How to Promote Yourself as an Author via Social Media
1) First and Foremost, Don’t Overthink It.
I’m starting here, because this is a subject that can be very overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Some writers/authors seem to have limitless time to dedicate to social media, but most of us don’t, and that’s okay. It’s better to prioritize your writing, but there are things you can do to work social media into your routine. Also, don’t feel like everything you post has to be related to writing, your writing life, or some super interesting event or adventure. Content is content. It can be just about anything.
2) Your Main Social Media Options, Just to Get Them Out there
– Tumblr
– Pintrest
– YouTube
– Goodreads
– Google Plus
– Writer/Author Blog2) Get to Know Your Favorites
It’s better to have good visibility on a few platforms than it is to spread yourself thin across all of them. Even if you set up accounts on all of them, you don’t have to be active on all of them. Focus on the ones that work best for you, even if it’s only two or three of them. I recommend choosing at least two, if not three, then dedicate a week to each one. Set up your account (if you haven’t already), find and follow other writers/authors, especially in your genre. (Hashtags are helpful for this. Google will provide lists of hashtags for writers/authors on each platform.) Try to spend ten to fifteen minutes a day on that week’s chosen platform. Make a post, then spend some time liking and commenting on the posts in your feed. This helps to build relationships with other writers. And don’t be bashful. Anyone who has a public writer/author page is hoping for likes and comments, even from people they don’t know yet.
3) Choose a Primary Platform and Stick with It
As the saying goes, “Jack of all trades, master of none.” The same is true of social media, so even once you’ve narrowed the field down to your favorite two or three platforms, you may want to choose one that you use daily, for ten to fifteen minutes per day. Then, try to dedicate a little time to the other two, maybe on the weekends.
4) What to Do About Content
It depends on the platform, obviously, but here are some ideas:
Re-Blogs/Re-Posts:
– writing advice/tips
– writing-related quotes– motivational quotes
– book/reading related quotes
– pictures that relate to what you write
– pictures that inspire what you want to write
– pictures that relate to reading/writing
– posts from other writers/authors that are shareable
– writing/reading related memes
– aesthetics of your favorite booksOriginal Posts:
– personal writing-related anecdotes
– writing tip/advice posts (share what you know!)
– photos of your writing space/reading area
– pictures of handwritten quotes or tips that you want to share
– aesthetics of your WIP
– photos of coffee, tea, stationery, books, pets, nature
– your monthly goals
– end of month review of which goals you completed and which you didn’tTags/Challenges/Questionnaires:
– “tag” challenges are sort of like hashtag photo prompts. Search for an existing tag challenge or create your own and tag your followers to join you.
– monthly photo challenges give you a prompt for each day. These can be related to books/reading, writing, both, or anything else.
– prompt challenges inspire daily short poetry or micro fiction
– you’ve seen questionanaires here and probably on facebook, too. Often you can find some geared toward reading and writing.Book Reviews, Movie Reviews, TV Show Reviews, Video Game Reviews
– book reviews make for great content. It doesn’t have to be anything long and drawn out. Just a picture of the book, how many stars you give it, and a few things that you liked (or didn’t like) about it.
– did you watch a movie over the weekend that you really enjoyed? Tell your followers about it in a spoiler-free review.
– did you binge-watch a new TV show? Let others know about it with a spoiler-free review.
– did you play a new computer, phone, or video game? Talk about it!Support Other Writers/Authors:
– if a writer/author you admire or follow posts something you can help promote, do it! For example, maybe an indie author your friends with has just posted that their book is on sale this week. Sharing that can promote audience sharing between you and them, it gives you content for the day, and it’s awesome to support other writers/authors, especially indies.Arts, Crafts, DIY, Cooking, Adventures, and Other Hobbies
– share your grandmother’s recipe for pumpkin pie
– share a picture of the sweater you’re knitting along with your three favorite knitting tips and tricks.
– share a picture of your bujo or planner layout for the month
– share a picture of the cabinets you re-finished and talk about what the process was like.
– share pictures and stories from the antiquing road trip you took over the weekend.
– share a picture of the painting you’ve been working on.
– share a picture of the room you cleaned out along with some de-cluttering tips
– share a pretty picture of a flower you took on your afternoon walkSpend some time looking at the content of other writers/authors on the platform you want to focus on. This is a great way to see what’s most common, what you can mimic, and what you can jump in on.
5) Set Up a Schedule
Whether you focus on one platform or three, it can sometimes help to set up a posting schedule. For example:
Monday – Blog post on author blog
Tuesday – Re-tweet two or three writing-related tweets on Twitter
Wednesday – Post a writing/book related photo on Instagram
Thursday – Re-blog writing tip on Tumblr
Friday – Break
Saturday – Twitter re-tweets
Sunday – Instagram tag challengeThat’s just an example, of course. If you focus on one social media platform, it might look more like this…
Facebook Posting Schedule:
Monday – Re-post writing advice
Tuesday – Post writing/reading related quote
Wednesday – Share personal writing tip
Thursday – Link to interesting writing-related article
Friday – Book review
Saturday – Picture from weekend adventure
Sunday – Break6) Social Media Management Apps
If you’re still feeling overwhelmed, you may want to look into a social media management app like Hootsuite, Pagemodo, or Sprout Social. (There are many others, too.) These sometimes cost money, but they can be well worth it if you need help managing your social media presence. Ultimately, these allow you to plan out posts in advance, so instead of worrying about it every day, you take maybe an hour every week to pre-plug in all your tweets and other posts for the week. When you see writers/authors who seem to post on all social media every day, this is generally how they do it.
7) Don’t Neglect your Writer/Author Blog
Last but not least, make sure you set up a writer/author blog and try to make a post in it at least once a month. Not only will this give you content you can share on the platforms you focus on, but it’s a great way to keep track of your writing journey and to keep your growing audience up-to-date with the latest news. Even just a short post to talk about your progress for the month and your goals for the next month is better than nothing.
8) Try to Relax and Have Fun with It
It may take you a little while to establish a routine that you’re comfortable with, but it will happen eventually. Just remember not to overthink things and not to feel like you have to do everything. Like I said, it’s better to choose one platform and post on it every two or three days than it is to be sporadic on all the platforms. Just do the best you can, and it’ll all make sense in time. 🙂
Hello. Do you have any advice on how to promote yourself as an author via social media like writing blogs? I’m struggling greatly to keep myself active in any of these because I don’t know what to share. My life isn’t very interesting and any free time I have for writing I spend working on my novel so I also don’t have any extra short stories to share like some guides tell me to do and I don’t want to post many details about my novel before publishing it. Thanks in advance.
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