Thursday, March 15, 2018

Authors: LINK Your Social Media to Your Blog and Newsletter


Authors, Listen to the Chatter about connecting your social media accounts to your blog and newsletter.


Object: Place a link to your blog or newsletter in your social media entries and make the post interesting or inviting enough the reader will follow the link. Pretty Simple, Right?

There is a little more to it than that. The interesting or compelling part is the trick.


To give you some idea, here is a sample of a recent tweet I made to my twitter account, pointing to my blog: HBS Author’s Spotlight.

HBS Author’s Spotlight showcases Dianne Harman @DianneDHarman new book: Murdered at the Gallery. Dianne is an Award-Winning Bestselling Mystery, Suspense and Romance author. #mystery - http://bit.ly/2DocJEq #RT 

Tweet Notes: 
  1. Author name and tweeter handle included
  2. Book Title
  3. Author Byline (280 characters allows extra information on the author)
  4. Hashtag to author genre
  5. Link to my blog post for her novel which includes book cover, blurb, buy links, and an excerpt plus her contact information and book list
Included in the tweet was a picture of the cover plus the author’s twitter handle in the ‘Who’s in this photo?’ space. This got a large response from my followers and her followers


Here is what some of our Spotlight Authors have to say about getting your book information out to readers using social media.

Connect Social Media to Your Book Information


R.A. Barnes @Ruby_Barnes   
10000 twitter followers – Spotlight Interview

Ruby is the author of Mystery & Thrillers novels including the Zombies v. Ninjas series.

I’m a firm believer in building a social media platform and regular sharing of interesting content. My first book, Peril, came out before I had engaged with social media but I made the conscious decision to blog on various topics and built up quite a large amount of traffic on my site https://rubybarnes.blogspot.com.

Tweeting the blog posts created further traffic and I started to gain Twitter followers. One small but important thing I learned was that a good blog post is “evergreen content”, which means it’s timeless and can be periodically pushed out on social media regardless of its age. With billions of people on the planet I can reach new potential readers by recycling my tweets every month or two, using eye-catching wording.


Lorhainne Eckhart @Leckhart   
4155 twitter followers – Spotlight Interview

Lorhainne is a Romance, Mystery & Thrillers, and Young Adult Author.

Social media is a process that I started building back when I first published in 2007, and then seriously focused on building in 2011. It is not a process that happens overnight, but I have focused on Twitter, Facebook, building my newsletter along with writing two blogs, The Choice of Giving and Illusion. One of the most important pieces is making sure that my contact information is in the back of every book, on my website and on my blogs, which includes a link to sign up for my newsletter and follow me on Facebook and Twitter.



Connect Social Media to Your Blog


Russell Blake @blakebooks   
29400 twitter followers – Spotlight Interview

Russell is the best-selling, award-winning author of The JET series, Assassin series, and BLACK series.

I spend what time I do online not promoting books, but interacting with readers and alerting folks about new blogs I’ve written. I don’t try to use social media to sell books. I don’t believe that works. I also don’t believe that touting one’s books on forums does anything but annoy people, so I prefer to interact, offer opinions, and if they’re compelling and interesting enough, perhaps readers will take a gander at one of my books. I have no newsletter, and I view forums as purely entertainment, not marketing. Authors need to learn that their sales are often inverse to their desperation to sell. No good’s served by bombarding free channels like Facebook or Twitter with book advertising because it just makes you look like a desperate douche, and nobody wants anything to do with those.


Richard C Hale @Richard_C_Hale   
18900 twitter followers – Spotlight Interview

Richard is a thriller and paranormal writer and author of the Near Death Series.

Social media and my blog are the main ways I keep in touch with folks and though I’ve learned a lot about abusing it over that last two years, it still remains a favorite of mine and you can find me on FaceBook quite a bit. Twitter seems to be a little less effective for me and I thought I spent a long time building a following there, the room for a much larger forum on FB makes it my fav… Now, I concentrate on being myself and building relationships with people and I have so much more fun with it. You’ll rarely see me ‘selling’ anything on there.



Steven Konkoly @stevenkonkoly   
3417 twitter followers – Spotlight Interview

Steven is the Author of the apocalyptic thriller, The Jakarta Pandemic, and gritty covert-ops series, Black Flagged.

It’s an easy way for readers to reach out to me, without a ton of expectation. Twitter also draws people to my blog. I keep a Twitter feed rolling with book reviews (for other authors’ books) and articles that I have posted on my blog. I see these retweeted quite often. The bulk of my regular social media presence comes from Facebook, both my personal page and thriller-writing page. It’s probably the best place to catch what I’m doing, besides my blog. 





Joseph Lewis @JRLewisAuthor   
5362 twitter followers – Spotlight Interview

Joseph writes thriller fiction novels.

I'm pleased with my twitter followers. Not only will they receive book/writing updates, but I also tried to provide inspiration for everyday living. My tweets will coincide with my blog, Simple Thoughts From A Complicated Mind, Sort Of at http://jrlewis.blogspot.com I believe social media is extremely important, especially so because I am an Indie writer. I have built a nice loyal fan base, and it is growing mostly by word of mouth.






James Moushon @jimhbs   
2800 twitter followers – Spotlight Interview

I am the self-published Mystery Author of the Jonathon Stone Mysteries. Also, I am an Author Advocate and book industry blogger.

I have my book information on my three blogs and my website. The information includes buying links, book blurbs, covers, and excerpts along with my contact information. My goal is to use social media to get readers to go to my blog and read the complete marketing message.

As I make entries in my Twitter and Facebook accounts, I include a link to one of my blogs. I insert pictures in each entry to catch the eye of the reader. Also, I add a tag to another social media user account in the entry and/or a hashtag. This gives the entry the potential to expand to a broader audience (retweeting, etc).

Use an Interesting comment – try to get the reader to follow the link with an interesting tease like – Read the interview or New book release or Interesting series or set.


Connect Social Media to Your Newsletter


Lindsay Buroker @GoblinWriter   
9378 twitter followers – Spotlight Interview

Lindsay is the author of The Emperor's Edge, Swords & Salt, Rust & Relics and Dragon Blood series.

I think the best use of social media is to be out there, posting regularly, and being available to readers who also use those services. I’ll occasionally tweet book links or post snippets on Facebook, but I don’t rely on those venues to sell books. I do maintain a newsletter, yes, and encourage readers who enjoy the books to signup (I put links to my mailing list, blog, and social media profiles at the end of most of my books, to make sure people can find me).





Eliza Green @elizagreenbooks   
2337 twitter followers – Spotlight Interview

Eliza is the Science Fiction writer of The Exilon 5 Trilogy.

I’ve met some lovely people through Twitter and Facebook and I use social media as another way for me to connect with readers. It’s important to define how you’re going to approach tweeting and posting on social media. As well as sharing my own posts, I like to share other writers’ blog posts that I find interesting. There are people who follow me because of that. I’ve been blogging and on social media since July 2012, so building relationships anywhere takes time.

I produce a newsletter every so often to announce new projects or talk about what’s happening with the trilogy. People who subscribe to my newsletter are not necessarily the same people who are subscribing to my blog or following me on Twitter. Again, it’s another way to reach out to new, or interested, readers.



Be Active and Post Regularly


An important key to an indie author’s success is to be active on Social Media and connect the reader to your book information on your blog and in your newsletter.

Uvi Poznansky @UviPoznansky   
34700 twitter followers – Spotlight Interview

Uvi is a bestselling, award-winning author, poet, and artist.  She is the author of Contemporary and Historical Fiction novels.

Thank you for noticing my 24K followers on Twitter. The best way to gain followers is a simple one. Surprise yourself! Every day I publish a blog post about a different topic. Then I share it on social media, and readers come flocking.

What topic, you ask? I go for variety, so a post may be about the creative process, about a voice clip of one of my stories, a back story of what inspired a particular passage in my story, a peek at my art studio, the influence of art through history on my writing, readers’ reviews of my books, a verse or two from poems... 




Jami Gray @JamiGrayAuthor   
3604 twitter followers – Spotlight Interview

Jami writes Science Fiction & Fantasy, Romance, Suspense novels. She is the author of The Kyn Kronicles series.

Social media is the key in reaching your readers on a personal level. I tend to prefer Facebook, mainly because I don’t have to limit my characters, but I try to make sure I’m fairly regular across all outlets. Writers are reminded often to stay personable to their readers, and today’s social media can really give a writer that forum to make connections, not just to readers, but within the artistic community.





Carol E. Wyer @carolewyer   
8101 twitter followers – Spotlight Interview

Carol is the award-winning author of the Detective Robyn Carter crime thriller series. She writes Thriller, Humor and Comedy novels.

I love social media purely because it allows me to hook up with my readers and develop relationships with new ones. I was a blogger before I became a published writer and many of my relationships grew from blogging.

You may think me naive, but I was surprised at how effective twitter, Facebook and more recently, Instagram, have been in garnering interest in my books, and in gaining readers. I treat it all like a giant online party. If you chat to people at a party, you become friends and build relationships. If you're a wallflower and don't chat with anyone, they instantly forget you.


P. C. Zick @PCZick   
7039 twitter followers – Spotlight Interview

Patricia is an award-winning writer for her essays, columns, editorials, articles, and fiction.

My first novels were published traditionally, and I grew disillusioned with the publishing world, but not with writing. Then I realized I needed to change my thinking and climb on the social media train. I began educating myself in this new world. I grew (and am still growing) my twitter followers and my Facebook “likes” through my blog and by helping out other writers. I think social media works best when you have a support group to shout out for you (and vice a versa). No one wants to see you only promoting your own work. Launching a book via the Internet requires hard work, but I find it easier than the other way.


Post By James Moushon @jimhbs

Other Indie Author Chatter Posts

HBS Author's Spotlight http://bit.ly/QVEMix
The blog's purpose is to help authors get exposure in the book publishing industry. He has interviewed and showcased over 900 authors to date.

HBS Mystery Reader's Circle http://bit.ly/19Nfrx8
The HBS Mystery Reader's Circle provides information about the latest novels and what is coming next from a collection of Bestselling and Outstanding Authors in the Mystery, Thrillers, Historical Fiction and Crime genre.

Indie Author's Corner http://bit.ly/TauYkJ
The Corner is a collection of Author advice, ideas, experiences and studies including Marketing, Social Media and other major topics created to help writers in today's ever-changing world of book publishing.

Authors: Improve Your Twitter Messaging and Control - http://bit.ly/1FHB1oR
Melissa Foster - Developing Social Media Relationships - http://bit.ly/1qhhR3j
Troy Blackford - Using Social Media to Connect with Readers - http://bit.ly/1on7Nk8
Paul Western-Pittard - Importance of Social Media Relationships - http://bit.ly/1p2ppTE
Laurel A. Rockefeller - Importance of Twitter and Social Media Relationships - http://bit.ly/1B74epm
eBook Marketing: What Goes Around Comes Around
Indie eBook Marketing: When You Get to the Fork in the Road, You Must Take It. - http://bit.ly/10TUstg
Your Book Launch: Marketing Methods and Ideas Used by Outstanding Authors – A Study - http://bit.ly/1luAbo3

4 comments:

  1. Very helpful post. Thanks for including me!

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