Book Promotion and Social Media Where to Start

With todays growing social media platforms and the ever-changing landscape for book publication, it can be confusing to know where to start when it comes to promoting your book. Writing the book is the easy part; book promotion is the hard part.

​First things first, have a clear plan of what you want to achieve, is it a mailing list, reviews, noticeability, book sales?​
 
So where do you start?   The answer is everywhere. Get set up on all social media platforms if you are not already, think about the image you want to portray to your readers and followers. Now comes the juggling act. There are lots of ways to make your social media life easier, like linking your pages so that you can pin a pin on Pinterest and it automatically posts on your Twitter and Facebook page, the same with Goodreads. Then there is Buffer, a handy app that lets you schedule tweets and pins in advance and posts them for you. 
 
However there comes a time when you need to focus on what works best for you. The vast majority of successful authors will tell you that whilst they have mastered the social media juggling act, they focus their attention on just one or two social media platforms that work best for them.
 
Social Media Platforms
 
Twitter - Great for brand awareness and networking with bloggers.
 
Facebook Fan Page - Great for brand awareness and showcasing.
 
LinkedIn - Great for networking with professionals in your field and forums.
 
Instagram - Great to connect with your readers in a fun creative way through images.
 
Pinterest - Great way to advertise and connect with readers in a fun way. It is the latest BIG buz in the author world so make sure you have a business account set up and widgets on your website and blog.
 
But lets look at Goodreads and YouTube more closely. 
 
Goodreads is the biggest book club out there. It has forums, groups, authors and bloggers and most importantly die hard readers. This is where you want to be spending your cyber days. Start to friend readers and follow authors, also make sure you are posting ratings and reviews.
 
Direct message - Message the people, who have marked your book ‘to read,’ you could offer a free down load in return for an honest review. 
 
Goodreads Giveaway - Your book will be seen by hundreds of readers and the lucky winners of the Giveaway can be added to your mailing list. This not only helps build your mailing list but also builds it with readers who want to read your genre, and who will be interested in reading further books you write. They will also hopefully review your book and build on your review numbers.
 
YouTube is a brilliant way of getting you, the author, and your books out there. Create your own channel and set up a YouTube platform. Here you can showcase you and your book. Show people who you are with fun videos and book trailers. 
 
Not confident in the art of video making? Click here and for $39 you can have SolaFide Publishing do it for you.
 
All you need is a storyboard and a YouTube channel. There are some great sites out there like Animoto.com where you choose a template video, add your pictures from your storyboard and out pop’s a professional video. Animoto.com. You can pay for one months use for around $20 and make as many videos as you like and for as long as you like. I would recommend about a 1 minute for a book trailer.
 
There are also sites like Flixpress.com were you can make video intros to add onto your book trailer. In the same way you choose a template, add in the words and out pops an intro trailer.
 
Now that you have an intro trailer, a book trailers you will need to cut them together. You can do this in YouTube editor. Just upload your trailers to YouTube, but remember to mark the clips as private so no one can see them. Then go to YouTube Editor and you will see the videos clips in your editing page on the right hand side. From there you drag and drop, and cut down the video as required. After you’re done you will need to select a project at the top of the page and wait for it to appear back on your YouTube Chanel, now your ready to mark as public and share. 
 
And if you need help with the juggling act find a Book Publicist
 
Publicists like SolaFide Publishing will manage your publicity. If you want to go down this route it is important to choose wisely and work with a publicist that is well connected. A publicist will do a number of things for you depending on what you are looking to achieve, book tours, generating reviews, interviews, book cover reveals and social medial promotions. The larger publicists have a large list of bloggers to connect you with and even connections with online publications to further spared your noticeability.
 
Good luck ​x