Is Social Media A Bust Or Boon for Authors?

 

There is no question that for millions of authors, social media can be confounding. It is an enigma to many. On the one hand, it holds awesome potential – a free system to reach potential book buyers across the globe. On the other hand, it’s a vast wasteland of nonsense posts, some filled with racism, sexism, terrorism, hoxes, and bullying – a system that burdens authors who’d rather write than post endlessly with little return.

So which is social media for authors – boon or bust? 

Yes. 

Like anything else, it is what you make it out to be. Obviously, there are people who use social media effectively, so we know it can work for some people. No special requirements,, licenses, or degrees are needed to succeed online. But, equally obvious, is authors – most of them – struggle with social media.

Today’s author is left with three choices: 

1.      Embrace social media and take ownership of it. 

2.      Outsource social media and seek to net a gain as a result. 

3.      Ignore and dismiss it, even demonize it, and never look back. 

Option three is a nuclear one. If you simply avoid social media, you must make up for this shortfall by doing that much more and better in all other marketing approaches, such as speaking, networking, traditional media, advertising, etc. 

The second option is potentially expensive but it can still have a pay-off. 

The first option is your best one. So what will it take for authors to succeed at social media? 

First, stop making excuses about your poor social media showing. Wake up to the reality you need it to be in your life and such is the case, you need to embrace it, understand it, value it, and do it! 

Second, wipe the slate clean. Forget past failures. Ignore what you think you know about social media. Start fresh. Open your mind and heart to it. Start by educating yourself on how to best use each social media platform. Hire a consultant to show you – not do. Read a book. Take a course. Seek out a blog post or magazine article that offers guidance. 

Third, designate time every single day for social media. It can be 15 minutes. It can be an hour. Do it. In that time, first learn and experiment. Then go out and craft and execute a posting schedule. Then most importantly, take targeted and repeated, intentional action to get more connections, friends or followers. 

Fourth, pick at least two platforms to be active on. One is not enough. Six is overwhelming and too time consuming to learn and keep up with. Your choices should narrow down to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and maybe some industry-specific platform.  

Authors, rest assured, there are strategies that work. You need to discover them. You need to change your mindset. You need to do the work, every single day. It is, for sure, a pain in the ass that could suck our time from us, but it most certainly can help, brand you, sell books, share a message, and position you for discovery.  

Is social media a boon or bust to the author? 

Yes!

 

Contact Brian For Marketing Help!!

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com He is available to help authors promote their story, sell their book, and grow their brand.

 

Learn, Grow, Succeed!!

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2021. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  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. It was also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.