Are You Using These Social Media Tips?

A few random social media tips for you:

  • Note what some of your competitors are doing on social media. You will get a better understanding of what works and what doesn’t and can then create strategies that are best for your audience.
  • Vary your posts on each social media platform. Don’t always post identical content to each. Each platform has limits on the number of characters you can post and the ideal image sizes are different. The audience varies as well and what appeals to an audience on Facebook may not appeal to the audience on LinkedIn.
  • Share your own photos and ‘behind-the-scenes’ posts. This is especially true on Instagram. Instagrammers want to know more about your life as an author. They want to see photos of your writing space, perhaps a book store you visited, your cat. Of course, you can post about your book too. Just remember that the audience here is more often interested in your life than your book.
  • Use video. People love video. You can create a more engaged community when you post video consistently. (This is one I still need to work on.)

Are you using any of these social media tips? I’d love to hear from you. What other tips can you share?

Book Promotion: A Chat with Anna Scheller and Jim Fuhs

This week on #USABizParty, we discussed how to promote your book to reach your ideal audience.

Video Interviews

This entry is part 3 of 5 in the series Interview Tips for Authors

Because Skype has successfully integrated its system with major TV newsrooms, many video interviews are now done using Skype.

Check your environment so there are no distractions. Keep the backdrop simple so you are the focal point. If you are an author, you might have a copy of your book in the background.

Position the webcam so it’s pointed slightly down and with any light directed at your face. The more light there is, the better the video will look. Don’t sit in front of a window.

It’s hard not to watch yourself or your interviewer on the screen during a video interview. For the video to look like you’re maintaining eye contact with the interviewer, focus on looking at the camera lens. It will feel awkward at first. Practice doing this with a friend until you get comfortable.

Relax and enjoy yourself! The more you practice and the more interviews you do, the more comfortable you’ll become.

Client Interview: Deborah Olson, Author of “The Healing Power of Girlfriends”

Sue interviewed our amazing client Deborah Olson about her new book The Healing Power of Girlfriends. It’s a fun video, in which Deb tells us:

  • the factors that made her decide to write the book
  • what makes this book unique from other books on female friendship
  • her biggest surprise about people’s reaction to the book
  • what she wants to accomplish with the book
  • two takeaways from the book she hopes people will embrace
  • how she uses social media and other publicity to garner attention for the book
  • about the workshops or events she offers

Grow Your Nonfiction Author Business in May

YouTube logoMay’s tip to grow your author business:

Record a video

Get creative. Talk about your book. Share your top 10 tips. Post it to YouTube and share it on all your social media platforms.

It doesn’t have to be a polished professionally-edited work of art. It’s far more important that it’s genuine, sincere, a proper representation of you as a person and as an author. Your cell phone and a bit of preparation is all you need.

Do you have a YouTube channel? Share the link in the comments section so I can go check it out.

The Series

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December