1. Establish professional profiles

If you do not have professional profiles on the major social media sites, now is the time to make them! Creating professional profiles can be intimidating, especially if you are newer to social media or you are used to the personal social media account you’ve had for years. In any event, establishing professional social media accounts as an author will help you better connect with your readers, community, and the broader world of books. This is especially true if you write under a pen name.

Create a page for yourself on Facebook that can be “liked” by anyone. Similarly, create a Twitter and Instagram account under your author name. Make sure the branding is consistent between the accounts. For example, use the same profile photo and bio across the different platforms. If you can, use the same username on Twitter and Instagram, and a similar page URL on Facebook.

Keep in mind that while these accounts are professional, they can still showcase your personality. You should highlight your passion for your book and speak in a way that is natural to you. Authenticity is a huge selling point in itself!

2. Facebook groups

In addition to having a professional page, joining Facebook groups will help you use the platform to its greatest potential. Becoming a member of Facebook groups is a great way to narrow down possible readers, instead of posting to the entire world and hoping for the best.

For example, if your book is a historical fiction novel, join a Facebook group for people who are passionate about the specific era of history your novel takes place in. If your book is a memoir about a family, join a Facebook group for genealogists – people who do research on family trees, family history, etc.

Once you become part of a community on Facebook, you can invite people in the group to like your professional author page. You can also invite them to attend any events you might have to promote your book. People are more likely to see these invitations and respond to them if you have previously made a connection and earned trust with the group.

3. Find your Twitter niche

Twitter is also a terrific way to find an audience for your book. Start by following accounts that are of interest to your book topic. From there, you will be recommended other users that you might find interesting. You can use the search bar to search for tweets containing words and hashtags related to your book topic.

Not only that, but you can use Twitter to build relationships with other writers and individuals in your specific community. What sets Twitter apart from other platforms is how interactive it is. Striking up conversations with other users is normal and integral to one’s presence there. By interacting with others in your community, you can build a following, earn trust, and ultimately increase your visibility on the platform.

Additionally, Twitter thrives off the news of the day, or real time information. While Facebook and Instagram postings can be more delayed, people on Twitter talk about what is happening in the moment across the world. This can be seen by observing the “Trending” tab. Take advantage of trends when appropriate for you and your book – if you can make a connection between a trending topic and your work, make it!

4. Use Instagram for visuals

While Twitter and Facebook are great for posts containing both text and images, Instagram is without a doubt the most visual app out of the big social media platforms. On your professional author Instagram account, you can post photo and video content that will attract people to your book. Post photos of your book, pictures that relate to your book’s setting if it is a novel, or interesting photos relating to your book’s topic. If your book is poetry, post short excerpts with accompanying graphics.

Like Twitter, on Instagram you should search for and follow accounts that relate to your book topic, or other authors and industry professionals. Search through hashtags to find content related to your book topic, and make sure to attach relevant hashtags to your posts.

Be sure to utilize the Instagram Stories, Reels, and Live features. Increasingly, these can get more engagement than a post on one’s main profile. Use Stories to post everyday updates – talk directly to your followers about your day, what you are up to in promoting your book, or what your life is like. Be open and authentic, but also be wary of oversharing.

Reels is used to post longer videos, such as a video of you unboxing copies of your book. Instagram Live allows you to interact with your audience in real time. Set a time and theme for an Instagram Live session and advertise it across your other social media channels. Events such as a Q&A session about yourself or your book are great for Instagram Live. Make sure to pay attention from comments from users while you are in the live session.

5. Get involved with Goodreads

Finally, Goodreads is the largest community for readers on the internet. Think of it as a social media site but for people who are very invested in reading, communicating with other readers, and having access to authors. As a published author, you can claim your author profile on Goodreads and use it to promote your book. Goodreads offers the unique opportunity for users to make longer posts than Twitter and Instagram. In turn, readers can leave honest reviews of your book. Goodreads is a great slower-paced addition to your social media promotion toolkit.

We hope these tips are helpful in your journey.

Be sure to follow Dorrance Publishing on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok!

Look out for our posts about your book, and make sure to repost them onto your pages!

The post 5 Tips for Promoting Your Book On Social Media appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

1) Why it’s important

This may be fairly obvious, but social media has become one of the best forms of self-promotion. As we’ve said before, even traditional publishing companies have become less willing to invest a big advertising budget into every single book they work with. Therefore, an author who already has a large following is a really big draw for a publisher or literary agent. This way, they already have the assurance that you’ll likely sell a decent number of book copies if they take you on as a client.

2) What platforms should I use?

If you have the time to do so, using as many different social media platforms as possible is best. They each have their own merits and will help draw in specific crowds of varying age groups. If you only have time to keep up with one type of account, however, likely the best way to connect and bond with potential fans and readers is through Instagram. Instagram users who enjoy reading (authors, readers, reviewers, literary agents, etc.) all work within a community called ‘bookstagram’ (#bookstagram). The participants in the movement are quick to help one another, give out tips, make friends with one another, and lift each other up. If you participate properly in this community, you’ll likely gain a decent following. For a breakdown of the social media platforms and their benefits for authors, check out the video below:

3) Share content and news from other authors

Once you’ve decided what social media platforms to focus on, you’ll need to come up with content ideas. One form of content common across the board for authors on social media is sharing news and content from other authors (or even bookstagram users). Share a cover reveal that excited you or a book box from a startup company that could use the support. Not only will this draw in followers who want to keep up with book-related news, but if you share content from people who are also building a following they’ll likely reciprocate.

4) Like, comment, interact, and make friends

Possibly the most important aspect of building a social media following (regardless of the platform) is interaction. You should try to post as frequently as possible (try for once a day) and update your stories with what you’re doing. When people comment on your photos or posts, try to comment back quickly and attempt to get a conversation going. This will push you up higher in other people’s feeds. In addition, spend some time each day following book-related accounts and commenting on their posts. You likely want to reach the same audience so you might pick up a few followers from the comments alone and commenting frequently and supporting other authors is how you’ll end up forming relationships/partnerships that you could use later to do a giveaway or host a Q&A together.

5) Share the books you’re reading & what you think of them

Another form of content that readers will be interested in is your current read. Keep your followers up-to-date on what you’re reading and what you think. You likely read similar content to what your book consists of, so by posting this content, you’ll attract readers who will be specifically interested in your book. Plus it’s a great way to get some good interactions going in the comments–there’s nothing readers love more than gushing about their favorite books.

6) Share sources of inspiration from your book & writing tips

Since you’re an author specifically and not your average bookstagrammer or book lover, you can provide some unique insight into the writing process as part of the content you produce. Show your readers your writing space, things that inspired certain parts of your book, and tips on writing like what you do when you have writer’s block. This sort of content will more directly relate to your book and it will both intrigue readers about your material as well as provide helpful tips that they’ll appreciate.

7) Take pretty photos of books using props

This one is more specifically geared toward bookstagram users, but could be content used across several platforms (because who doesn’t like pretty pictures of books, right?). The majority of the content across the board on bookstagram is book photography where users will set up a favorite book with a few props or book-related merchandise and take a photo. As an author, this may seem outside of your comfort zone, but luckily with advanced phone camera technology, you won’t even have to go out and buy a nice camera to make this work. Other bookstagrammers are kind enough to share tips and tricks of how they edit their photos and looking at theirs for examples will help you start to figure out what style you’d like to do on your own page(s).

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