Welcome to the very first episode of The Author Hangout, a new “Hangout on Air” designed to help authors, especially self-published and indie authors, with marketing their books and improving their author platform. Authors struggle with various aspects of marketing and we are here to help!
“I am so happy that I watched. Can’t wait until the next one!”– Kristie Foreman (Children’s Author)
“Wonderful information. Very much enjoyed it. Thank you.”– Sho Nique (Author)
“I really love the comment you’ve made about building an audience before writing a book.”– Antoinette Hayes (Aspiring Author)
“Social Media for Authors”
As an author, do you struggle with using social media to sell books and connect with readers?
Not sure how much time you should be spending on social media and what you should be doing during that time?
Can you really find more readers using social media?
How do I promote my book properly on social media?
If you are wondering about any of these questions, you’re not alone.
Many self-published and indie authors struggle with the same sorts of questions.
“It’s not about the book, it’s about the brand.”– Our guest, Jason T. WiserTweet This!
Watch the video below to learn why Jason says that!
The Author Hangout – Episode 1: “Social Media for Authors”
Resources Mentioned in the Show
- Social Media 101 by Chris Brogan (Shawn’s pick)
- Maximize Your Social by Neal Schaffer (Jason’s pick)
- Our Free Guide: The Ultimate Author Checklist for Book Marketing Online
Audio Version/Podcast
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This Episode’s Guest
Our first guest is Jason T. Wiser, the host of the “Get on Track, Stay on Track” video podcast. You can check out his website at: OnTrackTips.com. (Be sure to hit the big red button! Watch the video to learn about that!)
Jason works with nonprofits, churches, authors and more to help them to brand themselves properly online. Many companies just put up a website, maybe make a few social media profiles, without any thoughts as to why they are doing what they are doing. Jason helps them to have a purpose behind each step, the purpose being to highlight their brand in the best way possible.
Make sure that whatever social media profiles you are on, make sure that everything is optimized to a “T.” Make it very easy for someone to go “Wow, He’s interesting, who is he?” At that point, you are taking your connection one step further.
Click here to join the conversation on the event page on Google+!
How Long Does It Take For An Author To Build A Presence Online?
This is a popular question for any business, especially authors. They have spent months and months (sometimes even years) writing their books, and they want to find an audience for their books right away, it often doesn’t happen like that!
Jason warns against one tactic people use to get an instant audience in the video…
“It doesn’t take any time at all to BUY an audience. There are easy ways to… there are a lot of marketing strategies that allow you to amass huge followings. I want to be very careful to encourage authors, especially, to BUILD their audience. Slow and steady definitely wins the race!”
(Watch the video for the few key ways you can build an audience.)
Many authors think that they need to find an audience for their book after they already wrote the book. This is the wrong way to look at it!
Here’s what Jason has to say:
“As you’re writing your book, I want to encourage people to build that audience in tandem with that. Don’t expect to just write your book and say ‘Okay, I’m going to start shooting it out to an audience!’ I want to really encourage people to build your audience while you’re writing your book.”
Now, if your book is already done, you’re not able to start building that audience while writing so definitely start building an audience now, but if you’re planning on writing another book, start building that audience now!
The best part about building an audience while you are writing, is that you can share bits and pieces about your book as you write it. You can share the covers, you can share samples, you can give teasers. This allows your audience to become invested in your book. If they have spent months becoming invested in the book as you’re writing it, they are much more likely to buy the book when it’s released!
What do I talk about on social media? Do I just talk about my book?
Many authors struggle with what to write about on social media so they end up defaulting to some variation of “Buy my book!”. As many authors notice, that doesn’t get you more sales. People aren’t invested in you, they don’t have a connection with you, so they aren’t going to buy your book!
Here is Jason’s strategy for getting out of that rut:
“You want to be approachable to your readers… I break the mold. Whatever is on my mind, whenever it is on my mind, I post it… I allow my readers to know me, all of me. I am not just going to feed them this part of me.”
Jason expands on this topic in the video, so be sure to watch!
Also check out: 5 Things For Authors To Tweet About (That Aren’t “Buy My Book!”)
Being an author is like running a business. You’re marketing a product: your book.
Jason says:
“Writing a book, that process, it IS a business. How do we manage good social media? How do we manage a business? How do we brand? All of these concepts are going to play into the marketing of your book.”
He then goes on to talk about tips for how he marketed his business, and those things that will work for authors as well, including understanding your reader (and how!).
As an author, which social media platforms should I be on?
This is the big question. Which social media platform is best? Should I be on Facebook? Should I be on Twitter? Is Google+ the best for me?
Here’s Jason’s thoughts on the matter:
“Is [your] reader on Facebook? If he is, great, then build out a social media strategy for Facebook! If you find tips for Pinterest, but [your reader] isn’t on Pinterest, then [you shouldn’t] invest in trying to get [your reader] onto Pinterest!”
He then goes on to provide excellent questions for you to ask yourself to help you to identify who your reader is, and where your readers are online!
How Do I Find My Audience?
First you have to define who your audience is, and once you have done that you can take the next step.
Jason recommends doing a search on Twitter to start finding readers…
“You scroll through bios, and you literally do research. It’s no different than going to the library to do research.”
He then goes into more details about what to do next after you have identified potential future readers, and how to open up that discussion with them! Do not miss this section! Scroll up and watch the Hangout now!
Did you get something out of The Author Hangout?
If so, share this page and the video with a friend. I am sure you know another author who needs to hear these tips, strategies, and idea!
Please share it with them! They will be so glad you did!
Please Leave Us A Review
Just like authors do with their books, we need reviews for our podcast! Reviews for our podcast help other authors to learn about and learn from The Author Hangout. Can you take a moment to leave a review for our podcast? If you don’t know how but are willing to leave a review, please go here to learn how to leave a quick review for our podcast. It will only take a minute, but it will help a lot.
Thank you so much!
Other Episodes
Get caught up on the other episodes of The Author Hangout that you may have missed:
- Ep 145: “Million Dollar Book Business”
- Ep 144: “Network Net Worth”
- Ep 143: “Learning to Hack Learning”
- Ep 142: “Making Of The Perfect Optin”
- Ep 141: “Coaching Breeds Author Success”
- Ep 140: “Gumroad for Authors”
- Ep 139: “Above The Noise”
- Ep 138: “Goal Setting Check-in”
- Ep 137: “Relying On Others”
- Ep 136: “Honest Conversations on Book Marketing”
- Ep 135: “Recognition of Hard Work”
- Ep 134: “Improving Kindle Book Rankings”
- Ep 133: “Making Money Fast?”
- Ep 132: “Book Marketing & Book Launches”
- Ep 131: “Authors Answers: How To Get Book Reviews”
- Ep 130: “Author Answers: Author Street Teams”
- Ep 129: “Author Answers: Using KDP Select or Not”
- Ep 128: “Traffic, Subscribers, and Sales”
- Ep 127: “Book Marketing Tips from Experts (Part 7)”
- Ep 126: “Media Interviews & Book Marketing”
- Ep 125: “Book Marketing Tips from Experts (Part 6)”
- Ep 124: “Goal Setting for Authors”
- Ep 123: “Author Answers: Social Media Engagement”
- Ep 122: “Speaking, Podcasts & Mailing Lists”
- Ep 121: “Authors Answers: DIY Blog Tours”
- Ep 120: “Book Launches & Pay-Per-Click Advertising”
- Ep 119: “Author Answers: Choosing Comparison Titles”
- Ep 118: “Writing as a Career & Audiobooks”
- Ep 117: “Self-Publishing & Book Launches”
- Ep 116: “Podcasting for Book Marketing”
- Ep 115: “Author Answers: Best Marketing Activities”
- Ep 114: “Book Launches & Video Marketing”
- Ep 113: “Writing Faster, Marketing Smarter”
- Ep 112: “Book Marketing Momentum”
- Ep 111: “Building Book Launch Teams”
- Ep 110: “Book Launches and Distribution”
- Ep 109: “Email Lists & Facebook Live”
- Ep 108: “Facebook Ads for Book Marketing”
- Ep 107: “NaNoWriMo, Writing, and Marketing”
- Ep 106: “Book Marketing Success & Failure”
- Ep 105: “Telling Stories & Reaching Readers”
- Ep 104: “Connect With Other Authors”
- Ep 103: “Maximizing Your Book Marketing”
- Ep 102: “Audiobooks and Book Marketing”
- Ep 101: “Author Email Marketing Automation”
- Ep 100: “Looking Back, Looking Forward”
- Ep 099: “Maximizing Book Promotions”
- Ep 098: “Meta Data Is Your Brand”
- Ep 097: “Kindle in Motion & More”
- Ep 086 – How To Create an Irresistible Opt-In Incentive