For those of you who think that you have to choose between being traditional or being avant-garde with your writing, think again. There are many ways to combine the two! And perhaps one of the most effective ways is through the use of various social media platforms.
If you’re on Facebook, you already have an audience that you can connect with across the country. And perhaps an even larger audience if you’re international. But in order to fully reap the benefits of this incredible platform, you need to be doing a little bit of everything. This includes posting regularly, engaging with your audience, and finding the right balance between keeping your friends and growing your audience.
The most successful authors on Facebook posted often, with roughly two to three posts per day being the average. So if you’re looking to follow in their footsteps, get comfortable posting frequently and regularly.
Instagram is probably the most well-known social media platform, and with good reason. It allows you to post images and videos, and engage with your audience through a combination of captions, hashtags, and likes. If you can handle your camera well and creatively, you can really make the most of this platform.
Many successful authors have turned to Instagram, and for good reason. It’s been proven that images and videos can greatly increase the engagement rate of your content. If you want to become a bestselling author, start using Instagram and other social media platforms to your advantage.
Pinterest is all the rage these days, particularly with millennials and members of the Generation Z. It’s the perfect platform for someone interested in lifestyle and fashion who also wants to read the latest news and connect with other people. The key to success on this platform is to be interesting, engaging, and most importantly, useful. By combining the fashion and lifestyle elements of Pinterest with the news and connecting features, you can create a very compelling and successful author page. Make sure to feature products that are relevant to your niche and that will engage your audience.
If you want to follow in the footsteps of authors like Tim Ferriss and Jayne Asey, consider creating a Pinterest account for your next book. And don’t forget: if you want to gain the most traction and engaged audience on social media, create compelling content that will keep your readers coming back for more.
The micro-blogging platform, Twitter, is also a great place to connect with potential readers and connect with other authors. It’s a bit different from the other platforms in that you don’t necessarily need to have a sizable following to get involved. Everyone on Twitter can and does use the platform to connect with people, disseminate news, and promote their books. If you want to become a highly followed author on this platform, make sure to have a compelling reason for people to follow you.
Many authors have found great success on Twitter. Many use it not only as a place to disseminate news and promote their books, but also as a way to connect with their audience and potential readers. It’s also a place where readers can express their opinions and discuss the books and authors they love.
Blogging
Blogs are essentially like online diaries that anyone can contribute to. Once you establish a reliable stream of content, other people will begin to notice and maybe even join your site. Once you have enough contributors, you can establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry and gain credibility and authority by sharing your wisdom with others.
Blogs have several advantages over merely creating content for Facebook or other social media platforms. You can choose the kind of content you want to feature, and you can also choose the platform on which you want to feature it. If you want, you can even establish yourself as an expert in your industry simply by writing a blog post about it.
Like many other platforms, blogging is a great way to establish yourself as an expert in your industry, create an engaging online community, and attract potential customers. If you want to take advantage of all these factors and build a lucrative author career, consider establishing a blog for your next book.
Choosing The Right Platforms
It’s important to note here that not all social media platforms are created equal. Some are quite popular amongst certain groups of people, but could be a bit problematic for someone else. For instance, if you’re a parent or guardian, you might want to consider whether or not you should be using TikTok, a platform very popular with Gen Z and millennials.
As mentioned before, the ideal social media platform for an author would be one that combines fashion and lifestyle with a healthy dose of news and connective features. If you want to be able to engage with your audience through photos and videos, consider using a platform that is heavily focused on those elements. If you want to keep your posts short and sweet, avoid TikTok and other similar platforms if you’re a parent or guardian, or any other type of adult who’s worried about what kind of content they’re going to see.
On the other hand, if you’re a student, you might want to consider using TikTok because it’s extremely popular amongst teens and young adults. It’s also the kind of platform that can be used for creative and innovative storytelling, which can be useful if you’re writing a book that is themed around new technology or fad diets.
Choosing The Right Time To Post
The best time to post on any social media platform is usually when your audience is active and engaged with content like blogs, articles, and videos. If you want to be able to reach as many people as possible, establish a schedule for when you’re going to post, and stick to it.
Try to post at least twice per day on a regular basis and make sure to schedule at least one post in advance. This will help you become more proactive on the platform and ensure you’re creating content at the right time for your audience. For example, if you notice that your videos garner a lot of views during the week but not on Saturdays, that could mean your Saturday posts aren’t as good as your other content and viewers are avoiding them because they don’t want to get sucked into your routines. So establish a weekly video schedule and try to stick to it.
Building A Reliable Stream Of Content
To be able to successfully use social media to promote your books, you’re going to want to establish a consistent stream of content. This means you need to be posting frequently and consistently throughout the year. If you’re looking for a way to establish yourself as an expert in your industry while also gaining credibility with your audience, consider using your blog to share your insights and advice on relevant topics. Once you have a decent amount of content published, consider using platforms like Hootsuite or Buffer to schedule and post content throughout the week. This will help you become more active and establish yourself as an expert in your industry.
If you want to write a book series, make sure to establish a separate blog for each book in the series. This way, when your audience comes back for more, they’ll be automatically funneled into the next book’s blog. As you build your blog’s audience, consider using a content curation tool like Stitcher to aggregate and republish content from other sources.
Growing Your Twitter Following
Anyone can create a Twitter account and start tweeting, but not everyone will be able to grow a substantial following. To do this, you need to get started with a few key principles in mind:
- Be authentic
- Be consistent
- Be relevant
- Be helpful
- Be passionate
- Include hashtags
- Use relevant keywords
With these foundations in place, it’s much easier to grow your following. Once you have at least 100 followers, you can apply for a verified Twitter account. This allows you to add more sophisticated tools and features to your account, such as the option to follow and be followed by specific users. You can choose to verify your account to ensure that your followers know you’re an actual person and not a robot or some sort of automated account.
Summary
Hopefully, you now have a good idea of how to post your writing online. It’s important to note here that although social media can be a powerful tool for authors, it’s not necessarily the be-all-end-all answer to getting your work out there into the world. There are many different types of outlets and platforms that you can use to promote your books, and not all of them will be created equal. It’s important to find the right fit for your work.