In the olden days (maybe ten years ago?) an author relied on the publisher/agent to promote and market their book. It was part of the package deal and could be hit or miss. Some books were marketed aggressively, some not. Not exactly sure why. The advent of social media has revamped the landscape and the industry is now looking not only for great projects, it’s looking to see if you already have a following.
I’m working hard on establishing an author platform for my pen name, having just premiered my website and blog. One of my earliest experiences with platform was for my paranormal books, published under my legal name, and it was a bizarre and weird happenstance. My ex-hubby has been dating this woman for a number of years and I’d never met her. Since FB is always suggesting “new friends” my ex-husband’s name always shows up. His profile picture is one of him and his girlfriend, and since my son was getting married that summer and I was going to meet the girlfriend, my curiosity got the best of me and I went to his page. Somehow, and no one can figure out how it got there since my ex is seriously tech-challenged, there was a posting titled, “Books by Caryn McGill.” It didn’t list any titles but still had a fair number of likes. This motivated me to put my books on my FB page. Holee Molee! My FB page blew up! I got tons of likes, tons of comments and lots of new friend requests. And all in less than one day!
There are many avenues to publicize and brand yourself. It’s foolish not to take advantage of them. And many are free. Whereas advertising in media-print/TV, can cost upwards of $300,000 for even a short ad. No wonder publishing houses are only employing those ads for best selling authors like James Patterson.
- Facebook: It’s best to start a fan page. Some advise using your book title as a handle, while others say to avoid them so as not to conflict with new books. And keep your personal drama/pics off it. Leave that for your personal profile. This is a convenient place to collect likes and a quick and easy way for fans to leave short messages.
- Twitter: Tweet once a day. Use conversations from your other platform sites to spur discussion topics.
- Author Websites: Creating an author website can be a bit more challenging, so if you’re not particularly computer savvy, hire a professional.
- YouTube: One of my author pals just made a video for her new memoir, Tin Can Shrapnel. Check it out on YouTube. It’s time consuming to create and may cost a few dollars to hire a voice-over guy, but there’s nothing like seeing your book come to life on a video screen.
- Pinterest: A perfect place to post imaginings of your characters and settings. Visuals are key here. Make your readers’ eyes pop, make them want to see (read) more.
- Instagram: A great way to get “insta” messages and photos out to your fans. Keep them on edge with “What comes next…?”
- Blog: If you’re nervous to go solo, start one with friends. My first blog was with Writeonsisters. (I’ve since moved on.) You only have to blog once a week, about 300-500 words. We’re writers! We can do that!
There are also tools to save you time and effort by scheduling posts on both FB and Twitter. They provide real-time tracking, organizing and engagement. Check out Hootsuite and TweetDeck.
And that’s just as of today. Next week, well, I can’t even imagine what other sites the tech world will dream up. Now there’s tiktok and it’s providing plenty of platform for authors. The more elements you use to build your platform, the stronger and larger it becomes. And don’t just promote your book, people won’t flock to a commercial for your book unless you’ve garnered their interest elsewhere. With streaming and DVR being the vehicles most of use to watch TV, society has become averse to commercials. Instead, focus on sharing your thoughts and interacting with your followers.
This is not an easy undertaking for a writer. Most of us enjoy the solitude that comes with writing: snuggling up to our laptops, sipping a cup of hot tea or coffee, a cozy spot to write, maybe a pet curled at our feet. So stepping out into the cold, scary, and sometimes brutal world of publicly promoting ourselves takes us out of our comfort zone. And as writers, we’re nervous about writing spontaneously. We cling to the life rafts of editing, proofreading, and beta readers, to insure that when we put our writing out for others to read it will be perfect in every way: spelling, grammar, verb agreement. Exposing our true feelings and emotions for all to read is downright terrifying. What if we make a rookie mistake in a blog post? A spelling error! Oh, horrors! This dread can paralyze you. Also, and particularly for writers of fiction, we tend to hide behind our characters. No one knows the real us.
It’s time to take that leap, jump into the world of social media and promote both your book and yourself. Many of you, especially young writers, are already members of these sites for personal use, but it’s time to devote those pages, or new pages, to building an audience for you book.
Designing and executing my blog has been fun, but also challenging at times. Don’t fret about making it perfect. It’s a place to reveal a little bit of who you are. Having a rant that day about something? Share it. People want to know you’re human, that you’re just like them.
Even though building and maintaining an author platform may be a daunting task, it will help you in getting a publishing contract because many major houses would prefer not to have to build your marketing plan from scratch. Having a following makes you more marketable.
So start now! Jump!! If you need advice let me know and perhaps I can save you time by not making some of the mistakes I made.
Up Next: The Anatomy of Writing a Fairytale.
