writing | Social Media Aspirin™

January 2, 2019January 11, 2019

Our Fave Social Media Ideas for Authors and Writers

Is social media marketing a puzzle to you?

Writers and authors often have these fears: fear of sharing too much information, not sharing enough content, of being too “sales-y”, or not being “sales-y” enough.

Don’t worry, we’ve taken the mystery out of it. Here are a few of our favorite social media ideas.

Before we share the goods, there are some key points to remember about social media:

Gear your campaigns for the specific social media platform you’re on. What works on Twitter won’t work on Instagram, and what hits on Facebook will take a nosedive on LinkedIn. Even ad campaigns are far different.
The internet is forever, so be careful what you post.
Make sure your brand is clear and that people have a way to follow up with you (and get your books!). You can’t post a picture with a link written on it and expect people to type it in. More than 80% of social media is viewed using a mobile device. That means your fans are using apps, and they usually won’t open a new browsing window–it’s too much work.

Without further ado, here are some of our favorite social media ideas for writers and authors.

Host a Q&A Session

Hosting a Q&A is an excellent way to connect with your audience.

You could run a live Q&A (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are excellent places to go live) where your followers can ask you questions that you’ll answer while live streaming.

Another option is to start a comment thread on Facebook or Instagram where you encourage readers to ask questions, and you pop in and answer them throughout the day. Some authors will post to each social media platform, pull from those questions, and create a YouTube video of their Q&A’s. The sky’s the limit when it comes to this type of interaction.

Fan Interaction

Whether it’s a vote for the next hero in a story or a fanart contest, get your audience involved! Offer different choices for what a character might wear, for the next book cover design, or the name of a fictional town. Then announce the winner to all your fans and offer a little prize. Rinse and repeat.

Show Some Behind-the-Scenes Props and Production

Does your main character in the story drive a particular car? Do they work with magic or use props?

Create a Pinterest board that shows all the scenery, props, and other inspirational imagery used in your book. Some authors create individual character boards, as well, with costume inspiration ideas. If you have sketches or outlines, consider showing some of those on Instagram and Facebook to get people interested (without spoilers, of course).

Update Your Fans

Let them see what you’re working on today. Show them the beginning, middle, and end, so that they’re right there with you during the journey.

Did you write 10,000 words today? Tell them. Go on a research trip and tour of Easter Island for an upcoming book? Share photos every day of that trip and interesting tidbits you’ve learned. Fans love this stuff.

The Writer’s Life: A Glimpse

Post pictures of your writing space, your writing board, or anything else that shows your fans how you write. Don’t feel as though you need an epic desk shot.

If your cat loves to lay on your writing surface – as happens for so many writers! – take a pic and post.

Share Your Book

When you share your book, choose a quote or something easily read while on the go. Make sure it’s in an image and that your book buy links are in the description.

Stories Gathered at the Kitchen Table, Melody Jones - Writer — Melody Jones has three pieces published in this anthology.

If you’re on Twitter or Instagram, share a link to your website where all the buy links are available. Keep in mind that you’ll need to change your bio in Instagram to reflect the new link. Keep a consistent format that reflects your brand.

When it’s all said and done, sharing our expertise and selling books and content is what we do as writers and authors. Don’t forget to share your work.

Which of these ideas will you tackle in your next social media campaign?

Melody Jones is Dispenser-in-Chief of Social Media Aspirin™ for Writers and Authors. She helps take the pain out of social media! Check out her services and learn how your can reduce your social media pain – and get back to doing what you love.

October 1, 2017January 5, 2019

Promoting Your Book? Build Excitement for Your Work Online

You have a new book coming and you want the world to know. If you don’t build up excitement and get people talking, that release may fail to reach your expectations. Never fear! We have some great tips for building excitement for your work and creating that buzz you’re wishing for.

Get Creative!

Your book is unique to your audience. It’s easy to fall back on standard promotional tactics, but that’s not going to get your audience pumped for your next book. Instead, figure out what’s unique about your book and try to showcase it in some way.

Let’s say you wrote a time management guide to launching a home business when you’re already working full-time. You could provide free printables or digital templates to guide readers through the process.

Fiction books have many options of their own. What if you wrote a thriller that took place in an abandoned theme park? Try to take a tour of one and bring your readers along via vlogs, Instagram stories, and more. These personal touches change the scope of promotion from salesy to inspiring.

Social Media

Sharing on social media is a wonderful way to build excitement, but don’t forget to make your content easy to share! Embedding a retweet button that automatically populates a precrafted tweet is a wonderful example. Social Media Examiner shows you how to do this for PDF documents. This is perfect for any printables, chapter excerpts, or other downloadable content you create in your promotion package.

Social share buttons are also important! It provides instant social proof to first-time visitors of your page. You want people to share your work. The more shares a post receives, the more you’ll pique the curiosity of your potential readers.

Ads

Build targeted ads is a great way to gain a readership. This may take time and effort, but social media and ad analytics can help guide you in the right direction.

Press Release and Launch Pages

Create a launch page that provides ways for others to get the word out about your book. It should contain your book cover, title, blurb, links to any free content you offer (first chapter, outline, printables, workbooks, etc.), promotional images, preset retweet links, Facebook presets, and links to all other books in the series. It should be easy on the eyes and mobile friendly.

Get Your Readers Involved

Your readers want to get the word out, so give them incentive to do so! Contests, swag, and recognition can work wonders at getting people excited about your book. After release, hold contests where people share images of them holding your book.

Behind the Scenes Content

Everyone loves to see what goes on behind the scenes. Show your research notes, snippets of interviews, favorite non-fiction books and documentaries that helped you along the way.

Create a Discount Run with Another Book

If your book is part of a series, discount the first book. If it’s in a similar niche, do the same.

Videos

Finally, don’t underestimate the power of videos. Whether you vlog about your book, interview people to share research, record testimonials, create book trailers, or just make teasers, video is an exceptional way to reach a wide audience.

These were just some tips to get you started. Which one will you tackle first?

August 9, 2017August 6, 2017

Finding the Right Balance of Self-Promotion When Marketing Your Book

Are you trying to promote your next book but don’t want to risk sounding too arrogant or pushy? No one cares for an author who comes off like a salesman. As an author, it can be tricky to find the perfect balance between growing your network and bragging about your writing. Here is a six-step guide to finding a balance when it comes time to promote your next published project.

Show, Don’t Tell

Rather than telling people about how skilled or talented you are in your given field, show potential customers how you add value to their life. Naturally, people want to know what you provide, especially if it’s something they wouldn’t be able to either do themselves or find someone else to do for them. However, don’t spend a lot of time creating content with the intent of convincing your audience that you are worthy. Show them what you are up to. Take photos and post videos, answer questions, and share content of value. Just like with your writing, showing your followers is going to be more powerful than telling them.

Consistency

By having a consistent presence on marketing platforms, you will build up your credentials. When the time comes that you are ready to sell your work, your followers will be more willing to respond. Nobody wants to be overly bombarded with sales pitches but if you have a presence that involves more than promotion, people will enjoy and engage with your content and brand. This is going to mean developing an editorial calendar and sticking to it. You can post a week, or a month, worth of content in one sitting. Let go of the frantic need to come up with something new to post each day by doing some pre-planning.

Boundaries

An author that markets their books all the time doesn’t have time to expand their marketing and provide valuable content to their audience. It’s important to set boundaries to avoid burn out and maintain a healthy balance. Schedule out the times of the week you will work on your marketing and stick to those guns. It’s easy to get distracted and prioritize ineffectively.

This concept also applies to your potential customers. You should not be constantly pushing out sales pitches on all of your marketing platforms because then you will not only burn yourself out but your potential customers as well. Marketing posts should be 80% educational, informational, and entertaining; and only 20% sales pitches. This will keep your followers engaged while also promoting your value. If you don’t have time to create additional content of this nature, do a search for similar posts to share that your audience will appreciate.

Build Your List

It is always useful to expand your network, not only for the sake of increasing sales but also for the sake of potential partnerships down the line. If you create valuable relationships, you are more likely to have positive engagement down the line when it’s time to launch your book. Your network will already trust you and will be more willing to recommend your business to their friends. Don’t only grow this list when you are about to launch a new book – get in the habit of building this list all year round.

Engage

People love knowing that there is a human being on the other side of a marketing platform. If you respond and engage with your potential customers, your audience will feel connected and valued. Rather than having an automated tech service respond to your network or worse, not responding at all, show your followers that you care and send a personal response. Build in a timeframe that works for you to respond to comments and engage with your followers. Don’t stay plugged in all day long – your productivity (and possibly sanity) will suffer.

To find the right balance for promoting your published work, you will need to dedicate some time to creating a list of priorities, developing a calendar for content, and setting aside time to schedule posts and engage with your readers and fans.