Can Authors Succeed With Social Media?

“It’s all about the aggregate.  No single event, tweet, or special project on its own will sell a significant number of books.  But, if you keep doing all these useless, pointless things that have no impact, slowly but surely you’ll build a platform.”

--Writing Without Rules (Writer’s Digest Books) by Jeff Somers

This statement makes absolute sense when you think about the way book marketing works today.

Authors rarely get a quick-fix for promoting a book or marketing their brand – it takes hard work and consistent persistence to break through, all with no promise of it even happening.  It takes a certain kind of mental attitude to have the courage to leap into book marketing, the willpower to stick with it despite all odds against success, and the mindful focus to always promote no matter the challenges, rejection, or tears.

It may seem, on a daily basis, that no matter what you do, the result is the same – no traction in book sales, no obvious fame, and no impact with your words on the lives of others.  But such snapshots don’t tell the complete story.  In reality, if one is doing enough to promote a book – and doing it well —  a slow build up is happening, much like a grassroots political campaign, and all of a sudden, one day, you start to reap the rewards from it.

At least that is the hope, that all of the seemingly silenced or meaningless social media posts turn into more connections, deeper engagement, and actual book sales.

Everyone’s path to success is different.  There’s no one formula as to how many book reviews you must earn, how many FB posts you must make, how many Twitter followers you must gather, or how many video views you must collect on You Tube.  It could take just one well-crafted post that is luckily embraced by someone who decides to share it with her big following.  And if her followers equally embrace and share it, suddenly your numbers are through the roof.

It’s a bit of a lottery to get that kind of break, but it happens every day.  And even if you don’t become the next You Tube star or Facebook celebrity, you could go from followers in the hundreds and low thousands to where 100,000 people start paying attention to you.  A few may even buy your book.

The social media numbers will open the door to getting media coverage, speaking engagements, and other opportunities. If you can parlay any of those things into book sales and more followers, you can sustain your rising-star mojo.

So, my author friend, cheer up.  You are not alone in your fears, frustrations, and hard work.  Keep at it.  You are only one tweet away from breaking through.  Maybe.

Leading Social Media Platforms For Authors

Social media is tough to keep up with – so many things to click, share, learn and master.  You probably are using one of the popular platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, You Tube, Instagram, or Pinterest.  But have you also explored any of these?

Reddit

Stumble Upon

Zorpia

Flickr

Bebo

Digg

Google +

Habbo

Meetup

Hi5

Ning

Orkit

Get Help From The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies

Go look at www.NASAA-Arts.org and you’ll see some great resources for writers, including how to find your own state’s art agency.  This local agency can help you participate in a creative community and connect with grants and supporters of the arts.

DON”T MISS THESE!!!

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http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2018/08/how-authors-should-craft-facebook-post.html

What will move an author to actively promote his book?

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2018/06/what-will-move-author-to-promote-his.html

Best Book On Fake News Shows Us How To Defeat The Lies

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2018/08/best-book-on-fake-news-shows-you-how-to.html

Valuable Info On Book Marketing Landscape For First-Time Authors

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-book-marketing-landscape-for-first.html

Do authors really promote the benefits of their books?

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2018/06/are-authors-really-promoting-benefits.html

Scores of Best-Selling Book PR Tips from Book Expo PR Panel

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2018/06/best-selling-book-pr-tips-from-book.html

How should authors sell themselves?

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2016/12/how-should-authors-sell-themselves.html

Enjoy New 2018 Author Book Marketing & PR Toolkit -- 7th annual edition just released

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2017/11/2018-book-pr-marketing-toolkit.html

Brian Feinblum’s insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are his alone and not that of his employer or anyone else. You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2018. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America and participated in a PR panel at the Sarah Lawrence College Writers Institute Conference.