By Indie Authors for Indie Authors.

Tag: writer social media

10 Must-Do Tips for Authors on Social Media

If you’re like me, you constantly have to balance what time you spend marketing on social media with what time you spend writing—you know, that thing you actually love doing and wish you could do full time? Yeah, writing. This doesn’t even account for time with family, friends, hobbies, day jobs, or countless other things that quickly fill up your day.

The point is your time is limited. While social media can be beneficial as you build your author platform, it can also be a never-ending time-suck.

Here’s some advice on how to best utilize social media to build a solid Author platform.

 

Author Social Media Tips

 

1. Be Selective

There’s a mantra I tell myself regularly: You can do anything. You can’t do everything. This is important to remember throughout life.

Managing your social media engagement is no different than other aspects of your life. Be selective on where you utilize social media. Each platform is different.

Twitter can help you reach new readers, while Facebook can drive more traffic to your website and create relationships with readers. Goodreads is wonderful for engaging with the indie author community. Instagram and Pinterest can help you build a brand, if that’s what you’re going for. This is just the tip of the iceberg of social media options.

Figure out what works best for you and focus on those one or two platforms. Personally, I mostly engage on Twitter and Facebook.

 

[clickToTweet tweet=”You can do anything. You can’t do everything. Be selective on social media. #amwriting” quote=”You can do anything. You can’t do everything. Be selective on social media.”]

 

2. Create Better Images

People love pictures on social media. Images get exponentially more engagement than just words. This is the very reason Twitter started allowing images on their platform a few years ago. Their lunch was getting eaten by Facebook.

Spend the time necessary to create better images. One place to do that is Canva. That’s how I create many of the images I use on this site. (No, I don’t receive any kind of commission for referring you to them, but I should, huh? Somebody look into that for me.)

 

3. Engage

This really should be rule number 1. Engage! Engage! Engage!

Don’t just scream for people to buy your book. Engage them. Learn about them and who they are. You’re likelihood of finding a new reader will be much, much higher. Answer questions. Respond to comments. And who knows, you might just find a new e-friend.

 

4. Tag People

If you’re talking about someone in one of your posts, tag them so they’re aware. There’s a higher likelihood they’ll interact with the post or that some of their followers might as well.

However, DO NOT tag people just to tag them so they see your latest marketing message. One of the most annoying things on social media platforms is getting tagged by someone with no context on why you’re getting tagged other than they want you to buy something from them.

 

5. Keep Tweets Short

This may sound odd since the very nature of Twitter is already short quips, but just because they give you 140 characters doesn’t mean you have to use all 140. Try to keep your tweets short and simple. Around a 100 character max seems to be a good sweet spot.

 

6. Try Videos

As much as images and pictures get more interaction than simple text, videos do even more so. If you’re inclined to face your fear of being on camera, it can help your engagements on Social Media.

I realize most people have a fear of being on video. I do as well. Just because you have a fear of something, though, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t explore it further.

I’ve begun dabbling in videos with my content, both with photos I’ve taken and with being in front of the camera myself. I really enjoy the author and reader videos anaisbelieve creates on YouTube as well. Try creating a video yourself!

 

7. Make Your Headlines Work

I’ll admit, I can be much better at this. People that tease the reader and pique their curiosity get more engagement and clicks. I’m not saying to use click-bait as a strategy. Everyone hates that and Facebook is even working to get rid of it where they can. I’m saying captivate your followers imagination with your posts. Give them a reason to think, laugh, or be moved. Put thought into your headlines.

 

[clickToTweet tweet=”Put thought into your headlines. Give people a reason to think, laugh, or be moved. #indieauthors” quote=”Put thought into your headlines. Give people a reason to think, laugh, or be moved.”]

 

8. Remain Positive

Social media is a real quagmire of negative individuals, isn’t it? It’s obnoxious. If you’re not careful, you’ll find you’ve fallen into one of the two large cess pools that social media hosts: (1) The cess pool of Negative Nancies (or Negative Nates if you please); or (2) The cess pool of look at how wonderful my family / my vacation / my life is.

Don’t fall into those traps.

Keep your positivity. Show your excitement. There will always be haters. Don’t worry about that. People can sense your excitement. They feed off of it. Remain positive and excited.

 

9. Repost Old Content

Reposting something from a few months ago is called Evergreen Content. Don’t be obnoxious and tweet the same thing out over and over and over again. But if you’re judicious, there’s a lot of fantastic content you’ve posted in the past. Don’t let it go to waste. One plugin I utilize for Nothing Any Good is “Revive Old Post”. I set it to randomly send out a previous post of mine every 16-24 hours.

 

10. Manage Your Time

Let’s end at a similar place from where we began. Just like you need to be selective with which social media platforms you spend time on, you also need to be selective with how much time you spend on social media. Don’t forget about your writing because you’re working so hard to get people engaged with your writing. Manage your time and stay focused on the craft. After all, what’s the point of having an author social media following if you’re no longer writing?

 

 

Find more writing and publishing tips at Nothing Any Good.

 

Author Tweets of the Week (2-24)

  1. Tweets of the Week (4-15)
  2. Author Tweets of the Week (6-3)
  3. Author Tweets of the Week (7-29)
  4. Author Tweets of the Week (8-5)
  5. Author Tweets of the Week (8-19)
  6. Author Tweets of the Week (8-26)
  7. Author Tweets of the Week (9-2)
  8. Author Tweets of the Week (10-13)
  9. Author Tweets of the Week (10-28)
  10. Author Tweets of the Week (11-4)
  11. Author Tweets of the Week (12-2)
  12. Author Tweets of the Week (1-20)
  13. Author Tweets of the Week (1-27)
  14. Author Tweets of the Week (2-3)
  15. Author Tweets of the Week (2-10)
  16. Author Tweets of the Week (2-24)
  17. Author Tweets of the Week (3-3)
  18. Author Tweets of the Week (3-24)
  19. Author Tweets of the Week (10-6)
  20. Author Tweets of the Week (11-10)
  21. Author Tweets of the Week (2-16)
  22. Author Tweets of the Week (3-16)
  23. Author Tweets of the Week (4-6)
  24. Author Tweets of the Week (5-11)

 

I know I don’t usually purely plug my own stuff on these pages. While I may give a nod to my writing every now and then—Can you blame me? It’s my own damn site people!—I try not to put it in your face too much. I want Nothing Any Good to be a site that provides you insight and wisdom for your Indie Author journey, and encouragement and humor for those days when the journey seems to be beating you down.

However, today I want to kick off our Author Tweets of the Week with a tweet of my own about something from my book Pieces Like Pottery

As always, these are real tweets and posts from my readers and followers.

 

 

I’ll give you the short version. One of the literary devices I experimented with in the story The Gravesite (from my book) is tying ten songs to each portion of the story. A few readers have picked up on this and have asked about it.

I decided I would post on this site the story in its entirety along with each song. I’m excited about it. It’ll allow you, the reader, to experience the story in a unique way—taking in the music and lyrics that were utilized to add another layer to the story itself.

Please let me know your thoughts. I’d love to hear feedback! Do you think it worked well? Did you hate it? Do you hate me?

 

Anyway…on with it already…

 

 

Paint away, my friends! Paint with all the vigor your voice can handle.

And remember to paint in the style that is you. Embrace your style!

 

 

Embrace your weirdness. Don’t let anyone deter you from that.

 

Speaking of embracing your weirdness.

 

This cracked me up. Good work, Alistair.

 

This next tweet we can probably all relate to.

 

 

Too funny. Don’t let rejections get you down, friends. Keep on keeping’ on.

 

A few posts to for those that love to ponder and those that just love to smile.

https://twitter.com/crassusmedia/status/834840658078789633


https://twitter.com/V8Sheppard/status/834784016150638595

 

 

Thinking yet? Smiling at least? Good. By the way, for those wondering, both of those arrows in that last tweet from @V8Sheppard are too straight to be my path to becoming a writer.

 

 

Quick, name your five favorite books of all time.

 

 

Tough right? Wow. Can I do it? Let’s see…

The Brother Karamazov.

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

The Boxcar Children. (So what if it’s a series of books. Deal with it.)

A Short History of Nearly Everything.

A Tale of Two Cities.

 

Ask me again tomorrow and I’ll have five different books for you.

 

Need an idea for a good social media prank?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tamara Thorne, you make me laugh weekly.

 

All right, friends. It’s time to get back to work. Breath deep. Relax.

You’re writing already, so you’re a writer. Don’t sweat it. We all have doubts. We all have fears. We all believe that our writing is so terrible that the entire world is going to laugh in our face and kick us in the stomach while we lie naked in the street sobbing hysterically. (No? That last one is just me?)

You get the point. Believe in yourself!

 

 

 

 

 

Keep writing away, my friends!
Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and Facebook. Have a wonderful weekend!

 

Find more writing and publishing tips at Nothing Any Good.

 

 

Author Tweets of the Week (9-2)

  1. Tweets of the Week (4-15)
  2. Author Tweets of the Week (6-3)
  3. Author Tweets of the Week (7-29)
  4. Author Tweets of the Week (8-5)
  5. Author Tweets of the Week (8-19)
  6. Author Tweets of the Week (8-26)
  7. Author Tweets of the Week (9-2)
  8. Author Tweets of the Week (10-13)
  9. Author Tweets of the Week (10-28)
  10. Author Tweets of the Week (11-4)
  11. Author Tweets of the Week (12-2)
  12. Author Tweets of the Week (1-20)
  13. Author Tweets of the Week (1-27)
  14. Author Tweets of the Week (2-3)
  15. Author Tweets of the Week (2-10)
  16. Author Tweets of the Week (2-24)
  17. Author Tweets of the Week (3-3)
  18. Author Tweets of the Week (3-24)
  19. Author Tweets of the Week (10-6)
  20. Author Tweets of the Week (11-10)
  21. Author Tweets of the Week (2-16)
  22. Author Tweets of the Week (3-16)
  23. Author Tweets of the Week (4-6)
  24. Author Tweets of the Week (5-11)

 

We’ve had another great week of tweet and posts. Thank you everyone for sharing your wonderful thoughts on social media! (Well, except for those of you that love trolling, in which case, knock it off.)

Let’s start with an announcement from Cheryl Holloway about the 3rd Anniversary of her blog. Congrats Cheryl! That’s amazing. If you are interested, you can join her celebration on September 6th.

 

 

Keeping with the theme of candle pics, this tweet was a good reminder for me on why I write in the first place.

 

 

 

Yes, I would love for my book to be a smashing success, but it’s always good to remember why we write. If my words can inspire someone to do something they love or encourage someone at a low point in their life, this is what matters to me. If your writing is humorous or full of adventure, remember that you want to make people laugh and excite them. It would be great to sell books, but it’s also great to have readers that get the point of your work.

Anyway, if you’re looking to write your next book, here’s 100 questions to ask from @authorKEGarvey via @olivierwrites.

 

https://twitter.com/olivierwrites/status/770672974621999105

 

Some good questions in there to ask.

I loved this next tweet from @JMRobison.

 

 

I love this idea JM! I have had this same thought and I’ve toyed with the idea of how one might be able to achieve this with an ebook. In fact, the first story in Pieces Like Pottery has 10 songs tied to each of the 10 sections of that story. Only a few readers have identified this. I may run each segment on Nothing Any Good at some point with the songs included so you can listen to the song while reading it. If I hear reader interest in this, I’ll do it for sure.

Now a thought about love and empathy.

 

 

We all too often in life look at our loved ones for who they might be some day or what they could be if they just tried a little harder. This isn’t fair to them and it isn’t fair to ourselves. Don’t love people for what you want them to be. Love them for who they are. Full stop.

 

 

 

George Carlin was a great thinker. Most people know him primarily as a comedian they either loved or hated, but he was first and foremost a great thinker in my mind. I love this sentiment of teaching our children to question what they read. It’s the only way to be thoughtful human beings.

Those of you that have read Expect Dragons, or have been following my adapted 40 Tips for Writing Your Novel, will realize that I love people that intelligently and respectfully question. In Mr. Smith’s 40 Tips for College and Life, tips #2 and #3 are as follows:

2. Question authority.

3. Question those who question authority.

So, yeah, I agree Mr. Carlin, whole heartedly.

 

Finally, a thought that every writer can relate to.

 

 

So true @Nenuphar00!

Keep writing friends! Have a wonderful weekend.

 

Find more writing and publishing tips at Nothing Any Good.

 

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