This week a writing friend of mine, Colleen Winter, who is publishing her debut Sci-Fi Thriller novel, THE GATHERER in November 2019, sent me a text message:
HELP! I have a million-dollar question for you today. How is it that you give the appearance of being on social media a lot, but you say that you actually aren’t on very much? I’m trying to organize my life and could use some tips.
I chuckled, but understood the panic of trying to write a novel with a deadline, plus manage your social media accounts, plus be a mom, feed the kids, show up for your job in body, mind and in good spirit, shop for groceries, cook, eat, clean up… and the list goes on and on and on.
Here are some real truths that may or may not answer her million-dollar question:
TRUTH: We are all busy people. When you write a novel and you expect it to be published, you need to remember that you will be doing some (if not most) of the promoting of that book (and future books). You will also be pushed to have a social media presence, so the world can put a face and a personality to your work. Bottom line, people want to know who you are, before they spend money on a novel written by you. The best way to do this is to join an online social media and social networking service.
TRUTH: I’m not on social media that often. I visit Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook approximately two to four times per day, making it appear that I’m on all day long. I spend about one to five minutes on each app, mostly responding to notifications and comments on any of my previous posts or posts that I am tagged in, or commenting on a few people’s new posts. An example of my schedule would be 5-10 minutes while I’m eating my breakfast, 5 minutes while at lunch, and I spend approximately 15-30 minutes while cooking supper or before relaxing with a good book for the night. Overall, it is a maximum of 45 minutes per day. This sounds like quite a bit, but not overly obsessive. Usually, I’m multitasking while checking social media: laundry, cooking, baking, etc.
TRUTH: Find the online service that is best for you, as there are so many different ones. There is no possible way you can divide up your time into seven or eight different services unless you sacrifice your writing time. I concentrate all my efforts on my top three: Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, as I mentioned above. I’m also on a few others, Goodreads and LinkedIn, but I only check them once or twice a week for about one minute. I feel that I connect with more like-minded people who share my passion for reading and writing good books by using Twitter and Instagram. Facebook is more for family and friends who support me as a person, but maybe not support me as a writer. Or, they may buy my book and use it as material to be the funniest guy in the room at the next family reunion. “Did you read this piece of drivel that took her 7 years to write? It’s bloody awful!”
TRUTH: The main thing about using these networks is to open up communications with people and make meaningful connections. Show them who you are as a person. If you love specific topics, you will gain the interest from people who also share a love for these topics as well, such as: dogs, cats, music, art, history, guns, sex, politics or hilarious news articles.
BOTTOM LINE: You NEED some kind of platform to sell your books. People need to know your name, recognize it or associate it to something memorable. You don’t need to be on social media 24/7, sucking up to your favourite authors or readers to make a big impact. Only a few minutes a day can make a difference.
Quote from Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent:
“It can be more painful to publish a book that nobody buys… than to never have published a book at all.”
Think about that for a minute.
Your immediate family knows you wrote a book and it was published, but are they expecting a free copy? AND, will they even read it? Or review it?
This is why you need to build an author platform. I can’t imagine spending several years writing a novel and no one else in the world has a clue that it exists. Honestly, even if you get it on a store bookshelf, if the reader doesn’t recognize your name, they’ll use their limited money to buy the next Karin Slaughter book… or the next Harlan Coben book, because these authors are guaranteed to be a great read. With the price of food, clothes, and shelter so high, people have very little to spend on entertainment. Why would they use it to purchase a book by an unknown author?
TRUTH: They won’t.
TRUTH: Even though you build a platform, it may not work for you. No one really knows, but I’ll guarantee that you will sell more books using a platform compared to not using one.
TRUTH: If you are an introvert, it’s okay. 80% of building an author platform takes place online from your computer. You can even wear your pajamas while you do it!
TRUTH: Most social media networking services are free to use. A website can also be free. If you want your own domain, you can buy it as cheap as $9.99/year, which is probably what you spend on coffee in a week. You could also send a free newsletter out to your followers, however, you need their permission to send it, plus you will need time to create a newsletter and email it out.
TRUTH: Time management is key. You can’t spend all your time on social media, or your writing time will suffer (not to mention your family time).
TRUTH: Attending conferences or author events is a great way to network and meet people who share your passion. Guaranteed you will meet some amazing people who want to buy your book (if only you would finish writing the damn thing). These people will follow you on your new social media accounts. You will have new followers who are interested in you and your book.
TRUTH: If you are an author on social media trying to sell your book, DO NOT continuously tweet links to buy it. This is a complete turn-off. You will quickly make enemies. If you engage with people and they find you intelligent or funny, they will make an effort to google the shit out of your name and buy every single book you have out there.
TRUTH: Don’t make it just about YOU. Support other authors. Shout out their book launch dates, times and location. Buy their books. Post photos with their books. Review their books. Tell other people about their books. Celebrate their new book releases. Share their blogs. Share. Share. Share. People will love you for it.
TRUTH: Get involved in building a platform as soon as you can, even before you have that book ready. It takes a long time to build a following.
TRUTH: Literary agents may ask about your social media presence because of course, they will google your name before they offer to represent you. Yes, they want you to be on social media and to have an author platform. If they LOVE your writing, they will want to work with you. That’s when they will encourage you to be building a platform, so the book will sell and you will both make more money. Imagine trying to build an author platform from scratch while you are on deadline also trying to concentrate on writing the book or editing the book? Too much pressure. Think about starting it now instead.
LAST TRUTH: Building an author platform is a necessary evil if you want to be successful in the long run. We all want that, don’t we? You can build a platform by only being active on social media for five minutes a day, or five minutes a week. Either way, it is 100% better than not having one.
Good luck! I can’t wait to see what you create.
And then…
I WANT TO RECOGNIZE YOUR NAME ON A BOOKSHELF SOMEWHERE AND CHOOSE TO BUY YOUR BOOK WITH THE ONLY 20-DOLLAR BILL IN MY WALLET!
