How
do you use social media to its fullest?
Do you only use certain sites? If
so why? I use social networking to
promote my books and it has helped me immensely. I network through a variety of places
including:
Amazon: Set up your Amazon Author Page
Blog:
I use blogger and post info about my books or random posts (can be used
as your website too).
Facebook:
Largest social networking site
Google+:
More exposure for you
LinkedIn:
Great place for networking
Pinterest: Share your book covers or network with other
authors
Twitter:
great for quick communication and networking
Smashwords: Another great place to promote your books,
set up your own page
Website: Build a website for your work and promote
yourself this way too (Wix is free and Weebly too)
For social media sites...share the work of others on
your sites... pay it forward!
- Twitter - Retweet 5 or 6 different random tweets you see on your scroll every day or every other day, doing this will help others see you too.
- Facebook - Share Facebook posts about another author’s work... maybe 3 or 4 per day or every other day
- Pinterest - Repin another author’s book or info...4 to 6 per day or every other day
- Blogs - Join other author’s blog sites...5 or 6 per week or so.
- Blogs and webs - Do interviews for other authors and share their work. Get yourself interviewed so others know about you too.
- Google+ - Share posts from others 5 or 6 per day. Join communities.
- Website – Build a website for your work. Weebly and Wix offer free sites. You can also use your blog as a website. Whichever way you go, make sure you have the information about your work in the forefront. Add the work of other authors to your site too (with their permission of course), share links so you can broaden your reach with readers.
The
more people who see you, the more they are aware of who you are and what you
do.
Get
involved in sharing what you do with the world...also share others work with
the world. It doesn't always have to be
about you and what you do-make it about others too so they will want to share
you and what you do too. Do something
every day to pay forward... sharing, liking, boosting the moral of someone who
is down, retweeting, and staying involved socially keeps you and who you are in
the forefront of those who will be interested, and hopefully follow along with
you. Share your daily social networking
skills with others; help them pay it forward too.
Add
your web links to your email signature.
You can also add a small image of each of your books to your
signature. Recognition is key to seeing
pictures. If people recall seeing your
book cover, they will know what they are looking for when they go to purchase
it.
Set
up groups and pages on the various social networking sites to benefit you. I have groups on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn,
and Pinterest to show my support for authors and myself. Also, don’t be afraid to stick your neck out
to help another writer. They can’t take
your ability to write away from you so why not share what you know with them.
I
also get involved with social events online and make new friends to show
support. The more people see your name,
the more familiar you will be to others.
Also,
promote your books to the people who will read them. If you write children’s books, promote to
teachers or parents to share with the children too. If you write romance, share with those who
would be interested in reading them. Put
yourself out there for the world to see, be vulnerable and get yourself noticed
in as many places as you can.
If
you already have books published, benefit yourself by giving a book away for
free – even if just for a day. The more
people who have your book, the more it is ‘out there’ for others. Making it free shows the readers that you
have faith in what you wrote and want then to have the chance to read it,
especially with the economy the way it is today – free can make the difference
between someone reading your book or passing it up because they don’t have the
extra few bucks to spend on purchasing it.
Seriously, who doesn’t like a free book to read??
Last,
but not least…. Never give up. Keep
writing every day and keep promoting yourself and others every day. The more effort you put into it, the more you
get out of it. Share what you know with
others and always be willing to try just a little harder to make yourself the
best you can be.
I
hope this helps you… best of luck!
~T
