Editor's Note: This is a guest post by Gail Martin. Please read more about Gail in the bio footer.
Today’s authors realize that whether they are self-published or traditionally published, the responsibility for promoting a new book rests primarily with the author. Social media has made it much easier for authors to reach a global audience, build reader loyalty, and gain exposure through online reviews and virtual tours.
Most writers understand how essential a web page is for the business of writing. But the web page is only the beginning of the ongoing conversation with readers, reporters and reviewers. Increasingly, the public expects to be able to contact authors and enter a dialogue. Social media helps to make that both manageable and fun.
Reach out to Readers with Social Media
Since all but a handful of star-authors fund their own book tours, most authors can only travel within a fairly limited radius. But with social media, authors can reach out to interested readers all over the world. Few, if any, books are truly suited for everyone, so social media enables authors to connect with people who are particularly interested in the specific topic of the book through blogs, forums, and Ning sites dedicated to subjects and genres.
For example, if you write science fiction, your odds of encountering likely readers for your books on a sci-fi blog are much higher than by holding a signing in the average bookstore on an average day. Social media enables authors to spend their time more effectively promoting their books to a world-wide niche market.
Social Media Helps Reach out to Targeted Audience
Blogs, Twitter, Facebook and specialty sites like GoodReads and Shelfari give authors the equivalent of a 24/7 book signing event. On these social media platforms, readers and authors can meet, have discussions, provide feedback and build the kind of long-standing relationships that lead to deeper satisfaction for readers and ongoing sales for authors.
Authors can also share book excerpts, promote upcoming signings and events, and encourage readers to call in when the author is being interviewed on radio or podcasts. Most subjects and genres have specialized social media membership sites, so it’s easier than ever before to find the people most interested in you and your book. Building relationships with readers also helps to assure that those customers will remember you when your next book comes out.
Check out Online Review Sites
While newspapers have been cutting back on lifestyle coverage, the Internet has exploded with book-related review sites and blogs. Don’t dismiss these citizen-journalist sites because they’re not the New York Times. Some sites have tens of thousands of readers, and even smaller sites have a loyal audience that is likely to seriously consider books referred to them by a trusted source—the blogger/reviewer.
You’ll also find that the online review sites tend to be more open to authors than the famous newspapers and magazines, resulting in more reviews of your books appearing in more places—and every one increases the Google search results for your title. These same sites are often very open to hosting Q&A sessions with authors, having authors provide guest blogs, excerpts or articles.
Reach out to six to twelve sites that have been receptive to your work, and create a virtual tour over a period of a week where you provide unique content to each participating blog scheduled for a certain time/day. A virtual tour can take you around the world without ever leaving your desk!
Harness the power of social media to help your book reach its intended readers, and use social media’s unique capabilities to get your book the visibility it deserves.
More from Julie McElroy
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Well written
This is a very resourceful article. Helps a lot for all the budding authors
md muddassir shah recently posted..TOY STORY-3
Thanks for the comment!
Social medias are very popular now even on Internet marketing. I’ve used a lot of tools and this social media sites are one the great tools to bring more traffic to your site.
Social Media is a great tool! Thanks for the comment!
I appreciate this article very much! Today I received and e-mail from a colleague on the launch of his book.
He is off to a great start with his promotion, yet when I found him on Twitter I could see that he missed the boat with social media…..and it’s such a shame because he wrote a great book. People will benefit from it…I can’t help but wonder how many more he could have reached….perhaps this will change with time.
I’m sure like most of us, he simply didn’t know what he didn’t know and I can certainly learn from his lessons. Thanks again for sharing.
Brenda Griffin recently posted..Brenda Meets A Business Mentor – a Wise and Trusted Teacher
Yes social media can offer great promotion opportunities!! He still has the chance though! Thanks for the comment.
Social media is not only for entertainment but also for business purposes. I am a wedding planner and I own a small boutique. As I started my business two years ago, I keep on promoting my sites through the internet and I can really say that social media played a big role in the success of by little business.
Absolutely is a integral key in business marketing! Congrats on having success with social media. Thanks for your comment.
I really appreciate and learned fro your ideas. Social Media is really a very effective tool on expressing new ideas or feelings. It is also used as marketing tool by our fellow authors and bloggers. It could greatly give you to gain more traffic. Thank you for this very realistic post.
Thank you for your comment. Yes, social media is a great marketing tool!
I do agree with your idea..Even lawyers like use social media to interact with my clients. There are many good reasons why lawyers and law firms should be using social media marketing. It is inexpensive. It adds to your client list. It drives traffic to your website and it is an ideal way to brand your practice and interact with prospective clients. I really like your article for authors who need motivation for social media marketing.
I also agree with your idea..As an author also I do believe that one need not post status updates with regular precision, but using these profiles to inform readers of new releases, book signings, and writing updates is a good way to establish relationships with people who buy your books, and in turn recommend your works to friends. Because Twitter and Facebook can be integrated to work together, you only have to update one to see changes in both. Thanks for the very good post.
Social media is a great way to get the word out out on new books and other updates as an author. Thank you for the comment!
Reaching out to people through Social Media is the best way ever. It is indeed the greatest opportunity for Author to catch their target. The effect totally depends on what type of social media an author will use. The presentation should be good as well. I do believe that even how great the type of social media you will use if the whole point of your content is pointless, reaching out and catching some audiences with never be at hand. but over all I love your post.
I really love to read good books. It is important for me that every book that I read it should have at least 5 reviews from other people who had already read it. After I read 5 reviews or more that is the time I can decide whether a book is good or bad. Also, it depends on how the author will promote it online. I admit I rely on Internet for almost everything that I want to know. I already find some great books through Internet. Social media can indeed help them promote their books.
I also look at book reviews a lot – I usually go to Amazon since this is where I buy most of my books! Thanks for the comment!
Social Media is the best avenue of marketing ever evolved. It is the easiest and fastest way to inform prospect buyers, viewers, and etc. And it will be better if the social media being used like the website is in good maintenance so that those people who wish to access it, will find it accessible. With the evolving power of technology, almost everything is just a click away.