Your chance to contribute is below Fauzia Burke’s article. Hope you’ll read both.
Which Social Media Platforms Should I Use?
By Fauzia Burke, Book Publicist . Publishing Consultant . Entrepreneur . Speaker . Author
No matter what you write or how you choose to publish, the majority of authors can agree on one thing: social media has redefined the way books are promoted. However, you can’t be present on all platforms, so which platform is right for you?
I feel that the best platform for you is the one you enjoy the most. If you don’t enjoy being there, no one will follow you. It is far better for you to focus on one or two platforms that work for you then to spread yourself too thin by trying to be all things to all people.
You also should have a goal for each platform you use. If you want to increase traffic to your website, you want to use a platform that allows links back to your site like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you want to grow your popularity and raise visibility of your books then Instagram, YouTube and Goodreads would be better.
Social Media Platforms
● Facebook
Facebook has the largest number of users. You may have a love/hate relationship with Facebook but there is no denying its popularity. One of the best ways to promote your book online is to create a Facebook community around the theme of your book. By creating a Facebook Group for your book’s topic, you can easily bring together individuals who share a common interest. This takes more work and commitment, but Facebook Groups can be a more effective tool than your author page. Facebook’s tone is generally personal and fun.
● Instagram
Instagram is very popular with authors. Some bookstagrammers do beautiful display of books. It’s worth it just for that. It is important to post beautiful content on Instagram. So if you like taking photos or enjoy making graphics, IG may be fun for you. Success in Instagram comes from posting beautiful content and good use of hashtags.
● Twitter
Twitter is a tricky medium to master for many authors. I happen to love Twitter. Itseems fast and efficient to me. It gives you only 280 characters for each tweet, so people need to keep it brief and catchy. On Twitter it is important to follow the right people. If you hate it there, you are probably following the wrong people. Best way to use Twitter is to find your tribe there. It is important to be careful with your words. Twitter people can be unforgiving.
● LinkedIn
Depending on your target audience, LinkedIn might be the place for you. I would not necessarily advise it for fiction writers, but non-fiction authors have been finding success in this platform. Every author, no matter what you write, should have a LinkedIn profile.
● Youtube
Videos are only growing in popularity and YouTube is the second most popular search engine after Google. So if you enjoy being on video then you should jump on YouTube. By far, one of the best ways to promote a non-fiction book on YouTube involves teaching people about your subject via short, bite-sized videos.
● Goodreads
If you are writing fiction or a memoir, Goodreads might be a platform you enjoy. It is easy to use and bookworms love it. You will have a better chance meeting other book lovers in your genre there.
New platforms to explore
TikTok
TikTok is gaining in popularity daily and if you enjoy the video format it may be a fun way to create content. TikTok was a place for teenagers but now grown ups are finding it beneficial as well. There is a community called #Booktok that discuss and review novels. Nonfiction authors are finding easy ways to share their expertise.
Clubhouse
Clubhouse is a new platform but already has 10 million users. It’s gaining in popularity. It’s basically a hybrid of a conference call and a podcast. Some people love it already. You can set up rooms and launch a topic of conversation or you can join other rooms and ask questions.
Spaces
Twitter has launched Spaces to compete with Clubhouse. Too early to tell.
Hashtags
No matter which platform you use, it is important to incorporate hashtags into your posts. Here are some popular hashtags for books and authors.
● #bookbuzz
● #book
● #novele
● #nonfiction
● #fiction
● #paperbacks
● #shortstories
● #litfic
● #histfic
● #womensfiction
● #scifi or #science #fiction
● #romance
● #paranormal
● #crime
● #ignorance
● #kidlit
● #cookbooks
Keep in mind that authenticity is essential when engaging with your audience on social media. Being the creative writer that you are, you can experiment with sharing interesting tidbits from your writing life. It is almost more important to be a good listener on social media. Focus on conversations and engagement not just on content. Now go out there and make new friends.
Half a Dozen Questions and a Chance to Be Published
Here’s a chance to have your opinions published. Send answers to one or more questions below through the contact box with your name, website, and the name of your most can recent book if you have one. Or send them through the message box at the bottom of the page if it shows on your screen. I’ll post all reasonable answer(s) within 72 hours.
Suggested length: 50-200 words.
It’s free publicity. Also you may list yourself as a contributor to Writer Advice’s Marketing page for Winter 2022 on your resume.
Questions? Please write back.
- Despite discounts on your e-book, no one is buying. What do you do?
- You’ve had your query and book professionally edited but you can’t get an agent interested. What do you do?
- You’ve paid a publicist, but she’s not living up to the promises she made. She made you a nice website, but where is the publicity, the speaking engagements, and other benefits she promised? What do you do?
- Marketing leaves you no time for writing and you resent it. What do you do?
- Your book is distributed through a publisher using Ingram Wholesale. Amazon’s taken the e-book version down. Neither Amazon nor Ingram responds to your e-mails and the publishers says it’s out of his control. What do you do?
- Last but not least, what is the best marketing you’ve ever received and what did you do with it?
What would you like to accomplish in 2022?
List 5-10 items in your journal. At least one should be related to marketing. At least one should be related to the rest of your life.
Pick one. Make a list of 3-5 things you can do to get what you want. Then identify anything that’s in your way. Here’s an example:
Accomplishment Plans for 2022:
- Continue to read and review 2-4 books per month.
- Continue to publish Writer Advice
- Learn how to put up widgets three new widgets on Word Press—one for book reviews, one for the Books by Lynn page, and one for a store
- Figure out how to do a bookstore on Word Press
- Visit new places and describe what I see and hear
- Eat less chocolate?
- Keep editing and polishing Disrupted
- Get a professional edit of Disrupted?
- Decide how I want to publish it and proceed.
- Continue editing for others
What I can do to get #3: Learn how to put up new widgets on Word Press
- Read the process Word Press recommends for adding Widgets
- Try it.
- If it doesn’t work, contact my website developer, and ask for her advice.
What is in my way?
- Fear of messing up the web site and not being able to fix it
>> FIX: I’ll never know unless you try and I’ve already been told that if I mess something up my website developer can fix it.
- Fear that I need a newer computer
>> FIX: Make an early-in-the-day appointment at a Mac Store. Bring a credit card and someone to help me carry whatever I buy.
- Lack of tech skills and knowledge.
>> FIX: Embrace the opportunity to learn new technology skills.Take it one step at a time.
DISCOVERIES I MADE WHILE DOING MY OWN EXERCISE:
- My fears are downsized when I write them down.
- Making an action plan matters. That works for goals as well as marketing.
- Without goals, marketing attempts flounder because they are incomplete.
Questions? Got an idea to share? Please write to us using the contact box on the home page.
We’d love to hear to hear from you.
#6. The best marketing advice I ever received came from Appalachian author Silas House. House said, “Enter contests.” Those two words led to the publication of my first novel, Mamas Shoes. At the time I heard House’s advice, I hadn’t even written the book, but I never forgot it. As he advised, I explored writing contests, making sure they were reputable while following the guidelines exactly as posted. I started with short story contests that were often connected to writing workshops and festivals and small journals. When I won my first contest, the prize was three copies of the journal!
As I continued to enter and win or place in short story contests, two things were happening. I was building my writer’s platform while being inspired to write a novel. When that novel was finished, I found myself in the world of editors and agents and all that entails, but purely by accident, I discovered Writer’s Digest was having a Pitch2Win novel contest! But wait, it was on Twitter and to enter, I had to describe my book in one tweet. Impossible, I thought, but “enter contests” became a steady drumbeat in my head that would not go away. For weeks I scrolled through the hundreds of tweets pitching books in the contest until one day, it occurred to me they were all basically “my book is about…” If there was one thing all those contests I had entered taught me, it was that if I was to get my work noticed, I had to rise above the rest and make my writing stand out. So, I tweeted a line from my novel: Mama always said you could tell a real lady by the shoes she wears, but then nobody ever accused Mama of being a lady.
I won.
What a wonderful story! Thanks so much for sharing it and inspiring us.