Social Media Marketing for Authors
5 Things You Can Do
Getting Started
by Susannah Greenberg,CEO, Susannah Greenberg Public
Relations, A
Book Publicity Firm for Publishers, Authors, and Book Industry Organizations
August 9, 2018
So many authors I work
with have questions about social media marketing and how to get started, that I
have decided to write down some of the advice I give them as well as offer
social media coaching services.
If you have been reluctant to get started for
any reason, the first bit of advice I can give you is to get started one
step at a time. Try breaking it down into actionable
steps you can take daily.
In that spirit, here are
5 Things You Can Do. Try exploring just one of the five things
to begin with.
1. Sign Up for Amazon
Author Central. Create your
Author Page. Complete your author profile. Make
sure to upload a book jacket image, author photo, and a book description. You can also include video and a link to your blog. This simple step will increase your visibility on this leading
book selling site. There is no fee. You may think of Amazon as a shopping site,
but it is also a social media site and go-to site for discovering what to read.
Learn more at: https://authorcentral.amazon.com/
2. Create an Author Page
on Facebook. This is different than
your profile page. It is a business page. On a business page you can
connect with an audience rather than socialize with friends. You can buy
low-cost targeted Facebook advertising to promote your books or page. You
cannot advertise on a personal profile page. I recommend you create an author
page rather than a book page in case you write more than one book. Be
ready with author photo and book jacket images to upload. Be sure to fill out the ‘About’ informational
sections. Learn more here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/creation/?ref_type=universal_creation_hub
3. Get a Twitter
Account. Go to https://twitter.com/signup Sign up. Start tweeting, retweeting,
following, and searching. Use # hashtags. A tip: For a better Twitter
experience, be selective about following accounts and don’t follow too many
accounts. It’s better to organize accounts into Twitter Lists rather than
follow them. A List is a curated group of Twitter accounts. You can create your
own Lists or subscribe to Lists created by others. Viewing a List timeline will
show you a stream of Tweets from only the accounts on that List. More on how to
use Twitter lists here: https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/twitter-lists
4. Build an Author
Website. If you’ve been
putting off getting yourself an author website, the good news is that it is
easier and less expensive to build a website now than it has ever been.
Most DIY website services offer a free basic website with upgrades
available for a fee. Your website will likely be the more static of your social
media sites, a sort of home base which should provide basic information and link
out to your other social media sites. Check out these services which can help
you to build your website:
5. Start Blogging. Would you like to
communicate with your audience at length, more than a tweet’s or a Facebook
post’s length, and do so frequently? Then blogging might be for you. Blogging
is another way to increase your visibility online, establish your expertise and
promote your books. It’s free to set up a blog. Many blog sites are also
website builders and allow you to incorporate your blog into your website. Top
blogging sites include:
There’s so much more to
be said about all these social media sites and how to use them as well as more
social media sites to explore; Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, YouTube,
Google+, and more. But this list of 5 Things You Can Do is a good place to start!
Now get started! You can
do it! Use Social Media. Learn, Explore, Connect, and Share! Enhance your visibility and find your readers! Sell more books!
