David Toft
Acolyte
Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linkedin, which do you find best for promoting your writing? There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to keep up with them all.
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Facebook or Twitter
- Thread starter David Toft
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I don't really promote my writing much at the moment because I don't really have many things to promote other than some anthologies I've been in and such. I do promote my blog regularly as I hope that is a sort of window into my writing style and readers/writers (my blog is fantasy-centric, but has more writer information as of now) will connect with it. For me, I find the following, at the moment;
1. Facebook
I have a Facebook author page. I made this because most people on my Facebook aren't much interested in writing or fantasy. So I made the separate page for those who may be interested. It only has about 20 followers at the moment, so not a lot of activity there, but I hope to build it up more once I have something to write. I've since joined some fantasy groups on Facebook I enjoy so far. I don't know if I plan on using them to promote anything though as I just like interacting with people that like the same things as me. However, if anyone's interested, here's my page: https://www.facebook.com/philipoverbyfantasy
Right now I mostly just post questions or links to my articles. I've started creating memes or sharing ones as people seem to like that sort of thing and it allows me to produce content on a regular basis. Not much interaction as of yet, but I find that most author pages that don't have famous names attached them tend to be this way.
2. Twitter
I find the Twitter is good for finding links from people or sharing information quickly. As a promotional tool, I've haven't used this much either. I find Twitter's way of interacting with people kind of difficult to get the hang of, but I see how Twitter accounts by some authors definitely work in their advantage. For me, Twitter is something I haven't quite figured out. I tend to only use it to find cool links from others for the most part.
3. Google+
Of the three social media I have, Google+ seems to be the best to connect with tons of other writers. Readers, I'm not so sure yet. However, most of my blog traffic comes from Google+ because I'm in several fantasy writing communities that I really like and I recently created my own. Not sure how promoting a book works out, but I find that I get OK traffic for my blog from it.
4. Linkedin
I don't have that one.
There are other communities out there that may be worth checking out. Some have more success with some social media than others. Maybe someone who has actually promoted a book on social media can give more perspective than me.
1. Facebook
I have a Facebook author page. I made this because most people on my Facebook aren't much interested in writing or fantasy. So I made the separate page for those who may be interested. It only has about 20 followers at the moment, so not a lot of activity there, but I hope to build it up more once I have something to write. I've since joined some fantasy groups on Facebook I enjoy so far. I don't know if I plan on using them to promote anything though as I just like interacting with people that like the same things as me. However, if anyone's interested, here's my page: https://www.facebook.com/philipoverbyfantasy
Right now I mostly just post questions or links to my articles. I've started creating memes or sharing ones as people seem to like that sort of thing and it allows me to produce content on a regular basis. Not much interaction as of yet, but I find that most author pages that don't have famous names attached them tend to be this way.
2. Twitter
I find the Twitter is good for finding links from people or sharing information quickly. As a promotional tool, I've haven't used this much either. I find Twitter's way of interacting with people kind of difficult to get the hang of, but I see how Twitter accounts by some authors definitely work in their advantage. For me, Twitter is something I haven't quite figured out. I tend to only use it to find cool links from others for the most part.
3. Google+
Of the three social media I have, Google+ seems to be the best to connect with tons of other writers. Readers, I'm not so sure yet. However, most of my blog traffic comes from Google+ because I'm in several fantasy writing communities that I really like and I recently created my own. Not sure how promoting a book works out, but I find that I get OK traffic for my blog from it.
4. Linkedin
I don't have that one.
There are other communities out there that may be worth checking out. Some have more success with some social media than others. Maybe someone who has actually promoted a book on social media can give more perspective than me.
GeekDavid
Dark Lord
Rather than retype everything I've said before, may I just point you to this post of mine over in the Marketing area?
The short answer is, I swear by Twitter, for various reasons (which are explained in that post). However, every author is different, so your mileage may vary.
I've moved this to Marketing.
Very generally speaking, having somebody post it to Facebook is more likely to get somebody to read it, but Twitter is a better networking tool, which is huge in the long run.
It's important to understand how your tools work together. Someone who sees it on Twitter might hit the Facebook Like button, where more of their friends will see it in turn. They don't work as effectively on their own.
Very generally speaking, having somebody post it to Facebook is more likely to get somebody to read it, but Twitter is a better networking tool, which is huge in the long run.
It's important to understand how your tools work together. Someone who sees it on Twitter might hit the Facebook Like button, where more of their friends will see it in turn. They don't work as effectively on their own.
robertbevan
Lore Master
I use both Facebook and Twitter.
I enjoy my Facebook author page. I post links to my good reviews there, and occasionally I'll post a bad review if its really scathing. It's nice to see how many of my fans will either make comments about it, or go click the 'I-did-not-find-this-helpful' button. Naturally, the bad reviews get a lot more attention than the good ones. But we have fun, and it gives me a chance to interact socially with fans. I'll also post updates on my current work, and sometimes a funny fantasy or gaming related picture from a different Facebook page.
I don't like Twitter at all, but damn if it doesn't sell some books. I do pretty much exactly what people advise you not to do on Twitter. I spam my books on an endless repeating cycle. I've got a list of about 30 or so funny book advertisements, complete with links. I've got followers who consistently retweet my ads, and I retweet whatever they've got to say. I tweet two of someone else's, and then one of mine. Repeat until I've gone through my entire list of tweets, and then get the hell out of there. This is probably not an advisable strategy for most people, but it's working for me.
I enjoy my Facebook author page. I post links to my good reviews there, and occasionally I'll post a bad review if its really scathing. It's nice to see how many of my fans will either make comments about it, or go click the 'I-did-not-find-this-helpful' button. Naturally, the bad reviews get a lot more attention than the good ones. But we have fun, and it gives me a chance to interact socially with fans. I'll also post updates on my current work, and sometimes a funny fantasy or gaming related picture from a different Facebook page.
I don't like Twitter at all, but damn if it doesn't sell some books. I do pretty much exactly what people advise you not to do on Twitter. I spam my books on an endless repeating cycle. I've got a list of about 30 or so funny book advertisements, complete with links. I've got followers who consistently retweet my ads, and I retweet whatever they've got to say. I tweet two of someone else's, and then one of mine. Repeat until I've gone through my entire list of tweets, and then get the hell out of there. This is probably not an advisable strategy for most people, but it's working for me.
I detest Facebook. *feeds it to the fantasy demons* But I do have a Twitter...which I have no idea how to use. Its confusing but somehow its gotten me more followers on my blog. I don't have that many but a good amount also follow me on Twitter. I would like to get the hang of it more since it seems to reach more people faster. I like that.
GeekDavid
Dark Lord
Chester, there's several good books both on the basics of Twitter and on using it for marketing.
A. E. Lowan
Dark Lord
Ok, while we're on the topic I'm going to do a mini-necro of this thread and ask what everyone's Twitter handles are. I'm interested in both what everyone is saying out there so I can learn by example (in other words, I want to subscribe to your feeds), and also to earn more followers for myself, because I'm a shameless little mercenary like that. Atm I mostly use my feed to shoot off pithy writing advice, but when we publish we'll be talking more about The Books of Binding.
What do you guys think?
Atm I mostly use my feed to shoot off pithy writing advice, but when we publish we'll be talking more about The Books of Binding.What do you guys think?
GeekDavid
Dark Lord
Mine is in my signature.
A. E. Lowan
Dark Lord
I'm already following you, David. lol
Ches, sweetie, I'm looking but I can't find your twitter handle anywhere. But I did sign up to follow your blog. It looks darling.
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