Irrespective of your business; social media is now a must, and authors are not excluded. This is to tell you that social media has come to stay; so, the earlier you start utilizing it for your business, the better.
- Don’t worry about spreading yourself too thin by trying to be on every social media channel. Pick and choose wisely by finding out where your potential readers hang out. If you try to connect with people on every single channel, you’ll either never get your book written because you’re always online or you’ll get burned out and give up on social media altogether.
- Build time in for social media that’s separate from your writing time. If you never get that book published, it’s not going to matter how engaged you are with your audience. Keep your marketing and writing time separate.
- People want to know you are a real person, so show them that you are. Share pictures of your pets or of your vacation. Share funny memes or gifs that you identify with (and hopefully they will too.) Let them know what you’re up to beyond writing or practicing your profession.
- Let your audience know about your writing process. Are you wrestling with your final edits? Are you using your iPhone to dictate your book while at your kid’s soccer practice? Are you plotting a new story that you are excited about? Sharing this information makes them feel like they know you and are part of your life.
- Don’t just post that they should buy your book. Some authors have a continual flow of sales attempts that fall on deaf ears because that isn’t what social media is for. It’s for building relationships. Your followers are much more likely to purchase your book if they feel they know and trust you…if they like you.
- Get them to engage with you by asking them questions, asking them to post pictures of their pets or things relevant to the topic of your book. Make sure you go back and comment on those when they leave them. Think of social media as a communication tool.
- Remember that social media is a long-term commitment to your book. You aren’t going to build a huge following all at once. It will take consistent effort over an amount of time. But those authors who do commit to it can attest that it works.
- Let your fans know if you are going to be shut in your home office focusing only on writing for a few days. They like knowing what you’re up to and they’ll understand if you are absent during that time. Make sure to follow up with your progress once you are back online.