Author’s Guide To Maximizing Social Media To Promote Your Book
By Nick Belardes
Table of Contents:
1. INTRO: It Takes A Little Bit Of Everything…
2. Four Rules To Live By
3. FaceBook
4. Goodreads
5. Redroom.com
6. MySpace
7. Twitter
8. Blogs
9. YouTube
10. Radio/Print/TV
INTRO:
It Takes A Little Bit Of Everything…
Writers get frustrated for all kinds of reasons. Promotion is just one of them.
One of the toughest parts about being a writer is promoting your own work. Without a clear set of guidelines or experience in marketing or media, self-promotion and the idea of “social media” can be a headache.
However, with a great plan, writers can help to maximize exposure and build a loyal following when getting a book into the publishing marketplace.
Just remember, it takes a little bit of everything to get the word out. That means you have to help out your publisher in promoting book events by connecting to people, businesses, media and more.
Here are some simple rules and a rundown of ways you can use social media and some related traditional marketing tools.
Four Rules To Live By:
Rule 1: Social Media is time consuming. Take a deep breath.
Rule 2: Social Media is rewarding. Be prepared to meet people.
Rule 3: Social Media is a daily exercise. Get ready to work out.
Rule 4: Social Media always changes. Be innovative.
Basic Sites, Tips And Rules To Maximizing Your Promotion:
FACEBOOK:
USE IT: There are lots of people on Facebook who don’t use any other form of social media. So use it. Connect to them. But don’t add thousands or the FaceBook people will delete you. Add people slowly, like you’re using a crockpot.
FAN CLUB: You can create fan clubs on Facebook. Try it out. Send emails to your friends to join. Then utilize to make announcements.
GET IN TOUCH: It really isn’t a bad thing to get in touch with old friends. They might buy your books too.
BE FUNNY: You will be surprised how many people respond if you say something funny once in a while. I don’t know why it works on Facebook, but it does. And making someone laugh once a day isn’t a bad thing.
POST PHOTOS: Facebook people like photos once in a while. So post some of yourself with your book. Or you with fans. Why not?
SEND EVENTS: You can list events on Facebook. Old classmates you may have known love these kinds of things. But don’t overkill.
GOODREADS:
AUTHORS CAN JOIN: When you join, you’re just a reader. But you can update your account status to an author if you have a book published.
POST VIDEO SERIES: Have you ever lectured? Record them. Post them. Or post whatever other crazy video you want. Then let people know.
POST BOOK TOUR: List your book tour. It’s a free tool.
BETTER THAN TWITTER? Like Twitter, if you want to be successful, then interact. Many writers have much more success on Goodreads because they interact in reading groups who spread the word.
EVENTS: Another great place to list events
REDROOM.COM
ON TWITTER? Redroom is a litblog site. Be a part. Then go blog there. And add them on Twitter (@redroomdotcom). They will help promote whatever you post on their site!!
MYSPACE:
NOT DEAD: MySpace is for bands what Twitter is for writers. But it isn’t dead. Repost a blog there once in a while. Can’t hurt. People still write to me almost daily on MySpace.
TWITTER:
MUST WANT FOLLOWERS: Most followers aren’t going to knock on your Twitter door. You have to seek them. You have to want them. You have to add them. But don’t add 5,000 in a day. Your account will get suspended or limits will be imposed on you. Add a hundred or so at a time. If people follow you, cool. Those who don’t, then in a day or two, clean your list and delete those who don’t follow you. There are exceptions to this rule if you are following important media people or celebrities who you want to follow. Delete all spammers and weirdos.
CHOOSE WISELY: Remember that line from “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”? Well choose your Twitter lists wisely. I have three basic guidelines. I follow book people, people near where I live in Central California, and journalists/TV stations. What categories do you fit in? Watch out for spam. It’s getting bad. I have lots of exceptions to this rule.
BE A JOURNALIST: If you have a blog where you do some type of reporting, then call yourself a “bizarre citizen journalist” or something related in your Twitter profile. Then add journalists. Journalists like journalists. And if they like what you’re doing and happen to be writing a related article, they might ask you for an interview. Networking on Twitter is a great way to promote yourself as a citizen journalist and can provide much needed street cred. Start now. Report on something. People will follow you if you’re good at reporting. Or just network with them. RETWEET their news once in a while. TALK to reporters/journalists. They’re people like you.
WHO DO YOU DELETE? There are lots of spammers. But don’t delete them all. Just don’t follow them all in return. There are a lot of marketing freaks out there. Try to distinguish which are legit. Follow a few. You never know how readers will find you through other Twitter lists you are on. And don’t delete bizarre followers just cause you don’t feel you associate with “Vegas Taxi Drivers.” You might get some cool followers that way.
TRICK WITH A TWEET: Let’s say you’re adding people from Sacramento, CA. Write a tweet that you don’t change for a while that says, “I’m adding cool people from Central Cali. Check out my followers, peeps!” I think it helps potential followers to feel special. If I’m adding book peeps I might tweet after clicking on a 100 book peeps, “I’m adding more bookish people. I like bookish people. Books rock.”
Look, your Twitter page is a billboard and so is your name. People will likely skim your page or just add you. Some people just look at city names. Are you listing your city? City people like city people. Do you list that you are in the media or that you’re a citizen journalist or quilting expert? List what you DO besides an author. People don’t just always add authors. People add people they have something in common with. Very soon the net will be over-saturated with Twitter authors. Set yourself apart from others. None of us are Neil Gaiman, yet.
SPAM: You can purchase something like “Hummingbird” and spam people into becoming followers. I can’t see paying the $200 bucks or whatever, so I use other means.
MEDIA PROMO: Media promotions of Twitter can take various forms and can gain you a steady supply of followers. Be quick to add your Twitter link at the bottom of articles and blog posts, and talk about Twitter on air if you’re on the radio and/or TV. Don’t be shy. In an interview say “Fans can hook up with me on Twitter where we can talk blah blah.” Followers won’t pour in to your account, but collectively, it would be great for the SEARCH ENGINES. Search engines are a constant war. Fight for territory. Remember the game, Risk? That’s search engines. Take over territories and you will win followers. So that means write articles about Twitter and link your Twitter in articles.
GET TO KNOW PEOPLE: Make a point to talk to ten people prominent people a day in your community via Twitter. Let them know you exist, especially if they are journalists. You never know when they might do an article on Twitter, especially if you are an innovative social media person in your area.
BOOK PROMO: Have a book coming out? Make sure your Twitter is on the back cover.
BUSINESS CARDS: Yes, list your Twitter url.
INTERACT: If you don’t interact you will be shunned on Twitter and won’t get new followers. So, talk to people.
HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO SAY: Retweet the news once in a while in your local area, or national news. Be upbeat mostly. Talk relevant topics. Be intellectual. Be a community service. Make people see you as a resource of some kind. Don’t just tweet comedy. This isn’t Facebook. It interacts a little differently.
BE TRANSPARENT: Let people see into your heart without being too private. No one needs to know when you’re breaking up or drinking a Pepsi. But everything in between is OK.
DO SOMETHING UNIQUE ON TWITTER: Be creative in how you use social networking. If you come up with something innovative then media will pick up on it and write about you. Nick Belardes Twitter novel has been written about in major newspapers on three continents. You don’t have to be Ashton Kutcher to get Twitter press.
SEO CRAZINESS: Type in “Twitter novel” to google. What is one of the top results? www.twitter.com/smallplaces. That’s me, Nick Belardes. There are lots of other related articles too. As soon as I started writing his twitter novel I blogged about twitter novels in more than one article. I had a hunch people were going to start searching for those terms. Be innovative. Be creative.
BLIP.FM/FLICKR: You can become a DJ by tweeting music via Blip.fm. You can also tweet pics from Flickr and Twitpic.com. Mixing up what you do on Twitter can make people happy and create some new followers.
TWEETDECK: A twitter management tool that can really help you interact and categorize your followers. It mean “organization”. That’s good for writers, right?
HASHTAGS: This is a way to communicate with Twitter people in a specific group or to tag words in your post so people can find them easily. You can look up hashtags on Google. They’re a bit tricky but can be useful.
DIRECT MARKETING: This may be the most important aspect of Twitter. Once in a while you can target market people about a blog, event, etc. Here’s a sample:
sample: Will you come to my Aug. 2 event at B&N? @jhkhkj @lkjlkjlj @jlkjlkjlkj @lkjlkjljk @kjlkjlkj @lkjlkjlkj @kljlkjlkj @lkjlkjlkj
You get the point. Target people once in a while and you might get a direct response.
BLOGS:
BLOGGER/WORDPRESS/TYPEPAD/SQUARESPACE: Some accounts are free, others aren’t. By now, you should know what a blog is: a weblog with online articles or posts.
But maybe you don’t know how to promote one. Blogs are cool. But they need PROMOTION. They can’t just sit there. YOU have to get the word out. It’s not hard once you build up a following.
NEWSPAPER BLOGS: Your community newspaper might have a blog. Take an excerpt from your blog and post it with a linkback to your full article. It’s a great way to promote. Or just repost the whole entry.
MYSPACE: Do the same on MySpace.
GOODREADS: Do the same on GoodReads.
REDROOM: Do the same on RedRoom
AMAZON CENTRAL: It’s part of Amazon.com. You can blog there. OR, you can set up an RSS feed to automatically update your Amazon Central page each time you blog on your page. Look up RSS FEED, it’s not too hard.
FACEBOOK: You can feed your blog, Twitter and more right into your Facebook. It’s a GREAT tool.
EMAIL/NEWSLETTER LISTS: Email people your latest blog links.
NETWORK: Get radio, TV, or other bloggers to talk about your articles. Make friends and write relevant topics.
TWITTER: Post a link and some descriptor on Twitter.
TARGET ON TWITTER: Post a link with some @replies to specific people. It will make sure they see the link. But make sure they are people you interact with who will appreciate the link. And don’t do it all the time. That would be spam.
OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA PROMOTION: You can get accounts to promote your blog articles in all kinds of places: Tumblr, Brightkite, EDITred, Blip.fm, DIGG and more. Better get an intern if you’re spread too thin. Or if you can afford PR people, they’re good too. If they’re local to you as a brand.
WEBPAGE HUB: Your homepage should be some kind of blog engine though it doesn’t have to be. But for optimum search engine results, consider it. When designing your homepage, include links to all the social media that you belong to. Try to keep your home page (official page) limited to as few pages as possible.
YOUTUBE
Videos are an important promotional tool and YouTube isn’t alone. Facebook accepts video uploads, so does Flickr. Flickr is a photo site. But you can build a following there too and post links to your website or blog articles on Flickr. Anyway, videos can be created and uploaded easily. Promote using all the before mentioned ways on social media. And add friends as you go. Don’t give up either. Some videos do poorly, others get many views.
IMPORTANT: You never know when a video will go viral. Network with filmmakers in your area if you can.
RADIO/TV/PRINT
Do you regularly appear on radio and television or write a news column? If not, then network with people who do. If you do appear regularly, then utilize to promote your Twitter or blog. Don’t be bashful. Be innovative and creative. The more innovative you are, the more followers you will gain and people will start looking at you as an expert.
