Putting the Social in Social Media
Three months ago, I wrote a blog for my website and got 6 hits. After you count my mother, my best friend, my co-worker and myself (I don't even think my husband read it) that leaves 2 unknown people who read my work. Last week, my post on eating jerk chicken in Jamaica after horseback riding through the ganja fields garnered 650 hits.
What happened between then and now? I got some good advice.
Neil Plakcy, author of the Mahu mysteries set in Hawaii is a professor of English at Broward College. Last month, he offered a continuing education class in marketing your book. The second I saw the promo for it, I knew I needed his knowledge.
Here's Neil's advice on letting people know your book exists:
E-mail blast all your contacts.
-write a press release on your book and send it to all your friends, family, co-workers, and every press contact you have. Tell people you wrote a book, what it is about, where it is available and how to contact you. Include a clickable link so people can order the book right from the e-mail, if they want.
Create an e-mail signature on your messages
ex: Neil Plakcy
Character-driven stories of handsome, sexy gay men in love and danger www.mahubooks.com http://www.facebook.com/neil.plakcy
Create a website
-pick a domain name that represents you and post information about your book with purchase links and contact information (add it to your e-mail signature)
-add info about you, about your book, your book cover image, your photo
Post Reviews
-ask friends and family to post reviews on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Goodreads of your book. Next, start to solicit reviews from bloggers, review sites, etc
Groups- Look for opportunities to promote your book by joining an organization like: Mystery Writers of America, Writers Network, or for me it is the International Association of Culinary Professionals and Travel Writers of America
This all made sense, but the next part of Neil's class is where the information really got interesting. Social media. I already had a website where I was blogging on. I thought I was ahead of the game for this section, until Neil started speaking.
Blog Often but Original: For Google to rank your website highly, it must detect real content that relates to your topic—not just a bunch of pictures. If you are going to blog, the idea is to get people who will come back regularly, or subscribe to your blog—and they'll only do that if you regularly have new, interesting content. Neil recommends blogging 2-3 times a week. BUT, the quality of what you post must also be considered. You don't want to turn off your readers with a hurried, unimaginative post. In that case, it is better to post once a week. If you can't blog that often, consider finding a group of others who are trying to reach a similar audience, the way Mike has done with this blog.
Guest Bloggers: Blogging often can be time consuming. Finding others who will reach your audience and bring new readers to your site not only helps with bumping traffic, but gives you a reprieve from posting and gives a fresh voice to your blog.
Post Links on Social Networking Sites: When you do post to your blog, you want as many people reading it as possible. To get the word out, post a description of your topic and a link on:
And because my blog includes a recipe and pictures I post to:
Join Discussion Groups: There are many writer/reader websites that allow you take part in their discussions. The more you participate in the conversation, the more your name and the name of your book gets out to other people who love to read.
I joined a Kindleboards conversation on a Saturday and talked about six other books than my own and yet still my sales spiked that day. Kindleboards allow you to add the cover of your book with a link to the Amazon sales page in your signature so that every time you post a comment your book shows up. If you are posting in the relevant topic discussions, you can feel confident that the people reading the posts are interested in that topic and ultimately your book.
Neil also promotes joining discussion groups like:
Amazon discussion boards
Yahoo Groups
Google Groups
This all adds up in hours. It usually takes me 2-3 hours to write and edit a post. 30 minutes to post it and work out the formatting and another hour or sometimes two to promote it on each different social networking site. BUT, the payoff is the 650 hits I got last week. I hope that translates into getting the word out about my book, and convincing potential readers to buy it.
Next, I am going to look into www.squidoo.com and www.blogher.com. Maybe this week's post on spear-fishing in Florida and grilling Chili-Lime Hogfish will be seen by 800 people? And that is thanks to Neil's class and guidance.
Social media has definitely helped me gain readers, but it has an (obvious) secondary benefit. I am talking to readers and authors. Writing can be a lonely, stuck behind your computer, locked away in a quiet room kind of world. Social media is just that social. It is all about connecting. It may be a lot of work, but it is fun work.
And really, isn't that why we all became writers—to talk about books?
What about you? What do you do to promote your writing?
Victoria Allman, author SEAsoned: A Chef's Journey with Her Captain, has been following her stomach around the globe for twelve years as a yacht chef. She writes about her floating culinary odyssey through Europe, the Caribbean, Nepal, Vietnam, Africa and the South Pacific in her first book, Sea Fare: A Chef's Journey Across the Ocean.
SEAsoned, Victoria's second book is the hilarious look at a yacht chef's first year working for her husband while they cruise from the Bahamas to Italy, France, Greece and Spain; trying to stay afloat.
Victoria is a columnist for Dockwalk, an International magazine for crew members aboard yachts. Her column, Dishing It Up, is a humorous look at cooking for the rich and famous in an ever-moving galley.
She also regularly contributes tales of her tasty adventures to Marina Life Magazine and OceanLines.biz.
You can read more of her food-driven escapades through her web-site, www.victoriaallman.com
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