Digital Marketing for Authors, Writers, Editors and other Service Providers in the publishing industry!
Social Media is an author's business partner. Most writers, published authors and service providers in the book publishing do not take digital marketing seriously when it comes to promoting their product, which could be a book, a blog, editorial services, designing services among many others. For most of us social media can be very intimidating. With the large number of people on different platforms of social media there are innumerable possibilities to reach out to and connect with your audience. In the case of the publishing world the audience includes, fellow writers, readers, editors, designers and marketing professionals.
Underestimating the importance of a presence on social media or giving up because of a lack of likes and followers will only harm you. Engagement on your social media platforms is key. However, if you are only posting promotional items, to advertise your current and upcoming books, people may lose interest. You will gain from keeping them engaged with articles or blog posts related to your books and writing.
In the beginning you should give yourself a little time to play around with the various tools available and get a feel for them. You don’t need to use all of them, just choose the one that feels right for you. Remember you need to take time out every day to communicate with a global audience. With just a few clicks you can express relevant details about yourself, your author profile and other topics of interest. Once you get the hang of the world of digital media becomes easier to navigate.
More and more authors are managing their online presence and expected to have a bigger hand in marketing their book to others even if they are published through the traditional route. Some feel embarrassed or almost afraid to market their book. But don't! Talk about it, be excited because if you aren't your readers won't be too. This is your book and you worked hard on it! Don’t let your blood, sweat, stress and tears go to waste.
Once you are convinced about the importance of digital/social marketing you should start by first defining your audience and goals. Who would you like to reach? Readers? Influencers ( reviewers and book bloggers)? Other writers? Literary agents? Publishers?
What are your goals? Do you want to increase the sales of your book? Do you want to get more people to review your book? Would you like to connect with your current readers so that when your next book comes out, you already have a community of people who are excited to read it? Would you like to network with other writers so that when they recommend must-read books, yours is mentioned?
That done you can start spending time a few days of the week to plan, schedule and engage with your audience. You don't have to do this every day but being consistent is important, whether it is daily, twice or thrice a week. Another vital thing to remember is to respond to queries or comments in a timely and appropriate fashion. Your audience will be more encouraged to interact, once they notice that you often respond. Do not forget to be polite and to ignore anything irrelevant or derogatory unless it is a genuine complaint about the book.
The takeaway here is to market yourself like any other entrepreneur!
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