Free Email Course for Authors

Social media can be confusing for authors. That’s why I created this free email course to show how you to use social media to engage your readers and find new readers. You’ll learn:

  • How to get started the right way on social media
  • My top strategies for succeeding on social media
  • Fabulously free image sources for authors
  • Blogging tips
  • And more!

When you sign up, you automatically get a free ebook, Twitter Just for Writers. So just enter your email below for the free course and book!

Indie Author Weekly Update – June 14, 2019

June 14, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Indie Author Weekly Update

There seems to be a little bit of everything in today’s Indie Author Weekly Update. From indie author publishing to BookBub ads to social media I think you’ll find what you need. Enjoy the posts!

Indie Author Publishing

Self-publisher Help with Library of Congress PrePub Book Link & LCCN by David Wogahn: “PrePub Book Link is the new, modern online system for requesting a Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN). It replaces the 1990’s-style web portal that publishers and self-publishers used to submit LCCNs and CIP requests.”

Don’t Crowdsource Your Cover Design from Publishers Weekly and by Jane Friedman: “It’s a beloved truism in publishing that the cover is the key marketing tool for a book. Even those outside of the industry know the cliché, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” But, in fact, we all make snap judgments about whether we’d enjoy books based on looks alone. It’s not so different from shopping for clothing or anything with a distinct look and feel—some things match one’s identity and others don’t.”

Why Do an Indie Author Blog Tour from Alliance of Independent Authors: Self-Publishing Advice Center: “In an ever-changing industry, lots of marketing tactics go in and out of fashion more often than I have hot dinners. But sometimes marketing isn’t about generating sales, but growing awareness and building an audience. ALLi author member and children’s book author Sue Wickstead explains why you should do an indie author  blog tour.”

BookBub Ads

Are you making any of these mistakes when designing your BookBub Ads? by Melina Hsiao and from BookBub: “There are many different components you could include in your ad design — a cover image, a tagline, a five-star review, a quote from another author, a blurb from a publication, an award or accolade, a logo, series information, and more. Because of this, it can be tempting to cram a lot of these elements into a single ad. However, ads with lengthy text, multiple images, and a brightly patterned background come across as busy and cumbersome.”

Social Media

5 Things You Need To Know About Posting On Social Media On Weekends from The Social Marketers: “I have seen it over and over again, people, blogs and brands being very active on Social Media on weekdays – and turning utterly silent on social media on weekends. I am not sure whether this is due to their social media manager doing a 9 to 5 job and going home on Friday afternoon or if the idea behind this is that people are not that interested in “work-related” content on weekends.”

How the Facebook algorithm works and ways to outsmart it from SproutSocial: “The Facebook algorithm often feels like a mystery, doesn’t it? And as a result, brands are rightfully concerned about their presence on the platform. Even if you haven’t been impacted by the recent algorithm changes yourself, you’ve probably heard horror stories of brands watching their organic reach take a nose-dive. But Facebook algorithm changes don’t necessarily signal trouble for brands.

Quote of the Week

Edgar Allen Poe quote

 

Want to know all of my best social media marketing tips? Get a copy of Social Media Just for Writers.

 

Social Media Just for Writers 2nd Edition

Well written, well researched – well thought out. This book is a must have!

Ryshia Kennie 

Frances CaballoAuthor of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She wrote several social media books including Social Media Just for Writers and The Author’s Guide to Goodreads. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. Her clients have included authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for her free email course.

Online Book Marketing Strategies for Writers

How to Conquer LinkedIn – Part 1

June 10, 2019 By Leave a Comment

How to Conquer LinkedIn

Want to learn how to conquer LinkedIn?

I know what you’re thinking. “I’m a writer, not a business. I don’t need LinkedIn.”

Yeah, well, if you write books and want to make a living at it, guess what? You just started a business.

I mean, who writes books, pays for conferences or workshops, editors, and graphic artists and then doesn’t expect to make money?

I hope that’s not you.

Listen, while Instagram keeps climbing the chart, growing and expanding you need to know this: you still need LinkedIn.

So, let’s get started.

LinkedIn is an excellent venue to post information about yourself and, yes, about your books. Here you can connect with colleagues and learn and share your expertise. Also, if you write nonfiction or do any kind of consulting, this is your place.

However, let’s look at the numbers first. These stats are from Omnicore.

LinkedIn Statistics

These numbers are accurate as of May 29, 2019:

  • Total number of users: 630 million
  • Number of monthly active users: 303 million
  • Active users from the US: 177 million

LinkedIn Demographics

Now, look at who uses LinkedIn.

  • 40 million students and recent college graduates on LinkedIn.
  • The number of men on LinkedIn rose above the number of women, with a 57% to 43% ratio. There used to be an even number, but that number now fluctuates.
  • 23% Millennials (18-24 years old) use LinkedIn.
  • There are 87 million Millennials on LinkedIn, with 11 million in decision-making positions.
  • 49% of LinkedIn users earn more than $75,000 in a year. This figure is courtesy of the Pew Research Center and is from 2018.
  • 51% of US college graduates use LinkedIn. This number also comes from a report from Pew.
  • 90 million LinkedIn users are senior level influencers, and 63 million are in decision-making positions. This figure comes directly from LinkedIn.

Let’s Interpret the Numbers

Yes, you probably thought that Millennials were spending their time on Instagram, WhatsApp, and Snap. Wrong.

They have to eat and pay rent, right? So they spend time finding a dream job. And while they are at it, might find a book to read, an editor to hire, etc.

If you have a paid account, you can buy advertising.

Let’s Get Started with LinkedIn

It’s hard to believe that you wouldn’t have a LinkedIn account already. If you don’t, go to LinkedIn.com and sign up. Just enter your email address and create a secure password, and you’re on your way.

Conquer LinkedIn for Business Part 1

Make sure that you upload a professional photograph for your avatar, upload a LinkedIn banner image, and go through the lengthy process of completing your profile.

After entering your About section, focus on the Experience section. Be careful with the titles you give yourself because the most recent title will appear in your top profile section.

The top portion of your LinkedIn profile should look like this:

LinkedIn enables you to include your education, volunteer experience, skills and endorsements, and recommendations.

Include your history of volunteer work. I believe that showing commitment to your community is always a good thing.

Under accomplishments, you can add a variety of items. LinkedIn includes a publications feature, so add all of your books.

If you have time to join a group, do so. However, adjust your notifications so that you don’t receive an email every time someone adds a comment.

Before leaving this page, remember to edit your public profile & URL. For example, instead of my LinkedIn public URL being LinkedIn.com/FrancesCaballo19385758493873628494 it is LinkedIn.com/in/FrancesCaballo/.

Edit your LinkedIn URL by clicking or tapping “edit public profile & URL” in the upper right-hand corner. If you want a new profile in another language, you can do that here as well.

Conquer LinkedIn for Business Part 1

Time to Conquer LinkedIn for Business

 When you click or tap the arrow next to the word Work in the upper taskbar, select Create a Company Page. Like I said above, if you write a lot of books, you have a business and deserve to have a business page.

Conquer LinkedIn for Business Part 1

LinkedIn Company Page

 Once you select the option to create a company page, you’ll see four choices.

Conquer LinkedIn for Business Part 1

Make your selection and proceed.

You will add your company name and select a LinkedIn public URL. Then you will provide some company details, a logo, and your company’s tagline.

Once you complete this information, click Create Page.

The next item you see will be this pop-up:

Conquer LinkedIn for Business Part 1

Click “get started.”

My situation may be different from yours. My company name is ACT Communications. I only use that business name when I bill clients. For years now, I brand myself as do a lot of social media consultants. Here, my brand is Social Media Just for Writers.

My business website is simply FrancesCaballo.com.

There’s a lot to cover about LinkedIn, so let’s take our time with it. This platform takes a lot of time to set up. It’s nothing like Instagram. So let’s take our time so that you can truly conquer LinkedIn for business.

Want to know all of my best social media marketing tips? Get a copy of Social Media Just for Writers.

 

Social Media Just for Writers 2nd Edition

Well written, well researched – well thought out. This book is a must have!

Ryshia Kennie 

Frances CaballoAuthor of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She wrote several social media books including Social Media Just for Writers and The Author’s Guide to Goodreads. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. Her clients have included authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for her free email course.

Online Book Marketing Strategies for Writers

 

Indie Author Weekly Update – June 7, 2019

June 7, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Indie Author Weekly Update

Love this edition of the Indie Author Weekly Update. There were so many great posts this past week. Wow. It was hard to trim the list. Plus, I’ve got a great tip for you in my last entry. Enjoy writing, writing, and summer!

Publishing

The #1 Mistake New Self-Publishers Make That Leaves Them Vulnerable to Publishing Scams by Anne R. Allen: “I hear about new publishing scams all the time. Sometimes scammers approach me personally, but more often I hear a sad tale of woe from some newbie who has fallen for the latest con. This week I realized that almost all the victims of publishing scams have one thing in common: they don’t understand the most important part of the digital self-publishing revolution that started in 2009.”

Psychology of Success For Authors: Do You Think Self-Publishing is Second Best? by the Alliance of Independent Authors: “Anyone who regularly attends author events tells the same story about how such rooms tend to divide. At the trade-published side of the room, aspirants share their concern, or sometimes despair, about their chances of ever being “published.” They’ll report that the conference’s agent-in-residence liked their work but wasn’t going to make an offer to represent it, for this reason or that. Those who already have a publisher often complain about what they, or their agents, have failed to do for them.”

How I Caught a Publisher Unexpectedly by Nancy Jorgensen and from Jane Friedman’s Blog: My book is published by a company I never heard of and didn’t query. After years of writing, workshopping and revising our book, my co-author (who is also my daughter Elizabeth) and I marketed it to agents and publishers. It was the story of Elizabeth’s sister, Gwen, a CPA turned Olympic triathlete.”

Facebook

Facebook Adds New Page and Group Ranking Factors into News Feed Algorithm by Andrew Hutchinson: “After announcing a News Feed algorithm update earlier this month, which focused on boosting content from the people you care most about, and reducing the reach of clickbait, Facebook has now issued an amendment to that update to also add in new ranking signals for content from the Pages and Groups that people are most interested in.”

Indie Author Book Marketing

Didn’t go to Book Expo1 9? Here’s a recap of top book promotion tips and trends mentioned at the conference: “At last week’s BookExpo 2019, the biggest annual publishing conference in the US, there were several educational panels featuring publishing professionals and book marketers. These industry thought leaders were buzzing about a wide variety of topics this year, from marketing debut authors to working with indie bookstores. We’re excited to share some of the top book promotion trends and tips here for anyone who couldn’t attend BookExpo 2019!”

Tip of the Week

Want to read book reviews from a phenomenal writer? Ransom Stephens is now writing book reviews on Medium. He’s the reason why I’m reading Turtles All the Way Down by John Green, my first YA novel. Go to his reviews. You’ll love them and discover new books. He reads a variety of genres.

Quote of the Week

John Green quote

Want to know all of my best social media marketing tips? Get a copy of Social Media Just for Writers.

 

Social Media Just for Writers 2nd Edition

Well written, well researched – well thought out. This book is a must have!

Ryshia Kennie 

Frances CaballoAuthor of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She wrote several social media books including Social Media Just for Writers and The Author’s Guide to Goodreads. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. Her clients have included authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for her free email course.

Online Book Marketing Strategies for Writers

 

Indie Author Weekly Update – May 31, 2019

May 31, 2019 By 2 Comments

Indie Author Weekly Update

I think you’re really going to enjoy this installment of the Indie Author Weekly Update. I liked Beth Barany’s post for NaNoProNo as well as two of the posts on Jane Friedman’s blog. Heck, they’re all great. Go to all of these sites and  learn how to sell more copies of your books.

NaNoProNo

How to Create a Book Marketing Roadmap by Guest Beth Barany: “We writers want to be read. Otherwise, why would we publish our work? Well, it is so gratifying to hold the book and see it on the shelf. But it’s the readers’ joy in reading is what it’s all about. Otherwise, why publish?”

Book Covers

Top 5 Free Book Cover Makers–Don’t Break the Bank, Create Your Own! from Kindlepreneur: “Your cover is arguably one of the most important selling points of your book. As authors, however, we often face tight budgets. Deciding where to spend our money and where to tighten the belt isn’t easy. Covers are one of the more expensive aspects of production. Pre-made covers often start at $100, and custom, full-spread artwork alone can cost up to $4000 a book depending on the artist.”

KDP Reports

KDP Reports Beta – Now With Income Estimation by David Gaughran: “Amazon has implemented some long requested new features to the KDP Reports Beta, including *drumroll* INCOME IN DOLLARS. At last! It doesn’t have all the slicing and dicing capabilities of BookReport just yet, but it makes it a lot easier to press cancel on that $19 a month subscription, which I imagine I’ll be doing before I have to re-up in a couple of weeks. I was a huge fan of BookReport and recommended it to everyone, being particularly fond of their approach of not charging authors until they were making $1,000 a month, which I thought was both fair and smart business.”

Book Marketing

Pinterest and Instagram For Writers with Frances Caballo and from Joanna Penn:  “You can listen above or on iTunes or your favorite podcast app or watch the video here, read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and full transcript below.”

Identifying the Best Self-Published Books by State: The Indie Author Project from Jane Friedman’s blog and by Ryan Walker: “Longtime authors in the self-publishing community may recall the library program known as SELF-e, launched in 2015. It’s a partnership between Library Journal and BiblioBoard to make self-published ebooks available to libraries nationwide. Any author can submit their work for inclusion in SELF-e (at no cost); Library Journal curates what ebooks go into the national SELF-e collection. Books not selected are still accessible to local library patrons through state collections.”

9 Ways (and 2 Rewards) of Marketing Your Own Book by Beth Alvarado and from Jane Friedman’s blog: “When I found a good home for my essay collection Anxious Attachments, I knew I would have to take an active role in marketing. After all, while Autumn House Press is a fine press, it’s also small and independent, with no marketing department and limited funds. I published both of my earlier books, Not a Matter of Love and Anthropologies, through university presses—also wonderful, prestigious presses that don’t have marketing departments.”

Quote of the Week

Maya Angelou quote

 

Want to know all of my best social media marketing tips? Get a copy of Social Media Just for Writers.

 

Social Media Just for Writers 2nd Edition

Well written, well researched – well thought out. This book is a must have!

Ryshia Kennie 

Frances CaballoAuthor of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She wrote several social media books including Social Media Just for Writers and The Author’s Guide to Goodreads. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. Her clients have included authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for her free email course.

Online Book Marketing Strategies for Writers

 

 

6 Great Scheduling Apps – Which One Would You Use?

May 27, 2019 By 2 Comments

6 Great Scheduling Apps - Which One Would You Use?

I’m overwhelmed by indecision. Let me start again. I don’t know which of the many social media scheduling apps to use going forward.

I’ve used SocialOomph (SO) or years. Seven years to be exact. I started with Hootsuite but switched to SocialOomph back in the day when tweets indicated which scheduling app my tweeps were using.

The big guns were using SO.

Recently, SO revamped and improved its website, but it still doesn’t include scheduling for Instagram. In today’s world, can we really put up with an app that doesn’t include scheduling Instagram posts and stories?

No, at least I can’t. So, I’m exploring options.

Actually, let’s explore the options together.

Today’s Top Scheduling Applications

AgoraPulse

AgoraPulse is popular and expensive. It starts at $79/ month but includes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

It features a Chrome extension, Facebook ROI calculator, queue categories, and an inbox assistant.

Nice features but not what I need even as someone who has social media marketing clients.

CrowdFire scheduling app

Crowdfire

Crowdfire has a free account, and if you pay annually, the Plus version works out to $7.48/month.

You can use it for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest. It supports video posts, has a chrome extension, you can schedule with a calendar view, and it will track mentions. And it has even more features. Nice.

But for $7.48/month you can only link one account per social network. This is all you need. But it won’t work for me.

Scheduling Apps that Better Fit Your Budget

Later

Later - scheduling appsI like Later even better than AgoraPulse and Crowdfire. Use it to post to Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. It offers an Instagram hashtag analytics feature, will tell you the best time to post, monitors groups, and will suggest hashtags. You can schedule photos and videos and Instagram stories.

You can use its free plan or pay $9/month for additional features.

I really like it.

[Read more…]

Indie Author Weekly Update – May 24, 2019

May 24, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Indie Author Weekly Update - May 24, 2019

This Indie Author Weekly Update features some posts from Rachel Thompson’s NaNoProNo plus there’s a great post on book covers. Jane Friedman featured one on how to find a publicist. They’re all great!

NaNoProNo Posts

How to Make Author Network Connections with Five Easy Elements by Guest Donna Jennings, Ph.D and from Rachel Thompson: “Some people are unaware I grew up on a farm. I took part in crop planting and harvesting when I wasn’t feeding and watering animals. I translate lessons from farming to authoring because there is a lot in common, like seasons. You plan and prepare, plant the seeds, grow the product, harvest and when it’s ready, you share with the world.”

How to Improve Your Email Newsletters Right Now by Guest Barb Drozdowich and from Redhead Media: “All the experts these days seem to focus on “growing your list,” as part of your author platform. That’s the primary message – bigger and bigger numbers seem to be the most important thing. How many email addresses can you gather up to proudly show off?”

How to Set Your Author Website Foundation by Guest BookWorks and from Rachel Thompson: “The independent author sphere is saturated with bad design and marketing—from unintentionally hilarious book covers to websites that look like refugees from the wreckage of Geocities—and you don’t want to add to it. But it goes much deeper than that. Design isn’t just how your website looks, but what it does (to very loosely paraphrase Steve Jobs), and you have to do more than just have something out there. It needs to be as remarkable as your book.”

How To Grow Your Author Platform by Guest Alexa Bigwarfe and from Bad Redhead Media: “There is nothing worse than doing all the things to have a well-written, edited, fantastic book that completely flops when you launch it. That’s all of our biggest fears as writers, right? Okay, creatives have a lot of fears, but this one: “What if nobody buys my book?” is at the top of the list.”

Book Covers that Sell Your Book

Are you looking for a new book cover designer or premade cover? This will make your search easier! by Diana Urban: “Most authors and book marketers know that covers are important — and that it can be worth spending money for a professionally designed cover. After all, a book’s cover design has a proven impact on sales. But where can you go for help with your book cover design? We’re always on the lookout for useful resources, and we compiled this list for anyone seeking cover design help. We tried to include a variety of designers and premade cover options so you can find the best match for your genre and budget. While we haven’t vetted these specific resources ourselves, we hope they’re good places to start and make your search for cover design help less overwhelming.”

Find a Publicist

Choosing a Publicist: Ruling Out and Ruling In by Guest Barbara Linn Probst and from Jane Friedman’s blog: “Nowadays, many writers elect to hire their own publicists. That’s especially true for those who publish with small, independent, or nontraditional presses, since that may be the only way for them to secure media attention. It’s also true, however, for writers who take the traditional route. Unless you’re a major name, your publisher will have limited time and resources to devote to your book. If you want more exposure, you’ll have to make it happen yourself.”

Pitch for Film & TV

How to Pitch Nonfiction for Film & TV from from Alliance of Independent Authors and by Charles Harris: “As you cast about looking for other ways to generate income from that nonfiction book you slaved over, ever wonder what it takes to pitch your nonfiction book for film or TV? Kick back and let ALLi Author member Charles Harris show you how it’s done.”

Quote of the Week

One writes because one has been touched by the yearning and the despair of ever touching the Other.

Want to know all of my best social media marketing tips? Get a copy of Social Media Just for Writers.

 

Social Media Just for Writers 2nd Edition

Well written, well researched – well thought out. This book is a must have!

Ryshia Kennie 

Frances CaballoAuthor of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She wrote several social media books including Social Media Just for Writers and The Author’s Guide to Goodreads. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. Her clients have included authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for her free email course.

Online Book Marketing Strategies for Writers

 

Indie Author Weekly Update – April 17, 2019

May 17, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Indie Author Weekly Update

I think this Indie Author Weekly Update is the longest one I’ve ever compiled. Rachel Thompson’s NaNoProNo is in full swing and I like to bring the best of those posts to my weekly roundup. Anne R. Allen wrote a dynamite piece of the author persona. I start with the most important post: the one on MailChimp by David Gaughran. Read it. Enjoy all the posts in this week’s edition.

MailChimp

Time To Ditch Mailchimp? by David Gaughran: “Mailchimp attracted extreme criticism this week when it became clear how its new marketing services would impact its core email offering — particularly in terms of pricing — leading many long-time users to start explore alternatives (including this one).”

NaNoProNo Bog Posts from Rachel Thompson

Why Writing Your Truth Is an Effective Marketing Strategy by Guest Jackie Cioffa and from the Bad Redhead Media blog from Rachel Thompson: “When Bad Redhead Media’s Rachel Thompson reached out to me to write a post about promoting and marketing my books, my immediate thought was is she kidding? I have been an avid follower and fan of Rachel for nearly a decade, trying to emulate her badass self-publishing skills and as much of her marketing expertise as I could.

How to Make Your Book Marketing Plan a Success by guest Maureen Joyce Connolly and from Rachel Thompson: The very core of my approach was to learn as much about launching a book as quickly as possible, to compile a strategy and to execute it with support if I needed, but for me to be the driver of my plan. I also understood instinctively, that I would need to identify my personal strengths and use them to my advantage since I had no social media presence – nada, zip – as my business had flourished via referrals.

This Is How to Use Harder Working Links to Sell More Books by Guest Jessie Lakes and from Rachel Thompson: “Let me quickly introduce you to what we call “intelligent links,” the hardest working links on the internet. These aren’t the links you copy out of your browser window or a shortened bit.ly links, but rather supercharged links that can help you sell more books and unlock a new stream of revenue. And the best part is that you are already doing the hard and time-consuming work, swapping in the use of “intelligent links” doesn’t take much extra time at all.

How to Best Prepare for Book Marketing by Guest Frances Caballo and from Rachel Thompson: “Book marketing involves so many steps. When people come to me, they erroneously think that all they need is social media marketing. Au contraire. Social media alone won’t cause your books to start flying off the proverbial bookshelf. So, take this quiz and see if you’re ready to tackle book marketing on your own.”

This Is How to Sell Your Book in 20 Seconds by Guest Sharon Goldinger and from Rachel Thompson: “Picture this: You’re in an elevator, your book cupped in your hand, the title clearly visible to the other person in the elevator. While riding from floor 1 to floor 19, she asks, “What is From Fat to Fit about? You respond: “You’ll be inspired by the amazing Community Meltdown, which motivated 1,000 people to have fun while losing 8,000 pounds in 8 weeks, and my personal story as I went from fat to fit and lost 62 pounds.”When the elevator lands at her stop, she says, “Sounds great. I’ve got to get a copy.”

Your Author Persona

What’s Your Author Persona? How to Be Yourself Online—Only Better by Anne R. Allen: “I blog often about an author’s online presence and the importance of keeping your image squeaky clean, especially when you’re starting a writing career. That image is sometimes called your “author persona.”

Book Readings

How to Plan a Book Reading That Delights Your Audience from Jane Friedman and by James Navé: “The audience is on your side. They love writing just as you do; that’s why they’re there. These wonderful people have taken time out of their lives, probably traveled some distance and spent some money, just to hear you read. They’ve come to witness your imagination at work. They’ve come to be moved, entertained, motivated, validated, informed, provoked, stimulated and inspired. In short, they’re receptive.”

 

Quote of the Week

Indie Author Weekly Update - Toni Morrison quote on writing

 

Want to know all of my best social media marketing tips? Get a copy of Social Media Just for Writers.

 

Social Media Just for Writers 2nd Edition

Well written, well researched – well thought out. This book is a must have!

Ryshia Kennie 

Frances CaballoAuthor of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She wrote several social media books including Social Media Just for Writers and The Author’s Guide to Goodreads. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. Her clients have included authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for her free email course.

Online Book Marketing Strategies for Writers

4 Dirty Little Secrets About Social Media Marketing for Authors

May 13, 2019 By 1 Comment

4 Dirty Little Secrets About Social Media Marketing for Authors

Think social media marketing for authors is hard to learn?

Hardly.

Sure, there are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of blog posts published every day explaining how to accomplish some aspect of social media.

But guess what?

It’s mostly been said and done previously.

Sure, some things are new, such as Facebook’s new focus on Groups and Facebook Messenger chatbots.

But a lot of what you read about social media marketing for authors has been said before.

Really.

Okay, I just explained the first secret to you. Let’s review secrets two, three, and four now.

Secret Two: You Don’t Have to Be Everywhere

I’ve mentioned this on my blog before, but it bears repeating.

For some reason, when we publish our first book, we seem to believe that we need to be everywhere.

You don’t. Why?  Because your reading demographic isn’t everywhere.

Where do you think Young Adult readers hang out? Mostly Snap, Tumblr, and Instagram.

Where do you think romance readers spend their time online? Mostly Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

You can have a bio on LinkedIn, but most authors don’t need to spend a lot of time there – especially not romance and YA readers.

What if three social media platforms are too many for you to handle? Pick one and learn it until you can rock it. Then take on a second. Then, if you want to take on a third on but stop at that point. No one needs to be on more social media platforms than three.

Well, that’s my opinion, and you can probably find people to disagree, but that’s what I think.

It’s simply too much of a hassle to devote a lot of time to more than two or three social media platforms. And if you want to hire someone to handle the platforms for you, fine, but you’ll be paying a lot of money.

So, streamline your social media and put energy into writing and blogging.

Secret Three: Subscribe to One Great Social Media Marketing Blog

If you subscribe to one blog that covers social media marketing for authors (hint: mine!), then you don’t have to read any others.

Why spend hours reading a massive list of social media blogs? It doesn’t make sense.

Instead, you should spend your time writing your next book.

Secret Four: Secret Media Is Actually Simple to Use

Yes, it really is.

Let’s start with Facebook. Signing up is super easy, and Facebook has simplified the creation of Author Pages.

Basically, all you need are the basics.

Instagram may be the easiest of them all. Create quotes, snap pictures of where you write or hike and upload them to Instagram with a caption and hashtags.

On Twitter, set up your username and password, use Canva to create a header image, and you’re on your way. Know that tweets can now be up to 280 characters.

My point is this: learn the basics of the social media networks you need to be on and then over time, add more skills.

All you need to start are the basics.

So, you think that’s easy for me to say? Well, it’s not. In fact, it’s harder for me because I’m expected to be able to master every innovation as it’s introduced.

How do I keep up? I read blog posts, and I take a lot of courses – courses that you can sign up for as well.

So don’t let anyone try to convince you that social media marketing for authors has a dreadful learning curve. If I can do it, so can you.

Want to know all of my best social media marketing tips? Get a copy of Social Media Just for Writers.

Social Media Just for Writers 2nd Edition

Well written, well researched – well thought out. This book is a must have!

Ryshia Kennie 

Frances CaballoAuthor of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She wrote several social media books including Social Media Just for Writers and The Author’s Guide to Goodreads. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. Her clients have included authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for her free email course.

Online Book Marketing Strategies for Writers

Indie Author Weekly Update – May 10, 2019

May 10, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Indie Author Weekly Update - May 10, 2019

I hope you enjoy today’s Indie Author Weekly Update. The seven (yes seven!) posts I reference below offer you the kind of strategies you need to sell more books.

Note that this month Rachel Thompson, social media expert and founder of NaNoProMo (to help authors market the books they wrote during NaNoWriMo) is featuring a lot of ideas on how to brand yourself and sell more weeks. Be sure to follow her on twitter (@BadRedheadMedia and @RachelintheOC) to keep up on the posts she’s adding to her website this month.

Enjoy the posts below!

Readers

Reader Targeting Influences Everything by David Gaughran: “Reader Targeting is yet another concept we have to juggle. It’s no wonder many writers take to the drink, or otherwise lose the run of themselves. Or can be a little… kooky. We have to wrestle with a number of contradictory notions all the time — it’s enough to make anyone batty.”

How to Bring Value to Your Readers from Jane Friedman’s blog and by Paulette Perhach: “What’s the difference between these two writers: David Sedaris, who people pay fifty dollars to see read out loud for an hour, and the open-mic writer, who is allowed five minutes to read before the timer interrupts him to get off stage? In business speak, the difference is value. Specifically, the power to create value through art.

Branding

Three Reasons Why Branding Shouldn’t Make You Lose Your Mind from Bad Redhead Media and by C. Streetlights: “Imagine you have always had a dream to, I don’t know… let’s just say for argument’s sake you always wanted to become a writer. Unfortunately, Reality can be a real jerk and you couldn’t be a writer or a ballerina so you ended up being a bus driver. However, in our imaginary scenario, you are able to maintain a blog about your adventures and have a large following. When confronted about you do in your spare time, you somehow manage to stammer, “I’m sort of a writer.”

Author Blogs

4 Ways You Can Make Time To Blog Right Now by Rachel Thompson: “Time, writers say, is the biggest challenge when it comes to blogging. We are writing books. We are marketing books. We are thinking about writing and marketing books. We are parents, spouses or significant others, single parents, workers bees, pet puke cleaner-uppers, grocery-shoppers, housekeepers, laundry-do-ers, mental illness sufferers/survivors, advocates, and the beat goes on.”

Book Marketing

How Recommending Books Can Grow an Author’s Audience
from BookBub Partners and by Catherine McKenzie: “As writers, we’re in a unique position to both spread the word about books we love and to benefit from the subsequent engagement this gives us with readers. Recommending books I’ve loved has brought me new readers and has allowed me to engage in the enthusiastic online book community.”

How to Make Time for Book Promotion by Pauline Wiles and from Rachel Thompson: “As authors today, we’re compelled to juggle more tasks and responsibilities than ever before. Given the colossal effort you’ve invested in writing and publishing your book, you know you’d be crazy not to dedicate some energy to promoting it. But with all that’s going on in your life, how do you make the time for this?”

So, You Want to do Author Events? Tips to Get You Started from Indies Unlimited: “Many authors make public appearances, or outings, in an effort to connect with more people. For those who have never done it and are interested, I thought I’d put together some pro tips for authors who would like to do a public event.”

Quote of the Week
I want to tell the truth. That’s where my storytelling comes from.

 

Want to know all of my best social media marketing tips? Get a copy of Social Media Just for Writers.

Social Media Just for Writers 2nd Edition

Well written, well researched – well thought out. This book is a must have!

Ryshia Kennie 

Frances CaballoAuthor of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She wrote several social media books including Social Media Just for Writers and The Author’s Guide to Goodreads. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. Her clients have included authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for her free email course.

Online Book Marketing Strategies for Writers

 

Indie Author Weekly Update – May 3, 2019

May 3, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Indie Author Weekly Update - May 3, 2019

Here’s another edition of the Indie Author Weekly Update. Think social media has gone to the dogs? Well, not yet. Take a look at this week’s posts and you’ll find new ways to market your books.

Indie Author Weekly UpdateBy the way, my dog Paisley (pictured to the right) now has her own Instagram account. I’d love it if you’d follow her on her very own Instagram account. You can also follow me here. See you on the ‘Gram!

Book Marketing Tips

Let’s Get Meta by David Gaughran: “When should you cut names from your mailing list? Why should you do it at all? How to you actually go through the process of doing it? Are there any risks involved? We’ll cover all that today using this list as an example. Told you it was meta!”

5 Marketing Tips from Amazon that Deliver [Infographic] by Meg Carpenter: “Looking for marketing inspiration? Look no further – the team from Talkwalker have pulled out 5 marketing tactics from one of the top 10 most valuable brands in the world: Amazon.”

Book Promotion: Do This, Not That – May 2019 by Amy Collins: “When a store turns us away when we offer them a book for sale, that is not usually a solid “no.” It is an answer to our first question. Perhaps we are not asking the right question. We were asking them to give us money in exchange for our books before we have proven that our books will make them money in return.”

News from Books2Digital

Introducing Reading Lists from Books2Read! by Kevin Tumlinson: “When we created Universal Book Links, we change the game — giving authors a tool that lets them send readers to everywhere a book is sold online …”

Author Websites

Step By Step Tutorial: How To Build Your Own Author Website In 30 Minutes  by Joanna Penn: “I currently write under three different author names, including one new pseudonym that I demonstrate in these tutorials. I’ve built a multi-six-figure business off the back of my author websites, so I know how important your site and email list are. Whether you’re just starting out with your first book, or you want to improve your existing author platform, this tutorial should help you along the way.”

Twitter

Twitter for Authors: How to Connect with Readers and Writers from BookBub Partners and by Julia Hansen: “Social media sites like Twitter are great for helping writers build and interact with a loyal, enthusiastic following. When used effectively, these platforms can help you expand your reach and boost engagement. Before jumping into the fray, it’s important to know how to effectively use Twitter to promote your books, connect with readers, and build a community (hint: it’s not all about marketing). So here are some of our top tips for making the most of Twitter!”

Of Note

36 Writing Contests in May 2019 – No entry fees

Quote of the Week

Writing is like painting with words, the paper is the canvas, the pen is the brush

 

Want to know all of my best social media marketing tips? Get a copy of Social Media Just for Writers.

Social Media Just for Writers 2nd Edition

Well written, well researched – well thought out. This book is a must have!

Ryshia Kennie 

Frances CaballoAuthor of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She wrote several social media books including Social Media Just for Writers and The Author’s Guide to Goodreads. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. Her clients have included authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for her free email course.

Online Book Marketing Strategies for Writers

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