3 Most Important Media Platforms for Writers

3Penguins
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In some of my seminars and during publishing and book marketing consultations I meet authors that are not only new to writing, but also often have no “platform” – which means no blog or website and no Social Media presence, aside from some posts on Facebook to friends and family.

No problem, it’s all a matter of organizing it and not getting overwhelmed!  Here are some practical tips for online book marketers – no matter if they are independent writers or so-called “published” authors:
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Before You Start Posting on Your Social Media Sites

  • Make yourself familiar with each detail on these Social Media sites, all the functions and how people interact.
  • First set up folders and files for your images, posts, tweets – and most important for all your passwords, to have them always handy when you work online.
  • To find lots of free images for your blogs use either the “Commons” on Wikipedia or check out the fast inventory of photo-sharing sites.
  • List your posts and tweets neatly in a row on a notepad or word documents, so that you just need to copy and paste into your Google+ page.  Don’t forget to type all your passwords and log-ins immediately in your files!
  • Connect all your Social Media Accounts.  An essential step would be to open a Twitter account, and connect it with Google+, so that all your Google posts go automatically over to Twitter. Set up your Goodreads page, so that all your blog posts are automatically show up on your author page.
    Always type into the search function on top of each site: reader, reading, book lover, bookworm, reviewer, book blogger, avid reader etc. to find the right people to follow.
  • To shorten your links in posts and tweets, use a shortener, such as www.Bit.ly, which you can even use to tweet from their site. And later, if you want to post more on Twitter or Facebook and to be present “around the clock”, use a scheduling program, such as Hootsuite.com or FutureTweets. It will save you a lot of time – time you can use to interact directly with your followers.

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The 3 Essential Social Media Platforms for Writers

1. Your Blog:
The content you are writing can be split in short, single sentences and (together with your blog URL) posted on your Social Media sites. Why your blog sells your books is shown in a former post.  Invite your readers to sign-up for your blog posts, and eventually for your newsletter too. Thanks them for blog comments and interact like you would do on any other  social media site. Here are some key statistics about the benefit of blogging:

• 84 percent of people have bought products based on their description in blogs.

• 25 percent people (25-34 year olds) read blogs every day.

• 1 in 4 people buy something each month based on blog content.

• 18 – 34-year-olds valued blogs as the most important information source when making buying decisions.

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2. Goodreads:
With 26 Million English-speaking readers worldwide the largest pool of potential readers for your book – provided you are following eventually roughly 5000 of them. As more you reach out as greater is your success, and following readers or reviewers is done by a single mouse-click. How to open an author and a book page, to navigate Goodreads and how to start a Goodreads Giveaway is explained in these Slide Shares.

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3. Google+
The greatest benefit of Google+ and their communities is the fact that everything posted there is automatically on Google’s Search Engines and very high in rankings! As with Goodreads, Google+ also offers an author page, but for EVERY book a separate one, plus the possibility to open your own community (up to 50 separate sites). There are no strong limitations how often your book can be shown on Google+. However your followers (preferably readers, reviewers, book lovers etc. ) want to hear more from you than about your book only.
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There are certainly more Social Media sites than these three pillars, such as Twitter, LinkedIn or Pinterest – but your blog, plus Goodreads and Google+ should be your first choice.
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Why do you Need to be Visible as a Writer?
Readers need to find you and your book!  Your chances to be seen on Amazon, Kobo, Barnes &Noble or Waterstones is about 1 : 6 Million or more, almost as good as winning the lottery…

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What do you want to achieve?
Preferably show your best site to potential readers, reviewers and book buyers, interact with them, network and be sociable. Remember, there are two reasons people why people flock to Social Media: to learn / gain something or to be entertained.

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How do you Want to be Seen?
As a professional writer certainly, as someone to be taken seriously. That starts with your – not your cats’ or dogs’ – photo /avatar and your short bio.  Always remember:
You never get a second chance for a first good impression!

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If you would like to get a mentor and our support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer for three months all this and more for only $179 – or less than $2 per day!  Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting / Book Marketing for your success: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

To learn more about professional book marketing and publishing, please read also “Book Marketing on a Shoestring”
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UAVL3LE

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