books.
Because unlike these 60-second rants, a book is an asset.
You need only pour sweat into it once, and it can be enjoyed by readers forever.
Whereas a social media post sinks to the bottom of the digital ocean within hours, or days if you're lucky.
Does that make me a capitalistic pig?
Absolutely not.
It makes me a capitalistic pig who fled the toil of a treadmill before it whipped me into shape.
Big distinction.
In any case, that's why I walked away from it all.
And right now in this season of my life, that suits me dandy.
It has allowed me to prioritise writing again and getting long-awaited sequels like Book 6 of The Divided Region published.
Speaking of which…
Have you grabbed your copy of Among Wolves yet?
If not, you can do so by tapping this hearty link:
https://djjwatsonstore.com/products/among-wolves
Or, if you're yet to take your first step into the realm of Estos, you can grab all six books thus far in one discounted bundle here:
https://djjwatsonstore.com/products/TDR-Bundle
Have a cracking weekend. Stay classy out there!
DJJW