Brand Yourself- Author Tips on Maximizing Social Media

social follow

            I like to start off my blog articles with a hefty dose of reality. So, let’s start with this scenario. You’re scrolling through your social media feed when you suddenly see this:

BUY MY BOOK

EPIC ADVENTURE FANTASY

NOW 9.99!!! BUY BUY BUY!

            Many authors use social media to try and immediately sell their book. But that’s not what social media for authors is for. I’m going to address one key fact in this article, and it’s this. Build your brand as an author, not your brand from the standpoint of selling books. Your books are already out there, especially for ebooks. If you use social media solely to sell your book, then you can’t gain that many followers. Social media is meant to form social connections, not to be a one-human spam train. There’s nothing wrong with advertising a book giveaway or a book sale, but that shouldn’t be your sole focus.

            My tip in this blog post is that authors should use social media to brand themselves, which basically means that you go out there and talk about your fabulous life as an author. Post pictures of your adorable dog or travel. Write tweets about something funny that happened to you that morning. The basic idea of branding yourself as an author goes as this.

            You, despite what you may think, are a human, not the book that you wrote.

            If the idea is to gain followers on social media and then, eventually, new readers towards your book, you need to utilize social media to generate an interest in yourself. Try posting blog posts regularly (daily or once a week). Post a couple of photos that authors tend to like. Utilize hashtags. Follow fellow people from your literary community. And always, don’t expect more out of the social media network than that which you put in. Social media, despite what some people may think, is a really hard thing to do if you’re new to the scene.

            Of course, this is solely my opinion on it. Perhaps there are other marketing techniques to be utilized. If you have any tips of your own to share, please feel free to share them in the comments below. Sending my best summery wishes out to all of you! May the sun (and not snow, rain, hail, or any other miserable weather) be with you.

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