(This is the first in
a series of advice for newbie authors. Caveat: I, myself, am a newbie, but
having been through many of these issues and questions myself, I hope I can
offer some insight!)
We’ll be talking about some of
the best advice on each social media platform, as well as some general “rules”,
should you choose to engage. Most
first-time writers are struggling with not only the pressures of finishing
their novel and finding a publisher, but also being told by everyone around
them that they “must” have a social media platform. And, should one be lucky
enough to find a publisher, then the publisher will most certainly require (at
the very least): a website, Twitter handle, and Facebook page. This is a lot of
pressure for many of us, especially as writers tend to be observers of life,
and not necessarily wanting to be the full-time salesperson of our books.
Well, I’m here to tell you that you
don’t have to be. In fact, you shouldn’t be asking your new readers, fans, and
friends to “buy your book”. Harlequin asks its authors to limit any sort of buy
links to a 1:9 ratio; one “ask” per every nine content-laden posts or tweets.
In my personal opinion, it should be even lower. For example, Diana Gabaldon tweets
about what is going on in her life and engaging with her fans, and has a very
devoted online following (who then does go out and buy her books!).
People want to connect with their
authors as people, not as an author in an ivory tower. So decide what you are
comfortable sharing – kids, what you ate, your dog’s antics? Also, start slowly
on each of these media. No need to be on all at once, or even all of them,
period. It is better to be very engaged on one than spread thin on many.
Additionally, start to think of
your brand or platform. Your story is your platform; the reader wants to engage
on the current story AND the next one. Social media is just the tool through
which we tell it. (some great advice: http://thewritepractice.com/fiction-platform/
)
Of course, the writing of your best
possible book is still where you need to focus your energies. A good rule of
thumb is to spend anywhere between 10-30% of your writing time on marketing
(including social marketing) tools. With
all of that said, let’s get down to brass tacks!
Disagree? Have more tips? Leave a
comment!
Also, if you’re a fellow newbie,
ping me and let me know what else you’d like to know about, either via comments
or Twitter. Looking for more blog ideas for next month!
 |
Erin writes paranormal romances as Erin Moore and has only just begun to learn all about marketing them! She loves Twitter for its brevity, and tries to find her way through all of the other social media on a daily basis. She manages two monsters and one unruly husband in Atlanta, main-lining chocolate and tea. Look her up on www.AuthorErinMoore or, of course, on Twitter: AuthorErinMoore. |
No comments:
Post a Comment