I hope you enjoy today’s Book Marketing Update.

As we reach the start of a new year (finally!), I’m seeing quite a few posts on productivity. I’ve included two in today’s post.

Be sure to check out a blog post I wrote earlier in the year titled Social Media Tips You Need to Know. There are some great nuggets of information there.

Finally, I hope you end the year writing your heart out and selling more books than you’d ever imagined.

Have a great weekend!

Book Marketing

Writers, Ink Podcast: Episode 56 – Creating Professional Covers and Ads on BookBrush with Kathleen Sweeney: “Kathleen Sweeney has helped authors create professional covers and ads on BookBrush for the past two years. One of the most innovative new author tools, BookBrush features easy-to-design standard covers, instant mockups, box set covers, 3D covers, and even animated covers. As the Customer Service Manager and Marketing Lead at BookBrush, Kathleen hosts frequent information sessions and works closely with authors to help them create the best cover or ad possible. “

Social Media for Authors

Social Media Tips You Need to Know: From time to time, I collect a variety of social media tips for writers that I think are helpful. This post, from May, details social media tips you need to know broken down by platform.

Productivity

4 Strategic Actions for a Productive Writing Year by C.S. Lakin: “At the end of every year, I blog about planning. The new year is looming on the horizon, and to many it feels like the chance at a fresh start. We can say good riddance to 2020—for so many reasons, to be sure. But I also hope you spent some time writing and improving your writing chops.”

From Chaos to Creativity: Productivity for Writers with Jessie Kwak and from Joanna Penn: “How do you balance your time between what you have to do and what you want to do? How do you decide what’s most important to work on? How do you make the most of the time you have for writing? I talk about productivity for authors and writers with Jessie Kwak.”

Outsourcing

Tasks Authors Can Outsource to a Virtual Assistant from Mark Dawson and by Dan Parsons: This is an excellent post about the kinds of tasks authors can outsource so they can focus on their writing.

A social media expert for authors (something I never dreamed of becoming), I build author platforms to enhance book sales. I also use my industry connections to promote authors and their books. What else can I do for you? I’m a writer so I provide content writing and email marketing services. Let’s chat! And don’t forget to download my free Twitter ebook.

I’ve wanted to share my favorite apps with you for quite some time.

My husband didn’t understand why I would want to do that. He reasoned that I worked hard at testing apps and said that I shouldn’t share my “secrets” with you.

I explained to him the information is “out there” anyway. Anyone can learn about the apps I use.

You need to understand that my husband doesn’t have a website or use social media. So, of course, he doesn’t understand the notion that the more information I “give away,” the more my online credibility grows.

So here is the post I’ve meant to write for months.

My Favorite Apps for Instagram

I have four favorite apps for Instagram: Later, Lensa, ColorStory, and All-Hashtag.

Later is a scheduling app for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, but I use it just for Instagram.

I love Later because I can get a visual sense of my scheduled images for the week or the month. For example, this is what I have planned for December.

When I click the Preview tab, I can more specifically see what I’ve scheduled.

And, Later makes it easy to move images around.

Later also has analytics that indicate:

1. Profile interactions
2. Profile growth
3. Best posting times
4. Post performance
5. Story performance
6. Hashtag analytics

Lensa is my other favorite app for Instagram.

Lensa will make your selfies look better. If you are camera shy like I am, Lensa will change that. I take pictures of myself, and Lensa improves them.

Take this image, for example. I no longer have the original, but this is definitely an improvement!

Plus, Lensa has an array of cool backgrounds that you can add to your selfies.

With Lensa, I no longer need to hire a photographer for my profile pictures.

I also like to use All-Hashtag.com. You can use this app on any social platform that uses hashtags, such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

On Instagram, you can have up to 30 hashtags. Hashtags are basically hyperlinked keywords. The more hashtags you use, the greater the chance that people will find you by using one of the hashtags you include in your first comment or in your caption.

For example, when I search for writer, these options appear:

#writer #writersofinstagram #writersofig #writers #writerscommunity #writerslife #writersofindia #writersnetwork #writersblock #writercommunity #writersoninstagram #writerlife #writerscorner #writerofinstagram #writersuniverse #writersofinsta #writerofig #writerssociety #writersociety #writerscommunityofinstagram #writerswrite #writersclub #writersonig #writersblog #writermemes #writerso #writermeme #writergram #WriterGirl

When I enter poet, these options appear:

#poetry #poet #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #poetsofig #poetryisnotdead #poets #poetic #poetryofinstagram #poeta #poetsociety #poetryporn #poetryofig #poetryinmotion #poetrygram #poetrysociety #poeticjustice #poetrylovers #poetess #poetryslam #Poetas #poetrycommunityofinstagram #poetssociety #poetryislife #poeticjusticebraids #poetscommunity #poetryclub #poetofinstagram #poetrylove #poetsofinsta

You can use these hashtags or just use some of them and add your own. But All-Hashtag.com will give you a starting place.

Finally, you can improve images in general by using the free version of ColorStory.

With ColorStory, you can crop images, sharpen images, and provide filters. I am surprised at how dull my original images appear before using ColorStory.

For example, here is an image of a flower I found in an outdoor nursery:

Here is the same images after I used ColorStory:

ColorStory make the pictures I take a brighter.

My Favorite Scheduling App

I’ve tested Buffer, Hootsuite, and SocialOommph. But the scheduling app I like the best is SmarterQueue.

On SmarterQueue, you can schedule Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest updates. I like to use it for Twitter and LinkedIn.

What is incredibly cool about SmarterQueue is that you can schedule recurring posts.

In this example, my sample tweet would post on 12/3/2020 at 8 am and post every four weeks for a total of four times.

Because tweets last just 18 minutes in the news feed, it’s essential to repost important tweets. With SmarterQueue, the reposting becomes automatic according to the criteria you establish.

My Fave Graphics Apps

I’ve used Canva for years now, and I haven’t found a substitute that I like better.

I have the professional version of Canva. That option enables me to convert images to different sizes quickly and without any effort.

Plus, with the paid version of Canva, you have access to its library of images for free.

You can use Canva for free. But an additional benefit of the paid Canva is that you can upload your favorite fonts and designate your brand colors in your brand kit.

To learn how to use Canva, just watch its tutorials.

As an aside, I’ve been experimenting with PhotoFunia.

For Halloween, I added this picture of myself to Instagram. See what fun you can have with this app?

Photo Apps

I use several sources to find images. I use:

1. Canva
2. Freepik  – This is a paid service. The annual fee is typically $119, but the app is always offering specials for first-time users.
3. Unsplash (Be sure to credit the photographer when using these images.)

Get Rid of Non-Followers

The way you grow your Twitter and Instagram accounts is by posting content that resonates with your readers, selecting the best hashtags, and following others.

But, when you follow others not all of them will follow you back. What to do?

I usually give people two weeks to decide whether they want to follow a client back. After that, I unfollow them.

For Twitter, I use Tweepi. It costs just $12.99/month and is easy to use.

I follow the same system on Instagram. For that platform, I use Unfollowers for Instagram. It costs just a few dollars and is easy to set up and use.

I don’t endorse churning: the rapid follow-unfollow cycle. Give people at least two weeks to decide whether they like your content and want to engage with you. After that, let them go.

For a list of Instagram apps, check out this blog post.  

Book marketing isn’t easy, is it? That’s why I compile this weekly update to keep you apprised of the best strategies people use.

It always includes the thoughts of “experts” and other authors who share their best techniques.

My hope is that you can find at least one tidbit to make your own book marketing successful.

I won’t be publishing a Book Marketing Update next Thursday. I rarely take time off and I’ve decided that I want to spend time relaxing and hiking with friends.

On Thursday, my husband and I will spend a quiet Thanksgiving by ourselves. However you spend the day, stay safe and healthy.

Book Marketing

7 Ways Podcasting and Marketing Are the Same from Sabrina Ricci: Marketing and podcasting are similar because they both rely on content. Remember when marketers used to say “content is king”? Well, it still is. In fact, content is everything.

14 Virtual Book Tours: 14 Must-See Strategies from Authors by BookBub: BookBub’s premise is that these strategies are particularly good now due to COVID-19. In reality, these are good strategies regardless of Coronavirus. Be sure to check them out.

YouTube for Authors and Multiple Streams of Income with Meg LaTorre and from Joanna Penn: If you want to learn more about how to take advantage of YouTube to further your brand and diversify your income, be sure to read this post.

Blogging

Freelance Blogging for Beginners by Robyn Roste and from Anne R. Allen: “Blogging for money is a great way to add additional cash flow. The trick is finding good clients so it’s worth the effort. While not every website pays for guest posts, there are many brands and businesses that invest in blogging and pay freelancers to write for them.”

Social Media

The One Thing You MUST do to Succeed in Social Media by Dan Blank: So what is it? Care. It’s not an acronym either. In a webinar with Nina Amir recently, she asked me how to market books in a pandemic and beyond. I replied that we need to express compassion.

Twitter Launches Story-Like ‘Fleets’ for All Users from Social Media Today: First, there was Snapchat’s disappearing messages. Then Instagram and Facebook stories came along. Then, LinkedIn introduced it’s disappearing stories. Now, we have Fleets, Twitter’s version.

Quote of the Week

A Book Marketing Weekly Roundup for Authors

Welcome to another whopper Book Marketing Update.

Today’s edition includes eight posts on book marketing. Yeah, there was a lot of great advice on the web this past week.

Joanna Penn’s podcast just keeps getting better over time, doesn’t it? Her guest this past week discussed the importance of author networking. This is such an important topic. Romance writers, in particular, are really good at this.

I hope you have the time to take in all of this stellar advice.

As always, keep safe and stay healthy.

Book Marketing

Virtual Book Marketing in a Pandemic from Lisa Tener: “Book Coach Lisa Tener interviews Literary Publicist Laura Totten Rossi, Volunteer and Head of Publicity for A Mighty Blaze about virtual book marketing, the role of A Mighty Blaze and book events during a pandemic.”

Be Where Your Readers Are: I wrote this post a while back but it still holds true. If you want to succeed in your book marketing, you first need to market to your readers where you will find them online.

4 Easy SEO Tips for Writers and Authors from Sabrina Ricci and by Ivelisse Rodriguez: This post include some easy tips that take the mystery out of some SEO basics.

Marketing a New Book Release: 9 Tips You Have to See from BookBub: Erica Ridley, who has written more than 40 books, shares her top tips in this post.

Author Networking

Networking for Authors with Daniel Parsons and from Joanna Penn: Parsons wrote a book about how to network with authors, build friendships with your colleagues, and sell more books. I’m a huge believer in collaborating with authors who write in your genre. Be sure to read this post.

Author Networking: How to Partner with Other Authors from Dave Chesson: When I teach authors, I always point out that on social media we don’t have competitors, we have colleagues. Well, this post is all about how to reach out to potential colleagues in a meaningful way. Be sure to read this post.

Book Launches

How to Build and Manage a Book Launch Team: by Sarah Gribble: This post gives you step-by-step instructions on how to build a team of fans who will make your book launch successful.

Book Marketing with Ads

Maximizing Book Sales with Facebook and BookBub Ads: Q&A with Cathy Shouse and Melissa Storm and from Jane Friedman: Advertising, whether it’s on Facebook or with BookBub, is a huge part of successful book marketing. While this post doesn’t provide details (for details you need to take a course), it does provide useful insights.

Quote of the Week

A social media expert for authors (something I never dreamed of becoming), I build author platforms to enhance book sales. I also use my industry connections to promote authors and their books. What else can I do for you? I’m a writer so I provide content writing and email marketing services. Let’s chat! And don’t forget to download my free Twitter ebook.