UK Amazon Kindle Forum discussion
Agony Aunt
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social networking tips
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I think I may have come across a bit strong with point 4. You should appreciate anyone who is following your work and has brought copies of your book.
I don't know if I would ignore Facebook for a month at a time. I have had people contact me for interviews via Facebook. Otherwise, good thoughts.
good point Bells, I have given many radio interviews thanks to facebook. Its always handy to have an e-mail address handy if you need to contact someone outside social media. You shouldn't shut out the world completely.
I'm not sure about point four. I have a book page for the book but that has 108 likes as opposed to me having a couple of hundred friends. It's intriguing just how many of the friends are people I know.Because I do engage and post a lot of stuff which is nothing to do with writing, they will often repost my writing stuff to their friends which is handy.
And like Belle, I have family members and others who will contact me first via facebook
I think I have put my foot in it with point 4. If you do engage with people, be on your toes, some people will take advantage, but most are genuine.
I don't think there is an issue with engaging with readers, but your reasons for doing so and how you go about it.
Mark me down as another one who doesn't agree with number 4. Engaging with readers is one of life's pleasures.Mind you, there is good engagement and bad engagement...
I thoroughly disagree with point four, as you'd expect.
point four has not gone down too well. I think I've been reading too many self help books.
Jason wrote: "point four has not gone down too well. I think I've been reading too many self help books."I suspect that is easily done :-)
Point 2 is rubbish as well. Cat pics are very important.
Pictures of cats holding copies of your books are important.
1. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and increases likes.
I think one of the main problems that people face with social networking is the amount of time they spend on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Reduce your time drastically and this will leave you with more time to write. I haven’t been on Facebook for over a week and when I finally went on there I had had picked up over 70 likes on one of my pages. I did make time to check out the people who clicked on like and they are genuine. I also plan to cut my social networking time to just once a month.
2. No cats please.
No one wants to see a picture of a grumpy cat. The people who clicked on like to your page are fans of your work, so irrelevant posts can lead to people unliking your page.
3. Spamalot
It is possible to spam yourself. People who have read your books won’t want to see constant newsfeeds leading to links they have already clicked on. So try to avoid ‘please buy my book’ posts. But what about the people who haven’t read your book? Well, if you have set your page up properly newcomers will find their way to all the relevant links to your Amazon page.
4. Do not engage! Repeat do not engage!
There’s no other way I can put this: Your fans are not your friends, they are your bread and butter, a source of income. Getting chatty can lead to all kinds of complications. From people wanting a free copy of your book, to people trying to tell you where you should be going with the book series. Its ok to click on like to the odd comments and post the odd thank you, but direct contact with your fans is a big no no. Try to be a little mysterious that way people will start taking about you.
5. Book promotion pages.
My advice, don’t bother, you’re just preaching to the choir. Look though some of these pages which allow you to plug your book. See if anyone is actually liking the posts other authors are posting. You’ll find hardly anyone is getting a like.
6. Know your audience.
Targeting fans of your genre is very important. There are plenty of pages, tweets and forums covering all manners of writing styles, from Game of Thrones to Fifty Shades. Form professional relationships with moderators. Always ask if its ok for you to post, don’t just jump in an spam.
Things take time but with a little patients you could be earning a few well earned extra pennies on top of your day job. And with any luck you could match your income.
As soon as I think of some more tips I’ll post again.
Good luck guys.
Jason