On Tuesday, I blogged about the question, what are edits like?. Today, I have a related topic, but this one’s far more opinion-based. (As in, this is what I think, but you can and should do whatever you want because what the hell do I know?)

I received an email from a friend wanting to know the real title of Title B (see Tuesday’s blog post via the above link if you haven’t already read it) (and, no, I’m not telling the real title) and she noted that, although she follows me on Facebook and Twitter, she had no idea I was going through editing hell.

That was a deliberate decision on my part.

We all give glimpses into our writing processes. Peeks into our work days. It’s not only what we do, but it’s who we are. So you might see me say, “these edits are killing me” or “back to work on the book from hell”, which may be true…or may be hyperbole. But what if I had “live-tweeted”, so to speak, my way through the seemingly endless and grueling weeks of edits for Title B…

My editor says Title B sucks so bad she won’t read the rest.

My editor says Title B still sucks. Kill me now.

My editor says Title B doesn’t suck anymore. Now it’s just boring.

Nice, huh?

Even if I tweeted all through the “fixing” stages, that’s a pretty crappy subliminal “first impression” message to be feeding your readers. When they see the news of Title B’s release, you don’t want their first thoughts to be, “Oh, yeah. That’s the one her editor said sucked hard”.

I don’t believe every book-related tweet has to be typed in a rainbow font and signed with widdle kitty kisses, but you should always try to be aware of the image of your book you yourself are building.