Dear Reader,

With each book, the writing process and launch is just a bit different from the one before, and Girl from the Ashes is no exception. One of the biggest differences in writing this book is that I completely left social media while writing and launching it.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand the value of social media. I’ve worked in it for almost a decade, and have become used to sharing information (and jokes!) with my family and friends from it and through it. But, over time, I couldn’t help but realize that the cons of spending time on social media were starting to outweigh the pros. For starters?

It was a time suck.

While writing and editing Girl From The Ashes, I was also writing and editing my upcoming YA, and traveling to speak about my previous novels. I also started homeschooling my oldest. When my phone sent me my screentime report at the end of the week, I couldn’t help but think about how that time could have been spent elsewhere.

It was an energy suck.

One of my hugest pet peeves surrounding social media is how fast misinformation spreads, from the smallest piece of celebrity news to something more important. It’s so easy (almost too easy) to take bite-sized content out of context. I would find myself getting worked up over content that wasn’t real or true. Or even if it was, it wasn’t of importance. Sometimes, after a big news story or debate, I would feel drained from reading the opinions of others.

It was repetitive.

I felt like I couldn’t find the variety and creativity I wanted. Instead, I found 100 people talking about the same issue, in vaguely the same way. Or, the same 5 people, talking about the same thing, without ever seeing the followers I actually wanted to see. I’d miss posts from my best friends while being fed the same ‘rage bait’ content that I’d saw the day before. At that point, I had to ask myself, why was I even logging on?

I could go on and on, but those were a few of the reasons I decided to leave social media. Since leaving, I’ve noticed my attention span is better, my anxiety has diminished, and I have a clearer, creative mind when it’s time to sit down and write!

Of course, there were some cons too: I missed the day-to-day content my friends shared, or the funny videos and posts in family group chats. I missed when I was tagged in posts, maybe from an event I was hosting or of someone reading my book. I wondered if I was missing messages from people who wanted to contact me but didn’t know that I was off of social media.

There is a pressure to be front facing 24/7. But I had to prioritize both my mental health and creativity and remind myself that I am an author before I am a content creator.

I wondered how not being on social media would affect my book launch. But, I knew that God would make a way since I knew, after praying, that leaving social media was something He wanted me to do. I am so thankful to say that not only was this book launch was my favorite, it had the highest attendance rate of any ones I had so far!

Moving forward, I am still staying off of social media, but with a few adjustments that I can talk about in another post. I largely communicate through my website, blog, newsletter, and YouTube, so please make sure you’re subscribed!

Also: If you’re in the Columbia, SC area, I’d love for you to come to the library downtown to hear me speak! Email me and let me know if you’re able to attend!

Warmly,

India