I’m an author. I like being able to say that, and I like having tangible/readable products I’ve written available to the public. I like getting book covers in my inbox. I like the excitement of signing a publishing contract.
But all of that is work, stress, and money bundled into an untidy bow if I don’t get the sales to back up what I’m doing. For the hours and hours and hours invested in a project, I like to know that someone is reading it, and enjoying it. So the question isn’t “How do I write a book?” Rather, it’s “How do I market this book?”
This year will bring the third anniversary of my very first published book, and I still don’t know that I have an effective answer. Truth be told, I’m not sure there is a specific answer to that question. As one article states, a “magic formula” (Reid, 2014) for marketing isn’t really an option, so blending elements and ideas we find along the way in an effort to create an effective platform for marketing seems reasonable to me.
That idea brings us to a new question: What are those elements and ideas?
The answer to that question can vary, but there do seem to be some similar traits scattered across the Internet—authors who use the same media sites, techniques that continue to be used, etc. Multiples authors may have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest, LibraryThing, Goodreads, etc., but just how effective are each one of those accounts and approaches?
One site I found discusses the results of an apparent “panel…[who indicated] whether they used a laundry list of social media and marketing tools” (DBW, 2014) and provided feedback on their opinions of those platform possibilities. For anyone wanting to truly consider their social media options in regards to these sites, I would advise you to take a look at the piece. Each of the four panelists were “book marketing executives” (DBW, 2014), and final tallies of who among the four used the sites are provided with additional remarks regarding each site. I cannot stress how useful I find this piece, because it provides results from what seem to be professionals in the business.
On that site, the social media opportunities that got a perfect four-out-of-four rating were the following:
• Amazon Author Page
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Author Websites and Blogs
• Videos/Youtube
• Google+
• Facebook Promoted Posts and Stories
• Instagram, and Goodreads (DBW, 2014)
Choosing these sites as the beginning points of an author platform then would seem a reasonable step. For me, personally, I have the Amazon Author Page, Facebook, Twitter, Website and Blog, and Goodreads that I typically employ. That list leaves quite a bit of territory left to explore in thorough detail.
Of course, there are ways to boost social media platforms—tools that can make your account easier to deal with and ideally make your business endeavors more successful. In my last post, I covered Hootsuite and Buffer, both of which can be used to schedule posts for you so you don’t have to sit in front of your computer all day to have posts throughout the hours. From that standpoint then, there’s even more room to grow than the unexplored territory from the list mentioned earlier. I hardly know all the ends and outs of each site I use, so more territory could be covered to help expand my platform’s reach. For instance, I’ve never even used the paid advertisement feature on Facebook.
One technique I have tried is the giveaway feature on Goodreads. Of all of the marketing I’ve done for my books, those giveaways stand out to me because they *did* get my book attention. They were easy to set up, and they were provided by a site whose target audience is the reading community. Basically, Goodreads had an audience waiting for me, and they made it easy to contact that audience. However small my promotional reach has been, I do count Goodreads as one of my most valuable accounts.
As for the rest? Maybe I’ll get the hang of it. Eventually.
References
DBW. (2014, January 15). “Which Social Media and Marketing Tools Are Publishers Actually Using Successfully.” Digital Book World. Retrieved from http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2014/which-social-media-and-marketing-tools-are-publishers-actually-using-successfully/
Reid, R. (2014, July 2). “There Is No Magic Formula for Small-Business Success — Only This.” Entrepreneur: Success Strategies. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/234924
Connie L. Smith 
I really enjoyed reading your blog on social media marketing. I have often wondered about what makes an author that sells millions of books in comparison to one that remain less well-known. In today’s world of digital communication there are many options for authors to use and help them to get there work out to a larger and more diverse audience than ever before. Mastering Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media sites can play a very important part in the success of an author. I really like the book giveaways that you discussed in this blog post. Sometimes giving a product away and allowing customers to get a taste for it can be a great method to gain a new fan. There have been many times that I have received a free sample and then went out and purchased the product after the sample was gone because I enjoyed it so much. Great information and tips! Thank you!
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Blending is the perfect word. There isn’t a magic formula but you can definitely come up with some sort of concoction. There may be an ideal recipe but finding it appears to be difficult and takes some practice. It could vary for each person! I do feel that finding out what sites are used for a particular field is essential and each marketer should do their due diligence in researching them. The ease of Goodreads seems like a good start up for book writers. Once there is some practice, I wonder if there is another site that may take some more effort but would be worth it. Writing is no where near my realm but I bet if you connected to other writers, potentially more advanced, you’d find some connections.
Best of luck!
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