If you are trying to make it as an author, and you have published a book, it’s important to promote your books every day. Make sure you are working on your platform. Many self-published or indy authors don’t realize that there is no set-it-and-forget way of marketing their works. It is what divides indy authors from big book published authors. Small publishing houses cannot afford marketing. They cannot afford to promote their authors.
Tweeting
Yes, I know it’s difficult to tweet everyday for some authors (especially those who have a day job), but tweeting everyday is not as difficult as you think. Different services like HootSuite or Socialmph can help you by giving you the options to tweet in the future. If you up until 1 am, you might not have your target audience online. Leave the a tweet for tomorrow morning.
How often should you tweet? There is a lot of opinions that circle this question. What’s too much? What’s too little? The best answer is just be honest with yourself. If you are just making things up to tweet every 10 minutes and you are bored with your own conversation, stop tweeting so much. If you are being honest and putting your book, and yourself out there, getting to know people, and having interactions, keep tweeting.
There is a very healthy online writing community on Twitter. Get involved. Make friends. Connect with your followers. When your desire to promote had turned into a genuine desire to make connections, tweeting will be fun, and your hit and miss promotions will become people who really support you.
Yes, it’s a fact of like that FB plays a major role in publishing. You should certainly have a author page by now. Getting people to like your book and your page is the first step to communicating with and selling to an audience. Every time you have something big happening, or you just have news, don’t be afraid to put it on Facebook. Every day you should be interacting with your personal account, and at least once per week (maybe more depending on your activity level) you should be posting on your page.
Groups are becoming big on Facebook again. Start a group that helps other people promote their work too. The more people you get involved the more people will be part of your platform.
Instagram is a unique way for people to get to know you. It is one of the most powerful social mediums. There is just something about people looking into your life. Connecting your Instagram account with your Twitter then share between the two. It will help you build a following. Mostly though, Instagram allows you build real connections with your followers. When you promote, they support.
Pinterest has become a major source of traffic for websites. Posting pictures and organizing visual ideas has made Pinterest’s 250 million users a month a great place to share ideas and sites. Create an account, gain followers, and make sure you promote your book. You should be using Pinterest everyday.
Goodreads
Goodreads is the place for books, and it is the place for people who love books. You should be building a following on Goodreads everyday.
Getting your book our there
Every day you should, even if you only have a little bit of time, look for places to list or promote your book online or in the real world. The local book store might be happy to put up a copy of your book on display. If you don’t have a ton of copies (which most self-publishers don’t), leave a card that has a scannable code on it for visitors. Cards at Vistaprint are around $10. If your book is digital this is a great way to get people to see your book and download it. Many people want to read local authors, use it to your advantage.
Online, remember EWR lists and promotes books here. Also reach out to sights and see if you can place ads with them. Not every website is expensive to advertise with. Check out listing of literary magazines. Many of these sites would be happy to charge a little and have your book to promote.
Making connections
Everyday you should be finding more authors like you online. Ask questions. Look for strategies. Even if it is a self-published author who does really week, sign up with their site. Send them an email, go to their forum. There is a large and thriving community of self-published authors online, find them, use them as a resource. Build relationships with them everyday. They could help you with your success.
Keep trying
The most important thing, as always, as it has been for 1000s of years, is for you to keep going. Keep trying. Don’t give up. If this book didn’t take off, maybe your next one will.
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