Social Media

A warning about scammers - click here

You don’t have to worry about scammers but I do. I get so many people sending me friend requests who then turn out to be fake accounts. I can normally tell the scammers as they usually have massive tits and very tight leggings, or none at all. Now I’ve got nothing against massive tits and very tight leggings (actually I prefer the willowy type) but it seems this is what scammers think men are interested in. The latest one was some hairy arsed Russian pretending to be a best selling crime writer who was going to help me with marketing. One can only image the payment arrangements. Anywhoo. If you are going to friend me from out of nowhere I suggest you show your credentials. A meaningful Facebook account with some interaction from other users and a history of posts going back some time is a good start. The other way would be to talk about what you think of my books. Scammers don’t tend to do that much research.

I love to hear from readers so please do join in any of these social media channels. Lately I’ve been spending my time on Facebook and neglecting Instagram and TwitteX. As I move on from my imminent relaunch I hope to be on the other channels a bit more. However, if you are trying to contact me, messages via Facebook are probably more reliable.

I don’t really understand the intricacies of Instagram so I can go for weeks without realising someone has sent me a message there (they’re mostly scammers anyway). Please don’t be offended if I don’t notice and if you’re a scammer please be as offended as possible.

Otherwise, as Geoff, from Blackpool is fond of saying, don’t be shy, come on in, the water’s lovely.

My Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/jack.barrow.940
This is my general Facebook presence where I post all sorts of pointless nonsense, pictures of historic buildings (which is a thing for me), occasional posts about great British comedies, chat with people, post about great programmes on Radio 4, just like everyone else does on Facebook. I also post occasional slice of life posts about things I’ve been doing, places I’ve been with my muse, occasional events good or bad (like the time I sprayed weedkiller in my face!), other personal stupidities, etc. Do pop over and say hello or become a friend.

My Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/JackBarrowUK/
This is my official Facebook author page. I don’t post so much on here but I’m trying to use it a bit more. If I think of something that is specifically to do with publishing I’ll put it here. I’m also trying to support independent bookshops so I used to do a series of Bookshop Of The Week posts that I’d like to restart. I also try to copy my occasional blogs here along with any other important news.

Readers’ Group: I’ve also created a Facebook Readers’ group here as I find the Pages don’t really facilitate discussions. Please do post here if you have anything you want to say about any of my books, ask questions, etc.

TwitteX: https://twitter.com/JackBarrowUK – @JackBarrowUK
Twitter needs no introduction but if it’s expressed in fewer than 280 characters it might end up here. Having said that I don’t check it every day and, you know, mad politics. I’ve spent over ten years building up my follower list on TwitteX and I’m loath to dump it. I’m sort of hoping that Elon will eventually see sense (secretly I know that’s not going to happen) or sell it to someone else. However, as an insurance policy I’ve opened an account with Threads but it feels like starting all over again.

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@jack_barrow_uk – @jack_barrow_uk
Here I am in Threads but I feel a bit like Billy Nomates so do say hello.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jack_barrow_uk/
Instagram has a terrible text interface but it does have the advantage that it will accept 2200 characters. (Carriage returns don’t work consistently; the messaging system is difficult to navigate as are the comments and when you reply to a message on the phone app you can’t see what you are typing. Sort it out Instagram!) However, what’s nice about Instagram is that it’s not at all shouty as TwitteX is.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/714015.Jack_Barrow
This is my Goodreads profile. It might get a bit out of date but it does have a link to my WordPress.com blog so all my blog posts appear here automatically. If you post a review on Amazon or anywhere else you bought any of my books it would make my day if you post it on Goodreads. (No really, reviews generally do make my day!) At one point there were a few of these book review sites. I think LibraryThing still exists and at one point there was a site called Shelfari, bit I think that might have gone now. The point is if you go to the trouble of writing a review share the love around as much as you feel able to.

WordPress.com: https://jackbarrowuk.wordpress.com/
This is largely a copy of my main blog in this site. It goes back to the days before I set up this site but I still try to copy all my posts onto both. I keep the WordPress.com blog going as it has a few more subscription facilities, RSS feeds and features that I’ve not figured out how to install on jack-barrow.com. If you want an email notification of each blog post this might be the place to subscribe.

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And if you don’t fancy any of these there’s always the newsletter to be found from the front page of this site. If you sign up you get a free copy of my introductory novella Sundae Driver.