In the interest of saving space, I'm going to skip MySpace
and Bebo…while I do have a presence on both places, I've found that as far as
promoting your work, they're not as good as they used to be. That said, you can
still network your blogs to them to give yourself a bit of presence there.
The big boys are Facebook and Twitter. Since Twitter is 140
characters short, I'll start there.
Twitter
Yes, you want a presence on Twitter but not to just tell the
world that you had a mocha cappuccino for lunch or had to get up early and it
rained on your new hairdo. But no, you don't always want to be yelling Buy My
Book on Twitter anymore than you do anyplace else. But when you do tweet out
your book news, you want to use hashtags.
What are hastags? They're a way to identify what your
message and its audience is about. People tend to follow hashtags and that's
great because that shows an interest - theirs. If they follow Science Fiction
and Romance, they'll likely see your tweet. If you don't use a hashtag, well,
you might have a few of your followers see your tweet. So it pays to find the
best hashtag for your message and use it faithfully.
Example Scenario:
- You have 100 followers
- 100 people see it PLUS every person who is following the
hashtags for #SciFi, #Romance and #Kindle, which could be thousands. The #Kindle
and #Nook hashtags are very popular and have lots of followers. If your book is
an ebook, it would pay you to always use the #Kindle or #Nook hashtags when
promoting it. You'll get more mileage for your 140 characters.
There's a hashtag for just about everything. You just have
to find one that is popular and relates to your book. To do that, just use Twitter's
search function. Try different spellings and make sure the tweets that appear
are ones that you want related to your book.
Word of caution: The followers for #BDSM are plentiful and
so are the ones for #menage. But if you write Inspirational or regular Romance,
then you're wasting the 5-7 characters using those hashtags. Your tweet will go
to a market that may not be interested in what you're offering. So make sure
your hashtags accurately reflect your message.
Facebook
Currently, Facebook is the BMOC. It effectively kicked
MySpace and Bebo and a few others to the curb. While FB is huge now, always be
on the lookout for the next BMOC because, yes, there will be one (Can we say
Google+?). This is an ever changing world and we do need to be on top of the
changes.
Facebook has 950 million users so the opportunity to promote
your work is huge. But what do you do
first? Make an author page. Yes, you need one. Always separate your personal
page from your professional page. It looks, well, more professional.
Your Page should be a warm inviting place for people to come
and should give potential Fans (those who Like your page) a clear picture on
what your business/genre is about. The first thing to add to your author page
is a cover photo shown at the top. I use the jpg of one of my book covers (they
can be edited for size so you can get just the right look for your cover
photo,)
You can do many things to make this cover photo creative and
interactive.
1. Connect the profile picture to the cover photo.
2. Highlight a book.
3. Highlight a fan of the week.
4. Show some creative aspect to your book (a scene works nicely if you can find a jpg for it).
You may want to add some additional Apps to jazz-up your
Facebook Page. Here is a list of some Apps, select the ones that make sense for you.
NetworkedBlogs - http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks This application will import your blog automatically into your Wall whenever you have a new post. (This works GREAT)
RSS Graffiti - http://apps.facebook.com/rssgraffiti This application will import any RSS feed into your wall.
Booshaka - http://www.booshaka.com/ This application shows a list of all your top Fans by how much they interact with you.
Fan of the Week - https://apps.facebook.com/fanofthe/ - This app automatically picks a Fan of the Week based on interaction and posts the message about the new Fan each week.
Head over to www.Involver.com for some more great app choices.
They have a YouTube application and a Twitter application that will
import information from those social media sites into tabs on your Facebook Page.
After that, check out your peers pages. But don't limit
yourself to just your friends. Look up the big names in your field. Start by
doing a search, ie go to www.Facebook.com/search to start your search. Select
the Pages option to filter your results by Pages. You can also use Keywords, ie
Science Fiction, Romance, Writing, Authors - there are a host of words you can
use to broaden your search. Caution: Realize that the Facebook Search bar is
not very robust and sometimes does not find the Facebook page you are looking
for - even when you enter the exact name of the page! (I've had difficulty
trying to find friends who I knew were on FB.)
If you can't find the
Facebook Page of your peers, head over to their websites to see if they have a link to
their Facebook Page on their site. Many will. Once you've located several
authors you admire, 'Like' their page but also pay attention to what they do
there.
What exactly are you looking
for on their pages? You are gathering information about what is working and taking
note of these key points:
How often is the page
posting? What times are they posting?
What are they posting? What
is getting the most interaction – pictures, links, videos, questions? What is
working for them? (Hint: copy what is working) How many people post
directly on the page? How many respond to a post?
What can you do to increase
your Page activity?
Make it your business to
spend some time planning your editorial calendar, deciding what content you
will post and when. One of the biggest challenges authors face is “What should
I post?” An editorial calendar gives you a road map you can turn to without
having to start with a blank page trying to figure out what you want to communicate
to your customers while there’s a million other things gnawing at your mind and
fighting for your attention—you know, like every day when you write.
A content calendar gives you
an overview of what you’re posting so you can ensure that you cover all the topics
you want covered. It ensures that you’re not repeating yourself. It forces you
to think about what’s important and what’s not so you don’t fall into the trap
of posting content just to fill a void.
You can have two types of
content calendars. One is a larger roadmap of promotions and special events
throughout the year to highlight. The other is a weekly calendar that can give
structure to your exact daily content such as 3rd party links, photos, a Fan of
the Week, etc. This is what your weekly content calendar could look like:
•
Monday morning: 3rd party link to an interesting relevant article (could be a
blog post on writing, on reading, on history (if you write historicals) or
science (if you write Science Fiction)
•
Monday afternoon: Photo (could be a book, behind the scenes event or something
you think your readers will like.)
•
Tuesday morning: Your own blog post (assuming you post weekly)
•
Tuesday afternoon: Question of the day (could be around a news event, a
social
question, or to find out what your audience is struggling with or really likes
about your niche)
•
Wednesday morning: Fan of the Week (highlight a Fan or Fan Page that has contributed
to the conversation) You can use a Facebook App such as Fan of the Week for
Pages or Booshaka to help you decide.
You get the idea. As you
develop your weekly content calendar, your community will also get to know your
pattern and they will look forward to certain weekly events. Again, watch what
works for your audience.
Here are some ideas that you
may find you need to adjust for your audience:
•
Post every day. That may seem excessive but as people make more friends
and Like more pages, your posts may be missed. If you are only posting
once or twice a week then it could be a long time between posts if your fans
miss one or two of them. There are studies that show posting between 3-5 times
a day can be good amount for Pages (make sure you are varying your posts and
also watch your statistics to see what works best for your community). You can
decide that you might take the weekend off but also realize that the weekend is
when many people are on Facebook.
•
Have a call to action. Tell people to click the Like or comment on the post. Have
them watch your video or go to your website or Like your cover.
•
Don’t oversell or undersell. No one likes a never-ending sales pitch. By the same
token, make sure you do highlight your books from time-to-time! Use the 80-20
rule for content/connection posts vs. sales messages. So if you decide to post
five times a week, one of the posts should be a sales message and four posts
will be other helpful or fun content for your community. If you have a blog
outside FB, you'll want to use NetworkedBlogs to send it outside your regular
viewing area. Your blog will automatically post on your author page to create
interesting content. You can also sync your Twitter account to interact with FB
(both incoming Tweets and your posts can be set to go out to your Twitter
account.)
•
Make it fun. Facebook is a social community. People are there to have fun. This
is a place where you can let your hair down a little. Stay true to your brand
but think of ways to entertain your audience.
These things are a good place
to start but do what works for you and do what you have time to do. If you
spend more time on FB than writing, you have a problem. Just remember, there is
no one “right” way to do everything on Facebook.
As I said, have fun and make
sure you watch the amount of time on Farmville!
About Lynda:
In her family of Kentucky 'ridge runners', oral tales were a
tradition that even children participated in. She spent many nights with her
brother, cousins and friends telling tall tales to excite the imagination. Now
she creates award winning science fantasy romance filled with despair, hope,
love and courage
Where to find Lynda on the web:
Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lynda-K-Scott/201599553208653
Book Blurbs
Magical Mayhem is the first of many anthologies to
come from new tween/teen publisher Ambush Books. This anthology truly has
something for everyone featuring short tales that will twist your brain and
wrap around your soul. "Heart of A Dragon" a heart-warming YA adventure
by Lynda K. Scott. Magical Mayhem is the perfect bedtime companion for a cold
autumn’s night.
Heartstone - Eric d'Ebrur is out of time. He must
find the legendary Heartstone and fulfill the ancient Gar'Ja bond he shares
with the Stonebearer. But when he finds her, he discovers that love can be more
dangerous than the Gawan threat. Eric can defeat the mind-controlling Gawan but
will it cost him the woman he loves? After terrifying episodes of
hypersensitivity, Keriam Norton thinks she's losing her mind. When handsome
shapeshifter Eric d'Ebrur saves her from the monstrous Gawan, she's sure of it.
But insane or not, she'll find the Heartstone and, if she's lucky, a love to
last a lifetime.
Altered Destiny - Stranded on an alternate Earth,
architect and Jill-of-all-trades, Liane Gautier-MacGregor must find her way
back to her homeworld before she's enslaved...or falls in love with a man who
is the exact duplicate of her ex-husband. Devyn MacGregor's alter ego as the
Reiver Lord is the only way he can fight the Qui'arel and their nefarious Bride
Bounty, a tax paid with human females...until he meets the oddly familiar woman
who claims he is her husband. And who sets in motion the rebellion that will
either free his countrymen or destroy them.
Great Escapes: Valentine's Day - The heartbroken and lovelorn come to
Great Escapes B&B in search of a relaxing getaway, only to embark on a
weekend of sexual self-discovery, courtesy of the inn's resident ghosts, who
bring to life each guest's deepest desires. In Great Escapes: Valentine's Day,
Rose's best friend gives her a weekend stay, where an invisible lover helps her
to rediscover her sexuality. But will she open her eyes enough to see who is
right next door?
Posts
