March 21st, 2018

Both a Writer and a Marketer

Social media is a great way reach potential readers. Authors of all kinds need to learn how to use it effectively in order to do so.

“Effectively” has different meanings for every writer. With new technology and new social media platforms forming everyday, this task can seem unreachable to some. There is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and the list really does go on… Don’t get so carried away in the networking you forget about writing. Decided what you can handle and make that work. It is better to have a strong online presence on a couple platforms then a weak presence on all of them.

We strongly suggest prioritizing these platforms, Facebook, Personal Blog/Website, Twitter and Instagram. Decide which of these platform you can handle on a day to day basis and then go from there.

If you are new to the social media world here are a few guidelines to follow.

Content Is Key
Keep your post interesting and full of emotion. Share links to articles or other online content that you find interesting. This includes posting links or tweets from people YOU follow. Doing so creates a good relationship with the person whose work you're sharing, and it gives your followers interesting content.

Be Real and Be You
Don’t try to be someone you’re not. Your followers will catch on and they WILL unfollow you. Try not to blast new followers with links on where they can buy your book. You wouldn’t walk up to someone you’ve never met and try that so don’t do it online either.

Social Social Social
Be social on social media. You would think this one is easy, however, several people don’t do it right. Make meaningful comments on other people's posts, engage in sophisticated conversations and share information your followers will read.

Try hard to stay away from constantly promoting your book but please refrain from doing so. The occasional promotion is fine. Updates on releasing new books so on and so forth should be kept to a minimum. Make social media about creating and building relationships and sales will follow after.