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Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Social Media, Is It Good For Your Book?

How do you use social media to market your writing?

I struggle with the idea of social media and its usefulness in the world of marketing. I struggle with this idea because I don't know how to effectively use it. I won't lie to you and say that I am a marketing genius, so I did the next best thing and I Googled "How to Use Social Media to Market Your Book." If you know how to use social media to increase sales, well, this is probably old information for you.

The first thing to do is set a budget. I like the sound of that idea because I don't like paying to use social media, however, I do like the idea of getting my books into the hands of readers. Setting limits on the amount of money I am willing to spend on marketing is a good thing for a novice like me.

What about finding the time to market your book? I have a fulltime job, a family, and a desire to paint and draw. These things take away from my time to market my books. Boo Hoo you might say, because we are all busy, so stop your bellyaching. That is where social media can reduce the time needed to market your book if you have a time management strategy.

How many writers created a website? It is a cheap and easy way to help market your writing skills. I use this blog as a personal website, but I also created my own website for my freelance writing business because I feel that using a blog as your only way of marketing might look weak to fans looking for a sign you take your writing seriously. I am not saying blogs are unprofessional. I am just saying you probably need more than a blog to help sell your work.

Do you use Facebook? I like using Facebook because it is easy to use and easy to post things to your pages. I also like the options Facebook offers for marketing your writing. I can pay a small fee and Facebook will post it on the pages of other users. I haven't used the feature yet because I haven't finished the book I am working on right now.

Have you asked people to review your book? Social media gives you the chance to promote your book, but it also gives you the chance to have readers review what you published. These reviews might get your book in the hands of their friends. It also gives possible readers a look at what others thought about your novel or other writings. Don't do your own book reviews. 

Good luck!