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Using Tech for Book Marketing

Kate Gingold from Sprocket WebsitesKate has been building websites with her husband Don since 1996 for all sorts of clients, including authors.

Kate regularly writes about online marketing for Sprocket Websites and provides tips and techniques for entrepreneurs and small-business owners. Since being an author today is not really different from being an entrepreneur with a small business, most of those tips are just as useful to authors.

Kate is an author herself. She writes books on local history, including the award-winning "Ruth by Lake and Prairie," a fictionalized account of the true story of Great Lake pioneering to the shores of Chicago and beyond to found Naperville, Illinois. 

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Ruth By Lake and Prairie

Author Tips and Tales

How to Be Social on Social Media
Kate Gingold Host
/ Categories: Author Tips

How to Be Social on Social Media

Maybe you use Facebook and Twitter in your private life. Maybe you avoid social media completely. But publishers, publicists, and marketing gurus will advise that authors really need to be using social media. So are you up to the challenge?

The big mistake most folks make is only posting “buy my book” at random intervals, like a series of billboards on the highway. Instead, picture social media as an old-fashioned ice cream social…

The room is full of people. Small groups are gathered here and there, chatting comfortably. When you enter the room, you could stand in the corner by yourself mumbling “buy my book,” but no one would hear you. You could stand on the buffet table and shout “BUY MY BOOK,” but people would just turn away.

So you look for people you know and nod “hello.” Instead of barging into their conversation, you approach and listen politely. You chime in with an appropriate remark and look for an opportunity to subtly turn the conversation so you can mention your book.

There may be folks who could be important contacts in the room, but instead of grabbing total strangers by the lapel, you ask friends to introduce you to them so you’ll make a better impression.

If you can’t get an introduction, you might hang around nearby looking friendly and watching for the chance to make an intelligent comment or compliment. But not in a creepy or pushy way.

Before you know it, you’re the belle of the ball! People like you and include you in conversations with their other friends. Folks you don’t even know take notice and listen in to hear what you’re talking about. Just remember that popularity is fickle and if you don’t bother cultivating these new friendships, you’ll find yourself once again the ignored outsider.

Building your online social network isn’t any different than this fictional ice cream social. You start by “friending” and “following” people you know. Engage them in conversation by commenting on what they post. Write interesting posts of your own and reply promptly to anyone who comments – even if they’re nasty about it. A brief, polite response to troll behavior makes you look really good in comparison!

See who your friends know online and ask to be introduced to good contacts. Pick conversation topics that attract people you want to know by searching for and using the hashtags they use. Nearly every social media platform uses hashtags now to help users sort through the overwhelming amount of information.

If this sounds like work, well, it is at first. Just like any relationship. But if you put extra effort upfront into building your online network, then maintaining your friendships becomes a pleasure. In fact, chatting with your friends may threaten your writing time. But that’s a topic for another article! 

Photo by Ashford Marx

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Full disclosure:  Writing for Sprocket Websites is my day job, so if you have questions about digital marketing, I'm happy to help!

 

Marketing Author Interview

Following a presentation for In Print Professional Writers Group, Kate's husband (and publisher!) Don was interviewed by author Louise Brass for WBOM Radio. During the conversation, Don shared many of the marketing tips from his presentation. You can listen to it online here.

The Sprocket Report

The Sprocket Report is published every other week with Internet marketing tips, tools and techniques. The archive features articles from 2011 up to the present. You are welcome to read how business owners are using technology to market themselves and apply those tips to your author business.


 

 

Get a Book Siging Checklist and our Sprocket Report

Kate will be happy to send you her brief Book Signing Checklist. Treat your book promotion like a business - because it is!

AND, since much of your efforts will be online, she'll also enroll you in her Sprocket Report, an email newsletter sent every other Tuesday, that includes 2 Internet Marketing tips and a post from a guest blogger on related business.

No worries! She won't use your email address for anything else, and you can unsubscribe from the newsletter anytime, but the checklist is yours to keep.

Any questions of Kate? Leave them in the message field and she'll get back to you ASAP.

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