Frances Caballo's Blog: 10 Twitter Tips Writers Need to Know, page 46
August 12, 2016
Indie Author Weekly Roundup August 12, 2016
I’m away this week and spending time on the Monterey Peninsula. While I don’t have specific posts to suggest, you’ll always find outstanding information on the following blogs:
TheBookDesigner.com Joel Friedlander
TheCreativePenn.com by Joanna Penn
Louise Myers – Visual Social Media
About the Author: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference and a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com and blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks. She’s written several books including The Author’s Guide to Goodreads, and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writer conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Ask Frances to prepare a social media audit for you.
Practical Tips for Marketing Your Books on the Social Web
You’ll find cheat sheets and my new four-step strategy to controlling your time on social media in my newest book: Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. In eleven chapters, you’ll:
understand the new formula for saving time
learn how to become a more effective and efficient marketer
find cheat sheets for vocabulary and hashtags
learn about the apps that will best help you save time while using social media.
So start learning how to save time online.
“… 80% or more of the book would be a superior introduction to savvy social media usage for most professionals, even those beyond the writing, or even content-creation, fields.” ~~ Julia A. Bestry
The post Indie Author Weekly Roundup August 12, 2016 appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
August 8, 2016
Have You Seen These Social Media Tweaks?
Have you noticed all the changes happening on social media? Facebook is making most of the tweaks, but I’ve seen modifications in other places as well.
Today I thought I’d share a few items I’ve noticed that may convince you to use Pinterest, buy a Facebook ad, or just take note of what you can do these days on different platforms.
Let’s get started with my miscellaneous observations.
Facebook Advertising
There’s no doubt in my mind that when done correctly, Facebook advertising works. Some people catch onto it right away, others spend too much money, and then there’s me: I just don’t use it often enough.
When I launched my book, The Author’s Guide to Goodreads, on May 19th I thought I’d support the launch with a Facebook ad. Guess what? It worked.
Sold copies jumped to about 30 on launch day when the ad started and bottomed out at about two to three copies a day once the ad came to an end. What does this mean for you? Take advantage of Kindle Select and support those promotions with advertising as well as periodically advertising the book. Video ads work especially well.
Facebook Tosses Out the 20 Percent Rule
If you’ve purchased ads in the past to promote your book, you’ll be thrilled to know that Facebook has dumped its 20% rule.
The rule once required that the images in your text couldn’t be composed of more than 20% text. Supposedly, books were exempt from this rule but I found Facebook’s treatment of text from books quite inconsistent.
Now the 20% rule is gone. This is great news for indie authors.
Facebook Video
If you want to boost engagement on Facebook and better penetrate your fans’ and friends’ news feeds, invest time in learning how to use video. Be sure to make one of two types of videos: inspirational or instructional.
And don’t upload your videos to YouTube first and then share the link to Facebook. That strategy no longer fares well with Facebook’s algorithm. Native video is what Facebook supports and promotes better.
Andrea Vahl, in a workshop last week, shared her tips for better videos:
Use good lighting
Use a tripod and mic
Edit the video if it’s not live
Use closed captioning (many people now watch videos with the sound off)
Entertain, educate and empower your fans
Drive Traffic with Pinterest
I can never stress enough the power of Pinterest in driving traffic to your landing pages. In my case, Pinterest is the No. 3 traffic referral source for my site, right after Twitter (No. 1 spot) and Facebook (No. 2 spot).
Use Pinterest to drive traffic to your landing pages Click To Tweet
Imagine my surprise and delight when I opened my email one morning and found a Google Alert for a pinned image. Yes, I’d optimized the image for SEO, pinned it from my blog to a pinboard and, lo and behold, Google picked it up.
Here’s the Google Alert I received:
Here’s the image, an Infographic that I created for my blog:
When you write your blog posts, I encourage you to create images and save them from your blog to a designated board for your blog on Pinterest.
Do you save images from your blog to Pinterest? Click To Tweet
While we’re discussing Pinterest, have you noticed that your profile received an upgrade? Your avatar is no longer a tiny image that needs a microscope to view fully.
And Pinterest no longer uses the terms pin or repin. Now you save images to your pinboards.
You can also send an image to a colleague or friend. If you save the image from your website, Like is replaced with Edit so you can change any wording or classification you’d like, and even assign the image to a different board.
Amazon Supports My Launch
This may not be new to you, but it was for me. When I launched my Goodreads ebook, Amazon contacted me, suggesting that I write a note to my followers on Amazon. So I did. Cool, eh?
Here’s the invitation from Amazon:
And here’s my message:
LinkedIn Publishing Platform
Are you adding your blog posts to LinkedIn’s publishing platform? If you aren’t, you’re missing out on opportunities to extend your brand (yeah, there’s that word again) and breathe new life into an older post.
Thumbnails of blog posts added to LinkedIn appear on your profile, beneath your summary.
You can access the publishing platform from here (above) or navigate to your Home page (the news feed) and tap or click on Write an Article.
LinkedIn recently sent me some graphics about my audience’s demographic information. It pays off to take the extra step to cut and paste your post on LinkedIn’s platform a week or two after it’s spent time on your self-hosted blog. It’s amazing how fast you can grow a dedicated audience.
Changes at Twitter
When 2017 rolls around, you’ll no longer need to add a period in front of a username at the start of a tweet for the tweet to be viewed widely.
Confused?
Historically, if you wanted to start a tweet with a username, say @CaballoFrances, only you and I would see the tweet unless you added a period, such as .@CaballoFrances. By January 2017, this rule will disappear.
Also, tweets with images are limited to 114 characters. That character limit will also disappear come January. These are both welcome changes, don’t you agree?
What do you think of recent changes to Twitter? Click To Tweet
Reorder Tweets in Your Newsfeed
This isn’t new but if you recall, back in February 2016, Twitter introduced an algorithm to its news feed to resemble what Facebook uses.
Twitter aficionados screamed that the end was near for Twitter.
Guess what? The clamor has died down, and everyone seems to have adjusted. If you recall, if you had wanted to keep your news feed free of any algorithmic tweaks, you didn’t need to do anything. However, if you wanted to turn on the change to see what it might be like, all you had to do was open your settings and choose “Show me the best tweets first.” It was that simple.
Well, how’s it going for you?
About the Author: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference and a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com and blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks. She’s written several books including The Author’s Guide to Goodreads, and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writer conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Ask Frances to prepare a social media audit for you.
Practical Tips for Marketing Your Books on the Social Web
You’ll find cheat sheets and my new four-step strategy to controlling your time on social media in my newest book: Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. In eleven chapters, you’ll:
understand the new formula for saving time
learn how to become a more effective and efficient marketer
find cheat sheets for vocabulary and hashtags
learn about the apps that will best help you save time while using social media.
So start learning how to save time online.
“… 80% or more of the book would be a superior introduction to savvy social media usage for most professionals, even those beyond the writing, or even content-creation, fields.” ~~ Julia A. Bestry
The post Have You Seen These Social Media Tweaks? appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
August 5, 2016
Indie Author Weekly Roundup August 5, 2016
There’s a theme to this week’s Indie Author Weekly Roundup: book launches and book marketing. It’s an apt theme since knowing how to market your books is likely what you think most about, right? I hope you enjoy this week’s selection of posts on these two topics.
Using Fiverr for Affordable Book Covers – from BookWorks and by Randy Staples: “Ever wondered about Fiverr? A few weeks ago I needed a strong, professionally-designed cover for a forthcoming book, and like many indie authors I didn’t have a lot of money to spend on it. How could I get a good cover from a graphic designer on a crimped budget?”
11 Ways to Overcome Marketing Dread from Digital Book World: “I was with a group of authors the other day when the conversation took a turn toward marketing. The group was unanimous in the declaration that they loved to write but loathed to market their work. Whether they were self-published or worked with a more traditional publishing house, whether they sold most of their titles in digital or print format, they all said the same thing: they were aware that they should participate in marketing their own books but dreaded the chore.”
How to build an audience from scratch from Jean dePaula of Mixtus Media: “If you need to build an audience from scratch, or if you need to breathe new life into you current audience, here’s the process that you should follow. I’ve broken them down into three sections: Prep, Plan, and Build.”
How do you market your books? Prep, Plan and Build @CaballoFrancesClick To Tweet
10 Steps to a Successful Book Launch from Jenny Hansen: “Launching a book—especially a debut—is an utter whirlwind of excitement, sobering facts, and unknowns. (We won’t even touch upon the extreme terror that hits from time to time.) But within this chaos, there are ways to tackle it all and stay sane. Let’s take a look at a few ways I manage a launch.”
Marketing a New Book: 6 Tactics Authors & Publishers Love by Diana Urban: “When launching a new book, there’s a gamut of marketing activities authors and publishers can use to create buzz and generate sales. Despite that huge range of tactics, there are a handful of specific marketing activities that we hear authors and publishers buzzing about most. This post reviews those tactics, with examples from authors and publishers.”
Create buzz & generate sales with this week's indie roundup Click To Tweet
Quote of the Week
About the Author: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference and a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com and blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks. She’s written several books including The Author’s Guide to Goodreads, and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writer conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Ask Frances to prepare a social media audit for you.
Practical Tips for Marketing Your Books on the Social Web
You’ll find cheat sheets and my new four-step strategy to controlling your time on social media in my newest book: Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. In eleven chapters, you’ll:
understand the new formula for saving time
learn how to become a more effective and efficient marketer
find cheat sheets for vocabulary and hashtags
learn about the apps that will best help you save time while using social media.
So start learning how to save time online.
“… 80% or more of the book would be a superior introduction to savvy social media usage for most professionals, even those beyond the writing, or even content-creation, fields.” ~~ Julia A. Bestry
The post Indie Author Weekly Roundup August 5, 2016 appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
August 1, 2016
Do Authors Need a Facebook Page?
In this post, I tackle the question of do authors need a Facebook page? While it’s not an easy question to answer, there are some pros and cons to consider.
Do Authors Need a Facebook page?
Before I answer that question, let me distinguish a Facebook profile from a Facebook page.
On a Facebook profile, you have friends who share memes and information about their children, anniversaries, marathons, and other life events. And you can send and receive friend requests to and from anyone who hasn’t banned you.
A Facebook page is for authors, musicians, nonprofits, large brands and enterprises, and small businesses. You’ll have fans instead of friends, and people and other pages will Like your page instead of sending you friend requests.
5 Reasons for Starting a Facebook Page
Here are some reasons why an author might need a Facebook page:
Facebook technically doesn’t allow the owners of Facebook profiles to market products and services. Profiles are a means to exchange news with your friends and family members.
If you want to purchase advertising to promote your books, services, and other products, you’ll need a page. You can’t buy advertising with a profile.
A Facebook author page gives you the opportunity to focus on your readers, engage with your readers, and get to know your readers.
Your friends might not want to hear about your books, services, blog posts, or other writing-related memes and status updates. Your readers will enjoy reading these items.
Pages have access to Insights, Facebook’s free analytics that can help direct the future success of your posts while providing valuable information about your fans’ demographics and best times to post.
On a Facebook page you can focus on your readers Click To Tweet
One Big Reason for Not Starting a Facebook Author Page
Yep, here’s an important reason why Facebook pages may no longer be viable for indie authors:
Facebook’s latest algorithm tweaks make it impossible for a typical indie author to have a successful Facebook page. Why: because post penetration sucks now. There’s no other way to put it.
You see, Facebook surveyed its users before instituting the latest changes to its algorithm, and they discovered that most users aren’t so interested in hearing from business pages after all. They actually prefer to hear from their friends, family members, and colleagues. So if you want to penetrate your readers’ news feeds with your pithy or fun posts, you’re going to need to pay the piper, aka Facebook.
So if you want to penetrate your fans’ news feeds, count on spending quite a bit of money on Facebook advertising.
What Do Other Experts Say?
Industry experts are mixed in their opinions about Facebook pages. Jane Friedman doesn’t have one. Nathan Bransford believes that every author should have a Facebook page.
In a blog post, Nathan listed these advantages to Facebook pages:
It allows you to maintain separate presences. If you want to avoid spamming your friends with all your book stuff or your blog, it can be helpful to have a place that’s just book stuff and save your other personal posts for your personal profile.
Like buttons are easier to stick on your website than Subscribe buttons.
Pages have access to analytics that profiles don’t.
If your Facebook presence is going to be maintained by more than one person, pages are way easier to manage that.
In 2013, Jane Friedman wrote a post extolling the virtues of a Facebook profile over a page to build a platform. Her reasons were these:
A profile is more personal.
Posts are more visible.
It’s simpler.
You can have unlimited followers while keepings aspects of your profile private.
You can publicize and embed your public profile content on a website or blog.
Facebook profiles are more personal than pages Click To Tweet
However, in 2016 Jane wrote a new post on this topic titled The Pros and Cons of Using a Facebook Profile But Not an Official Page. In this post, she weighed the pros and cons of using a profile professionally.
One huge advantage, she said, was you only have to manage one Facebook account. But a disadvantage is missing out on some features that a business page offers. I recommend that you read her post because a summary of it just can’t do it justice.
Facebook Pages and SEO: Or, Boy Did I Receive Bad Advice!
Then there are those authors who mistakenly believe SEO experts who tell them that they need a Facebook page for every book they write.
I fell for this line of reasoning in 2012 when I set up a product Facebook page for my first book. I’ve since converted that Facebook account to an author page since I always write books about social media for authors. (I have no idea what I’ll do when I finish my novel, but that’s so far in the future that I’m not thinking about it yet. Well, I’ve thought about it but who knows what Facebook will be like then?)
Getting back to the topic at hand … Multiple Facebook pages divide your audience and cause you to spend too much time managing the pages instead of your career.
Let’s examine this concept more closely. If you’re a romance author, and you only write romance novels, you need only one Facebook page, if any at all.
If you are a book coach offering a variety of coaching programs, you need only one Facebook page.
Let’s say that you wrote a young adult novel, and then you wrote a memoir about battling cancer. Do you need two Facebook pages? You might. However, I think it’s fine for your audience to learn that you write in two genres even if the audiences are different.
This cross-pollination could work in your favor. Someone who only knows you as a memoirist might discover your YA books on your Facebook page, and vice versa.
There’s another reason. YA readers can be diverse. There are plenty of (ahem) older librarians and teachers who like to read this genre. And some parents like to read YA books to keep up with what their kids are diving into.
Facebook Groups Instead of Facebook Pages
But then again, some authors are shying away from Facebook pages altogether and starting groups for their readers. I love this idea. So if you don’t want a Facebook page, but you do want deeper interactions with your readers on Facebook, opt instead for a Facebook group.
Consider starting a Facebook group instead of a pageClick To Tweet
To create a Facebook group, follow these steps:
Go to your “home page” (aka news feed) on Facebook.
Then go to the Groups section on the gray, left-hand menu & find “+ Create Group.”
Facebook will prompt you to name your group, add people, and decide whether the group will be closed or open.
Click Create.
Choose an Icon. …
Complete “About” Section.
New: Convert Your Facebook Profile into a Page
A fairly new feature from Facebook is the ability to convert a Facebook profile into a Facebook page. Here’s how you can do it:
Go to Create a Facebook Page Based on Your Profile by navigating to this link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/create/migrate.
Then, click Get Started and follow the on-screen instructions.
Note:
You can only convert your profile to a Page once.
You’ll still have a personal account as well as a Page once the conversion is completed.
The tools to help you move info from your profile to your Page will only be available for 14 days.
Posts from your profile won’t carry over to your new page.
Final Word
If you want to use Facebook to communicate with your readers, give them a chance to express their loyalty, and market your books and run contests, you need a Facebook page. But you don’t need one to engage with your readers, use Facebook Live, or sell books through content marketing and engaging with your following.
About the Author: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference and a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com and blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks. She’s written several books including The Author’s Guide to Goodreads, and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writer conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Ask Frances to prepare a social media audit for you.
Practical Tips for Marketing Your Books on the Social Web
Liked the above cheat sheet? You’ll find more cheat sheets and my new four-step strategy to controlling your time on social media in my newest book: Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. In eleven chapters, you’ll:
understand the new formula for saving time
learn how to become a more effective and efficient marketer
find cheat sheets for vocabulary and hashtags
learn about the apps that will best help you save time while using social media.
So start learning how to save time online.
“… 80% or more of the book would be a superior introduction to savvy social media usage for most professionals, even those beyond the writing, or even content-creation, fields.” ~~ Julia A. Bestry
The post Do Authors Need a Facebook Page? appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
July 29, 2016
Indie Author Weekly Roundup July 29, 2016
As an indie author, how do you succeed in today’s publishing landscape? I hope today’s roundup will help to provide some of the answers you need. You’ll find posts by Elizabeth S. Spann, Carla King, Jane Friedman, and a post I wrote for Joel Friedlander. When you’re not writing and working on your marketing, I hope you take time to enjoy the sounds and beauty of a beach near you.
Indie Author Roundup
Distributing Free Books by Elizabeth S. Craig: “It used to annoy me when I’d read about how important it was to offer a free book to readers for newsletter signups or as rewards for newsletter subscribers. The advice was all well and good, but it rarely got into the nitty-gritty of it. How exactly were we supposed to give away these freebies? Surely I wasn’t expected to monitor signups and send out individual emails to subscribers?”
Do you give away free books to entice email signups? Click To Tweet
Note: I use BookFunnel to distribute free copies of my books but in this post Elizabeth discusses syncing Instafreebie with MailChimp. If you distribute ebook advance review copies to readers, this is a post you need to read.
Blasty, Piracy & Phishing on the Wild, Wild, Web by Carla King via BookWorks: “Blasty is an online tool that monitors Google for illegal copies of your content and allows you to remove them with one click. The product is in beta and you can get free access now. I signed for the early beta of the service in 2015 and then promptly forgot about it. Then, a few weeks ago, Blasty’s system alerted me by email that several of my books were being advertised as free downloads at a number of sites.”
Have you signed up for Blasty to monitor wrongful giveaways of your books? Click To Tweet
Note: On the basis of this post, I’ve signed up for Blasty and I recommend that you do to. I’ve seen my first book publicized for free on a phishing site and I plan to report it to Google.
Maverick women writers are upending the book industry and selling millions in the process from Quartz: “Romance novels, home of heavy lids, hot breaths, and grabbed wrists, have long been the embarrassing secret money-maker of the book industry. But today, a renegade generation of self-published authors like H.M. Ward are redefining the romance novel, adapting to digital in a way that has long-lasting lessons for the book industry.”
Note: Be sure to check out the graph on U.S. fiction book sales by genre.
A Definition of Author Platform by Jane Friedman: “Author platform is one of the most difficult concepts to explain, partly because everyone defines it a little differently. But by far the easiest explanation is: an ability to sell books because of who you are or who you can reach.”
Note: In this post, Jane gives a definitive definition of what an author platform is.
New Post I Wrote for Joel Friedlander’s Blog this Week
Reader Audiences and Analytics: What Do They Really Reveal?: “When I ask authors whether they know who their audience is, I’m surprised when some of them reply, “everyone should read my book” or “everyone will like my book.” Well, not exactly. If you write grammar manuals or cookbooks, you may be under the false impression that everyone needs your book. But everyone won’t buy it or even think that a grammar reference, dystopian novel, or low-fat cookbook would be worth its purchase price.”
The Man Booker Prize Longlist Revealed this Week
The Man Booker Prize longlist of 13 novels for 2016 was announced this week. Four debut novels made the list and publishers large and small are represented this year, including five books from independent publishing companies.
About the Author: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference and a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com and blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks. She’s written several books including The Author’s Guide to Goodreads, and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writer conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Ask Frances to prepare a social media audit for you.
Practical Tips for Marketing Your Books on the Social Web
You’ll find cheat sheets and my new four-step strategy to controlling your time on social media in my newest book: Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. In eleven chapters, you’ll:
understand the new formula for saving time
learn how to become a more effective and efficient marketer
find cheat sheets for vocabulary and hashtags
learn about the apps that will best help you save time while using social media.
So start learning how to save time online.
“… 80% or more of the book would be a superior introduction to savvy social media usage for most professionals, even those beyond the writing, or even content-creation, fields.” ~~ Julia A. Bestry
The post Indie Author Weekly Roundup July 29, 2016 appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
July 25, 2016
Not Sure of the Lingo? 59 Social Media Words to Learn
No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world. Robin Williams
You can’t learn to speak Spanish if you don’t commit to memory vocabulary lists. The task of memorizing the meanings of “el pan” (bread) and “las galletas” (cookies) may be boring, but the wok it takes to learn the vocabulary will be worth it when you visit Spain, step into a bakery, and know how to order fresh bread or cookies.
Likewise, if you want to ask questions about social media during a webinar or further your knowledge of social media by reading blog posts, it helps to understand the vernacular of the speaker or blogger. In other words, learn the vocabulary so you can learn more about more intelligently and efficiently use social media.
As with any new language — and learning social media is much like learning a new language — you’ll never be understood if you don’t first master the lexicon.
Social Media Words for Indie Authors
@Reply – When you reply to a tweet, your reply will appear on the recipient’s Notifications tab.
.@Reply – When a period is added before another user’s handle, the tweet will appear on both the sender’s (the person sending the tweet) and the recipient’s profiles, as well as followers of those accounts.
Blocking – You can block users whose tweets you find offensive, whose tweets are purely spam, or whose tweets are bothersome. When you block another user on Twitter, that user can no longer follow you and you can’t follow that user.
Direct Message, aka “DM” – A message that Twitter users can send each other that aren’t visible on your timelines. Too often, direct messages are used to spam another user (“See my website/blog.” “Download my short stories.”). Don’t automate direct messages, and don’t use them to promote your products or services. You’ll find direct messages on the Messages tab.
Favorite – This is a feature on Twitter that allows you to mark a tweet as one you like. Once a tweet is identified as a “Fave,” Twitter will automatically pin the message to your account for reference later. Faves are denoted by a heart.
Follow – To agree to receive tweets from another Twitter user.
Followers – Users who receive your tweets.
Handle – On Twitter, this is another word for username. It’s best to keep your handle to fewer than twelve characters.
Hashtag – When a word is preceded by the number sign (#), it is called a hashtag. Hashtags are hyperlinked, added to tweets, and helpful in conducting searches on Twitter. Hashtags are also used in the same manner on Facebook, Google+, and Instagram.
Mention/Retweet or RT – Repeating information in another user’s tweet and crediting the original author.
Mute – Similar to blocking; however, you will still continue to follow a user, but will no longer see his or her tweets.
Retweet – To share a tweet someone else wrote. Use the RT followed by the originator’s username to credit that person with generating the tweet.
Tagging – You can tag up to 10 followers. If you don’t want to be tagged, go to your security and privacy settings tab. To remove a tag, click the ellipsis beneath the tweet in question, and select Remove tag from photo.
Timeline – The feed of incoming tweets from people you follow.
Tweeps – This term is used to describe friends or followers with whom you are in frequent contact.
Tweet – A post that a Twitter user writes that adheres to the 140-character limit.
Twitter Chat – An active discussion occurring on Twitter at a specific time. As long as you know the hashtag and time of the Twitter chat, you can join it.
Twitterati – Similar to glitterati, the Twitterati are the stars of Twitter.
Twitterer/Tweeter – Someone who uses Twitter.
Twittosphere – This term refers to the collective group of people who tweet.
Twoosh – A tweet that is exactly 140 characters.
Unfollow – You have the option to no longer receive—unfollow—tweets a specific follower sends you.
Username – Also known as a handle on Twitter. The username will publicly identify you on Twitter.
Via – Most people use this term instead of RT (retweet.) Then again, some users don’t use either and just include the author of the original tweet or post.
Facebook Live – You can stream live broadcasts with this feature, interact with readers, and even answer their questions in real time.
Facebook Lists – Categories of Facebook friends and pages that can be used to target messaging on Facebook profiles or keep track of pages you follow.
Facebook Tabs – Specially designed web pages often used with a call to action. Facebook tabs have their own URLs or web addresses.
Insights – A free application for Facebook fan pages that provides metrics, trends, user growth, and demographics.
Instant articles – You can use this feature to add your blog posts so they can have a further reach (similar to LinkedIn’s publishing platform). Facebook claims that Instant Articles receive 20% clicks that content in your news feed.
Messenger – This feature enables you to have private discussions with friends, colleagues, and readers. It’s similar to text messaging.
Timeline –The timeline is where users post their status updates. You can allow others to post on your timeline, or you can adjust your privacy settings so that other users aren’t allowed to add posts and images directly to your timeline.
Tagging – When you identify a reader in an image or comment, and the name turns blue (becomes hyperlinked), you’ll know that you have successfully tagged that individual. That person will receive notification that he or she has been tagged. Anyone can tag you on Facebook. If a user who tagged you isn’t a friend, the post or image may appear in your Timeline review and may appear in news feeds. You’ll find Timeline review in your settings. Go to Settings, then click Timeline and Tagging. Once here, you can review posts that friends tag you in before they appear on your Timeline.
Connection – Connections on LinkedIn are similar to Twitter users who mutually follow each other; when you accept a connection, you agree to accept their updates in your news feed, which is located on the Home page.
Group – Groups on LinkedIn provide opportunities to further your education— and to share your expertise—in writing and publishing, grammar, or whatever your specialty or niche might be.
LinkedIn First-Degree Connections – LinkedIn users with whom you’ve worked or shared information within one of LinkedIn’s groups, or colleagues whose email addresses you have.
LinkedIn Second-Degree Connections – LinkedIn users who are connected to your first-degree connections, but aren’t directly connected to you yet.
LinkedIn Third-Degree Connections – People who are connected to your second-degree connections. You will be unable to connect with this category of user on your own; you’ll need to ask another connection to introduce you to third-degree connections.
Publishing Platform – When you add blog posts to LinkedIn’s publishing platform, you add new life to your self-hosted blog. Links to blog posts you add on LinkedIn will appear on your profile page.
Browser Button – Navigate to https://help.pinterest.com/en/articles/add-pinterest-browser-button#Web to add the Browser Button to your browser so that you can add pins to your pinboards directly from your website or elsewhere on the Internet.
Pinboard – On Pinterest, a collection of related images on a virtual bulletin board.
Save – The act of adding an image to a pinboard. Formerly, the term used was Pin and Repin.
Stream — A list of images posted by your followers. On Twitter and Facebook the “stream” is called the Home tab or news feed.
Follower – Similar to Twitter, you can elect to follow other users.
Hashtag – Hashtags here are identical to the hashtags used on Twitter. A popular hashtag on Instagram is for poets: #Instapoets. Another popular hashtag is #tbt (Throwback Thursday) when users post pictures of themselves from an earlier era. #tbt is similar to #FlashbackFriday. If you like to take images of food, #foodporn is a popular hashtag.
Miscellaneous
Application – Online software that enables users to complete specific tasks. In essence, all social media networks are applications, as are the scheduling tools that allow users to schedule their tweets and other updates for the day.
Channels – This is an interchangeable word for a network, as in social media network or social media channel.
Keywords – A component of search engine optimization (SEO). Simply put, keywords are the terms someone would type into a Google (or Firefox or Safari) search bar to find your book, services they want, or you.
Lists – On Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, lists are used to group certain connections together.
News Feed – A news feed is an aggregation of social media posts your fans, connections, friends, and followers send throughout the day. Every social media network calls it something different. On Facebook and LinkedIn, it’s referred to as the Home page, and on Twitter it’s called the Timeline. Visit your news feeds daily to interact with your readers.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – The process that boosts visibility of your website organically. In other words, the process doesn’t include paid advertising.
Social Media Dashboard – An application, such as Hootsuite, that enables users to read in one spot incoming updates, tweets, and posts from their social media networks. Dashboards can also be used to schedule tweets and other updates.
About the Author: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference and a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com and blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks. She’s written several books including The Author’s Guide to Goodreads, and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writer conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Ask Frances to prepare a social media audit for you.
Practical Tips for Marketing Your Books on the Social Web
Liked the above cheat sheet? You’ll find more cheat sheets and my new four-step strategy to controlling your time on social media in my newest book: Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. In eleven chapters, you’ll:
understand the new formula for saving time
learn how to become a more effective and efficient marketer
find cheat sheets for vocabulary and hashtags
learn about the apps that will best help you save time while using social media.
So start learning how to save time online.
“… 80% or more of the book would be a superior introduction to savvy social media usage for most professionals, even those beyond the writing, or even content-creation, fields.” ~~ Julia A. Bestry
The post Not Sure of the Lingo? 59 Social Media Words to Learn appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
July 22, 2016
Indie Author Weekly Roundup July 22, 2016
As an Indie Author how are you spending your summer? Is it a time of year when you go for lighter reads? Do you take advantage of the warm weather and do more of your writing outdoors? I spend more time outdoors but still enjoy curling up on the couch and settling into a good book. However you’re spending your time, enjoy the warm months and let your muse entice you to create, and even expand into new genres or disciplines.
Indie Author Weekly Roundup
This week I consciously limited the Indie Author Weekly Roundup to four posts. I think you’ll learn a lot from the following selection.
If you only read one post, read this one:
Metadata Tools by Elizabeth S. Craig: “When I first heard about metadata, it sounded like the most boring (and confusing) thing I’d ever heard of. I became curious as I continued hearing more and more about it. I attended a couple of talks on metadata at a couple of different conferences. I read slideshows on it from conferences I hadn’t attended.”
Note: I’ve been more serious about metadata of late as well. I took a course by Jane Friedman, offered by Writer’s Digest, and she also discussed metadata. I, too, always thought that metadata was this huge subject that I could never penetrate or understand. Jane made it easy to understand and the posts that Elizabeth mentions here are also helpful.
Do #IndieAuthors need to learn about metadata? Absolutely Click To Tweet
6 Tips For Getting More Traffic on your Author Blog by Anne R. Allen: “You finally did it. You started your author blog. You put up your first post. And the second and third and fourth… And…you’ve got crickets. Nobody’s reading your deathless prose. Sigh. Don’t give in to despair. It takes a while to build a readership. Usually a long while. And please don’t go off and try to follow all those rules for monetized blogs, as I wrote earlier this month. Monetized blogs have a different purpose from author blogs. They are all about the hard sell. An author blog is about making friends. So be yourself and be patient. Plus there are some easy fixes that can bring in more readers.”
Note: This is another wonderful post from Anne R. Allen. My only comment is this one: read it.
50 blog topics for fiction writers from Mixtus Media: “A few weeks ago I had a conversation with a writer who wanted to grow her audience. After chatting a few minutes I asked her if she had a blog. She said, “I’m a fiction writer. Why would I have a blog? What would I even write about?” Ahh, my favorite question disguised as a statement. Yes, fiction writers can have blogs that are full of fantastic information, insight, and interest for their readers. Blogs are a great way to think outside of the box, challenge yourself as a writer and, as an added bonus, engage and grow your audience.”
Note: Authors are also asking me, “What should I blog about?” This list will provide you with plenty of topics. I also wrote a similar post a while back. Here it is: 34 Blogging Topics Just for Writers.
NetGalley Book Review Program: A Case Study via TheBookDesigner.com (Joel Friedlander) and by David Kudler: “Most publishers (large and small) struggle with making their titles visible. In the trackless jungle that is the modern book-buying world (the Amazon?), getting your book reviewed is an essential part of helping it find its audience. In the old days, publishers would send review copies to newspapers, magazines, local TV and radio shows, all in the hope of making sure that the book’s target audience had a) heard about it and b) heard good things about it (hopefully). Nowadays, few local papers or shows do book reviews or features. So what’s a publisher to do?”
Note: NetGalley seems like a good service for those authors in popular niches who are willing to wait six months before launching a book. The more feedback you receive for your book pre-publication, the better your book will be.
Get help finding your audience with beta readers Click To Tweet
Quote of the Weeek
About the Author: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference and a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com and blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks. She’s written several books including The Author’s Guide to Goodreads, and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writer conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Ask Frances to prepare a social media audit for you.
Practical Tips for Marketing Your Books on the Social Web
Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day is now available for sale. In eleven chapters, you will:
understand the new formula for saving time
learn how to become a more effective and efficient marketer
find cheat sheets for vocabulary and hashtags
learn about the apps that will best help you save time while using social media.
So start learning how to save time online.
“… 80% or more of the book would be a superior introduction to savvy social media usage for most professionals, even those beyond the writing, or even content-creation, fields.” ~~ Julia A. Bestry
The post Indie Author Weekly Roundup July 22, 2016 appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
July 18, 2016
Facebook, Content Marketing, and Selling Courses: Do you really need them?
The other day I was feeling overwhelmed by email. You know how that feels, right?
You look at your inbox, and there are all these catchy email headlines tempting you to open them, take yet another course, buy yet another product.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t begrudge successful author entrepreneurs or social media experts with enticing offers. I also use email marketing and hawk my books and services from time to time too.
But last week it just seemed like too much. Let me give you some examples of the headlines in my inbox:
50 Ways to Get More Facebook Fans
5 Things You Should Be Doing with Your Content But Aren’t
Why You Need to Sell Courses Starting Now!
This is my response to those headlines.
50 Ways to Get More Facebook Fans
With Facebook’s new algorithm tweaks, which will make it impossible for a typical indie author to have a successful Facebook page, I doubt that there are any ways to get more fans aside from paying beaucoup money for advertising.
Facebook’s reason for tinkering with the algorithm wasn’t nefarious. They surveyed hundreds of thousands of people who said they want to see more content from friends and “Pages they care about and less promotional content.” Facebook went on to say:
We dug further into the data to better understand this feedback. What we discovered is that a lot of the content people see as too promotional is posts from Pages they like, rather than ads. This may seem counterintuitive, but it actually makes sense: News Feed has controls for the number of ads a person sees and for the quality of those ads (based on engagement, hiding ads, etc.), but those same controls haven’t been as closely monitored for promotional Page posts. Now we’re bringing new volume and content controls for promotional posts, so people see more of what they want from Pages.
What does all this mean for you? Well, you can encourage people to like your page by including reminders in your newsletter, at the bottom of your blog posts, and in your email signature, but from years of doing this I’ve got to tell you that the number of people who take the extra step is few.
I have a Facebook Page, and I’m keeping it, but I no longer recommend that indie authors try to start or maintain a Facebook page. This is a radical turnabout for me. (I’ll discuss an alternative for you in an upcoming post.)
My advice: Don't start an author Facebook page Click To Tweet
The bottom line is that if you want a Facebook page (not a profile where you have friends, not fans), buy lots of advertising. That is your true alternative to doing well with your Facebook author page.
5 Things You Should Be Doing with Your Content But Aren’t
This seemingly is a great headline for a blog post. But remember, I was in one of those moods last week. I didn’t want to read that I’m doing something wrong with my content, which, by the way, I work hard on.
I probably would have read a post with this headline: 5 Things You Absolutely Must Do with Your Content. That’s a headline that I would tap to learn more.
The lesson here is to keep your blog post headlines positive and provide the content that your readers crave. You’ll get more readers, like me.
I want to make another point. Content marketing works. We only need to look at successful authors and publishing experts to verify this fact: Joel Friedlander, Joanna Penn, and Jane Friedman, to name just a few.
Content marketing has been the basis of my business. I’ve never purchased a Google Ad and I’ve only bought a small handful of Facebook ads. All of the relationships that I’ve developed online (Jane Friedman, Joanna Penn, Anne R. Allen, and Paula Krapf just to name a few) are a result of content marketing. So don’t ignore this powerful strategy.
Provide the content that your readers craveClick To Tweet
Why You Need to Sell Courses Starting Now!
Confession time: I’m working on a course. Well, I offer a free, email-based course, and I’m slowly working on a course authors like you can purchase.
And I’m slowly making my way into video, too, although none are for public consumption at this time.
What I object to, I guess, is the demand that everyone needs to create and sell courses. Do fiction authors need to sell courses? No. (Caveat: Unless you’re like Joanna Penn or Mark Dawson.) Do nonfiction authors need to sell courses? Some of them probably should but not all of them.
The idea that you need to create and sell your course now and not get left behind is a call to action that is tiring. Don’t you agree? It feeds into the FOMO syndrome (Fear of Missing Out).
Experts use the same reasoning for podcasting, and I mistakenly fell for it. So the lesson here is: Don’t worry about selling courses. If it makes sense for your business, do it. Otherwise, delete the email and move on.
9 Lessons for Moving Forward
So what can you learn from my inbox last week?
Make your blog post headlines encouraging and enticing.
Carefully craft your email headlines.
I know that urgency sells, but sometimes it can be tiring. Use this motivational style sparingly. (I can sense marketers groaning at me.)
Be authentic.
Be respectful of your readers.
Don’t send too many emails.
Make sure your emails contain the content that your readers need and enjoy.
Don’t make your email headlines sound as though the end of the world is near.
When you’re overwhelmed by email, tap the delete icon mercilessly, take a deep breath, and know that tomorrow your inbox will be tamer.
About the Author: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference and a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com and blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks. She’s written several books including The Author’s Guide to Goodreads, and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writer conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Ask Frances to prepare a social media audit for you.
Practical Tips for Marketing Your Books on the Social Web
The post Facebook, Content Marketing, and Selling Courses: Do you really need them? appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
July 15, 2016
Indie Author Weekly Roundup July 15, 2016
Here’s another edition of my Indie Author Weekly Roundup of the week’s best posts. I hope you enjoy them. Meanwhile, I can’t help but mention that I’m thrilled that summer is here. In the summers, there’s time for dancing at outside concerts, doing the cycling I love, and of course, walking in the woods, which I do year-round but it’s fun to hike when it’s sunny. The more time I spend outdoors, the more creative I seem to be. Ideas for future books and blog posts seem to flow from my pen. Do you experience the same thing? Let me know, okay?
Indie Author Weekly Roundup
Social Media Smarty Pants Interviews Frances Caballo about Goodreads: Here are the show notes:
Three smarty pants tips every author needs for Goodreads.
The importance of Goodreads groups and one that authors should get into.
What is Goodreads Deals and why you should consider it.
Why audience is important when it comes to choosing a social media channel.
Facebook ads pros and cons.
Who Frances follows on social media for expert advice.
10 Tricks for Getting Your Book Reviewed by a Book Blogger by Barb Drozdowich from Anne R. Allen’s blog: “So…who are book bloggers anyways? I know that Anne periodically talks about book bloggers on this blog – but many authors that I talk to seem a bit fuzzy on the subject. I’m going to see if I can help you understand who book bloggers are and help you with some tricks to find some powerful ones to promote your books.”
Note: Save this post. It’s a wonderful resource for when you’re ready to contact book bloggers.
Great resource on book bloggers for #indieauthorsClick To Tweet
How To Blog In A Crowded Niche Without Getting Lost In The Noise via Adam Connell: “How do you compete with others in the same niche as you, when it seems like everyone is writing about similar things? If you want to build a strong following of readers and supporters, you’re going to have to cut through the noise of other bloggers.”
Note: Adam Connell is the wizard behind this blog. I’ve read, and Adam can correct me if I’m wrong, that in just four years his blog was competitive with some of the best experts in his field. If you want to learn about blogging, email marketing, WordPress, and more, read his posts. They are informative and easy to follow, even for the novice. This blog is one of my favorites.
Marketing Your (Self-Published) Novel: Five Books Reviewed by Ali Luke: “Here are the five books I’ve been digging into … and what I thought of them.”
Note: If you’d like to supercharge your book marketing, check out the books on Ali’s blog post.
10 Tips For Writers On Using Twitter Effectively from Lorna Sixsmith and by Tara Sparling: “I found twitter to be the most effective social media tool for my crowdfunding campaign and I’ve found it to be influential in selling my book too. However, using twitter to raise the profile of your books comes with a word of caution as an inappropriate use of it can turn potential readers away and they may even unfollow you or worse still, decide that they will never read your book!”
Note: Everyone who reads this blog figures out that I’m a a Twitter fangirl and a sucker for posts that continue to teach me about my favorite social media network. This post has some excellent Twitter tips in it.
Great Find of the Week
Thanks to Chris Syme, I found out about this ambient music and sound website, and its free: Hipstersound
Quote of The Week
I write because I want more than one life; I insist on a wider selection. It’s greed, plain and simple. Anne Tyler
About the Author: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference and a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com and blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks. She’s written several books including The Author’s Guide to Goodreads, and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writer conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Ask Frances to prepare a social media audit for you.
Practical Tips for Marketing Your Books on the Social Web
Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day is now available for sale. In eleven chapters, you will:
understand the new formula for saving time
learn how to become a more effective and efficient marketer
find cheat sheets for vocabulary and hashtags
learn about the apps that will best help you save time while using social media.
So start learning how to save time online.
“… 80% or more of the book would be a superior introduction to savvy social media usage for most professionals, even those beyond the writing, or even content-creation, fields.” ~~ Julia A. Bestry
The post Indie Author Weekly Roundup July 15, 2016 appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
September 2, 2014
Marketing Advice from a Publishing Pro: Jane Friedman Shares Her Best Tips
How important is blogging for a writer’s success?
Blogging is mostly overrated as a book marketing and promotion tool, and few writers have the discipline or stamina to do it for the length of time required for it to pay off.
However, a blog is probably the nonfiction author’s No. 1 content marketing tool for their career—a career that presumably involves not just selling books, but also getting new clients, securing speaking engagements, teaching online classes, delivering new products, and increasing their profile as an expert.
Which leads to another question: What is “content marketing”? It’s where you use content to provide value, build your brand, and gain trust with your readership over time. A blog is a form of content marketing, and it’s generally the most well-recognized and understood by authors.
What are the elements of a successful author website and blog?
It should immediately communicate the author’s name and/or brand and give visitors a specific call to action within 5-7 seconds, before they leave the site. What’s a good call to action? It might be: read an excerpt of my book, listen to this interview with me at NPR, sign up for my newsletter, etc. Your call to action will change a few times a year, depending on your marketing initiatives or book releases.
Make your menu or navigation exceptionally clear to first-time visitors. Where can they find information about your books? How can they look at your blog or its archive? How can they contact you? Know what people look for when they visit your site, then make it easy for them to access it.
I have a lot more advice on this topic here:
Do You Need to Rethink Your Website’s Key Elements?
Get Started Guide: Blogging for Writers
The Big Mistake of Author Website and Blogs
Digest seems to have flourished – at least digitally – under your tenure. What do you attribute that success to, aside from hard work? In other words, what can authors learn from your example there?
At Writer’s Digest, I focused on serving the audience authentically. If we did that well, the numbers and the sales followed.
Do you recommend that writers participate in online forums, and if so, why?
Writers usually have two goals with this type of activity: being part of a writing community and being in touch with readers.
As far as the first goal, I recommend it insofar as it can be a valuable source of education, information, and encouragement. It might also have some marketing value, but you have to be careful that you’re not marketing to the echo chamber of the writing and publishing community, rather than building your readership of non-writers.
For the second goal, participating in online forums where your readers are can be invaluable to understanding and anticipating their needs, serving them better, and—yes—marketing to them.
What about blogging communities? Can they help authors grow their readership?
I have limited experience with or knowledge of blogging communities, but my general impression is negative. (Every time one closes, such as Red Room or Yahoo Voices, I feel more steadfast in my critical POV.)
I do like multi-contributor blogs, into which I categorize Writer Unboxed, where I occasionally write.
How long have you been on Twitter? To what do you attribute your following?
I’ve been on Twitter since May 2008. I got in early, and I religiously wrote a “Best Tweets for Writers” column from 2009–2011 that helped launch my following. For a while I was a recommended follow by Twitter in the Books category. The growth is not the same as it was while I was on that list, but now the account has its own momentum no matter what I do. I tell the full story here: How I Got a Six-Figure Twitter Following.
Do you also post your own podcasts/videos/ or Google Hangouts?
I’m not currently doing my own podcasts, video, or Google Hangouts, though I accept invites to be a guest, and try to make sure my audience is aware when and where they’re available.
What role does social media play in helping authors’ books to succeed commercially? Asked another way, I find that authors can be reluctant to use social media. What is your advice in the face of their hesitation?
Social media helps authors in two primary ways.
It helps you maintain connections with readers and nurture that relationship over many years. While you may use social media at times to directly sell, like during a book release, the key value is in being in touch or communicating with people who are fans your work.
It helps you develop relationships with and reach influencers and others in your community who can help spread the word to their networks.
The question to ask yourself is: How, when, and where do you best engage with readers and others in the industry? There is probably at least 1 social network where that opportunity is richest and most meaningful for you. Focus on that network and do it to the extent that it energizes or inspires you. Forget the social media networks that feel like drudgery—that defeats the whole point of being there.
We know that email marketing is as important as social media. What advice do you give writers about growing their mailing list of avid and casual readers?
Make the email newsletter sign up very clear on your website; ideally it should appear on every page. Give readers a specific idea of what they will receive when they sign up for your list. Then deliver what you promise.
You once said in a blog post that writers must push their boundaries to incorporate new media into their marketing. (This isn’t a direct quote.) At what point do writers need to pull back so they don’t lose their focus on their writing goals?
When you find yourself going through a checklist of media initiatives, without any interest or enthusiasm, then it may be time to pull back and evaluate why you’re doing it, especially if you’re not seeing reader engagement. (Keep in mind that any new effort takes time to pay off—you have to show up consistently, find your voice, and improve. This can take 6-12 months for some people.)
I love to suggest writers experiment and question the mediums they may always default to; on the other hand, there’s nothing wrong with pursuing what works—especially if it motivates you to produce more good work. You just need to be aware if you’re clinging to certain things because you’re afraid to change (while everyone else is moving ahead), or making good choices that build on your strengths and the qualities of your work.
I see that you’re on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr and Goodreads. How do you manage your time on so many platforms? How much time do you spend each day on social media?
I only show up consistently (usually daily) on 2 sites: Facebook and Twitter. I don’t have any quotas, however. My biggest rule is: Any time I tweet or post, it’s not to put myself in front of people. It’s to share something of value or to entertain. Period. So if I don’t have something for 48 hours, then you won’t see me. I’m not going to come up with a bunch of posts to fill in the gaps; we all have enough to look at already.
I’m a casual user of Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube and Tumblr. For each of those platforms, I have very particular things I post, or certain triggers. E.g., on Pinterest, I mostly pin graphs and charts related to the media/publishing industry, whenever I come across one. That’s it—but it’s a very useful repository now. Tumblr is a kind of personal notebook, where I save quotes or clips from interesting articles.
So it’s not so much about managing my time; over a period of months or years, I establish a particular benefit of each channel, something that fits my purposes. They’re not on my mind, and only come into play when I find things that fit my use of those networks. It wouldn’t be sustainable otherwise. Overall, I probably spend 1-2 hours per day on social media, if you aggregate all the little minutes here and there—most of that being Facebook and Twitter. Most of that is consumption time, or staying informed about what’s happening, not posting time.
If you were to narrow your social media use to three networks, which three would you refuse to give up and why?
It would be difficult for me to give up Twitter given my long-term investment there, and its importance in the writing and publishing community conversation. It would also be hard to give up Facebook, since that’s where a good deal of my audience engagement happens. Together, Twitter and Facebook make up most of the social media referral traffic to my website. However, organic search traffic to my site is far more important than social media right now; therefore, Google Plus is the third network I’d be reluctant to give up, since I think it will continue to have an impact on SEO.
Do you think that certain social media networks are better suited to specific genres? For example, Facebook and Pinterest are ideal for romance writers. Tumblr and Twitter would be important for YA and NA writers. Nonfiction writers would need to have a presence on LinkedIn and Twitter. Or don’t you agree with the premise that certain channels are better for specific genres?
I do think certain channels are better for specific genres or audiences, yes. Most importantly, the author needs to be comfortable and committed to using whatever networks they’re on. Hopefully there’s a good match between what the writer is capable of sustaining for the long haul, and where her audience is active and engaged.
How do you suggest that writers juggle their writing time with their social media and marketing efforts in general?
This seems to be the question on everyone’s mind these days, and I understand writers feel that they’re under tremendous pressure. So when I hear this question, what I hear is: how can I relieve the pressure? How can I alleviate any stress or anxiety I have about juggling these things?
There is a very simple answer: Don’t take it all so seriously, and detach from the crazy-making activities. In a moment of silence, I bet you know what you should be doing, so acquire the discipline, structure, and tools to make it happen.
For Indie authors interested in finding an agent or publisher, what do they need to have in place aside from a killer manuscript?
It’s immensely helpful to point to a growing and engaged readership devoted to reading just about anything you publish. Be able to demonstrate your efforts to cultivate and nurture that readership.
What marketing advice would you give a new writer just starting out?
Get your website established, even if it’s just a shell, and begin improving it and getting better at honing your online brand, one day at a time. This is your home base for the entirety of your career. Get comfy.
About the Author: Frances Caballo is a social media coach, strategist and manager for writers and author of Avoid Social Media Time Suck: A Blueprint for Writers to Create Online Buzz for Their Books and Still Have Time to Write, Social Media Just for Writers: The Best Online Marketing Tips for Selling Your Books and Blogging Just for Writers.
Avoid Social Media Time Suck: A Blueprint for Writers to Create Online Buzz for Their Books and Still Have Time to WriteSocial Media Just for Writers: The Best Online Marketing Tips for Selling Your BooksBlogging Just for Writers
10 Twitter Tips Writers Need to Know
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