author platform | Social Media Aspirin™

September 1, 2017August 28, 2017

Cultivating a Community for Your Readers

Writing is the heart of your business, but so is developing a community for your readers. Self-promotion is a necessity in today’s modern author world. If you’re tempted to run away, don’t. Hear me out. It takes days, weeks, months, and sometimes years to develop a book. A reading community can’t be built in a day. It takes time and effort.

Do you have ten minutes in your day that you can spare for those who support your work? Of course, you do!

Here are some quick tips to cultivating your readers that take ten minutes or less:

Set up Google Alerts to track where you’re mentioned. You need to know what they’re saying about you! You can set up an alert for your name, book title, Twitter handle, Instagram handle, site URL, and more. When you find people who have mentioned you and your work, stop by and give them a thank you and show your appreciation for their support of your work. It’s an excellent way to connect with new readers.
Use polls to connect with your readers. You don’t have to create book-only polls. If you’re having trouble with Photoshop, or struggling to figure out which font to use in Canva, set up a poll and ask for help. If you do choose to go with a particular person’s (or group’s) choice, make sure you give them credit.
Surround yourself with those you admire. This doesn’t mean you should look down on anyone, but your reputation is important. If you hang around with someone (especially online) who is shady or shifty, their behavior will reflect on you as well. By that same token, if you only associate with national and international bestsellers, you may come off as snobby and unapproachable. Stay true to yourself and only recommend and support those you would in real life.
Update your bios on all platforms. You should have a bio that says who you are, what you write, and list all your important links, titles, and awards. A long bio will also list the books you’ve published. Develop four sizes of bios. One should be a tagline (perfect for Twitter, and for starting your other bios), the next should be two sentences max (great for Instagram, and Facebook’s short bio), the third should be two paragraphs (Facebook long bio, Author pages, summary information for article writing, and more), and the final should be a page long. That page should be a template you pull your other bios from, and it should, at a minimum, be on your website. The page long should list your books, all social media links, and any bonus content you offer for them signing up to your newsletter.
Do you look at pictures of your favorite authors? Chances are you’ve sneaked a peek at one or two behind-the-scenes photos. Whether it’s book- or life-related, showing that extra insight into your world can help bring your readers with you.
Go for interaction! Create a prompt event. Use a theme, image, riddle, or whatever you like to create a place for your readers to connect with you. Ask a single question and use a single call to action to cut down on confusion. It’s a great way to interact with your community, and it doesn’t take very much time. If you’re looking for a great way to host a contest, this is a fantastic place to start. For everyone who leaves a comment (with the correct answer, if you’re asking trivia or riddles), enter their names into a contest for a drawing. That way you reward those who interact while still giving back to your community.
Reply to comments! Thank anyone who has used your free content or downloaded your book during a quick sale. If you spend time being grateful to your readers, they will show their support in ways you won’t expect.

Cultivating a community takes time, but it’s worth it. You want to take potential readers and turn them into loyal fans. Choose one tip to work on at a time. Your book wasn’t written in one day and neither will the development of your reader community. Which of these will you try first?

April 12, 2017May 17, 2017

Using Social Media to Promote Your Next In-Person Event

Finally! Your book is officially published. It’s been a long road to get where you are, but you’ve made it. Now comes the part many authors avoid: promoting it.

A common promotion tactic for authors is to host an in-person book launch event. These can be great for getting the word out about your work while connecting with people in person. This only works if you can actually get warm bodies in the room.

How do you get the word out about your event? You use social media! Here are 6 suggestions to motivate readers to come to your next book signing or other promotional events.

Build Your Online Presence

Before you write the first word of your next best-selling novel, get your social media accounts in order. Think of these profiles as your written 30-second elevator speech. Make them succinct and information-rich.

In the “about” section tell people what you are working on. Or if you already have books available, add links to where readers can buy them. This way the next time you host an event, people can easily look you up to find more information about you. Of course, you may already be behind the 8-ball on this one. Don’t worry – better late than never! Get those profiles built and start posting consistent content and teasers of your work.

Maximize Your Profiles

Once you determine which social media platforms are best for you, spend time making the most of each site. Each social media option acts as its own search engine so make your descriptions robust. Include images and links to your other work. Leave no field empty and no stone unturned. If you know anything at all about keywords, insert them into your copy, but keep your tone and flow natural.

People can tell a lot about a person by just looking at them. Make your first impression a good one by using a high-quality photo of your face, and only your face. Your profile photo should tell people that you are a likable person and someone they can relate to.

But wait, it’s always fun to see pictures that include family members or pets. You can still show off those pictures by creating an Instagram account. Personal images will show who you are behind the scenes and enhance your brand online. Readers love to see what an author’s life is like.

Create Branded Material

Posting only all-word text updates will do more harm than good. Even though it is your job as a writer to write, your message will get lost in the (very large) sea of social media posts. Plus, some of the platforms penalize posts that are text-heavy or text only. To combat this, add a photo, image or video with each post. Links work well too! Adding media better catches the reader’s eye.

If you are creating your own content, brand it with your logo, name or website. That way – if it gets shared – the source is always visible to the audience. Word of caution: make sure you have permission to use the content as copyright infringement is a serious issue.

Not sure where to start to create your own branded graphics? Check out Canva.com, a free drag-and-drop design tool, perfect for creating quick images.

Learn Your Platforms

Often people will post the same thing to each of their social media accounts. Instead, use the different designs and options of these networks to your advantage. For example, the intention of Facebook is to reach out to people you know like friends and family. This is contrary to LinkedIn where here you promote your skill set to a group of strangers. The dimensions of an Instagram post will vary from a Facebook one.

Understand the audience on each site, your purpose for using that platform, and how to best utilize the site with your marketing. Format your message to each platform, which will, in turn, grab the attention of your key audience.

Engage!

Social media is…well, social. That’s the whole point! Use social media platforms to post about more than just your book or upcoming event. Ask your readers questions to get a discussion going, and don’t forget to respond to their comments. Even if the comment is a negative one, don’t take it personally. Your audience is watching so thinking carefully about how to respond – don’t avoid it.

Use social to network with bloggers and other authors. Share their posts with your audience and most of the time, they’ll do the same for you. Consider influencer marketing and give it a try. When done correctly it can be surprisingly effective for reach.

Reuse Your Content

You don’t need to think of something new to post every time you hop on your accounts.

The algorithms filter your content so your followers may not see your original message the first time around. Using the same posts more than once is okay if you do it appropriately.

Remember, your intention is to create buzz about your event, not to spam your followers. Brainstorm ways you can repurpose the same content. You can pull quotes from a blog, build an infographic on Canva, do a short video, or create a branded image – all using the same piece of content!

Now all you have to do is prepare to speak in front of a massive crowd waiting to know about your book!

February 23, 2017February 5, 2019

Avoiding Social Media Stress as an Author

The publishing business has changed quite a bit in the last couple of decades.

Today writers are not only master wordsmiths but they are also, out of necessity, damn good marketers as well. Much of the labor of promoting your work (regardless of how it’s published) will fall squarely on your shoulders.

You might not have signed up to be the Director of Marketing for your writing, but that’s one of your many titles anyway.

There’s a lot of advice out there for entrepreneurs to not become the Everything CEO of their business – but often that’s unavoidable when it comes to writers. What’s an author to do?

Social media is a great way to for authors to promote their work. It’s a direct link to your audience and participation on the platforms is easy on the bottom line.

You don’t need a marketing budget to develop a social media strategy. But with so many different platforms to utilize, it can get overwhelming, not to mention time-consuming. As an author, shouldn’t you be focusing your time writing the next bestseller versus replying to a tweet?

Take a deep breath, kick back, grab a cold drink, and check out these 5 tips to help any author avoid social media stress.

Time to Shine

Creating thoughtful and interesting content takes time and creative brainpower. If you’re stumped on what to post, take a look at some of the ideas presented in the Huffington Post article, “30+ Things Authors Can Share on Social Media.” A key point that the article makes is to get personal with your fans. Ask for their input, start a discussion or poll people on what they are currently reading.

Grow your following into a community to make social media management less like putting on a show, and more like reaching out to say hello.

Manage Your Distractions

It’s hard not to compare yourself to other people on social media. If you see that another writer in your genre posts more or gets more engagement, don’t become disheartened.

As with any good strategy, paving the path ahead is always going to have a better outcome than attempting to duplicate another’s effort. Instead of letting it get you down, hide people or sources on social media that cause you stress, suck your creative energy, or distract you from the work at hand. The focus should be on promoting your work and building your following, not trying to keep up with the competition.

It’s also good to schedule time for social engagement, scheduling, and creating content. Don’t keep the platforms up all the time. Turn off notifications so that you aren’t sidetracked by something shiny every 10 minutes.

Build a Support Group

Being an author is one of those “I’ll scratch your back if you’ll scratch mine” career fields.

Reach out to others in your industry and generate some rapport and good will. Seek out people that you will work well with and build a support group within your niche – your own circle of cheerleaders, influencers and promoters. Recommend their work to your fans and create posts that share their success story. Share your networks.

Readers are eager to expand out within their favorite genres and will trust authors with recommendations. With the help of other contributors on social media, you can breathe easier knowing that someone else is speaking out for you when you don’t have the time to draft up a post.

Kickin’ It Old School

If social media and promotion are getting you down, promote yourself the old fashioned way for a little while. When John Grisham was starting out he would go to flea markets and garden parties with copies of his books in the trunk of his car.

Create and promote an event on social media where you can meet your followers in person at a coffee shop or local bookstore. Your readers will hop at the chance to get to know you on a more interactive and personal level. Strangers will want to know more about you and what you’re selling.

Keep copies of your book with you wherever you go. The change of pace will give you a breather from sitting behind your computer all the time and the change of atmosphere could be surprisingly rewarding!

Step Away

Sometimes the best way to relieve the stress of social media is to shut off the computer, put down the smartphone, and step away from it all. That may seem counter-intuitive, but it will give you space to decompress. With the right methods in place, your community can easily become brand advocates – cheerfully promoting your work even when you go radio silent.

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