Social Media for Authors

Sadly, if you are not found online, you are functionally irrelevant. The same can be said about your work. Social media allows people to share and promote information by using the internet and other communications channels. Among those communications channels are your website, social media sites, email marketing and e-commerce. Searching the internet, you can find websites, social media sites and other content meant for any industry. Since I am presenting “Social Media for Authors” to the 2017 Winter Writers Weekend in New Hope, Pennsylvania on March 4, 2017, I chose to discuss this topic at this time.

Your Website
Writers (all professionals) must have a website. Today, more and more consumers use the internet to search for the products or services they need. Hence, your readers expect you to be there. A professional website gives you and your publications credibility. It’s your platform to demonstrate your interests, knowledge and expertise to your readers. If you and your work are not yet known, this is where people begin to find out about you.

Social Media Sites for Authors
Amazon – Amazon started as an online bookseller in 1994 via Amazon.com. It has since grown to become the largest internet-based retailer in the world. Amazon offers 2 self-publishing services:

• Kindle Direct Publishing is a free program that helps authors self-publish their book as eBooks.
• CreateSpace is a fast and easy way to self-publish paperbacks. It also offers on-demand printing, eliminating the need for you to maintain inventory.

goodreads is a social media site that lets users track and rate books, and network with other readers. The site is free for readers. Authors can also promote their books via pay-per-click advertising.

Issuu is a digital publishing platform for magazines, newspapers, portfolios, catalogs, corporate literature, DIY guides, community programs and more. It’s free to use with a publishing limit of 100MB, and paid subscriptions are available when you want to exceed the free limit.

Scribd is a digital documents library that allows users to publish, discover and discuss original writings and documents in various languages. The site is free to use and try for 30 days. Then, there is a moderate monthly subscription after the free period.

Email Marketing is using email to send newsletters, offers, invitations, event notices and more to grow the visibility of your brand and business. If new to email marketing, start by using the email addresses of your friends, family and coworkers. Then add your networking contacts and people that ask to connect with you. Most people have email, and email is the most popular app on smart phones. Therfore, email marketing is less expensive and more effective than traditional mail campaigns. When using popular email marketing software such as MailChimp and Constant Contact (the two market leaders), you will have access to their analytical tools that will show you the performance of your email campaigns.

E-commerce is the purchase and sale of products or services via electronic channels such as the internet. It’s also known as “online shopping”, and allows your customers to electronically buy goods and services from you with no barriers of time or distance. E-commerce can be implemented on your website, via your social media sites, or via one of the available e-commerce service providers such as ebay, Amazon.com, Shopify and many others.

To benefit from social media, you need to build a clear strategy that takes into account what you’re trying to achieve, who your customers are and what your competition is doing. As an author, use any or all of the tools I identified in this post. Start with your website. Then, add one social media communications channel. As you become comfortable using that one communications channel over time, consider adding another. Before you know it, you with have a robust social media strategy and have significantly grown your online presence.

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