So
many people post on Facebook, looking to promote their book or author brand,
but only some get real results, meaning they grow their connections, their
posts travel far, and they see something materialize from it, such as book
sales, invitations to speak, or bigger media coverage. How can you produce the best posts on
Facebook, the most popular social media platform?
Let’s
first begin with the obvious. Make sure
you are consistently putting out good, timely, well-written content that sticks
to themes related to your books and that tie into what’s in the news and what
you have the experience, education and knowledge to speak about.
Next,
let’s make sure you’re on a reasonable schedule of posting. By varying the length of your posts – and the
frequency – you can always be pushing your brand out there. Posting twice a day on FB may be a good
number. If you sometimes post a visual
and not much text – or you re-post someone’s post – you can consider posting a
third time per day. The key is to post
often enough to attract attention, but not so much that you’re a nuisance to others or
where the posting becomes burdensome to you.
Your
posts can’t be “Buy more books” nor should they be about what you ate for
lunch. They should be about writing and
your creative process; relevant advice, tips, strategies, or helpful resources
related to your book's themes; stories shared from your career experiences; and
other relevant things.
Other
possible post ideas include:
·
Share a blog post – by you or someone else.
·
Show a funny or interesting image.
·
A
quiz.
·
A
case study that highlights an accomplishment and explaining how it is relevant
to others.
·
Commentary
on related news.
·
Discussion
of something you recently did – attended a conference, spoke at an event,
celebrated something.
·
Provide
how-to advice.
·
List
resources.
·
Do an interview with someone.
·
Sharing
a video clip.
·
Make a declaration about something important.
·
Question an action or viewpoint.
·
Analyze data.
·
Highlight something outrageous.
·
Review a related book.
·
Share
a first-person, eye-witness account.
·
Things
one shouldn’t do or say.
·
Something
contrarian or provocative.
·
Share
a secret.
·
Make
a prediction.
·
Share
links to your writings.
·
Show
something personal that humanizes you but lacks controversy or strong opinions
on religion, sex, or politics -- unless they are relevant to your book..
Follow
some best practices of good writing such as:
· Show,
don’t tell. Do not merely say you fell in love. Try this: “It was at that very moment that I knew my
heart could not beat for anyone else, that my body could not be consumed by
another man, that my soul would be lost without him by my side.”
·
Use
familiar yet surprising analogies. Sure,
you can compare someone or something by making the topical references – “He was
as wide as he was tall.” Or you can say: “His ever-expanding waistline seemed to
grow at a pace faster than that of Jeff Bezos’ wallet after Prime Day.”
·
Embrace
the active voice over the passive. This
means state things in the present/future vs. the past, and it also means
emphasizing things in a certain order within a sentence so you can write with
verve and impact.
·
Avoid using clichés, stereotypes and tired phrases.
·
Make
sure you don’t misuse or confuse your words.
Uninterested and disinterested are not the same thing. Nor are canvas and canvass. Nor are amoral and immoral. Be aware of when to use can and may, fewer
and less than, and who vs. whom.
·
Share
stories that only you can tell, calling upon personal experiences in a unique
presentation style.
·
Chances
are what you say is neither news nor new, but you can say it better than others
have said it.
·
Lead
the post with the most important aspect of your ideas – and bring out the best
words to give them shape and importance.
If you don’t draw them with in the first paragraph they will move on.
·
Write
your post with a purpose – and passion.
If you end up not loving your post, don’t settle for mediocrity. Ditch it until you can pen something really
good. Set a high standard for yourself.
·
Avoid
redundancies – utilize the free site wordcounter.com.
·
Make
your post tight -- trim unnecessary words or fluff.
·
Infuse
personality into the post – share emotions, hopes, fears, desires, and joys.
Lastly,
if you feel anyone could’ve written your post, don’t bother publishing it. Let it reflect who you really are. It must contribute
to what’s out there – otherwise don’t bother.
DON”T MISS THESE!!!
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The keys to great book
marketing
Enjoy New 2018 Author
Book Marketing & PR Toolkit -- 7th annual edition just released
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.
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