A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to conduct a walk-through of the various social networking options available to authors. It was an exciting discussion in which we talked about Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. In the right situation these sites can significantly improve an author’s marketing success.

This weekend, at the 3rd Annual Spring Southeast Literary Magazine & Independent Press Festival I met more authors that were interested in these online tools. They’d all heard about them–Facebook in particular–but were unsure in how to approach this exciting, yet intimidating, marketing medium.

Notice I say marketing medium as opposed to social medium. As an author, you should be taking advantage of these online sites to represent yourself as an author. If you don’t do this, others certainly won’t see you as an author. That’s the first important decision you must make.

More importantly, you don’t want to just jump into these sites, showcase that you’re an author, and start posting your comments and establishing a social network. Think ahead about the genre of your book and the market that it might appeal to. For example, since LinkedIn is more of a professional network it’s better suited for books that support or extend your business interests. If you’re a consultant or expert in your field, having your book on LinkedIn can add more credibility to your professional status. However, if you’re a first-time fiction writer LinkedIn isn’t going to provide much value.

On the other hand, Facebook can be of tremendous benefit to new authors. You can showcase your book on your profile, talk about the background and process of writing your book, and provide updates on the publishing, marketing and other promotional activities surrounding your book. You can join Facebook Groups composed of readers in your book’s genre, and find publishers, bookstores, agents, and reviewers that can contribute to your book’s success.  I’ve worked with authors that utilize Facebook as their primary book portal and reach out to thousands of friends and potential buyers on a consistent basis.

Twitter is a different animal than Facebook and LinkedIn, but it may also have a place in your marketing efforts. With Twitter you can send and receive short messages (140 characters) to people all over the world in real-time. You can find publishing executives, agents, and celebrity authors that you can “follow.” If you approach it the right way you’ll find that Twitter can enable you to keep up with the “pulse” of the publishing world on a daily basis. If you post interesting messages about your book (similar to Facebook but shorter in length) you may also find that others are interested in what you have to say and will want to follow you.

Yes, it can be intimidating at first. And yes, it can take some time to show some benefit. You’ll also discover the fine line between hard “advertising” and softer “influencing.” The truth is, however, that more and more authors are figuring out how to expand their reach–and reader base–by marketing their books through these social networks. They’re building communities of readers not only for their current book for for their next one as well.

And if you’re not participating, you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage.

As I explained to the authors this weekend, just think about it for now. And please don’t leap into it. I’ve created a Powerpoint presentation about setting yourself up on Facebook that you can access here. Also, if you have questions or you’re not sure about how how to get started then let’s talk–it’s a service that I provide specifically for authors.

When you publish and get your book listed for sale you’re only half-way to the finish line, and if you don’t make some hard decisions about representing yourself as an author and making a concerted effort to market your book then your book might just be the world’s best kept secret. You owe yourself more than that.

Thanks again, and until next time–keep publishing!

Henry Hutton

Publish and Sell Enterprises
PublishandSell.com