Our new president posts regularly on Twitter. Whatever you think of Trump's politics, he certainly has a large following. I tweet occasionally, but never in the middle of the night or early in the morning.
How many of you post on Twitter? Do you regularly follow people you admire on
Twitter?
Elaine Orr believes in Twitter, and has written a book about it.
![500+ Hashtags for Writers by [Orr, Elaine]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41v6q8WRqGL.jpg)
Facebook is my social media drug of choice. Although I
created a separate author page, I tend to use my regular page to post a mix of
announcements, thoughts, and pictures. I want my FB friends to know me as a
person, not just an author.
Some groups of authors cross-promote each other, especially
when new books come out. It’s hard to measure how effective this is (you can
check your Amazon statistics for a few days before and after a post). My own
observation is that when you post matters less than how often you encourage
people to return to your post by adding a comment or replying to someone else.
Most of us don’t make it to the bottom of our own feeds, let alone other people’s.
Blog tours are fun, but they can be time consuming. As with
all promotional activities, you have to split your precious time between
writing fiction and writing promotional pieces. This works best if you are a
guest blogger on a site that already has a lot of traffic. I also blog about
other topics besides writing (archaeology and painting, for example) and
include a link to my writing. My latest blog was created for the Archaeology, Science, and the Bible class I am teaching.
Email is still my favorite method of communicating. I write
and answer emails several times a day, and once in a blue moon I send out a
newsletter. Perhaps the easiest thing I do is include a link to my website in
my email signature, often with a quote about writing or a brief announcement.
What is your favorite online promotion?
4 comments:
Hi Sarah,
When I blog, I do publicize so others know. I send emails to my various writers groups, tweet and post on FB. However, as yet I haven't created a newsletter. I don't like to intrude on individual people. But I see more and more fellow authors doing that. I'll ask the question: do you think newsletters are worthwhile?
Great information Sarah,
I need to get back to scheduling regular tweets. I don't have an author page on FB but try not to bombard my feed with promo posts.
Good luck and God's blessings
PamT
I think occasional newsletters are worthwhile. They can be short news blasts or something longer, but it reminders readers that you the author are still out there, still writing. My son Nick Wisseman is a fantasy author who is being much more regular than I am about his newsletter!
I try to get 4 newsletters out during the year, but try is the key word. I think I did 2 last year. I have an author's page, but like you, Sarah, I'm more apt to post or respond on my personal page. And I'm at a loss with Twitter. I read a few, then I give up. I post a few tweets and wonder if anyone ever reads them. I'd much rather be writing a story.
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