The Sword and Laser discussion

I just realized how many authors I've talked to on twitter (lamest humblebrag ever) and it has not only made me geek out to talk to favorites, but I've found a lot of great new authors that way too. Anyone else?

p.s. I took a screenshot when I was retweeted by Neil Gaiman and I'm still tempted to print and frame it.

IKR?! IKWYM!

Yes, absolutely. There are so many authors I'm not reading because they've proven themselves to be idiots or assholes on social media.

It totally has an effect on my reading. By cutting into it.

Damn you, Candy Crush Saga!!!

(I kid. I played it for about 5 minutes and didn't see the point.)

Not really... I started following Sarah Pinborough and bought some of her books as a result of drunken Twitter conversations, but I began following her after her tour de force performance on a Just A Minute panel at a convention in Wales a couple of years ago.

I've perhaps become more strongly supportive of certain authors as a result of twitter or facebook interaction (see also Toby Frost) but I can't think of a single author I've 'discovered' primarily through any social media.

I may have screencapped my Twitter conversation with actor Sam West, though. And Kevin Smith. And a couple of Doctor Who stars.

Social media substantially affects my reading. I follow a lot of authors and publishers on twitter and Facebook, as well as reviewers blogs and online criticism, so it makes my reading experience very different than it was when I was younger. Before I became active in social media, I would just pick interesting titles at random off the library shelf and hope for the best. Now I can (and often do) check reviews from various sources before starting anything.

My only social media is Goodreads, it has certainly influenced my choice of authors. Virtually none of my family and friends in the non-virtual world read sci fi or fantasy; so the recommendations of people on Goodreads has proved to be invaluable.

Well, if goodreads counts as social media then it has had a definite effect and introduced me to a lot of new authors, since I would never have joined any face to face style bookclub. Also I do follow a few authors on twitter and have found a few new books from them. And a few authors I've stopped following because their tweets were annoying, but not enough to make me stop reading them.

Seriously, Seanan MacGuire (sp?) tweets about almost nothing but her cats and painting her nails and now pokemon. And Saladin Ahmed has lately been ranting about how awful it is to be a Middle Easterner in the U.S. While I appreciate his position, I'm not sure he's going about it in a useful fashion. And Brandon Sanderson tweets nothing but advertisements for his bazillion novels that he signs when waiting in airports.

My favorites are Mary Robinette Kowal, John Scalzi, Neil Gaiman, Jim C. Hines, Joe Abercrombie, N.K. Jemison, Wil Wheaton and now Pat Rothfuss. It's especially entertaining when they all start giving each other a hard time. I already enjoy all of them as authors, but now I'd like to play a really long D&D campaign with them in a smoky old irish pub.

Michele wrote: "Well, if goodreads counts as social media then it has had a definite effect and introduced me to a lot of new authors, since I would never have joined any face to face style bookclub. Also I do fol..."

I wish I could favorite/like/+1 M's comment. Nailed it.

I have a secret number of followers in my head. Once I get there, I plan to delete all my social media accounts and disappear into the physical world forever.

That number is three. Wait, no, my mom and wife found me, so now it's five.

As Stuart wrote, I got most of the new authors/books I've read from reviews and comments here at goodreads.
Although I have some friends that reads sci-fi, the libraries and book stores here only have "best sellers" and very little else.

Does Goodreads count?

I get recommendations from social media, follow authors, read reviews, etc.

GoodReads has influenced my reading but otherwise not really.

Goodreads is the main place for me to find out what book I want to read next. Other than that I follow a couple authors on twitter and do on occasion read some mentions of a book and try it out.

GR has had a HUGE impact on me as far as new authors are concerned...please note my ever growing TBR list as solid evidence, maybe 250-300 books added there over the last few months. Note - I do not connect FB and GR and never look at Twitter for books (or anything else)

I was in a pretty small literary bubble before social media like fb and goodreads came along and made my to-read list a thousand books long. So it has been great for me.

The only author I interact with is Gail Carriger, and that is built upon our shared love of ye olde timey fancydress dandyism

Gail Carriger followed me for like a day.

Tamahome wrote: "Gail Carriger followed me for like a day."

Me too.

Sure, I don't claim to be friends with any authors (except John Hodgman, who allowed it after my second appearance on his podcast)but casual interaction is still cool.