I’ve always found marketing my books harder than writing them. I get a lot of encouragement and ideas from my publisher, which has helped me to wade out into the social media waters. Like most authors I have a website, I’m on several author’s sites, and have a Facebook page. I have a blog and I’m on Instagram, BookBub, and Goodreads to name a few. And I have found that Twitter works incredibly well for me.
In the beginning, Twitter overwhelmed me but once I figured out the nuances, I found a great writing community that supports one another. You can find people with the hashtag #writingcommunity. You have to search for and follow other authors or people who say they are readers. You have to be willing to retweet their tweets. I follow most people back but rarely answer direct messages unless I know the group. I started by following and thanking people when they followed me. I would then do a tweet asking people to follow them. Here’s an example: #follow@crystalnapolit2@summerb_author@woodcowbooks@SkyWatcher_HL@JessSFrankel@DaisyWo62695811@Kavi59814611@downthelanebook@MarciaLynnPaul1@DerekRKing2@joanne_paulson@LynessaLayne@christinevz@AlamoHapa@jay_burgh@stevenlclifford@CAKennedy6 Often you’ll see #ww or (Wednesday writers) and and a list of people or #ff (Friday follows) There’s also a #writerslift. If you have a particular tweet like a book release coming you can pin it to the top of your profile page and people will often Retweet it in response to a follow or a retweet. I have found my books promoted on sites when I least expected it. (Example) Your daily dose of author news at http://thebookshelfcafe.news is out! Thanks for writing! @ionacrv@lauren_minette@dearsusanbranch
In the past few years, I have built a following of over 19,000 people by following and supporting others as well. I tweet their books and they do mine also. I don’t just advertise my books though, I have built friendships, and with them came book sales and even a few reviews from places like Ireland, Canada, and Wales. I connected with a special group that has someone from Ireland, India, and Rhode Island in it. We talk about weather, send music to listen to, share about our families, or what we’re doing.
Two key pieces of information given by the Senior Editor of The Wild Rose Press are, if you what to sell more books write more books and don’t flood social media with your books all the time, but let people get to know you the author. I have used that advice as my guidepost for all my social media. I spend time writing and on social media each day. On any of my accounts you’ll find statements, and ideas that are important to me, or things that bring me a smile. A post might be as simple as sending music, answering questions, or using a gif. Here’s an exmaple of a non-book post. Happy Sunday! #bekind#enjoythejourney#lovewins with the poster below added to the tweet. I spend time in the morning thanking, following, and responding to people and a few times in the day. The hardest part is sticking with following new people and following folks back who have followed me. Our Marketing Director encouraged us to find one format that works for you and work it the most. There are so many out there you can be overwhelmed. I liked the quick movement of twitter and how many people I can reach from other countries but I don’t get Pinterest even though I’m on it and have several boards. The key is to find out what works for you, build it up, and continue to write your books.
I’m happy to follow you on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram and will be happy to encourage others to follow you too. Look me up if you’re out there. #socialmedia #author #writingromance #mystery #bookseries
Iona Morrison (@ionacrv) / Twitter
Iona M Morrison (@morrison.iona) • Instagram photos and videos
