Colorblind Cowboy

“I won’t be on Bluesky, but my book will.”

“I have to find readers and reviewers. There are readers and reviewers on Bluesky.”

“Since I’m using my book promotion as an example of my marketing skills, it needs to be where industry people are.”

This is how I’m coping with something I really don’t want to do. So, tell me, will I be wrong for posting my book promotion over there?

EDIT: For that 2nd option, maybe think “It’s not ethical.” There’s bias in how I wrote it.

#Bookstodon #AmWriting

Gotta do what you gotta do
85.9%
You’re a traitor to everything
4.2%
It’s complicated. Let me explain 👇
9.9%
Poll ended at .
Mar 22 at 5:23pmWeb
Show threadthethuthinnang2d ago
@colorblindcowboy It's complicated and I don't know that I am able to explain it properly, but I will try. That eternal tension between being an artist and having to make a living usually seems to end up at "gotta do what you gotta do" and then the artist may be successful but also feel awful about what it took to get there. But (as my mother always said) he'll be "laughing his way to the bank" because he is able to feed his family and maybe make a lot of money. It's so easy to tell someone that they need to stick to their principles when you are sitting there comfortably on your couch with a steady job not worrying about where your next meal is coming from. In the end, as long as "doing what you gotta do" does not equal killing innocent people or directly destroying ecosystems, who truly has a right to judge one for doing that which they've "gotta do"? That's what I think.
Show threadColorblind Cowboy2d ago

@photovotary 🧡

You sum it up well. I won’t be laughing all the eay to the bank. Maybe ironically chuckling, but an idie book needs all the exposure it can get.

I’m not without principles. I won’t put my epub on Amazon because of their AI features, for instance.

Anyway. Thank you.

Show threadRob 🏳️‍🌈 Rartsy Humanist2d ago

@colorblindcowboy what matters is what's right for you. The fact that you say that you "really don't want to do" Bluesky tells me that it may not be worth it. You'll always have that feeling. Unless your promotion there goes so well that success distracts you from your unease. Then being on that site will have changed you & it sounds like you don't want that. Perhaps every post there (or every nth post) you could also point out that your preferred social media home is elsewhere?

Best of luck!

Show threadColorblind Cowboy2d ago
@RMiddleton I think that’s a good idea, to say I’m more active on Fedi. I don’t have the energy to really build the community there right now. I think my bsky activity will be more like parking stuff in case a reader happens to be there.
Show threadeishiya2d ago
@colorblindcowboy If you can afford to stick by your principles and it's only a matter of making more money, you should stick to your principles IMHO - it'll probably be better for your mental health, like Rob said. But if it's a choice between your principles and meeting your needs (and that includes being able to continue to practice your art), then you gotta do what you gotta do.
Show threadeishiya2d ago
@colorblindcowboy This assumes BSky (or whatever the popular website of the month is) will actually do for you what you think it'll do though xP It doesn't for everyone. It also often takes a significant commitment to make these sites worth a damn, since the algorithms usually reward frequent posting and since folks don't tend to care for users who drop adverts and run. On any site, you have to be willing to spend a fair bit of time on the site and talk to people there, not just about your book.
Show threadColorblind Cowboy2d ago
@eishiya Oh for sure. I won’t spend the time there building community I do there. But I do know several folks who are over there who’ve expressed interest. So for them to not be able to interact with what I have in store, seems like a wasted opportunity.
Show threadkeeps vis.social running2d ago

@colorblindcowboy @eishiya I do post there links to my posts here. And to my own sites.

There are people there, who still dominate the #SciArt world and seem to hate distributed social like the fediverse. It's a very odd thing.

Then again, as an artist, fedi really isn't supporting my work financially. At all.

If I could afford to be only fedi, I would. But that's not really possible as a cancer patient with cancer patient bills.

Show threadkeeps vis.social running2d ago

@colorblindcowboy @eishiya To be clear, I'm not really making any art sales there either. This last year has been....ummm....a total financial loss.

That's not just about fedi vs blky. It's the economy, and so much more.

Show threadkeeps vis.social running2d ago
@colorblindcowboy @eishiya I see posting elsewhere and pointing back here as leaving bread crumbs. When they're ready to come here, we'll already be here.
Show threadColorblind Cowboy2d ago
@kristinHenry 💯
Show threadghosttie2d ago
@colorblindcowboy you've gotta do what you gotta do, but bluesky is a sinking ship so don't rely on it too hard
Show threadJenica Lake เหล็ถเลถ2d ago
@colorblindcowboy I keep having it suggested to me that a good website is where you can really tell your story (this is advice that I still haven't taken lol). Parking links is not the same as daily scrolling on the site, and hopefully won't take a toll on you.
Show threadColorblind Cowboy2d ago

@MamaLake Oh, yeah. And my website, I think, really does. And my social strategy employs some neat stuff.

But I gotta get folks there. And it’s better to have a sign post somewhere.

Show threadCoreyartus Imagery2d ago

@colorblindcowboy

I struggled with this a great deal myself. I quit major platforms for my values, and haven’t regretted it. I left a lot of folks behind. It took me a very very long time to build up a community to replace the ones I walked away from.

And all I can say is not a single person from those platforms followed me over to my new homes. Not. A. One.

Intransigence is real. Inertia is real. Social media fatigue is real. The sad reality is the people you are trying to put your stuff in front of won’t be coming to Mastodon for you.

Having a presence on *any* platform isn’t as effective as it used to be, for lots of reasons.

I use Bluesky because I know (thanks to our capacity to view the last time each of our followers were last active) that half my followers stopped using Mastodon. So I’m here for different reasons.

I also know that Mastodon is a much more global platform, which doesn’t do me any good if I’m trying to sell my art as I can’t sell it internationally from the US right now. So again, I’m here for different reasons.

Finally, for the most part, most Mastodon servers emphasize sustaining community over growth & reach. Other platforms have different goals.

My biggest advice for you is to continue recognizing why you use a platform over another and why you don’t. That will make you a better user. Lean into that. Don’t try to make it something it will never be or apply expectations it will never fulfill. Embrace what it *is*.

Show threadSolarbird 2d ago

@colorblindcowboy There is an option four, which is most Federation instances - but not all, including possibly yours - will let users share their posts over to Bluesky as well, where people can see and interact with them as peers. That's without adding to the real Bluesky userbase.

I have 360 followers of this mastodon account on Bluesky. If and when being on Bluesky becomes unacceptable to those users, _some_ of them will come over here.

(And if it needs to be said, that's not just a hypothetical. I've seen a couple of people actually do it and say so. It's certainly possible more may've, and just not announced their move.)

It's a thought, anyway.

Show threadColorblind Cowboy2d ago
@moira Really? Ok. I’ll look into that. Thank you.
Show threadSolarbird 1d ago

@colorblindcowboy Yeah, absolutely. Here's my mastodon profile as seen from here:

https://mastodon.murkworks.net/@moira

And here's the _exact same account_, as seen on Bluesky via the connection which is called the Bridge:

https://bsky.app/profile/moira.mastodon.murkworks.net.ap.brid.gy

And _here_ is a writeup I did on it, since you wanted to look into it:

https://solarbird.net/blog/2025/01/09/lets-all-go-to-the-exit/

(that's my self-hosted Wordpress blog, _also_ federated, which _also_ has followers on Bluesky. It's not on the fastest machine so Federation really saves it lol)

Show threadColorblind Cowboy1d ago
@moira That’s great. I appreciate this so much.
Show threadSolarbird 1d ago
@colorblindcowboy Good luck!
Show threadUkeleleEric2d ago
@colorblindcowboy I believe that we can do a lot to eschew these large shitty places, but, as individuals, there will always be compromises we have to make. What you feel right about, but slightly uneasy that you have to do, is a reasonable guide. None of us are telling you to make yourself poor just because you can't do anything. But try to educate others on why you rarely visit certain sites, and where they can find you regularly.
Show threadColorblind Cowboy2d ago
@UkeleleEric I think that is a good idea.