So let's begin:
* Networking or building contacts is important. Word of mouth is HUGE in promoting yourself and your book.
* Put your story telling talents to work and tell your readers not only about your book, but about you. This will build connections and generate interest.
* Think Visual. Get great pictures of yourself and of items relating to your book. Today's world is all about short, sweet, and pictures!
* Pick two or three social media forms and post regularly as a way to limit your time on social media, but still engage your readers.
* Adopt a cause. This was a new one to me. The principle behind this idea is similar to joining organizations or starting a hobby as a way to build contacts. For more ideas on how to adopt a cause, check out Mary Keeler's post at www.booksandsuch.com/blog/adopt-a-cause/.
Writing and promoting are both loads of fun, but can be time consuming, thus finding a balance is essential for authors. It is all too easy to get wrapped up in our projects, but don't shut out the world. Life is inspiration after all. Get out there and find your spark. Keep it real and your readers will love you for it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to a crawfish boil.
Ugly little guys aren't they, but apparently many people think they taste good.
Great post! Also, I luuurve crawfish. Hope you had fun at the boil!
ReplyDeleteThank, we had fun - didn't eat anything, but we did have a great time!
DeleteI just went over to Mary K's post to read more on that. Great thoughts. My takeaway based on many of the comments is to think what you already do for charity, or your passion, and build from there. It would be kind of fake to just pick a cause for the sake of building an author platform, but like many pointed out over there, they are already doing charitable things and can use their author persona to further share. I never thought about it that way, thinking I would need to keep those voices separate. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteStephsco, you bring up a great point that I forgot to include. I agree with you that people should adopt a cause because they enjoy the cause or are passion about it and not as a way to promote - that should be the priority. And as I like to say Keep It Real and enjoy life! :)
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