Avoiding Social Media Stress as an Author

Success and StressThe 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?

Cold DrinkTake 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

Do Not DisturbIt’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

school-1665539_640If 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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Melody Jones

Melody Jones is your social media aspirin. She helps take the pain out of social media for you! Check out her services and see which one can reduce your social media pain the most.

Why Writers Should Incorporate Facebook Live into Their Marketing

Go Live Dear WriterWriters have one goal when it comes to digital marketing: convert social media window shoppers into raving fans of their work. Facebook Live provides a new way to do that. It allows you to bring your readers behind the scenes and connect with them on a more personal level.

With the introduction of a few additional tools, Facebook has made it more effective and easier than ever to stream live video. When it comes to diverting our attention away from our craft in order to promote ourselves and our work, quick and easy is the way to go.

Go Live from The Web

This is my new favorite feature.

With the new ability to go live on Facebook from a web browser, daily vlogs become more polished and professional. Not only will you have a simple, stable camera setup, but you can control your environment and lighting from the comfort of your own work area.

Going live from the web means you can respond to comments while Live in an easy format that doesn’t detract from the stream or content.

Live Contributor for Pages

Any contributor can now broadcast to Facebook pages, a far cry from the admin-only restrictions of before. By assigning a “live contributor” role, you can have additional content uploaders.

  • Imagine how wonderful it will be to livestream a book signing or reading event.
  • What about convention trackers searching for their author?
  • Contest managers could host live stream giveaways on behalf of authors.
  • Cover artists can join in on the cover reveal by hosting the stream.
  • Part of a writing group? Share the love and incorporate them into your live feeds.

These are just some of the ways you can use the contributor feature.

Video Insights for Profiles

Video metrics for public videos will be available soon for profiles with 5k or more followers. This will be for both live stream and regular public videos. With these metrics, you can see how much interaction your videos generate. Best of all, you can see which videos generated an action so that you can modify future content to better suit your viewers.

Live Comment Pinning

CommentingIndividuals comment ten times more on Facebook Live videos than other video content.

With Live Comment Pinning, broadcasters can pin comments to the bottom of a live broadcast. Are you in the middle of a Q&A about a book series? Pin the current question so others can track as they join the live stream.

If this is a book release live video, you can pin the buy links in a comment. If you’re explaining your writing process, you can post links to resources as they come up so your viewers can engage with you.

There are so many more ways you can use this feature. Brainstorm options beforehand so you can have comments ready to go when you are live. Or, if the audience comments are the ones you pin, have someone on standby with admin rights who can pin those for you.

Cross-posting of Previously Live Videos

You can now share previously Live videos across Facebook Pages. This lets you reach a wider audience for future content.

There are more features coming every day. Don’t miss out on this wonderful opportunity to really connect with your readers. Yeah, it may seem a bit nerve-wracking at first – but you will soon get the hang of it and that authenticity will pay off as you generate viewers truly invested in what you have to say.


Melody Jones, Your Social Media Aspirin
Melody Jones

 

Melody Jones is your social media aspirin. She helps take the pain out of social media for you! Check out her services and see which one can reduce your social media pain the most.

The Daily Writing Habit – guest post by Erin Cell

 

If you are like me, you know you need to be creating content on your website and social media platforms; however, it’s much easier said than done. Right?  If you struggle with consistently writing content, here is a simple daily habit you can implement to keep you on track.

Step 1 – Think Like a Writer

You may be asking the question, how do I think like a writer?  First thing you can do to start thinking like a writer is to read books on the topic.

Here are some recommended readings:

  • “The Power of Habit” – Charles Duhigg
  • “On Writing” – Stephen King
  • “The Artist’s Way” – Julia Cameron
  • “Writing Down the Bones” – Lori Goldberg
  • “Bird by Bird” – Annie Lamott

Step 2 – Write Every Single Day!

manwritingSeriously, this means setting aside the time to write every single day. Schedule this time into your calendar and don’t push it off. There are many tools you can use to help you with your writing. Try using Evernote, Google Docs, Notebooks, or even voice recorders.

 

Step 3 – Create Writing Rituals

Creating writing rituals should be specific to what works best for you. Some people need a special quiet place to work, while others prefer to have music in the background. You may want to grab a coffee, tea or water.  The trick to writing rituals is to find what works for you and try to re-create it whenever possible.

 

Step 4 – Schedule Writing Time

calendarandpencilThis means actually setting the time aside to really commit to writing. Put 30 minutes in your calendar daily and don’t push it off. Most people find writing first thing in the morning or last thing at night works best for them. Determine when you are most creative and schedule your writing time then.

 

 

Step 5 – Read, Read, & Read some more!

openbookThis may seem counter-intuitive, but the more you read, the better you become at writing. If you don’t like holding an actual book in your hand, there are so many options available. You can use such tools as Feedly, Pocket, Kindle, and of course audio books if you prefer to listen. If possible, try to read a minimum of one book per month (more if you can find the time!).

To begin the habit of writing daily, open a new document and name it “Morning Pages” or “Evening Pages” if you are a night owl like me! At the top of the page, write “I commit to write 30 minutes every day for one month.”  Then DO IT!

These daily writing tips were presented by Heidi Cohen at Social Media Marketing World 2016. If you’d like to get weekly reminders from Heidi, send an email to IDidIt@ActionableMarketing.Guide.

 

About the Author

Erin CellErin Cell

Erin Cell is the Founder & CEO of Socially Powered, LLC. I have been helping business owners “Power Up” their online presence since 2012. Socially Powered understands every business is unique & has different social media needs. We work together as a team to create & establish a social media strategy that works for your business.

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