Writers & Social Media

As writers, what do we need to know about social media? Bluntly put, we need to know how to use it! We need to be able to get our name and our personality out there, we need to be able to build an audience before we get our work out there. Once we get our work out there, we need to be able to market it.

Each social media site works a bit differently. I do have a personal site, that carries all of my diverse interests.

I have one account on Twitter, and I share my thoughts, links to my work (books and blogs), as well as commenting on an sharing posts that have something to say.

On LinkedIn, I do the same thing. I share my thoughts, links to my work, comment on and share posts that have meaning, as well as putting up the occasional article.

On Facebook, I have a personal page that I keep private, as well as a professional author's page, and a page for my wellness blog.

I do three blogs a week - an author's blog, a wellness blog, and a blog for my flash fiction.

I also have a monthly newsletter that I put out through Mail Chimp, devoted to anything related to writing.  

Another important equivelant to a social media site is to create an author's page on Amazon, where all of your work that is published through Amazon, whether it is published by a brick and mortar publisher or self-published (Kindle Direct Publishing). 

(c) September 2019 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission from the author.

Is Instagram For Writers?

I was recently nudged into joining Instagram by a gentleman that I do a bit of pro bono work for. He wanted to expand the base for his audio interview site. So I finally figured it out, and there I was. Kind of like when I first joined LinkedIn - I was standing in the middle of the room, eyes big, wondering what to do next.

I still haven't posted anything referencing the site that nudged me onto Instagram, but I have posted about the book that my co-author Brad Tesh and I just published - Invisible Me. Then I got the idea that I could post about my existing books (including the book that Brad and I previously published). So there really is a reason for me to be on Instagram! (Besides, this way I can follow F1 driver Lewis Hamilton's posts!) And I found a lot of people there that I follow on other social media sites - so of course I followed them on Instagram too!

So what are some of the reasons that it benefits writers to post on Instagram? One reason is the same reason that the gentleman that I work with wanted me to promote his site - that it appeals to a younger crowd (millennials). Also, we have to get over the fact that as writers we use words, not images, to paint the picture of our stories. Instagram has a huge user base, a veritable gift for expanding our reading audience!

How can we best create a solid presence on Instagram? Make sure that our author bio resonates with the audience that we want to attract, and include a link to our author website and/or blog. 

How can we best use Instagram to promote ourselves as writers? Another learning curve for me - the judicious use of hashtags. What this does is help our posts be seen by those that are not already following us. Where can we find relevant hashtags? Cheat a bit - check out other writers, and see what they are including in their posts!  Make sure that you are not constantly promoting yourself! Make around 25% of your posts promotion, and 75% something interesting to the audience that you want to attract. Like other writers posts, and comment when relevant. (I am a bit old fashioned - I would recommend leaving only positive comments.) Post pictures/images that are interesting. Post several times a week, to keep your name out there. If you want comments, ask questions in your post. 

Where can w find writers to follow on Instagram? Here is one site with some excellent suggestions grammerly.com. Another interesting site is paperbackparis.com. 

There is a dark side to Instagram. Someone created an account using my name - a fake account. They were not posting anything, but they were contacting my friends, in a way that wasn't me at all. I notified Instagram, and that account was taken down within 24 hours. In my book, Instagram rates high on enforcing rules and follow-through!

Think about using Instagram in your marketing ... and check out what I am doing there! 

(c) March 2019 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission of the author.

Common Mistakes When Marketing Your Book

 

Marketing is never an easy task ... at least, not for me. Now I find out there are mistakes that we can make when posting on social media sites. that can shoot us in the foot! Who knew! I feel like I just went down the rabbit hole with posting!

The whole premise of posting on social media sites is to engage people, get them to read your material, and keep them wanting more. Generally this is done in a gentle way. The first thing not to do is to push people to buy your book. For heaven's sake - tell them what it is ab out, tell them why they want to read it, and allow them to make the choice! just a hint here - try and avoid the phrase "Buy my book", in all of its various incarnations! Put a book page on your site where people can get information on your books. I do a separate page for each of my books ... for me, that works out best.

Avoid using phrases like "You will love my book!", or "I hope you'll read my book!" You are weakening your position here, IMHO. Allow the prospective reader to decide whether they want to read your book, and whether they like it or not. 

If you are posting a link to your book, give it an intro. Do you click on links that you have no clue about? I sure don't!

Write your post for the site you are posting it on. Facebook, Google +, and Linkedin can safely take the same text and make sensed of it. With Twitter, you have to be a bit more creative. Another hint ... something that is worded for Twitter is going to look close to irrelevant  on the other social media sites. Saving time is a good thing ... looking bad isn't!

Watch the url's that you are posting.  If your prospective readers are from the UK, list the Amazon UK link. If they are from the US, list the US link. If you have prospective readers from both countries, list both links. This is a courtesy to your readers.

Map out a schedule for your posts, and say something different each time. Your book has more than one thing to say, certainly! Don't bore people, or turn them off.

Think before you post!

(c) 2000- 2013 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited in all venues without the written permission of the author.