Kendra Bonnett--Getting Read #11
This month’s post is a bit of a megillah. Sunday started innocently enough as I spent some time browsing several of the LinkedIn groups where I like to hang. But as I began reading and thinking…well one thing led to another. As is often the case among LinkedIn’s writing, marketing and blogging groups, I found several threads dealing with the challenges of getting published and using social media for book promotion. The discussion usually goes something like this:
Question: Do free social media sites really help you sell books? Or, Is Twitter a godsend or a waste of time? And sometimes, Who’s selling books thanks to Facebook?
And then the comments start. Respondents run the gamut: The Touters (as I like to call them) extol the benefits of Facebook, Twitter, blogs and more. Each has his or her pet tool or resource. The Deniers (I see fewer of these all the time) either claim they are happily living in a pre-WordPress world of publishing (or, if they’re bona fide Luddites or honest-to-god curmudgeons, they must reside in a pre-Internet, alternate universe). Then sooner or later the Dupes show up, those who have suffered loss and mischief at the hands of Internet cons, crooks and scammers. And don’t doubt it, they are out there.
This Sunday was no different…although perhaps a bit more extreme.
The Touters Led Off the Discussion…
…with their praise for Facebook, Twitter, blogs, social networks, Ning, to name just a few of the tools—everyone has their own personal favorite. I read their words, agreed with most, but didn’t add a comment of my own. I noticed, however, that even the Touters had their caveats and cautions. Social networking is their religion, and yet almost universally they admit to making near Homeric commitments of time and energy, replete with the challenges, setbacks and strange encounters worthy of a modern-day Ulysses.
As I said, I didn’t comment on any of this. I know their
journey all too well. It is true that the challenge of building a following
exclusively via social networking is daunting. You must work at it every day
and not expect any significant returns for a year. Yes, results in six months
are possible but not the norm; you need to budget a year, which is why Matilda
Butler and I always counsel clients to start their blog the same day they start
writing their book.
As to which tool or tools to build your strategy around…I believe it depends on your personal preference. If you like Twitter’s microblogging approach, go for it. I recommend you commit to Tweeting a minimum of nine times a day: three in the morning, three in the early afternoon and three in the evening. And your Tweets must have teeth: solid content, links to your blog or links to interesting (related) content you found on the Internet.
If you like Facebook and if you haven’t yet set up a Fan
Page, what are you waiting for? I can’t say that Fan Pages are the future of
Facebook, but they are most definitely the present. Your posts are seen on
Facebook feeds (Groups do not appear on the feed) so if you post aggressively you’ll gain considerable visibility.
And with more than 300 million people on Facebook, you can draw on a large
universe. Fan pages also allow you to be more commercial in your posting. You
won’t get “slapped” or worse, thrown off Facebook, for promoting your book and
posting a link to your sales page.
For myself, I can’t complain about putting in the time and effort necessary for building social traffic, given that I’m not having to spend money on Google AdWords or banner ads. Time is money, and it all costs one way or another, but I personally don’t want to invest in buying traffic…at least not until I know I have a winning formula for converting visitors to paying customers.
And one more consideration: If you want to take advantage of the any of the many free social networking tools, don’t wait. These may not remain free forever. Investors want profits, and if advertising and corporate deals don’t bring in revenue, I think we can expect many tools to disappear, consolidate and/or become fee-based. My advice is put in the time now while the only cost is time and energy. To make social networking part of my day, I get up an hour or two earlier to do my blogging, Tweeting and posting so that it doesn’t cut into the rest of my day.
There’s Always a Denier…
This week only one joined into the discussion. Actually she didn’t discuss; it was more of a “drive by” comment. She made her pronouncement, gained the ire the Touters and disappeared into the night. In the midst of the cacophony of Touters talking up Fan Pages and Twitter Lists, Ms. Denier announced with all the tact of a Sherman tank that she has no use for book marketing (of any sort). She prefers to simply write her proposal, cash her advance, hand her book over to the publisher and wait for the royalty checks to arrive, and then begin the whole process over again.
I admit it. I had to comment, and I wasn’t alone. In addition to wishing her good luck with that, I pointed out that almost 75 percent of books never sell more than 100 copies. In other words, most authors will never see a royalty check if they put their fate exclusively in the hands of their publisher. Furthermore, if an author sells only a couple 100 books and doesn’t appear to be developing a reader base, I can’t believe that future book deals are waiting in the wings. This brings us back to marketing and social networking.
But Beware the Fate of the Dupes…
For all its benefits, the Internet is not without risks, and this week’s Dupes reminded us by alerting us to some new scams. Some authors have been using ezines to promote their work. But rather than submitting press releases or posting their articles on an established ezine aggregator such as EzineArticles.com, they have been hoping to get paid for their content. The results have not been universally positive. There are reports of what appear to be fraudulent (nonexistent) ezines that send authors forms to fill out with their name, address and Social Security number. But the payments never arrive. Now these authors are afraid they may become the victims of identity theft and have put a watch on their credit. Don’t give your Social Security number to any stranger online (or off, for that matter). And while I’m on the subject, if you list your birthday on your Facebook page and it’s visible to anyone other than you, go into your settings and fix this right now. An email address and your birthday may be all someone needs to steal your identity. Enjoy social media, but be careful with your personal information.
This is how I spent part of my Sunday…reading. As for the thinking and what I believe all of this means to authors, please follow this link to my post on Women’s Memoirs.
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