If you’re going to be someone of interest to follow on social media, you need to do more than share repeated book links to ‘Buy My Book!’
Someone on Facebook told me recently that he’s boring and has nothing much to share. Another said she’s only on social media to hawk her books because that’s all she has time for. Finally, another said he’s too shy to really share anything beyond ‘fluff.’
Let’s deconstruct.
SHARING
Our job, as authors and as social media users, is to share interesting content. We all peruse the internet daily and come across amazing pictures, good stories, quotes, books, people — how can we NOT find great stuff to share?
If you haven’t already, add some handy extensions to your browser toolbar — I use Hootsuite, Add This, bitly, BufferApp, Pluggio — honestly, there are so many, just Google it for more info — in order to share to your various channels without having to leave the site. Easy.
TIME
I don’t buy the ‘I don’t have time to do anything but sell’ excuse. Not because I don’t believe her — I do. I’m all about the crazy, busy work-at-home mom, writer, and businesswoman. I GET it.
I’ve learned how to work with applications that save me a huge amount of time: Hootsuite to schedule and live tweet, Pluggio to dripfeed relevant content (based on keywords I input), ManageFlitter (free for basic) for following/unfollowing folks on Twitter, and a few others. All save time, allowing me to curate cool content.
SHY
Shockingly, I get this one a lot (that was sarcasm), but to be honest, who cares? Get over yourself. You’re sitting behind a computer screen — isn’t that an introvert’s dream? Be whomever you want to be, be yourself, share cat pictures, whatever. Draw upon your life experiences or expertise. You’re more than ‘Buy my book!’ and so are your readers. Respect.
All authors have to have a presence of some sort on social media — from New York Times bestselling authors to the blogger who’s not yet published. Sharing great content will help you establish that fan base, meet great people, and hopefully, sell some books!
Agree or disagree? I’d love your input!
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